Do you have an Uncontrollable Anger?

A student to Bankei (Japanese Zen master):

‘Master, I have an ungovernable temper – how can I cure it?’

‘Show me this temper,’ said Bankei, ‘it sounds fascinating.’

‘I am not angry right now,’ said the student, ‘so I can’t show it to you.’

‘Well then,’ said Bankei, ‘bring it to me when you have it.’

‘But I can’t bring it just when I happen to have it,’ protested the student. ‘It arises unexpectedly, and I would surely lose it before I got it to you.’

‘In that case,’ said Bankei, ‘it cannot be part of your true nature. If it were, you could show it to me at any time. When you were born you did not have it, and your parents did not give it to you – so it must come into you from the outside. I suggest that whenever it gets into you, you beat yourself with a stick until the temper can’t stand it, and runs away.’

Another Buddhist saying, "Holding on to anger is like holding burning hot coal in your hand. Before you can hurl it at someone else, you are getting burned yourself".

So, what is the remedy? If you suppress it, it will explode it at a later time and cause much more damage. We need to transform or sublimate it. How? Next time you get angry, don’t throw it at someone else; just jog around the blog a couple of times, or beat the pillow insane or shout it out in your backyard. It will eventually melt away and in future, a similar situation is less likely to get you angry.

Remember the famous shlokas in Bhagvad Gita (shlokas 62 and 63 in chapter 2) usually referred to as ‘The ladder of fall’, "when we think of objects, we develop attachment to those objects. From attachment to those objects, desire is born. When desire is born, our mind gets agitated to fulfill that desire. When we cannot fulfill the desire because, others are coming in our way, we develop ANGER. When we become angry we get deluded. The delusion leads to memory loss. It is a common experience that when we become angry, we develop the loss of memory. We start seeing all sorts of things in our adversary which are not there. When there is a loss of memory, we lose the discriminative capacity as to what is right and what is wrong. When the discriminative capacity is gone, we perish mentally." 

From Wikipedia: "Anger, in its strong form, impairs one’s ability to process information and to exert cognitive control over their behavior. An angry person may lose his/her objectivity, empathy, prudence or thoughtfulness and may cause harm to others.There is a sharp distinction between anger and aggression (verbal or physical, direct or indirect) even though they mutually influence each other. While anger can activate aggression or increase its probability or intensity, it is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for aggression."

Anger is recognized as one of our most powerful enemies. It is one of the six negative tendencies usually mentioned in our scriptures – kaama (lust), krodha (anger), lobha (greed), moha (delusion), mada (arrogance), matsarya (jealousy). All these are a result of a strong negative ego (ahankara), an ego that prevents us from recognizing the real truth. According to sage Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras, by practicing the eight limbs of yoga, we can develop a keen sense of discrimination which will help us go past the ego and make us realize our true self. Patanjali also gives the concept of “pratipaksha bhavana” or the “opposite attitude” (Sutras 2.33 and 2.34) which can help overcome any negative tendency. By recognizing that these negative thoughts are the cause for infinite misery and unending ignorance, one can develop this opposite attitude. For example, when you feel angry, you may be able to develop compassion and sympathy by invoking this “opposite attitude”.