How Can I Overcome My Anger?

Q: Help me to overcome my terrible anger.

It is consuming me and destroying my life.

A: Dear P

Each one of us chooses a core curriculum

from the range of Ego related subjects that our soul chooses to explore, learn or master in any particular incarnation. These subjects include greed (Lobh), lust (Kaam), I-ness (Ahankaar) anger (Krodh) and attachement (Moh).

So while your soul may choose several other electives

or soul lessons it wants to learn in this life, it also picks one from the core list that must be harnessed and controlled. This then helps the soul to move away from darkness towards the light and only when complete mastery over all five subjects are gained, can the soul seek nirvana or freedom from karma.

If anger is consuming you, it is possible that

this is the subject that you have chosen to learn and master in your present life. My Ascended Masters have guided me in the 3 step method given below as an extremely effective way of taming these egoic demons. I have christened this technique the sublimation method and am sharing it here so that you and all others who choose to conquer these arduous and compelling subjects may be benefited by the Master’s guidance.

Step 1: Recognize the enemy resides in you & trace its history

Anything you wish to conquer must be treated as a worthy opponent and studied and reviewed as all competitors must be if the strategy is to win. In order to do this, review your life and trace back the genesis and roots of anger. When did it first make its appearance? In what ways does it manifest? How and when did it take greater control over your life? Write a daily journal to delve deeper into these aspects. Use relaxation exercises to help you recall past events with greater clarity. Make sure to pen down your insights and review them regularly.

Step 2: Witness how it operates in your life

Know your opponent if you wish to beat it at its game. Observe it daily in order to become deeply acquainted with its nature and patterns. Recognize what your triggers are, who triggers you the most, what course the anger takes, is it acrid, sharp and short lived or grinding, painful and long. Recognize its facets and its natural course. See how it erupts and observe the damage it causes both within you and in your environment. Become aware of its tendencies and the bodily sensations that accompany it. Witness it so closely and powerfully that you can almost predict its entry before it becomes visible or takes control over you. Acquaint yourself with the repetitive patterns associated with your anger. Know that anger is the mask that hides hurt and fear. Dig deep to discover the source of your hurts and fears.

Step 3: Sublimate it’s action through deflection

The potentiality of these five core subjects lies in the sheer energy and power that they contain within them. The energy of anger unleashed is tremendous. If you can deflect its energy constructively to create instead of destroy, you will sublimate its action and make anger useful. The same fire that burns down your house can be used to cook your food. The knife that kills can be used to cut your chains and set you free. How you use the energy of these aspects, determines how easily you can master them. This then encapsulates the principle of what the Zen masters might mean when they talk about Kaizen or good change.

However sublimation is impossible without

training the mind first because sublimation takes awareness, self control and deliberate choice. It is possible only when you have understood your opponent well enough, are completely mindful of when it strikes, and can stay present long enough not to be taken over by it.

Only then can you have the power to contain

the energy of anger and use its potentiality to raise your voice against injustice, become a catalyst of social order and lead the cause for harmony instead of letting it destroy you. Like a samurai warrior, mindful of the advancing sword of his opponent yet unfettered by it, you can then skilfully deflect the course of your anger and make it useful.

Photo Credit: Noni Chawla