Anger and the Workings of the Mind

In this 1979 talk, Gururaj Ananda Yogi discusses how anger works in the mind and once understood can be turned into understanding and compassion.

Transcript

Will we give anger expression or suppression?

Fine.

We will have to find out first what anger is,

What has caused the anger,

What were the circumstances causing the anger,

And what was taking place within us to make us angry.

Now there could be a lot of factors involved,

A combination of factors in producing the anger within us.

Then again we could ask the question,

Who is angry?

Is the real I in me angry,

Or is the superficial I in me angry?

When we can discriminate which part of us is angry,

Then anger will disappear,

Because invariably you will find that it is your little self,

The little conditioned mind that becomes angry.

The inner I,

The big I,

Is forever still,

Tranquil,

Unmoved by anger or by anything else.

Now,

When we come to the realization that it is the small I that is angry,

Then we affirm that to us,

That it is not really me that is angry,

But some of the twitches happening in the mind that is angry,

Then we ask a further question.

These things have to be probed.

We ask a further question,

What has caused the anger,

Or what has caused this reaction in us?

Now there is a Chinese proverb that before you say an angry word,

Roll your tongue nine times in the mouth,

And invariably you will not say what you wanted to say.

It actually means that give it some time,

Give it some time and reflect upon it,

And with reflection the anger will disappear.

So there is no question left of suppressing it or expressing it.

The question remains analyzing it.

But then human beings act very impulsively.

Now why are human beings impulsive?

Is because they lack the essential tranquility within themselves,

Therefore they become impulsive.

Therefore,

They do not give the mind a chance to think.

They act with a kind of built-in reflex action.

Now they have been used to becoming angry over a long period of time.

So when a circumstance happens,

Immediately the outside circumstance associates itself with the conditioned mind which is full of impressions and that knows all the tricks of anger,

And immediately the outside circumstance associates itself with that which is inside the mind and it triggers off anger in an impulsive way.

But if we can create the analytical process from the outside to the inside,

Then that would require time.

The idea is not to turn the other cheek.

The idea is not to suppress the anger.

Turning the other cheek can come about through two ways,

One through cowardice and one through absolute kindness and understanding.

So when you turn the other cheek,

Then you are not really angry.

Anger has disappeared because when anger has disappeared,

The mind is given a chance to think and when the mind thinks,

Then you will say,

What is all this about?

Let's give the boy the other cheek.

Let him have the pleasure of slapping me again.

After all,

Who is hurt?

This little body,

Is that all that is hurt?

And how important is this body?

But I,

The inner self,

Am I really hurt?

The mind would probe these questions and it becomes very easy to give the other cheek because the mind is now tranquil and it is only the tranquil mind that can act sensibly.

So you can do it with absolute kindness and understanding because at that moment,

The mind will start thinking or the heart will start feeling the condition of the slapper,

Of the one that lifts his hand.

And immediately,

We would feel that person's heart.

Why has he lifted his hand?

What is so impulsive in him lifting his hand?

What is going through his mind?

And when one can really understand that,

Then as the man lifts his hand,

His hand will freeze in mid-air.

Now this,

I tell you,

From a very personal experience.

This does not apply only to human beings or the relations between one human to another.

Right.

I was going once to Almora,

Which is a station very high up in the Himalayan mountains.

And there was nearly,

I had to go nearly 60 miles through a forest.

And while walking through this forest all alone,

I was about 18,

Nearly 19,

Walking through the forest,

Reading broad daylight.

I was confronted by a tiger.

But when I looked at it,

I found him to be a kind tiger.

I had no fear of it because very instinctively,

Intuitively,

Knowingly perhaps,

If you want to use that word,

I felt that this poor little cat can't hurt me.

Why should it hurt me in the first place?

And if it requires this body of mine to feed itself,

By all means,

Let it feed itself.

Don't I feed myself upon other things?

All the fruits and vegetables and nuts I eat,

That also has a certain form of life.

And I feed myself every day on life itself.

So if this tiger wants to feed upon me,

Then why should I resist?

And in the flash of the moment when all this was so clear to me,

I looked at the tiger straight in the face.

And I could just see kindness in the eyes of the tiger.

Now in order for me to see the kindness in the eyes of the tiger,

I would have to have a certain measure of kindness myself.

So when that appeared,

There was no fear.

Now when an animal attacks you,

Always remember it is because it picks up instinctively the fear you have in you.

And the animal attacks you because of the fear in you,

It also feels fear.

And when the animal starts fearing you,

That is the time it will attack you.

But here the animal instinctively found kindness,

Love.

So it looked at me for a little while and turned around and off it went.

Just like that.

Reviews

That tiger didnt go crazy... it went tiger

that helped me greatly

All of his teachings are exceptional and provide a unique perspective. See kindness in the eye of the tiger. Love this story.

Exactly what I needed

Love this but I wish I could find a path to this maturity!

Exactly what I needed.

An extraordinary voice and personality that assert themselves and deliver clear wisdom despite old and damaged audio

Difficult for me to understand as I'm in the beginning stages of learning, but it definitely makes sense. Namastè 🙏

Thanks will be listening again.

A good reminder of taking time to be more patient with my children and not being angry with them for just being kids and who they are

Lovely. Thank you.

Soothing voice and story.
🐅

Your words inspire, nameste

Just what I needed thank you

Lots to consider. Well done.

Gentle teaching , goes so deep

Great! Soothing voice and beautiful message.