Anger Pollution: a Dangerous Byproduct of the Undifferentiated Mind
As discussed in earlier articles, most of us assume and behave as if we are our Person. Instead of residing in our essence, pure Being, our Mind is contaminated with the automatic expectations of cultural conditioning (Stage 1 in the chart below). This misunderstanding inevitably diminishes our ability to experience Life fully and draws us onto false, perhaps even destructive, paths. To avoid these pitfalls, it is necessary for Mind to differentiate Person from Being (Stage 3). While our aim is Stage 3, where Mind has fully diffentiated and integrated Person and Being, most of us reside in Stage 2, a state of partial differentiation.
Anger is one of the prime byproducts of Mind's confusion of Being and Person. As long as these two are confused, Anger will be an endemic state of Mind. Only if Mind differentiates Being and Person, is Anger neutralized. Because Anger is an emotion, once Anger has been aroused, Anger must be dissipated. It will not go away on its own. Anger has polluted the Mind. This Mind Pollution is why Anger is a dangerous emotion and must be avoided at all costs.
When Mind mistakenly believes that he is his Person, he ferociously acts to defend the Homeland. Any attack on his Person is met with hostility and defensiveness. If expectations concerning the Person/Being complex aren't met, Anger is the result. This same situation also applies to Mind's misidentification with Family, Community, Baseball team, or Country.
Anger over unfulfilled Expectations of the Polluted Mind leads to an Emotional War
Let's illustrate these abstract assertions with a concrete example. We'll examine how the same situation ignites dangerous Anger when the Mind is polluted and nourishing Laughter when the Mind is cleansed. Two people are interacting. One Person exhibits threatening irritating, or obnoxious behavior, to the other Person (or it is perceived as such). This could take myriad forms: including insults, false accusations, lack of appreciation, gratitude, or respect. For instance, the Chef falsely accuses the Waiter of placing the wrong order.
If the Waiter is attached to his Person, he responds aggressively, perhaps with righteous indignation, that he did indeed place the correct order. If the Chef is also attached to his externals, his Person, he feels that his authority is being challenged. His expectation of total respect from the wait staff is flaunted and he responds with Anger. The Waiter's expectations of justice towards his Person aren't met. Now the Waiter is mad about the double injustice done to his Person. With both people in a state of Anger, the Amygdala has taken charge. The reasoning ability of the Cortex is just a fading shore. The immediate fight/flight instinct has taken over. Either the Waiter quits his job in a fury; the two get in a fight or they swallow their Anger in the interests of job security. When two countries are in a similar emotional frenzy, they might go to war.
However the Anger doesn't just go away immediately, no matter how much insight either of the combatants have. The Body's emotional response is on a biochemical level. This means that there are actual 'anger' molecules floating around the system. If the Waiter or Chef is heavily attached to this injustice towards his Person, he will multiply example upon example from the past to fan the fire of his Anger. The undissipated Anger turns into thoughts of Revenge and the happy harmony of the restaurant has turned sour.
On more immediate levels, wine and food doesn't taste as good because of the physical pollution of the 'bitter' molecules. Further the Mind can't appreciate Just Being because his thoughts are dominated by Anger, whether due to the injustice or lack of respect exhibited towards his Person. All this emotional turmoil takes time to leave the system. It might even manifest in dreams in the middle of the night and infect the following day as well. If neither Party lets go of their Person, the incident turns into an ongoing Feud with recurrent battles that ignite more Anger, which further disturb the potential for wallowing in Being. The simple incident has turned into a Disaster for the entire Restaurant – all because of attachment to Person.
Laughter
Now let's see what happens if the Waiter has a clean Mind. In other words, Being and Person have been differentiated. The same Chef falsely accuses the Waiter of placing the wrong order. Realizing that he is not the Person that may or may not have placed the wrong order, he does not take offense. In fact, he is in a good mood because is going to reside in Being with his daughters and wife on the following day. Aware of the dangers of Anger pollution, he consciously avoids his residual Person attachments to Justice, at all costs. Any time the least bit of anger ignites in this dangerous situation, the Waiter extinguishes it with a douse of Being.
Instead of responding angrily at this perceived injustice towards his Person, which is not him, the Waiter instead smiles and says, "Yeah right. Probably my mistake. It's always the Waiter's fault. Right?" – "Damn right, it is," grumbles the Chef, as his scowl fades into a grin. Realizing that an explosive emotional time bomb has been defused, the Waiter breaks out into infectious laughter, which spreads to his fellow workmates. The emotional relief that this potential negative energy has not infected the Restaurant increases the depth of the Experience.
Same situation. Entirely opposite results. When the Waiter was attached to his Person, an emotional war broke out, which threatened the harmony of the entire restaurant. Nothing tasted as good and both parties contemplated the flawed behavior of revenge. Life's Experience of Being was compromised and both workers had turned off the Path. Not just the two individuals were effected. This ball of negativity also tainted and infected the rest of the world.
When the Waiter was not attached to the circumstances surrounding his Person, laughter was the result. This tiny incident was forgotten in the midst of merriment. Everyone was laughing at the Waiter's Person. Yet, he didn't care, because this construct, while useful, is not him. He, instead resides in Being. His engagement with wife and daughters won't be tainted with residual anger. He remains on the Path. The entire world smiles that harmony has been retained. All is well.
Destructive Pride is another Emotion that is related to the confusion of Person and Being.
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