Anger is one of the perennial problems of human beings. This instinct is so basic, it is universally present in animals and birds as well. But man being a conscious animal tries to get over it or hide it in social situations, tries to change his behaviour but it springs up again in an conscious state.
And the reason is quite astonishing. You are defeated by anger because you deal with it as an emotional entity, you want to control it. Whereas anger is not just an emotion, it is an existential energy deeply rooted in the body, thoughts and words.
There is anger of the body, anger of the words and anger of thoughts. So if you really want to remove anger it has to be eradicted from these three levels.
This is what Buddha told his disciple. “Beware of the anger of the body. Master the body. Let it serve truth. Beware of the anger of the mouth. Master your words. Let them serve truth. Beware of the anger of the mind. Master your thoughts. Let them serve truth.”
Osho decodes Buddha’s words with his insights into modern psychology and body work. He says that the body accumulates anger, and has its own ways of accumulating it.
For instance, when you feel angry you gnash your teeth, you clench your fists, tense the muscles. Postural integration, rolfing, and methods like that are becoming very much aware that your repressed anger, sexuality, greed and all kinds of poisons accumulate in the body, in the muscles.
By deep massage those poisons can be released. It can make you aware that your body is carrying many things; and your body drives you into things, but you can master the body.
How can you master the body? Interestingly, by relaxation. shavasana is the best way of relaxing the body. It means the body is so deeply relaxed that it becomes like a corpse. This relaxes the physical anger.
When you have learned how to relax the anger of the body, then the next layer is to start becoming aware of what you say.
Sometimes, unconsciously, you utter a word. You were not aware of the implications of the word. You may not have ever thought that it would create such trouble for you. This is the anger of the mouth.
And third, the anger in your thoughts. You may refrain from saying something but the angry thoughts will go on surging in your mind. These thoughts are so strong that they completely overpower you.
Because your have recorded all kinds of things in the mind and you go on expressing them, thinking that you are saying them; that is not true. Your mind goes on repeating old patterns and you go on getting into old problems, again and again.
If you can watch the body, the mind and all its functioning, you will become so separate from them that you can master them.
Lastly, Buddha says a wonderful thing: “Let the anger serve truth.” It means we harbour anger because we are serving the false, the unreal. We get angry to protect ourselves, to attack others. If we live a truthful life we will not need so much anger or violence. The body will be relaxed, the mind will be calm and the words will echo our inner peace and truthfulness.
