A poet once wrote a very wise phrase in hindi: "A person without judgment must never act hastily in anger, and by so may prevent a disaster". A king was passing by and saw that phrase and thought it was a verry inspiring thing. And so the king had the phrase inscribed on a golden plate and hanged by his bad.One day the king came home and entered his bedroom where a very disturbing sight was discovered there before his eyes: His dear wife, which he loved more then anything in the world, was laying on the bed sleeping. and in her arms was a young man, also sleeping. The king, filled with anger, quickly puled out his sword, about to strike the unfaithful wife and her young lover and kill them in their sleep. And then, as he raised his sword, he suddenly saw a flash from the golden plate by his bad and reminded: "I must not act in anger! Never in anger!"
Gently he approached the bed and woke his wife. The wife immediately called: "Husband! The most wonderful thing happened to us today! The son we've lost years ago, when he was just a baby, has come home! And there he is, by now a young man!"
Just imagine the thoughts the king had as he realized the disaster just prevented. And all thank to those inspiring words of wisdom. He immediately summoned the poet to his palace and gave him the respect he so deserve.
What is the problem with action in anger? It is it's feature of distorting our judgment, our perception of reality. As mentioned it the Gita: "From anger, delusion arise" ("krodhād bhavati sammohah" 2:63). Why is that? Because anger set our center in the self, which is a false reality. Vedic philosophy sets a model of reality in which there is one center, which is Bhagavan. The natural state of things would be to revolve around that center. If one choose to revolve around himself, that would be a false reality. It is the desire to be God, to be in control. And anger is all about control. And so, out of anger, the delusion of control arise, and so the perception of reality becomes twisted. That is why the scriptures sets anger as one of the three gates to hell (greed, lust and anger). It's not just happen that the Jewish scriptures state that one who is angry it's as if worshiping false gods (Talmud, Shabat 105:2).
What about spiritual anger? is there such thing? Yes indeed! The Ramayan tells us of such anger. The anger of Hanuman the monkey, servant of Rama, who set fire into the city of Lanka. Is my anger can be considered "spiritual"? A tempting thing to consider. Let us investigate that idea: Hanuman's anger was spiritual since it revolved around the service of Rama. Meaning, the center point was not the self, but Bhagavan. Can I truly say my anger is as such? Can I truly say it's about service, not control?
Gently he approached the bed and woke his wife. The wife immediately called: "Husband! The most wonderful thing happened to us today! The son we've lost years ago, when he was just a baby, has come home! And there he is, by now a young man!"
Just imagine the thoughts the king had as he realized the disaster just prevented. And all thank to those inspiring words of wisdom. He immediately summoned the poet to his palace and gave him the respect he so deserve.
What is the problem with action in anger? It is it's feature of distorting our judgment, our perception of reality. As mentioned it the Gita: "From anger, delusion arise" ("krodhād bhavati sammohah" 2:63). Why is that? Because anger set our center in the self, which is a false reality. Vedic philosophy sets a model of reality in which there is one center, which is Bhagavan. The natural state of things would be to revolve around that center. If one choose to revolve around himself, that would be a false reality. It is the desire to be God, to be in control. And anger is all about control. And so, out of anger, the delusion of control arise, and so the perception of reality becomes twisted. That is why the scriptures sets anger as one of the three gates to hell (greed, lust and anger). It's not just happen that the Jewish scriptures state that one who is angry it's as if worshiping false gods (Talmud, Shabat 105:2).
What about spiritual anger? is there such thing? Yes indeed! The Ramayan tells us of such anger. The anger of Hanuman the monkey, servant of Rama, who set fire into the city of Lanka. Is my anger can be considered "spiritual"? A tempting thing to consider. Let us investigate that idea: Hanuman's anger was spiritual since it revolved around the service of Rama. Meaning, the center point was not the self, but Bhagavan. Can I truly say my anger is as such? Can I truly say it's about service, not control?
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