Anger

There is a very popular saying in Nepali "रीस खा आफू, बुद्धि खा अर्को" translating as "Your anger eats up yourself. Your wisdom eats up others." In other words, you can conquer others by using your wisdom whereas your anger destroys yourself. 

Anger is an intense emotional response to a perceived provocation, threat or hurt. As in many other intense emotional reactions, anger also involves the person losing part of the normal sense of judgment or logic. A very angry person normally acts out of the instantaneous urge without pondering over the consequences. This normally leads to remorse later on once the anger subsides. 

In history, mythology and even in normal life experiences, there are numerous stories, anecdotes and experiences of the actions and consequences related to anger. 

In Hindu mythology, the sage Durvasa is a known for his anger. If a person is very angry or of angry disposition, the comparison is drawn with Durvasa. He was a great and learned sage but his primary identification was as a person of intense anger. He would curse anybody for minor or even false perceived faults and the person would have to pay more than the due share of the retributions. 

But, the fact that nature has created this emotion means there is some good use of it as well. A balanced bit of anger to show dissatisfaction, frustration or disappointment is useful to show one's children, subordinates, colleagues or even superiors that one's feeling is genuine and should be taken seriously. However, as any other emotional reaction, anger has to be controlled, moderate and justified. 

As indicated in the Nepali proverb in the beginning, an unjustified and disproportionate bout of anger makes one commit actions that one has to regret later on. There is a funny story that a butcher, out of frustration about the bluntness of his knife, conducted a derogative swipe down the knife with his palm (this is a long-standing gesture to show frustration, usually a downward swipe of your palm in front and close to the face of the victim), only to have his palm severely cut by the knife. There are other funny incidents that occur everyday such as kicking a solid wall, boxing a hard surface, smashing utensils etc that are result of anger and can only have negative results. One such clip is here.

There is a famous verse if Bhagvadgita that says "Indulgence leads to desire. Unfulfilled desire leads to anger. Anger leads to delusions, loss of sense and then destruction." Hence, anger is an emotion that needs to be controlled and moderated. For this, a good presence of mind, self-awareness and patience are some of the necessary virtues. 

Tuesday 19 February 2019