JOIN USA Hindu saint, who was visiting the Ganges to take a bath, found the members of a family on the banks shouting at each other. He turned to his disciples, smiled and asked, “Why do people shout in anger at each other?” The disciples thought for a while and one of them said, “Because we lose our cool, we shout.
The saint then asked, “But, why should you shout when the other person is just next to you? You can just as well tell him what you have to say in a soft manner.” The disciples gave some other answers, but none that satisfied the other disciples.
Finally, the saint explained: “When two people are angry at each other, their hearts distance a lot. To cover that distance, they must shout to be able to hear each other.
The angrier they are, the stronger they will have to shout to hear each other to cover that great distance. But consider what happens when two people fall in love? They don’t shout at each other, but talk softly because their hearts are very close. The distance between them is either non-existent or very small...”
The saint continued, “When they love each other even more, what happens? They do not speak, only whisper and they get even closer to each other in their love.
Finally, they even need not whisper, they only look at each other and that’s all. That is how close two people are when they love each other.” He looked at his disciples and said, “So, when you argue, do not let your hearts get distant. Do not say words that distance each other more. Or else, there will come a day when the distance is so great that you will not find the path to return.”
Anger is the surest means of reducing the life span. It generates negative energy and clouds reasoning by distancing the person from his or her inner self. It is said that it is in the darkness of their eyes that human beings lose their way.
The sacred Bhagavad Gita says that the root of all unhappiness is thwarted desire. Unfulfilled desire leads to anger and frustration. This is the root cause of the generation of negative energy.
This explains why our scriptures speak about the importance of ‘iccha shakti’ or the power of will, ‘jnana shakti’ or the power of speech and wisdom and ‘kriya shakti’ or the power of action.
Translated in simple terms, desire God alone! Cling to soft and gentle speech! Perform action without expectation. All three must be congruent. This results in harmony. This is the most effective way of making divine joy permeate all activity.