Dear Yogis,
A dear friend shared a portion of the Bhagavad Gita in regards to releasing anger.
“Armed with yoga, O Bharata, stand and fight.”–Bhagavad Gita 4.42
According to yoga philosophy, nothing is good or bad it’s all about how you use it. For example a knife in the hands of a surgeon can save someone’s life yet in the hands of a criminal can take it. It’s in the utility of the item that makes something good or bad.
The same can be said about our feelings and emotions. Feelings of sadness, happiness, desire, even anger are neither good nor bad it is how we act upon them. It is merely the energy we put behind them that drive them into action that magnifies the utility of the thing in a “good” or “bad” direction.
When we are armed with yoga we are given the precious opportunity to utilize our emotions with integrity. Feeling through them then deciding to take the action that enacts the least harm, that dedicates honesty, compassion, kindness.
This is all enabled from a place derived from the ability to be truly present in our lives and in ourselves that yoga arms us with.
Anger arises due to frustrated material desires (not getting what we want when we want it) or a dent to the false ego (ahamkara). What is ego? The “I-Maker” the yogis call it. The thing that creates the identity that we move through the world with.
The identity that’s slapped on our ID card that makes it where we can live in our society. But why do the yogis call this “false” identity? Because the nature of the self is sat-chit-ananda. We are unchanging, blissful, eternal consciousness.
The age, the shape, the look, the job, the roles, the possessions do not fit into this equation that the sages and rishis handed down to us to reveal to us our true nature. They are part of our necessity to live and thrive in our society but also shouldn’t be something we become staunchly attached to.
The part of you that has been watching everything around you changing, even your own body and mind is the true identity the yogis say. The inner consciousness. As we stay in union with that space we are armed to move through the material world.
When we look at anger through this same lens of utility. When we uphold that affront to the false ego, it brings us down to a lower consciousness. But righteous anger, used by a warrior, can help protect the innocent and uphold the principles of dharma and justice.
Taking the opportunity to step on the mat daily and create the space to consider this as you evaluate the emotions that arise for you in your practice in a safe space will create an unparalleled inner healing.
I wish you so much peace, contentedness and many blessings.
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In love,
Amanda and the good folks at Revolution Yoga
Originally shared in our July 2022 newsletter.