Anger : More powerful than Desire

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Anger: More Powerful Than Desire

<br>----<br><br>It is usual to regard Anger as

a corollary or

counterpart of desire, since it usually appears when desire

becomes frustrated. Psychologically, the two are

interrelated. Yet from the point of view of the spiritual

Sadhaka whose main task is to purify the mind, anger is a

more powerful foe than desire. It is worthwhile

analysing the cause of the defeat too frequently sustained

by the Sadhaka when he wages war with anger.

<br><br>First, it has to be remembered that the Sadhaka has to

carry the fight all alone and unaided. In this

encounter with Kama (lust), he has the co-operation of

Society. Public opinion bears the brunt of the warfare. If

he reveals his Kama in its objectionable form he

falls in the estimation of those whose good opinion he

values. To be calumniated by his detractors is wounding

to his vanity. To be reproved by his friends is

painful. To be thought ill of even by those towards whom

he is indifferent is displeasing to him. All these

thoughts are positive aids in carrying out his mental

fight with Kama. Far different is his condition when he

attempts to conquer anger. Exhibition of temper is not

regarded as a moral delinquency by the public. Provocation

is put forth as an excuse and justification for

reprehensible outbursts of anger, and is accepted as a

mitigatory plea by the indulgent public. Society seems to

stand still with folded arms when an angry person

frets, fumes or raves. It would appear that ‘society’

even goes to the enemy’s camp and goads it (anger) to

strike harder and harder so as to thoroughly overpower

the lonely victim. Not infrequently are found a good

many who irritate an already angry man merely for the

fun of seeing him infuriated. Men are so callous by

nature that they are pleased when gazing upon the antics

of a lunatic, and the difference between an angry

person and a maniac is only one of degree. The result is

that the spiritual Sadhaka, when assailed by his arch

enemy anger, is too often overpowered.

<br><br>Secondly, there operate certain sentiments which put on the

cloak of virtues and misguide the unwary spiritual

pilgrim. One such is named self-respect. Forgetful of the

fundamental truth that the aspirant should be indifferent

alike to praise and censure, he takes his stand on

self-respect—after all a slippery and unreliable foothold—and in his

over-anxiety to protect it, fails to notice the stealthy

approach of his foe anger, till it is too late. ‘Love of

country.’ ‘Duty to one’s own wife and children’,

‘solicitude for the needy and the poor’ are all wrongly

regarded as justification for getting angry. Whatever may

be the value of these sentiments from the point of

view of the community or the nation, they should not

cloud the understanding of the spiritual Sadhaka, whose

one and only aim should be to conquer his mind.

<br><br>Anger, like fever, is a symptom which shows that

something has gone wrong in the inner mechanism. The mental

machinery gets heated for want of timely lubrication. The

most effective of all lubricants is Introspection or

Reflection. Even the most angry man realises his folly after

his anger is spent out. It is then that he begins to

reflect upon what he did. If this reflection had come to

him before he got angry, he would not have got angry

at all. But that would be possible only if he had

made reflection or introspection over his habit. The

habit must be formed in good time if the evil is to be

averted. <br><br> -- Swami Sivananda<br>Hari Aum !!!