Aeons ago, there lived a disciple under the tutelage of an estimable Zen master. Even though he meditated unflinchingly, his mind was filled with zillions of vexing thoughts. Consequently, he became a quotidian victim of resentment. Instead of being a lodestone, he was shunned by the other disciples of the Temple of Knowledge. Once a cynosure for a gargantuan number of fellow disciples, he was now persistently rejected and virtually quarantined.
Befuddled and in sheer exasperation, he approached his teacher and blurted out, “Master, while I have been practising the credo and canons of Zen unfailingly, I have been rebuffed by my colleagues. There is an enormous burden on my heart and, consequently, my mind is distraught.” He further added, “Holy Master, I beseech you to extricate me from this cesspool of rejection.”
The Zen Master smiled, closed his eyes and, after a few minutes of cogitation, said, “Son, you are simmering with extensive anger, and I discover that over a period of time you have developed an uncontrollable temper. Consequently, your fellow devotees and disciples have developed towering antipathy towards you.”
He continued, “You were virtually on the verge of excommunication from this Temple of Knowledge. However, the clergy gave you a fresh lease of life to pursue meditation and various Buddhist techniques to squelch the demons in your mind. Like the Enlightened One, they did not reproach you so that you could discover and eventually spread the quintessential truths of solicitude and benevolence.”
“Upon joining the seminary, you dazzled everyone. Through your methodical and scientific approach, you impressively won the admiration of those inhabiting this temple. Over time, you assumed an iconic and celebrated status. Soon your popularity spread across the land and to many Temples of Knowledge.
“But ironically, that proved to be your nemesis. With your Midas touch, whatever you touched turned into gold, and simultaneously your popularity skyrocketed. Your febrile mind was unable to balance the three essential Es—equilibrium, equipoise and equanimity. Soon you became haughty and conceited. It was apparent to all that your infelicitous behaviour stemmed from hubris, transforming you from a perspicacious monk into an arrogant one. It is sheer providence that the salutary meditation exercises undertaken over the years provided the lifeboat in which you are sailing today.”
The master then added that the enlightened and compassionate Gautama Buddha had said, “Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else. You are the one who gets burned.”
The human mind is perpetually cannonaded by thoughts, and negative emotions such as attachment, lust, obsession, greed, jealousy, anger and arrogance often predominate.
Human beings need to overcome such antipathetic emotions through relentless sadhana. However, sadhana or meditation must be buttressed and fortified by acts of unalloyed seva and sacrifice. The attribute of doership—the Antichrist, as it were, on the spiritual path—often ensnares a seeker, a commoner and even advanced aspirants, rearing its ugly head time and again. Thus, seekers are unable to break the glass ceiling of anger and arrogance.
Lord Buddha was perhaps one of the greatest students of psychology and the human mind. His faultless aphorisms remain both pithy and authoritative. He said, “Be strong, but not rude. Be kind, but not weak. Be humble, but not shy; and be proud, but not arrogant.”
Gloom-ridden and fatalistic words such as No, Not, Neither, Hardly, Scarcely, Rarely, Seldom, Nowhere, Never and Barely often echo from the depths of an angry and arrogant mind.
Life is a stream—a continuum of processes. It begins with thoughts that give rise to beliefs. These beliefs manifest as feelings, and feelings concretise into actions. The circle is completed as actions once again generate thoughts.
This karmic cycle of bondage remains in incessant motion. Positive thoughts shape constructive beliefs. Such beliefs develop into propitious feelings, which, in turn, blossom into affirmative actions. Worthwhile actions then reinforce indubitable and enduring thoughts. So long as our deeds remain bereft of ego and doership, neither an ordinary individual nor an enlightened seeker becomes ensnared in the cesspool of ego.
George Harrison, the talismanic vocalist of the famed Beatles, soulfully sang about “sneaking around the corner” to bypass ego. Likewise, seekers and individuals alike must skilfully cross the hurdle of ego; otherwise, they risk falling into the precipice and losing their productivity. It is often wiser not to launch a frontal attack on the ego but, like a consummate virtuoso, to take a deft detour and replenish the mind with positivity in whatever form possible.
When the human mind becomes fossilised in its thought processes, it assumes the monstrous shape of ego. This dullens the mind and makes it dense. The subtle innocence within is gradually lost, and a hardened ego gives rise to avarice and anger. Timorousness and insecurity, too, provide fodder for the cannon of anger.
A sinewy and resilient mind eschews these negative emotions and provides the shield needed to overcome anger. Genuine humility, whether in an ordinary individual or a spiritual seeker, serves as a buckler against the misadventures that anger inevitably invites.
Shallow and rapid breathing patterns are often indicative of simmering anger. Deep breathing and sound sleep, on the other hand, are testimony—indeed, the litmus test—that a person has at least combated, if not completely vanquished, this destructive emotion.
About the Author
Ravi Valluri is Advisor, Krishnapatnam Railway Company Limited. He has authored both fiction and non-fiction work and is a faculty of the Art of Living. His latest work is Glimpses of Grace. He can be reached at valluri.ravi@gmail.com or WhatsApp at 9618564024.