Pointing the finger or pointing the way? – When people point a finger, it is often to show others who is at fault. Sometimes, they may point a finger to show others the way. If onlookers don’t know which finger pointing means what, they will get misled. 

Similar is our predicament when we encounter anger, which is a vigorous and vociferous finger pointer. Whenever anything goes wrong, especially about something that matters for us, anger immediately springs into action, takes center-stage and loudly blames whoever it thinks is at fault. Unfortunately, when it comes to pointing the way, anger often messes up by pointing the wrong way or the long way.  

Wrong way: Anger impels us to make snap judgments, by which we often misunderstand the situation and end up blaming the wrong person. Being thus misled, we may entertain prolonged revenge fantasies or may even launch cold or hot wars — all against a blameless person. 

Long way: What about times when anger points the finger correctly, at the person who caused the problem? Even then, anger impels us to speak harshly, which often puts others on the defensive. They may deny all blame, depart in a huff or counter-blame us for something related or even unrelated. An issue that could have been easily fixed by a calm discussion gets unnecessarily exacerbated — till both sides can get over their emotions. 

Because anger frequently makes things worse, the Bhagavad-gita describes vividly the dangerousness of anger (16.21). To determine the way for fixing the problem, we need to rely not on our emotion, but on our discretion. When we use our intelligence to analyze and act, we can make things better, not worse. 

One-sentence summary: 

Anger points the finger, but usually the wrong way or the long way — to find the way, use your discretion, not your emotion.

Think it over:

  • Has anger ever pointed you toward the wrong way?
  • Has anger ever pointed you toward the long way?
  • Think of a situation that frequently provokes your anger. Plan how you can respond with discretion instead of emotion.  

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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.

Pointing the finger or pointing the way?

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