Anger is a distortion of your true nature.

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Anger is a distortion of your true nature

 

If all is God, why is there imperfection in the world?

 

Negative emotions like lust, pride, attachment, anger, ego, greed and

jealousy are distortions of love. These distortions manifest in animals

also, but they have no way to go beyond them as they are bound by

Nature. Endowed with the power of discrimination, human beings can move

from these distortions to a state of pure love. Every sincere seeker

wants to get rid of anger and reach a state of perfection.

 

What can you do when anger rises in you?

 

You may remind yourself a hundred times that you shouldn't get

angry, but when you feel the anger, you are unable to control it. It

comes like a thunderstorm. Emotions are much more powerful than your

thoughts and the promises you make.

 

Anger is a distortion of our true nature. It is part of this creation,

but we still call it a distortion because it doesn't allow the Self

to shine forth fully. And this is what sin is. Anger is a sin because

when you are angry, you lose your centeredness; you lose sight of the

Self.

 

Anger is a sign of weakness. A strong man doesn't get angry easily.

When you focus on other's mistakes, you are bound to get angry. The

cause of anger is the lack of total knowledge of what is happening

inside that person. Showing anger itself is not wrong, but being unaware

of your anger only hurts you. There is a place for showing anger, but

when you get angry yourself, you are shaken completely.

 

Are you ever happy with the decisions you have made or the words you

have spoken when you are angry? No, because you lose your total

awareness. If you are completely aware and you are acting angry, that is

fine. In fact, anger is an instrument. It is useful when you are able to

control it. It can work wonders when you know how to use it and where to

use it.

 

Spiritual practices help you maintain your centeredness. This is where a

little knowledge about us, about our mind, our consciousness, and the

root of distortion in our nature will help. It is when you are exhausted

and stressed that you lose your nature and get angry. Breathing

techniques and meditation are effective in calming the mind.

 

Meditation is letting go of anger from the past and the events of the

past. It's accepting this moment and living every moment totally

with depth. Often anger comes because you don't accept the present

moment. You look for perfection; that is why you are angry at

imperfections. Even when someone commits a mistake, know that she is not

the culprit; the stress inside is causing her to make that mistake. Just

this understanding and a few days of continuous practice of meditation

can change the quality of our life.

 

Usually, you give your anger freely and your smile rarely as though a

smile is expensive. To the ignorant, anger is cheap and a smile is

costly. To those of knowledge, a smile is free — like sunshine, air

and water — and anger is expensive. Make your smile cheaper and

anger expensive.

 

(By Sri Sri Ravi Shankar)