Guiding Light: Make Your Anger Expensive

Anger is a distortion of our true nature. Anger is a sin because when you are angry, you lose your centredness, you lose sight of the Self. It is a sign of weakness. A strong and wise man doesn’t get angry easily.

Look at the consequences of getting angry. Are you ever happy with the decisions you have made or the words you have spoken when you are angry? No, because you lose your total awareness. If you are completely aware and you are acting angry, that is fine. In fact, anger is an instrument which is useful when you are able to be in control of it. It can work wonders when you know how to use it and where to use it.

What can you do when anger rises in you? You may remind yourself a hundred times that you shouldn’t get angry, but when the mood comes, you are unable to control it. It comes like a thunderstorm. Emotions are much more powerful than your thoughts and promises you make. Spiritual practices help you maintain your centredness and not be shaken by small events. Breathing techniques and meditation are very effective in calming the mind. Often, anger comes because you don’t accept the present moment.

When the storm of anger rises, it is not the other person who suffers; it is you, the holder of that fire. Anger is the punishment you give yourself for someone else’s mistake. With every angry word, you lose a part of your inner calm; a part of your true self is obscured. Recognise that anger is always about something that has already happened and cannot be changed. By bringing your awareness into the present moment through the rhythm of your breath, you remove the power of that emotion. Make your anger extremely expensive, like a diamond, reserved only for that rare moment when it is needed with full consciousness.

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, air, and water, and anger is extremely expensive, like a diamond. Make your smile cheaper and anger expensive.