A person with undisciplined energy gets angry. But it can be used constructively, says SEEMA BURMAN
We are witnessing a lot of demonstration of anger around us. Even the law courts are getting angry. Whether it’s a natural or human-made disaster, people who lose homes and livelihoods, family and friends, feel anger and resentment,and this leads to more tension and sadness. At the individual level, too, pent-up anger can manifest itself in actions of destruction and violence. A person with undisciplined energy gets angry.Why can’t we use this energy constructively? Krishna was angry when Draupadi was disrobed, Rama was angry when Vaali misused his powers and kidnapped younger brother Sugriva’s wife, Shiva was angry when wife Sati was humiliated by her own father. Durga was enraged when the demons killed innocent helpless people.There are several instances of God (in form) getting angry whenever there is injustice. But all this anger,we’re told,was channelised in a way that enabled them to fight and overcome injustice. Efficient anger management has its uses. “Emotion, controlled and directed to work, is character”, said Swami Vivekananda.
You cannot think clearly when you are angry because you lose your powers of concentration:“From anger comes delusion, and from delusion loss of memory. From loss of memory comes the ruin of discriminative power, and from ruin of discrimination, the person perishes”, says the Bhagwad Gita.Krishna calls absence of anger as daivi sampat or moral quality. He tells Arjuna: “The gateway to hell, destructive of the self, is of three kinds, namely lust, anger and greed.Therefore one should forsake these three”. At the same time Krishna tells Arjuna that he should fight for his rights even though his elders, respected teachers, are in the opposite camp.A docile person who takes everything lying down will be trampled upon. Constructive anger is what psychologists call righteous indignation. Anger has a place in life. But one must know how to handle it properly. Swami Ranganathananda says that beyond a certain level anger can make one’s life hellish,so one must have only some amount of controlled and disciplined anger. Anger is a natural energy that can add to our welfare or it can ruin us. It can ruin us if it overpowers us but when we are in control, anger can be our strong point. Youthful energy has to be disciplined to rise to higher levels.
Such energy can be used to serve others and to achieve spiritual growth and fulfilment. If emotions go on pushing a young person here and there, making the person act bad, anti-socially, human life will become a tragedy.An unrestrained river floods and destroys life. Every minute we are subject to emotional energies within us.We have to handle them ourselves. Dedication to higher causes and venting extra energy in team sports, for instance, can help us overcome the destructive potential of anger.
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