Treatment for Anger

Every one of us has a problem with anger to some degree. Anger, in any form, is caused by unfulfillment of a desire. Anger takes many forms: impatience, displeasure, jealousy, irritability, unhappiness, moodiness.

Anger gives birth to jealousy, hatred, spite, revengefulness, destructive instinct, wild ideas and temporary insanity- any of which may lead to terrible outcomes. It is a poison to understanding.

Paramhansa Yogananda said -when anger comes, set your machinery of calmness in motion to manufacture the antidotes of peace, love, and forgiveness which banish anger.

You can conquer your anger, no matter how terrible it may seem, he says. Make up your mind that you are not going to give in to anger anymore; and if anger comes in spite of your resolve, analyze the cause that brought it on, and do something constructive about it.

When anger threatens to overcome your self-control, the best course is to get out of that environment. Be alone for a while, and transform that anger into self-reflection.

When you feel anger or hatred toward someone, honest self-analysis often shows that the problem is from some inner frustration of your own, though you might be unwilling to face it. There is something in the mind that tries to make a scapegoat of others when we are unwilling to admit our shortcomings to ourselves. We tend to project those problems onto people or things or systems. Ask yourself, “Why do I feel anger toward this person?” If we are petty or emotionally immature we may think, “He did this to me, he made me do that, he said such-and-so to me.” We find all sorts of reasons to shift responsibility away from ourselves. Then we need to introspect a little deeper: “But why did I react negatively? Why did I get upset with him? What desire of mine has been frustrated, making me angry?”

With understanding brought by introspection, we can replace resentment, irritation, and moodiness with a positive state of happiness.




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