MenoSundays; Life Lived Lovingly

Welcome to the first day of September. As summer starts to fall behind us and the shades of autumn begin to make their show, we often find this time of year bringing a level of reflection and introspection. Or at least, I do. Do you?

There are as many ways to reflect and introspect as there are human beings. However, over time, each society and culture has developed a system to assist such ruminations. Here at the YAMster's place, you've been getting introduced to the Vedantic approach. Even if it seems totally foreign, it is hoped that you are finding from each post a 'take-away' as a useful adjunct to your own process. In case you missed or are newly passing by, here is the story so far:
Part One - structure
Part Two - the effort
Part Three - kaama/desires

Krodha is most commonly used in the context of anger. It has two other 'shades' - passion (in the sense of zealousness), and wrath. The latter might seem to be the same as anger, but it is mostly about rage; a few notches up, as it were.

It is, then, a word of great strength, but it is the sort of strength which can weaken us! Let us clear away the concept of 'righteous anger'. There may be occasions where anger can be used to effect necessary change. It could, thus, be termed as having some level of righteousness about it. It is this form of anger...passion...zealousness, which results in revolutions and demonstrations and acts of sabotage - and ultimately, terrorism. I put it to you that there is nothing - ever - right about anger. 

At the individual level, there is nobody who can escape facing anger at some point in life. Some a great deal more than others, but to deny that anger is present is to be ignorant of human nature. No one can escape at least some experience of the destructive quality of the personality.

An important point ⇒ no one can 'make' us angry. Anger is our choice of reaction to something. It is often the reaction of least effort. Anger comes about because we don't want to think or put effort into responding to the situation in a more appropriate fashion. We have all done it. Most frequently, it escapes us when we are tired or feeling under pressure. Anger is a multi-faceted thing. It is often the tip of the iceberg of emotion. It can be used as a disguise for those other feelings; feelings that are affecting us internally, and therefore, we splatter our fear and frustrations externally. We lash out. It is not for no reason that 'anger management' has become "a thing"!

The flip side of lashing out is the presentation of other, associated, emotions. If we have learned that we are not to voice our anger, we may manifest many of the issues seen in this diagram. Suppressed anger is also well-known for bringing on depression, which is likely to contain all of the elements listed here. Therefore, if you or someone you know is going around saying "I never get angry", but are then always expressing feelings of guilt, for example, it could be that the anger of life is being suppressed.

Anger in and of itself is not a bad thing. It is the way it is expressed which can be very damaging, both for the perpetrator and for anyone in proximity of its expression. In these articles, we are turning the lens upon ourselves, so it is the self-damage which is our focus.

Anger is a vital balancer. All emotions, including this, have validity as tools for the expression of our needs, concerns, and so on. If we are serious about working towards pure goodness, we need to become very honest about our anger.

• What form does it take? 
• How often do we 'release'? 
• What triggers our outburst? 
• How do we feel afterwards?

Different periods of life can engender different anger levels. Different places. Different people and situations. Whatever the reason, ever-present anger has no place in the life of the truly good. To eradicate anger, though, is a challenge beyond most. What we can reasonably expect is to know our own signals and to redirect the anger into an active medium.

↬Criticise, by all means, but do so in a manner whereby the receiver of the anger is not damaged and can learn and grow from what you have to say. 

↬A rebuttal is a fine part of any debate, but it should never degenerate into a slanging match or fisticuffs.

In other words, use the intellect and not the gut to express displeasure or concern! This means taking a deep breath, a moment to review the response which is rising and rethinking it if necessary. At least in the short-term.

Long-term, the onus is upon us to get the root of what it is that makes us angry. We need to know whether it is arising in ways which are counteractive to our purpose of attaining an improved level of goodness. There are, as you are almost certainly aware, several different methods of assessing root causes for our behaviour. Obviously, there is 'therapy'. Counselling and related modalities. One could also take up physical activities known to destress and calm the being. Things we know and love here such as a walk through a forest or a trip to the ocean; but also swimming, dancing, yoga, mindfulness practice, to name but a few other techniques. All activities in which we can only be ourselves and drop our masks and barriers of protection.

In order to improve, we need to be able to become 'naked' in our personality. Yet so many of us are afraid to be with ourselves. The fear of having to make a change, even if it is for the better, grabs the very cockles.

Such complicated critters, are we!!! Now, it may help to say here that there is a four-fold 'formula' for helping us to overcome our shatripuu - but we'll get to that in due course. First become aware of the errors, all the better to correct them. Next subject ... lobha; greed.

I wish to offer my respects and concern for those in the path of storm Dorien - please be safe!!!
Also to the people of Texas who are again faced with gun violence on a mass scale. The heart truly aches...