Anger is the second of the six infamous vices that
inflict the mind of human beings, the other five being desire, greed,
attachment, pride and jealousy. Swami has spoken at length about the ill
effects of anger and the intense need to control one’s anger. He says, “In our
daily lives, we know that when we become angry, our nerves become weak and
feeble and we lose grip over ourselves. Even a moment of anger takes away our
strength that we gather by eating good food for three months. Anger not only
debilitates us and takes away the merit of our good deeds, but also enfeebles
our condition.” (Summer Showers - 1972). Swami says, “Anger is the fuel for all
varieties of sin. Just look at yourself in a mirror, when you are attacked by
anger, and you will discover that you are then akin to Soorpanakha (sister of king Ravana and granddaughter
of the demoness Thataki) or Lankini (a powerful demoness
who guarded the city of Lanka) of ancient times. The Rajo guna that is
over-powering you then is the Raakshasa (demon) trait you must learn to avoid”
(23 November 1966). Spiritual aspirants, specifically, need to control anger.
This post presents a compilation of various aspects
of “Anger” expounded by Bhagawan in His Discourses. For ease of reading and
understanding, it is presented in four parts. Part-I of the post starts with an
introduction to anger and other related vices. It presents the need to
eliminate anger from oneself. Part-II covers the various tips given by Bhagawan
to control one’s anger. Part-III deals with anger in connection to the
relationship between children and parents. The post ends with Part-IV that
explains how God is beyond anger. Swami gives His own example to illustrate the
need for patience and equanimity. He jokingly states that He does express anger
at times, but it is nothing more than a modulation of voice with the pure
intention of saving His devotees. The four
audio excerpts in Part-II of this posting have been taken from the
Discourses delivered by Bhagawan during the years 1992, 1993 and 1996. Though
there may be many overlaps in these extracts, all of them have been included
for the purpose of comprehensiveness and also to avoid missing out certain
significant points made by Bhagawan in each of them. There are another four
excerpts from the Discourses delivered by Bhagawan in the years 1972, 1985 and
1994 that have also been included in this part of the post, though their audio
versions are not available, because of their great relevance to the topic being
discussed.
Clip-1 lucidly explains how one can face criticism
without getting angry. Clip-2, Clip-3 and Clip-4 all delve upon simple and easy
tips to exercise control over one’s temper. Extract-5 describes the ill effect
that anger has on one’s health and well-being. In Extract-6 Bhagawan states
that virtue cannot be practiced in a vacuum.
If you live in an atmosphere of anger and are able to control it, only then it
is a meritorious achievement. In Extract-7 Bhagawan highlights the importance
of repentance following a bout of anger, through the episode of Babu Rajendra
Prasad, the first President of India and his servant Rathna. In Extract-8
Bhagawan narrates the story of how the virtue of humility and repentance
fetched sage Viswamitra the title of Brahmarishi from sage Vasihta.
Each audio clip has a name that adopts the following code: Serial
number, Title appropriate to the key content, Duration of the clip,
Year-Month-Date of the Clip. Below the title is the translation in English of
the select excerpt of the Discourse, followed by the audio player. The
post ends with a short quiz that would help you evaluate your assimilation of
Bhagawan's Message from these extracts.
Note: Those receiving this blog by email may
see words bunched together due to a technical glitch. That is beyond my
control. Please click on link at the top of the email to read the blog
directly. Sorry about this. If anyone has a solution to this please help me
out.
01-Do not get angry when somebody criticizes
you-0.57-1992 May 24
 |
| Do not get angry at criticism |
02-Anger and Solutions to overcome the same-3.57-1996
July 12
 |
| Sing a song matching the pitch of the flowing water This will dissolve your anger! |
The one full of anger will not be successful in any
task and further, he will have so many problems on the way. He will resort to
sin and will be humiliated and scorned at by others. Not only this. He will
lose all his wealth, all his respect will be burned down, he will be separated
from his kith and kin. Anger will make you lose everything. (Telugu Poem)
When you get angry, there are very
simple tips to cool your temper. Students, the moment you get angry, first
leave that place immediately. This is the first step. Immediately leave the
place (location) where you have got angry. Go in (to your room). Take a mirror
and see your face. Looking at your face in anger, you yourself will feel
miserable. Your face will look so ugly. It will look just like that of Soorpanakha
(sister of king Ravana and granddaughter of the demoness Thataki). You will in
fact get angry with your own anger. You will feel, “Chhee (an expression to
indicate one’s disgust), I should never get angry”.
If this is not possible for you or if
this does not cool your temper, then go to the bathroom. Open the tap and allow
the water to flow into the bucket. Take that sound as the shruti (pitch) and start singing a song. Sing the name of the Lord.
As you sing the devotional song, your sin will vanish. As you sing, the sin
will disappear!
If your temper does not cool down still,
then drink a glass of cool water. It is very likely that this will bring down
your temper. But if it does not come down still, then walk briskly for half a furlong
or one furlong (one furlong is approximately equal to one eight of a mile).
These are all very simple tips to cool
your temper. Our ancients kept their anger under control, in this manner. In
those days, there were no pills or tablets for bringing down one’s anger. Today
if people suffer from anxiety, they are given medicines which make them dull
and intoxicated. We should not take all these pills. What is the pill that we
must take? We must take the pill of the name of the Lord!
03-Practical Tips to control Anger-2.40-1992 May 24
 |
| Walk briskly and your anger comes down! |
Easier than this is to look at yourself
in a mirror when you get angry. You yourself will get disgusted! If not, laugh
loudly to yourself. This will also help to bring your temper down. If this is
also difficult for you, then go to the bathroom. Open the tap. Taking the sound
of the flowing water as the svara
(musical scale), start singing a song. Your anger will subside. Or drink a
glass full of cold water. Sit down and peace will prevail on you. Therefore,
when we get angry, we must take the path towards peace rather than adding anger
to anger, which will only increase your temper. We should never retaliate with
a word for a word and get into a debate. When we reduce our talk, our mental
power increases; when our mental power increases, our power of discrimination
increases; and when our power of discrimination increases, we will tend to use fundamental
discrimination rather than individual discrimination. We should always use
discrimination that is meant not just for you as an individual but is broad
enough to include the entire world. From this young age itself, we must develop
such good feelings.
04-Saint Jaimini offers Tips to control Anger in Purva
Mimamsa-3.29-1993 May 31
 |
| Drink a glass of cold water to cool your anger! |
You are subject to ignorance. Then
enquire into the knowledge. You may get angry at times. Do not put it
immediately into words and abuse the other person. You are angry with him. But
what is the reason for this anger? Is it a mistake committed by the other
person? Or is it God’s Will? If you start enquiring thus, the speed with which
the anger gets into you will reduce.
As soon as you get angry, get inside
your room and drink a glass full of cold water. Sit down silently. Then the
temper will cool down. It (Purva Mimamsa) preaches that this anger is a
perversion and not your true form.
When you get angry, go and stand in
front of a mirror. You will feel disgusted looking at your own form and the
anger will be pacified. You will wonder (at the fact) that this anger has taken
such an ugly form. Thus, you must enquire within yourself and pacify your
anger.
When there are other agitations and
worries in your mind, go out and walk speedily. When you walk speedily, on
account of your blood circulation, your anger will be pacified.
If you are fortunate to have the
knowledge of music, go to the bathroom. Fill the bucket with water. The water
will flow with a svara (musical
scale). Make that as your basis and start singing a song. Let the song align
with the svara. Enquire whether there
is any difference between the svara
of the pouring water and your song. In this thought, your anger will reduce.
There are so many secrets, tips and
solutions to pacify your anger in such a simple manner. But, today there are
none to teach these secrets. Saint Jaimini taught all these ideals in Purva
Mimamsa.
05-Tips to control Anger-1994-Trayee Brindavan
Discourses (Audio version not available)
 |
| Blood gets heated up owing to anger Image Source |
06-It is not necessary to retire to the forest to get
rid of anger and hatred-Summer Showers 1972 (Audio version not available)
 |
| Virtue cannot be practiced in vacuum Image Source |
07-Tips to control Anger-Repentance-Episode from the
life of Babu Rajendra Prasad-1985 April 22 (Audio version not available)
 |
| Babu Rajendra Prasad The First President of Democratic India Image Source |
During the night, Rajendra Prasad could
not sleep as the memory of his having driven away his servant was haunting him.
When he got up the next morning he missed his usual morning coffee, which
Rathna would usually serve him. He reflected over his behaviour and felt sorry
for having sent out such a faithful servant for no big fault. He realized that
it was his own mistake to have kept the pen carelessly in a book instead of
keeping it in a safe place. He sent word to Rathna and took him back seeking
his pardon saying, “Rathna you are a good boy. It was my mistake to have kept
the pen in the book. So you must excuse me for my rash action.” He asked him to
continue to serve him till the end of his life.
Anger comes from temper inside and one who
yields to this bout of temper is bound to suffer. You should control anger and
avoid talking or acting while in an angry mood.
08-Tips to control Anger-Repentance-Episode of sage
Viswamitra and sage Vasishta-Summer Showers 1972 (Audio version not available)
 |
| Sages Viswamitra and Vasishta |
In our daily lives, we know that when we
become angry, our nerves become weak and feeble and we lose grip over
ourselves. Even a moment of anger takes away our strength that we gather by
eating good food for three months. Anger not only debilitates us and takes away
the merit of our good deeds, but also enfeebles our condition. If we are able
to control this anger, we shall be in a position to attain merit through the
utterance of the Lord’s name.
Vasishta attained the title of
Brahmarishi and Viswamitra also wanted to attain the title of Brahmarishi. Even
after years of thapas, he could not
attain the same. Viswamitra became furious because even when the world honoured
him with the appellation of Brahmarishi, Vasishta did not agree to call him so.
Anger induced the thought in Viswamitra that if he eliminated Vasishta from the
world, then everyone would honour him with the name of Brahmarishi.
Once, on a moonlit night, Vasishta was
describing to his pupils the qualities of Viswamitra. Viswamitra, who was
hiding behind a bush with a sword in his hand to stab Vasishta, happened to
hear the glowing tributes Vasishta was paying to him. Vasishta was not aware
that Viswamitra was hiding behind the bush and in his normal manner was
describing the good qualities of Viswamitra’s thapas, which he compared to the moonlight. This brought about a
sudden transformation in Viswamitra. He began to repent in his mind his
decision to kill Vasishta, who was such a great man and was talking about his
fine qualities. He thought how bad he was when he entertained the thought of
killing him. He felt that he must make amends and fell at the feet of Vasishta,
expressing his repentance. He did so and Vasishta with a beautiful smile said, “Great
Brahmarishi, wherefrom have you come?” When Vasishta addressed him thus,
Viswamitra was surprised and felt quite repentant.
Vasishta said, “Today you really deserve
the appellation of Brahmarishi, because you eliminated all your anger and ego
and fell at my feet in a mood of utter repentance.”
We must recognize the truth underlying
this episode. So long as there is the feeling of anger and ego in our hearts,
we will not be able to feel well in our life and will feel sick in our mind.
One’s anger is one’s greatest enemy and one’s calmness is one’s protection. One’s
joy is one’s heaven and one’s sorrow is one’s hell. He who is possessed by
anger will be hated by people because he will commit a number of bad deeds.
Anger leads to many great sins. First we must endeavour to control this emotion
of anger. Sometimes, ego also enters the feeling of anger. The prestige of an
individual is sometimes undermined by one’s own wealth and one’s pride in
wealth. One’s wealth creates a kind of barrier between him and his kith and
kin. People lose everything and are exposed to great suffering because of their
anger.
A Short Quiz
01-What should be the correct response
when somebody criticizes us?
02-What are the eight and odd simple
tips that Bhagawan gives us for exercising control over our anger?
03-How does reduction of talk lead to
fundamental discrimination?
04-How long does it take for the blood
that gets heated up during bouts of anger, to cool down? What other problems
set in during this period?
05- Bhagawan says, “Virtue cannot be practiced in a vacuum”. What does He
mean by this? Explain with respect to control of anger.
06-What lesson do we learn about control
of anger, from the episode of Babu Rajendra Prasad, the first President of
India and his servant Rathna?
07-How does Bhagawan quantify the strength
that we lose from our body when we get angry?
08-What lesson related to control of
anger, do we learn from the episode of sage Viswamitra aspiring to be called as
Brahmarishi by sage Vasishta?
Part-II of this post has presented several practical tips to exercise restraint over anger. Try out any one or more of these when you get angry the next time! Further, watch out for Part-III of this post, wherein
Bhagawan explains this aspect of anger in parent-children relationships. Read Part-III
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