Anger can make our life hellish (Bhagavad-gita 16.21). When dealing with anger, we often think in polar terms: we control it or we don’t. 

Instead of succumbing to such polar thinking, we can break anger down into its three components. 

Anger as emotion: Our emotions are often our default psychological reactions to life-events. If we are strongly invested in something and if we fear that it is threatened, we will naturally feel angry — such a reaction can be involuntary, even inevitable. To change that reaction, we need to change our mind’s default patterns of functioning, which often requires much time and effort. As long as we think that to control anger, we should never feel the emotion of anger, we set ourselves up for failure. 

Anger as action: The emotion of anger often impels us to actions such as harsh speech or physical aggression. Thankfully, we all have much more control on our actions than on our emotions. Unfortunately, when we lump these two together, we presume that we have failed whenever we feel the emotion of anger. Being thus disheartened, we barely resist as that emotion pushes us toward action. 

Anger as energy:  The emotion of anger gives rise to an energy that frequently can’t be wished away or even willed away.  We need to give that a constructive channel to express itself, something different from our usual physical expressions of anger. 

If we calmly review the typical situations that provoke us, we can discern what really matters for us and determine how to address that concern. When we plan and strive to channel our energy accordingly, we gradually get a better handle on our anger. 

One-sentence summary:

Worry not about controlling the emotion of anger; work on channeling the energy of anger and the action arising out of anger will become more controllable. 

Think it over:

  • What are the three components of anger?
  • When dealing with anger, how do we set ourselves up for failure?
  • How can we get a better handle on our anger? 

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16.21: There are three gates leading to this hell – lust, anger and greed. Every sane man should give these up, for they lead to the degradation of the soul.

To know more about this verse, please click on the image