Saturday, January 24, 2009

ANGER - (1)




No prophet, no philosopher has ever espoused anger as a permissible trait to cultivate. Some twentieth century arguments have justified human anger and ‘gave permission’ to stare others down, to beat pillows to let anger out and other ways of expressing anger. This is nothing but strengthening of a human weaknesses. An effective way that has come to us from the Hindu rishis is replacing anger with kindly thoughts, sublimating, seeking to improve oneself by way of self-quieting, becalming. This path of the saints is that of becoming a conqueror, a Jina (as in the tradition of the Jainas, the followers of the Jinas who are the true conquerors).

Gregory the Great in the 6th century A.D. listed the seven deadly sins, including anger, to be conquered. So also in our own times, the Oxford University Press has published a series of seven books on the same seven deadly sins. The book on ANGER by Robert A. F. Thurman, in the series, may be helpful as it supports the arguments presented by Manu, Gita, Patanjali, Vyasa, Buddha, Mahavira, Aristotle, Marcus Aurelius, Shantideva, Gandhi and the present Dalai Lama.


Science has discovered that anger generates stress hormones within us. The angry are less long lived. The angry are more prone to heart attacks than others. People have died in an intense fit of anger. Why not learn the art of using one’s volition to choose the most creative emotions rather than the destructive ones? It is simply a matter of retraining oneself. The re-training goes in these steps :


SELF-OBSERVATION: noticing one’s thoughts and moods. Catching the fact “I am now getting angry”, “I am at the verge of losing control” – recognizing it and making sure not to deny it.


AFFIRMATION: I am a conscious, self-aware being with freedom of will; I cannot be enslaved by emotions that are destructive and harmful to me and to others. Let me choose volitionally the reaction I need at this time.


ANALYSIS, Internal: I see this anger rising in me. Is it helpful to my health and well being and to that of others? No. From what I have read and understood, it can be very harmful. I better abandon it and choose a different reaction that would be creative, positive, helpful, beneficial, benevolent.


ANALYSIS, External: I know I am upset by this person’s attitude. I came to this shop to buy something and the salesperson has been rude. No doubt about it. How should I react? Let me try and understand. Is s/he perhaps very tired? Did s/he leave a sick child home and is worried but cannot talk to strangers about it? Has s/he suffered some loss or demotion lately? Is s/he ill but still needing to remain on the job? I am a spiritual person. Spirituality teaches me to be kind and helpful. Let me give her a smile, and speak even more softly than I did.


CONCLUSION: Ah, it worked. The person smiled back; chose to speak softly to me. MY effort at self-regulation was successful; my spiritual aspiration is not a failure. The way the matter has concluded has given me a quiet subtle pleasure. When I was feeling angry my breath was beginning to go faster and now it has slowed down; it increases my life span. My cortisol and epinephrine levels must have come down to normal; my endorphin output must have increased. I must try this again, and again, till this kind of volitional choosing of creative emotions becomes my normal pattern and people congratulate me on having become a ‘saumya’ person. This is the way to enlightenment and liberation I would like to follow.


PRAYER: May God and my Gurus help me in the path I have now chosen.


This kind of technique is called prati-paksha-bhavana (cultivating opposite of the negative emotion) by Patanjali. This series of the technique applies to all destructive emotions and leads one to a state of mind that is hitam, beneficial to others and sukham, easeful, pleasant and comfortable to oneself.


Coupled with the daily practice of meditation, these methods make life a series of happy events for oneself and for those one loves or comes into contact with.

Adapted from Swami Veda Bharati, MIND-FIELD : THE PLAYGROUND OF GODS

In the Talk Series - Indian Psychology-12


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