What causes anger?

The purpose of human existence is to attain perfection. In the process of attaining perfection, we unconsciously perfected anger. What causes anger? We are all born in this world only to gain mastery over the senses and perfect the art of living. And there are two ways of attaining this-The way and the other way.

The way to do this is to align with the Self because the Self is perfect in itself in every which way. Awareness is cultivated, and one lives life with awareness. Everything else happens. When you lose awareness, you get back to it. It is simple and straight.

The other way is the way of judgement. Judgement rests on duality. There is a perfect way and an imperfect way. If what is done is not perfect, there is a certain lack of acceptance because it does not fit your description of perfection. Now you want it to fit, and until it does, you are restless, agitated.

How did we end up developing anger?

The longer it takes to be perfect, the longer you are agitated. Anything that comes in the way of attaining that perfection causes more agitation, which turns into anger.

Judgement can be over tasks, objects and even people. We want everything to fit into our description of perfection.

Here is a story

Let me narrate an example of perfection in duality;

A person takes a flight to a certain destination. Until he reaches the airport and boards the flight, he controls his time. He is calm when getting the boarding pass, going through the security check and boarding the flight, all happening according to his plan.

Once he boards the flight, time is ticking, but he is not in control now. Other factors take over. The queue of aircraft waiting to take off, the travel time, and the time he will get off the aircraft are waiting to fit into his description of perfection. Once the flight takes off, he is now wanting the tasks, after landing to fit into his description of perfection. His habit of controlling time makes him look at his watch several times. May be he will open his diary or laptop to check whether what he has planned to present is in order and so on. Restlessness builds in. Instead of sitting calm during the journey, he is thinking.

While everything is planned in his head, events do not always happen according to his will. Some things might happen earlier than how he anticipated, some things may happen later, and some things may not happen at all. Agitation, irritation, frustration and anger set in when there is a repetition of events not happening according to his plan. It is not a one-time happening. Emotions follow a pattern.

The more times that events do not happen according to his will, the more agitated, angry, irritated and frustrated he will be. It leads him to predict whether a particular event will occur on time, and he is sometimes irritated from the beginning. There is no end to the misery of perfection.

The misery of perfection

The misery of perfection spoils the environment you are in; it spoils relationships and poisons everything it encounters.

In this world, your body is the home in which you live. It requires constant care. If cracks develop in it, the structure cannot retain you for long, and your journey to perfection can end abruptly.

That is why the way of awareness is best. It is simple and easy, and there is acceptance because awareness is in charge of time and the sequence of events. You are in the flow. This is the path of least resistance. The way to cultivate awareness is through meditation. And that is why The Agar Meditation.

— Dr Mahesh Krishnamurthy