{"id":141,"date":"2007-05-20T22:55:03","date_gmt":"2007-05-20T22:55:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/?p=141"},"modified":"2013-10-06T22:57:52","modified_gmt":"2013-10-06T22:57:52","slug":"how-to-deal-with-anger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/how-to-deal-with-anger\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Deal with Anger"},"content":{"rendered":"

May 29, 2007<\/span><\/p>\n

This morning in Bhagavatam class we discussed anger and how to deal with it.
\nThis discussion was in the context of the description of Lord Boar speaking
\nin such a way as to make Hiranyaksa angry.<\/span><\/p>\n

“The Personality of Godhead said: Indeed, We are creatures of the jungle,
\nand We are searching after hunting dogs like you. One who is freed from the
\nentanglement of death has no fear from the loose talk in which you are
\nindulging, for you are bound up by the laws of death.” SB 3.18.10<\/span><\/p>\n

In this particular case Krishna wanted to enjoy fighting pastimes, so to
\nenhance His pleasure he insulted Hiranyaksa (one whose eyes are always on
\nthe gold), and He was quite successful His endeavor.<\/span><\/p>\n

Generally though, Anger is something that is less than desirable. Anger is
\none of the Anarthas (unwanted things) that are impediments in achieving the
\ngoal of Krishna consciousness. There are so many verses about controlling
\nanger in the sastras.<\/span><\/p>\n

The question is though, how should we deal with anger, especially the anger
\nthat arises after we have been insulted.<\/span><\/p>\n

Generally we take the tact of suppressing or repressing anger. Suppression
\nmeans that we are aware that we are angry but we hide the symptoms.
\nRepression means that we push down the anger and deny that we have an issue
\nwith it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Both suppression and repression are not healthy responses to anger.<\/span><\/p>\n

The anger will eventually surface in some other context, either as anger
\ndirected towards another (innocent) object or sublimated anger which
\nmanifests as another harmful emotion.<\/span><\/p>\n

Repressed or suppressed anger can also affect a toll on the physical body.
\nOne can develop different ailments such as TMJ (in which one grinds ones
\nteeth and may even need a mouthpiece to protect the teeth at night).
\nInternalized anger can also result in organ damage.<\/span><\/p>\n

Usually our bodily difficulties (syndromes) are due to an emotional state
\nthat we have not come to terms with. This can even apply to serious
\nillnesses like cancer and such.<\/span><\/p>\n

We certainly want to deal with our response to insults in a healthy Krishna
\nconscious way then. What are some healthy ways to deal with insults?<\/span><\/p>\n

1. One method I call the Jada Bharata method. Jada Bharata (who was
\npreviously Bharata Maharaja and then a deer) was insulted by a king when JB
\nwas helping to carry the kings palanquin. Out of compassion JB was jumping
\nto avoid some ants in his path. The king hurled insults at JB, but JB
\nresponded by explaining that all the insults the king hurled were in
\nrelation to the body, and in actually we are not the body. So in this
\nparticular method of dealing with insults one is completely convinced that
\none is not the body and is not attached to the body so bodily insults do not
\naffect one.
\n2. Another method is what I call the Haridas Thakura (compassion)
\nmethod. He was being whipped in many different market places, yet he was
\nfeeling overwhelming compassion towards those who were attempting to torment
\nhim.
\n3. The third method I call the Dharma the Bull method. With this method
\none understands that the Supreme Personality of Godhead has arranged this
\ncircumstance for one’s edification. Then one tries to understand what the
\nLord is teaching one, what one has to learn, how one should act.
\n4. The fourth method is the Token Reaction method. This means that one
\nunderstands that one is getting a token reaction for what one has done in
\nthe past. Also one understands that if he\/she keeps serving Krishna
\nenthusiastically with his\/her body, mind and words in spite of this
\nreaction, one will be a fit recipient of Krishna’s mercy. “The purport of
\nthis verse is that when a devotee is in a calamitous condition he takes it
\nas a benediction of the Supreme Lord and takes responsibility himself for
\nhis past misdeeds. In such a condition, he offers still more devotional
\nservice and is not disturbed. One who lives in such a disposition of mind,
\nengaged in devotional service, is the most eligible candidate for promotion
\nto the spiritual world. In other words, such a devotee’s claim for promotion
\nto the spiritual world is assured in all circumstances.” (SB10.14.8)
\n5. The fifth way is for most of us who haven’t completely realized our
\nspiritual nature yet. In this method one experiences the anger (doesn’t
\nsuppress or repress it) and identifies what basic unfulfilled need is
\ncausing the anger. One sees the insult or other external event simply as a
\nstimulus for the anger, not the cause of the anger. By getting in touch with
\nthe need one sees that the unfulfilled need is the cause of the anger rather
\nthan the external event which is simply the stimulus.<\/span><\/p>\n

I am sure there are more healthy ways to deal with anger but these are the
\nones I can think of now.<\/span><\/p>\n

If we want to be materially healthy as well as spiritually healthy we need
\nto deal with our emotions in healthy ways<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

May 29, 2007 This morning in Bhagavatam class we discussed anger and how to deal with it. This discussion was in the context of the description of Lord Boar speaking in such a way as to make Hiranyaksa angry. “The Personality of Godhead said: Indeed, We are creatures of the jungle, and We are searching read more>><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[29,26,27,25],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":142,"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141\/revisions\/142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atourcity.com\/bkgoswami.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}