Analysis of the Mind-4

[Guest guest]

PraNAms to everybody.

 

On Anger-

 

While this may be little bit off-topic and I was

planning to cover later under psychological

degradation of human mind, I chose to present it here

now, since Swami Paramaarthanandaji just gave his

regular New-Year discourse, taking this as his topic

on this January 1st. When it is still fresh in my

mind, I decided to do the write-up on it, based on my

notes that I took on that day. The contents therefore

follow closely Shree Swamiji talk, which perhaps could

be down loaded when it becomes available on line.

 

Hari Om!

Sadananda

 

 

On Anger

 

Anger is an emotion which is experienced by all, to

various degrees at various occasions. Even the gods

are not free from this emotion, as our pouraanic

stories indicate. Some of the Gods are personified by

this emotion itself – In the rudram, it starts in the

praise of Lord Shiva – namaste rudra manjare..- manja

means krodha or anger. Mother kali is depicted as

incarnation of angry Durga. Not that the gods are

angry, but anger in gods is invoked to stabilize the

human mind by destroying the demonic forces within and

without, or to keep the human mind under control.

Everybody has some opinion about the emotion called

‘anger’, starting from psychologists, philosophers to

lay men. One fellow said to his friend that he left

anger in Kaashi (It is beautiful tradition that a

person who makes a pilgrimage to Kaashi has to leave

something that one is attached to). His friend just

smiled and asked, ‘What did you leave in Kaashi? The

friend responded, ‘I left anger in Kaashi’. His friend

kept bugging him, asking him the same question again

and again. The fellow got frustrated and become wild

after answering many times the same question; he

shouted with angry tone- ‘I told you I left anger in

Kaashii’. Well, that is how we leave our anger! At the

same time we do see lot of LakshmaNas around who get

angry with very little irritation, while also people

like Rama, even though very rarely, who are well

balanced and ready to forgive other’s mistakes, out of

compassion not out of weakness.

 

During the sandhyavandanam or daily prayer, meditation

is done as a part of praayaschitta (cleansing action)–

kaamorkarshiit manjura kaarShiit namo namaH – to keep

the mind under control from desires and anger – the

two great twin enemies of the mind. Vedas and puraaNas

uniformly look upon anger as serious problem of the

mind that affects its health. Anger is considered as

an obstacle for the growth of the mind. Many do not

recognize the seriousness of the problem. We cannot

fight with any enemy unless we are aware of it along

with his strengths and weaknesses. Awareness of the

problem that what anger can cause to the mind could

motivate us to overcome it. The problems that arise

because of anger have been spelled out by Krishna in

Gita.

 

For example, in B.G. 16-4 Krishna divides human beings

into two groups – those that have demonic qualities

and those that have divine qualities. Anger is listed

as one of the demonic qualities. In third ch. Krishna

says:

kaama esha krodha esha rajo guna samudbhavaH|

mahaashino mahaapaapmaa viddhyenamiha vairiNam||

 

Arjuna, know that desire and anger, born of rajo guNa,

are the two unsatiated greatest enemies of a person

contributing to the highest sins.

Sin is that which disintegrates the person and takes

him away from his natural state of peace and

tranquility. Anger makes the one to commit actions

that are not worthy of a human being, since in the

rage of anger one looses the discrimination of right

from wrong-

kroddhaat bhavati sammohaH, sammohaat smRiti vibhamaH|

 

smRiti bhramshaa buddhiH naaShaH, buddhinaaShaat

praNasyati|| B.G.2-63

 

Thus anger causes jnaana-vijnaana naaShanam,

essentially destroys one’s spiritual knowledge, which

is a divine wealth (daivii sampatti). It takes one

away from moksha, the essential human goal, keeping a

person locked up in samsaara. Anger in fact

dehumanizes a human being, when he is overpowered by

it and acts with that emotion. Shankara says anger can

destroy the very humanness in a person and makes him

unsuitable even for material pursuits, or

purushaarthas; dharma, artha and kaama, besides moksha

stated above. Hence scriptures warn again and again

that anger need to be curtailed, if one wants to

evolve. Awareness of the problems that anger can cause

should help to motivate a person to discipline himself

to get rid of this greatest enemy.

 

Many do not agree with this spiritual teaching. They

argue that there are two types of anger-good temper

and bad temper. Good anger is that which is proper,

righteous and just, that is required to maintain the

good around. Bad anger is that which is unrighteous,

unjust, and improper. Therefore proper anger in a

measured dosage is not bad. Now, question is, what is

the proper anger? Everybody has an opinion about it,

but in general, anger that one gets is proper and is

always justified, while the anger that others get is

improper and unjust. My anger is obviously caused by

genuine reason and sometimes has noble purpose, to get

the job done properly. Good anger is required for

success, and for life functioning properly. Everyone

feels he is justified to get angry. Otherwise people

will use him as a doormat, stamping all over him to

get their things done. When people are stampeding on

others, we have to get angry, right?

 

Scriptures do not agree with this assessment. They do

not look at the anger from its cause, whether it is

justifiable or not. They look at it from what it

causes or its effects on the mind. Anger deprives

cardinal positive values that are extremely important

for a well being – at the individual level, at the

family level, at the corporate level, at the national

level and ultimately at the international level.

Anger being a very powerful emotion, it destroys three

fundamental virtues that are essential for one’s

spiritual growth. They are 1) samatvam 2) suukshmatvam

3) viveka, which are essential constituents or results

of four fold qualifications required for a spiritual

seeker, and these are discussed below.

1. Equanimity (Samatvam): Equanimity of the mind is

required for well-being, both at micro level and macro

level- that is at an individual level and at the

collective level. Krishna says, during the discussion

of karma yoga- samatvam yoga yuchyate – the yoga is

defined as equanimity, samatvam – yoga means that

which integrates emotional and intellectual segments

of the mind. Karma yoga is that which prepares the

mind for jnaana yoga. Anger destroys the samatvam, all

the preparations of the mind gets derailed and one has

to reestablish them all over again. In puraaNas we

hear stories that whenever somebody curses out of

anger, the one who curses has to spend many many years

in austerities to regain that equanimity that was lost

due to anger. In jnanna yoga anger disturbs the mind,

making it unavailable for contemplation. An angry mind

cannot meditate on anything, much less on spiritual

things. Mental composure is a virtue and anger

destroys that.

 

2. Sensitivity (suukshmatvam): Anger destroys the

sensitivity of the mind. Sensitivity means sensitivity

to the feelings of the others around. In the rage of

anger, mind becomes extremely gross and sees violence

as the only solution to the problem. Scripture says

‘ahimsaa paramodharmaH’ – non-violence is the supreme

virtue of a human being. Violence need not be at the

physical level. It could be at mental level and at

speech level. Some times, effects of physical

violence can be corrected. But mental hurt or words

spoken to hurt people can be more damaging to the

integrity at the individual, family and at the

community level. Lack of sensitivity of the mind

expresses at facial level with facial distortions and,

at speech level in terms of indecent, hurtful words

and negative language. Mind justifies it as the only

remedy to the problem at hand. One regrets later about

one’s actions or about his spoken words that he cannot

take back. Whenever there is a regret, it is a sure

sign that the action done out of anger was not

appropriate. Sensitive person will understand that

violence is an expensive remedy. The spiritual path

is derailed by violence. A mind has to be sensitive

to discriminate the substantive from the superficial,

the reality from the falsehood of superimpositions.

That sensitivity is last due to anger.

 

3. Viveka (Discriminative faculty): When one is angry,

the worst thing that can happen, as Krishna

emphasizes, is loss of discrimination of right from

wrong, dharma and adharma. In anger, one acts

impulsively. Any impulsive action lacks discrimination

and it is an instantaneous response. In anger, words,

speech and actions come out without quality control.

During impulsive action, the intellect has become dull

and gets over powered by emotions. Actions that come

out will be baser and the behavior will be worse than

that of an animal. Essentially the intellect or

buddhi which makes a human being distinct from animal,

is lost temporarily.

 

ahaara nidraa bhaya maitunanca saamanyam etat

paShubhiH naraaNam|

buddhirhiteshaa adhiko visheShaH, budhyaa vihiinaaH

paShubhiH smaanaaH|| - says BartRihari.

 

Eating, sleeping, fearing, producing, all are common

for a human being and an animal. What makes a man

different is only his intellect (buddhi) and if that

is lost, he is no different from animal. In fact he

may behave worse than an animal, since animals do not

have vengeance while man can act with vengeance.

 

Scriptures are concerned about the effects of anger on

the human mind. Therefore there is no good anger and

bad anger, if the anger affects the above three

virtues. One has to look back and examine oneself if

his anger affected the above three. Any nagging

feeling about the past action done in anger is a sure

sign that it caused damage in the mind. By conscious

effort one can control oneself from being angry or act

in anger. One can become insensitive to that feeling,

by habitual suppression. Insensitivity only means the

mind has become very gross. I remember that whenever I

return from States and see many child- beggars on the

street with no decent meals or education, or see some

mothers carrying babies and begging, I feel very bad.

Slowly I loose that sensitivity as I encounter many of

them every day. Habitual anger also makes the mind

insensitive.

 

Now what are the remedies to overcome anger. Swami

Chinmayanda used to say – ‘you should get hold of

anger, before it gets hold of you’. Several remedies

are suggested, one can follow all of them until one

has established in oneself. Forbearance (titiksha) is

emphasized as part of Shadsampatti (the wealth of six

values) for spiritual journey. Krishna advises Arjuna

– contact with the world through the senses causes all

these dual emotions at physical, mental and

intellectual level; cold and heat, pleasant and

unpleasant and praise and insult – they come and go

(what comes must go). Hence, one has to forbear these

rather than act impulsively.

 

Hence scriptures are not much concerned about the

cause for anger to differentiate it as good or bad,

just or unjust, but about what it causes on the

quietitude of the mind. In anger, we compromise our

equanimity, sensitivity and sensibility, which are

essential for one’s evolution. Since everybody is

prone to get anger, from cradle to the grave, what are

the remedies available to control anger? The following

provides a brief list.

 

1. Prayer. Prayer involves surrenderance to the

supreme. Mind that is ready to pray is the mind

already free from anger since attitude of prayer is

counter to the attitude in anger. In anger, the ‘ego’

is maximized or gets blotted up. In prayer the ‘ego’

is surrendered or becomes small. Prayer to the Lord

increases one’s tolerance level. Anger is a sign of

lack of tolerance. Unfavorable situations that go

beyond the level of tolerance-threshold contribute to

anger. Repeated situations, uncompromising situations,

situations that are beyond one’s control causes

frustrations and takes one to go beyond his tolerance

level. Pray to the Lord to give titikshaa or

forbearance to face whatever the situations that are

beyond one’s control. Here the prayer of serenity

comes my mind.

 

2. Pratijnaa – self-commitment. When I get angry, it

means a being or a situation is causing me to loose

control on my own mind – That is I surrendered my mind

to somebody or some situation for it to control.

Essentially I lost my freedom to act. Getting angry

implies that I let my mind to be conquered by a

situation or person other than I. Normally we think by

getting angry we are trying to control the situation.

But it is actually the other way around. There is

saying -‘shesham kopena puurayit..’ – the strength of

the remaining arguments is provided by being angry or

shouting at the opponent. What it means is whenever

the arguments get heated up, it implies that logic has

become weak, and one is resorting to anger to enforce

his logic. It only implies the argument is already

lost. In addition, in anger, the intellect gets

weekend and any further arguments become weaker, since

intellect is not strong enough to present them

effectively. By prayer, the intellect gains the

strength to operate effectively; one can say, it is a

blessing from the Lord.

 

Also one can make an auto suggestion, to enforce the

mind that ‘I should not get angry, even if I feel I am

justified’. I will make better impact by being firm,

but polite. Pratijnaa is a promise to oneself or auto

suggestion, that I behave properly or request the lord

to make sure I behave properly. It is like New Year

commitment, of course, to be followed, not to put

under the pillow. The pratijnaa has to be renewed

daily to make sure that the mind gets slowly locked in

as an assimilated value. Introspection would help to

reinforce the mind to be vigilant next time, so that

it will remember not to repeat the same reaction.

 

Effectively one raises one’s threshold for tolerance

or titiksha a bit more than yesterday’s. Lord is

called ‘shaantaakaaram, bhujaga shayanam …’ Shanti or

peace comes once the threshold for tolerance becomes

unlimited! Bhugaja shayaanam –Lord is sleeping on the

snake-bed. Snake symbolizes anger (LakshmaNa or

Balaraama gets angry with least provocation since they

are avatara of adhisesha). The anger itself is coiled

down and formed a water bed for the Lord to sleep on.

Lord Shiva made the snakes into his ornaments. That

is what happens when one prays to the Lord and invokes

his blessings. Our anger also becomes a bhuushaNam,

ornament. We getting angry is different from we use

anger as in instrument. We can use it only if we have

a control on the emotion. With prayer anger turns

into a firm abidance in one’s dharma.

 

3. Prasaada bhaavana – The surrenderance to the Lord,

involves an acceptance of what it is. ‘What I have is

His gift and what I do with want I have is my offering

to Him- says Swami Chinmayanandaji. Also he says –

‘what I have is praarabda and what I do with what I

have is purushaartha’. The given situation demands an

action. When I offer my action itself to the Lord as

an offering (kaikaryam or naivedyam), the result that

comes out of that action is prasaadam. That is there

is an attitude of acceptance of the result without any

reaction. Anger is a reaction to a situation at hand.

If the current situation is the result of precious

action, I have to accept ‘what is’ in facing the

situation and act with a goal in mind. If it is going

to be offering to the Lord, then I am automatically

constraining the goals to be proper and the means to

achieve the goals should also be proper. Here proper

implies it should be dhaarmic. Dharma is rather

complex and one can follow a simple rule and he would

not go wrong. Whatever I expect others to do in a

given situation, I should do the same; and whatever I

expect others not do in that situation, I should not

do. In the process, I would not have any internal

conflicts. I expect others to be faithful, sincere

and do their best efforts. I should do the same. I

do not expect the others to do short cut or compromise

or undermine my efforts and take advantage of me or my

position. I should not do that to others. That kind

action is a dhaarmic action and is acceptable for an

offering to the Lord. The results are shaped by the

laws and factors beyond my control. He is the author

of these laws. Hence results come from Him. Whatever

that comes from Him is His prasaada or blessings and

are accepted with reverential attitude or with

non-reactive mind. Thus if I recognize that all that

comes to me in the form or objects, people, and

situations is His prasaad, I develop an attitude of

acceptance and act accordingly as the situation

demands. The next result is also Prasad and my next

action will also be an offering to the Lord – This is

what Krishna calls as cycle of action and results. He

says when you perform all actions in the spirit of

yagna or offering, then the gods (production potential

of the field) will bless the results and you please

the gods again and maintain the wheel of action. The

result is my mind is freed from all agitations and is

ready to appreciate the truth expounded in the Vedas.

 

 

4. pratipakshaa bhaavana – Substitution by the

opposite. In spite of all this understanding, anger

still comes, particularly during contemplative stage.

There are always situations that will be frustrating

due to inefficiency around or others not doing their

dharma or not fulfilling your expectations. One can

sit down and brood about these, but nothing will

happen, other than we miss the boat of proper action

that is demanded of us. Many things are suggested to

take the mind away from the situation for it to stand

apart and reexamine the situation correctly. Counting

1 to 10 or 1 to 100 helps the mind to divert from the

situation. If action can be put off for the time

being for the mind to cool off and to rethink the

situation, that helps. Recognition of the presence of

the Lord even in the person with whom I am angry,

helps to change my attitude towards that person. If

the Lord is able to stay in him all the time

tolerating him without any complaints, I do not have

much of a reason not to tolerate him for few hours,

days or years. Susbstitution therefore involves

positive attitude towards others, towards situations.

This helps to cool the mind and helps to look at the

problem in better perspective. It helps to diffuse

the anger and channels the mind to more productive

direction. There is a saying – every frustration is a

seed for new invention.

 

Finally the best way to follow how the mind is able to

follow these suggested remedies is ruthlessly keep

track of the mental attitudes and introspection.

Swami Chinmayandaji used to suggest us to maintain a

spiritual diary. Since the new year is beginning, we

can commit ourselves and follow these guide line to

help our mind to overcome these baser emotions so that

it becomes healthier and more productive not only in

the material world but more importantly in the

spiritual world.

 

Hari Om!

Sadananda