Every sincere seeker wants to get rid of anger and reach a state of perfection, but is often swept by his or her emotions. What can you do when anger rises in you? You may remind yourself a hundred times that you shouldn’t get angry, but when it comes, you are unable to control it. Emotions are much more powerful than your thoughts and the promises you make.
Anger is a distortion of our true nature. We call it a distortion because it doesn’t allow the self to shine forth fully. And this is what sin is. Anger is a sin because when you are angry, you lose your centeredness; your focus is not on the infinite. You are limiting yourself to the small mind to an action which has happened. Sin is just the wrinkle in the cloth. It needs proper ironing. Anger is a sign of weakness and a weak person can get angry very fast.
Often anger comes because you don’t accept the present moment and get stuck in the past. Have you ever observed that all your anger is about something which has already happened. Is it of any use getting angry about something which has passed and you cannot alter? No, it is meaningless. Anger comes when one seeks too much of perfection; that is why you are angry at imperfections. Keep a space of imperfections in your life. If you leave some holes of imperfection, then you will see that your ability to hold anger becomes much greater.
The cause of anger is the lack of total knowledge of what is happening inside that person. Even when someone commits a mistake, know that he or she is not the culprit; the stress inside is causing him or her to make that mistake. Showing anger itself is not wrong, but being unaware of your anger hurts you. There is a place for showing anger, but when you get angry without awareness, what happens to you? You are shaken completely. Look at the consequences of getting angry.
Spiritual practices help you maintain your centeredness and not be shaken by small events. This is where a little knowledge about us, about our mind, our consciousness, and the root of distortion in our nature will help. Our breath has a great lesson to teach us, which we have forgotten. Breathing techniques and meditation are very effective in calming the mind.
Usually, you give your anger freely and your smile rarely as though a smile is expensive. In ignorance, anger is cheap and a smile is costly. In knowledge, a smile is free like the sunshine and air while anger is extremely expensive, like a diamond. Make your smile cheaper and anger expensive.
