A heron
sitting on a branch, looking out to the left, the side of the human heart.
Pinkish sky above, bluish water below. Anger and wrath trickle down the weeping
willow to the right and are distilled in the waters below, fizzling out as their
futility is seen by the quiet, contemplative mind. Absence of anger is Akrodha
according to the Gita. Akrodha is said to be “checking anger”. When one’s ego of
course is “provoked”, we react, so it is no use simply “checking” one’s anger
and trying to become tolerant. The serious meditator will look deeply
into anger and see that it is not a question of controlling, subduing,
overcoming. It is a question of understanding. When we truly understand what it
is to be angry, anger cannot come. When we see the passions and excitations,
the power they have over us due to our lack of attention and self-awareness, we
overcome anger and wrath. It is said that “anger begets eight kinds of vice:
rashness, injustice, persecution, jealousy, taking possession of others’
property, harsh words, cruelty and killing.” So if you can eradicate anger, all
bad qualities will die by themselves. How to eradicate anger? Develop a life
philosophy that reflects reality. What is there to be angry about? What human
passions and lusts need to be thwarted for anger to ensue? It is easy to see
that by applying other positive virtues (charity, gratitude, compassion, purity
and renunciation of the fruits of action) anger has little place in the human
heart. It is normally due to a false outlook on life – something threatens the
self or the ego and the innate passions are stymied and anger bares its teeth
and starts snarling. Humans are supposedly so strong, yet just about any little
chance occurrence will produce anger, whether it’s computers that don’t work,
flies that settle on our noses, cold winds, hot summers, or a misunderstood
word… Can’t we just get in line with Reality and accept things as they are?
Aren’t we strong enough to live according to a philosophy that accepts change,
chance and the chimeras of fate? Are we so weak as to succumb to anger at every
new turn? Next entry is a look at Christ’s teaching on anger…
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