So, I've been observing myself and I see myself returning to my old self again.
My anger levels are high. My calmness is gone! I am attributing this to my negligence towards Shambavi. I haven't been able to do shambavi in a while. Also, I am travelling quite a bit to the gym. The unruly traffic on Indian roads, drives me mad.
So, I also observed a fellow traveller get angry and irritated with his wife and child (for no obvious reason according to me). That set me thinking - when do we get angry?
Most obviously - when people do not behave in a way we expect - we get angry. If things don't turn out the way we expect we behave angry. If we think, there are more things in the external world that can go wrong than behave as per our wishes. Even your spouse of 25 years will not be able to behave exactly as you like - then forget the whole world that we live in. We need to commute to work - we meet a lot of people on the road, at work, our friends, relatives. So many of them will behave in a way not acceptable to us, right?
Then why become angry? That too we can observe that some days we get angry for the same things that they do but other days we are in a position to brush it off and remain cool. Why so? The reason is - you are in a state of uncalm. There is turbulence inside you. This turbulence magnifies when such situations occur. We can never predict when unfavourable conditions will occur and wreak havoc. Some days I know that things may go wrong, I am well prepared. I can guess that someone is approaching me with the idea of cheating me or selling something to me that I do not need. In those cases I prepare myself well before I meet the person, so I behave well and do not offend them or do anything stupid to myself. But, how many times can you be prepared? Not always. So, the best thing is - bring yourself to a state of calmness. When you achieve this slowly your anger subsides. You are in better control of your emotions when you're calm inside. You can handle anything better.
“The root of all your suffering is just this – that nobody should even
trample on your idea, your thought, your emotion, your personality, all
this… That’s the reason this struggle is going on. Self-preservation,
the instinct of self-preservation should limit itself only to the
physical body. Rest of the things are all modifiable.”
It does not matter how much people preach "don't get angry"; when
certain situations arise, you get angry. It does not matter what kind of
human being you become; even if you become superhuman, you will never
have absolute control over the external world. Whether it is with the
company you work for, your family or the world, you will never have
total control over external situations.
But you can have total control over your internal situation.
Emotional states like anger, hate, lust, compassion or love -- from the
lowest states to the highest -- are certain types of expression of the
same energy. People often ask, "Can we exist without anger?" This is
generally because anger is the most intense emotion people have
experienced in their lives. People want intensity, but the only way they
know how to be intense is through physical action, anger or pain. The
very reason why drugs and sex have become such a big thing in the world
is, somehow, people want to experience some intensity, at least for a
few moments -- it is the intensity that draws them. I am always talking
about intensity because intensity is the only thing man is seeking, and
it is the only thing that will liberate man from his present bondages.
But unfortunately, for most people, their fear, anger and hatred are
the most intense situations in their lives. Their love is never so
intense. Their peace is never so intense. Their joy is never so intense.
Instead, their negativities are intense, so they experience power in
negative circumstances.
So don’t worry about your anger. At least in anger you’re becoming
intense. But it’s time to transform this intensity of anger into higher
levels of intensity where it’s very beautiful. At least somebody’s able
to get angry, I’m happy. I can’t bear with the people who are eating
eight meals a day and are just lethargic, and nothing happens within
them; they don’t even get angry. If anger is happening, at least some
life is cooking within you; life is still kicking, you know?
Anger is enormous intensity; it is an intensity that hurts you. It is
an intensity that can get you into a lot of trouble. It is an intensity
that can destroy people around you and yourself in so many ways. But if
you transform your energy in a certain way, it naturally becomes love
and compassion. Then, slowly, as the process goes further, you reach the
pinnacle of self-awareness and experience a unity with all life. The
whole process of yoga is based on this.
For many people, "yoga" just means twisting yourself into some
impossible postures. But that is not what we are referring to as yoga.
"Yoga" means to be in perfect tune, when your body, mind, spirit and the
existence are in absolute harmony. When you fine-tune yourself to such a
point where everything functions so beautifully within you, the best of
your abilities will naturally flow out of you. So yoga is the science
of activating your inner energies in such a way that your body, mind and
emotions function at their highest peak.
Suppose you start experiencing everyone around you as part of
yourself. After that, no one needs to teach you to be good, not to harm
others. And once you are experientially a part of everything, then
nobody needs to teach you morality. Then you can do something about any
given situation that may be unpleasant, but without anger. What you have
to do, you do; but when you do it with anger and hatred, it is of no
value. A day can come when, even if you are put into the most extreme
situation, your energies will remain very calm. When you act out of
unity with all life, you act without identity. Only then can you
function out of your intelligence.
Yoga means to cultivate your energy in such a way that gradually it
breaks the physical limitations and elevates you to the highest level of
awareness, the flowering of human potential.
