We may think that no one knows what we are thinking, but our thoughts produce vibrations that can be picked up by others at a subtle level.
Once, one of Emperor Akbar's ministers advised him to be careful about what he thought of others. The minister said, “Thoughts are very potent. Let us try this experiment. See that man coming down the road? As he approaches, I want you to think angry thoughts about him and let us see what happens”.
The emperor looked at the stranger and thought, “This stranger should be beaten up”. When the stranger drew near, Akbar asked him, “What did you think when you saw my face”. “Excuse me, emperor, but I wanted to beat you up and break your head”.
No words were spoken; no actions were done, but the angry thoughts of Akbar towards the man were picked up, and the stranger was tempted to react in a violent way.
We may not say anything, but our anger may create a negative vibration all around through aggressive body language, facial gestures, and angry tone of voice. This not only affects the recipient of our anger, it also boomerangs on us, disturbing our peace of mind.
We can deal with anger in several ways. One way is to project the long-term consequences of our anger as a deterrent. Or set a goal and then realise the effect that anger may have in preventing us from attaining that goal. A third way is to use meditation to break the physiological response to anger.
Projecting the future consequences of anger can prevent us from acting with anger. Becoming conscious of this could help us respond non-violently to situations, as did Gautama Buddha when someone abused him one day.
Buddha listened patiently and since there was no reaction, the abuses stopped coming his way.
If we set a goal to meditate every day, then we can guard against intrusion on that time. Say to yourself: “If I allow this anger to take control, then it is going to cause me to waste sitting and thinking about how angry I am. How can I calmly meditate and focus and what I am seeing within?''
To have fruitful meditation we need to overcome anger, but to overcome anger we need to meditate. It is not so much a catch-22 situation, however, as it is a cycle of success. No matter what level of meditation we are at, the time we spend meditating can calm us down so that we do not respond to a situation of anger. Meditation provides us with a physiological response to control the anger.
Our heartbeat slows during meditation, which has the corresponding effect of slowing down our brain waves. We enter a more relaxed state of body and mind. In such a state, anger has less chance to gain strength.
As we calm down and our anger subsides, we can increase our concentration in meditation. The more time we spend in meditation, the more practised we become in being calm and balanced.