Anger as a result of meditataion

OM

I had an interesting question today, so I thought I'd share the answer:

Ques: twice after meditation I found myself very angry and Itried to express it in a safe way but did bite my husband's head off. Any thoughts on the matter. (from Judy in New Zealand)

S.S. ans: Yes, I do have very definite thoughts on the matter.Anger seems to be a VERY common reaction to meditation. People are usually confused by it, as you expect medtation to make you more peaceful and hence, less angry.

Meditation works to purify your mind. We all have thoughts that we don't want to have - emotions that we don't want to express, etc. No yogi wants to be an angry person. So, in the past, when this type of thought started to form, we suppressed it - much like sweeping dirt under the carpet. But, meditation is like an intense spring cleaning - you pick up the carpets and give them a good shake. All of the hidden 'dirt" come out. I think it is a necessary part of the purification process. However, it doesn't mean that you're supposed to bite your husband's head off - learn to witness your own thoughts (and emotions) in a detached manner. Observe the negative thoughts, but do not act on them.

Yoga Sutra, verse 1.12 abhyasa-vairagyabhyam tannirodhah

"vrittis may be controlled by abhyasa (regular steady practice) and vairagya (detachment)".

Hari om,

When we meditate we observe the state of our being. If we have a lot of suppressed thoughts within us that have not been take care or resolved, then it can come up during meditation and cause a feeling of frustration and even anger as well. When we take care of ourselves, our life or our whatever we are involved in, then the frustration will not be so big. However, if they are just stored in the canvas of our mind then we will become aware of it at some point in time. It is basically a good sign and a reminder that something has been neglected and needs our attention. We should be happy and look into what needs to be resolved. Pleasure and pain are the gifts that God gives us in given moments. They are made from the same substratum of Brahman. We experience it differently. They are like day and night, they come and go. We need to respect them and make them work for our benefit. When it helps us, it will also do good to those we interact with, because then we are working on ourselves. It is all a kriya or purification. ommmmmmmmmm

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Comments

Anandapadmanabhan Hariharan February 24, 2011 at 3:19am

anger is the out come of attachment and irrespective of whether one is meditating or not meditating anger will persist till you realize the game of maya.

shambho mahadeva
Harshad February 19, 2011 at 12:05pm

Yes, I have experienced anger surfacing often. I too think it is the process of cleansing.

Here it is important to accept anger and not be angry over anger! Not to be ruled by it, just observe it. It will pass.
Dirt accumulated over many lives is getting cleaned.
Swami Saradananda December 31, 2010 at 12:50pm

Sitting in satsang this morning with Ramji (James Swartz) he made the comments the "Meditation makes you angry because you are repressing vasanas". I guess that most of us have many repressed vasanas and when we try to meditate, it brings them up faster than we can eliminate them - sort of like treading water.
haripriya_deepa December 9, 2010 at 8:19pm

Hari om,

When we meditate we observe the state of our being. If we have a lot of suppressed thoughts within us that have not been take care or resolved, then it can come up during meditation and cause a feeling of frustration and even anger as well. When we take care of ourselves, our life or our whatever we are involved in, then the frustration will not be so big. However, if they are just stored in the canvas of our mind then we will become aware of it at some point in time. It is basically a good sign and a reminder that something has been neglected and needs our attention. We should be happy and look into what needs to be resolved. Pleasure and pain are the gifts that God gives us in given moments. They are made from the same substratum of Brahman. We experience it differently. They are like day and night, they come and go. We need to respect them and make them work for our benefit. When it helps us, it will also do good to those we interact with, because then we are working on ourselves. It is all a kriya or purification. ommmmmmmmmm

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