Do you know that there is a controllable 'devil' in you. Yes.. a devil in you..Usually devils are believed to be evil and horrible. Not pleasant at all. Always causing trouble. So when I say that there's a 'devil' in you... which is evil, horrible, not pleasant, always causing trouble, how do you feel for yourself? Apish, terrible, not so good, uncomfortable?

Imagine what will happen when that 'devil' is chased away. I'll tell you.. but this devil can't be completely chased away. It can be tied up. So at least try to tie this devil up.

Because this devil always causes you harm and generate unpleasant and unwanted situations. This devil always tries to put you in trouble.

What is this Devil?

We meet this Devil everyday in our lives. This devil is none other than anger. If you get angry, you know, naturally this devil comes to your body and destroy your present consciousness and mindfulness.

This devil will invade your whole being and will start controlling you as the way it wants you to behave. So automatically you will obey this devil's orders and work according to that. Mind you, devils are evil, never bring about any positive outcome.

Anger, as I mentioned earlier, is one of the most harmful devils in you. Though you know that, though you realise that, you still let that devil govern your whole being when an undesirable situation occurs.

You lose your control and let anger control you, which may create a lot of unnecessary and unpleasant situations. An angry person loses his self control, he is unable to distinguish right from wrong and justice from injustice.

People get angry when they have to face undesirable situations. People get angry when things happen which they don't like and due to that unbearable plight they have to automatically face strong emotional involvements. People get angry when others don't listen to them and do things which they don't like. In short when things happen which don't fulfil one's expectations.

Angry people look ugly

Lord Buddha said it this way "How ugly is the angry man. His sleep is without comfort. Despite his wealth he is always poor. Filled with anger as he is, he wounds himself."

At times when I got angry, some people have said "Don't get angry, you will become ugly". Actually it has a scientific basis. When person is angry, more muscles are tensed than at a normal time. And when time passes these muscles will wear and tear, and ultimately give an ugly appearance.

Dr. William Mark said in one of his speeches that "Unhappy feelings like anger and anxiety possibly affect the distribution of calcium in body, and in consequence, can lead to tooth decay".

Anger causes many diseases. Anger is the main reason for anxiety, stress and depression. When you're angry, extreme emotion of anger will change the condense of hormones in your body.

It will affect the hormone balance in you, which may lead to many mental and physical disorders, such as sleeping disorders, loss of appetite. When you're angry you can't stay happy. It will ruin your happiness and peaceful moments.

Bhikkhu Visuddhakara's point of view on anger is this "The stronger the anger, the stronger we burn. It's a very painful situation".

Overcoming Anger

Anger is like fire, burning all fetters, small and large. Therefore you should give up anger. You won't gain anything by being angry, instead you will lose what you have.

You should always be aware of your self when you get angry, and attempt to curb the anger as mentioned in Dhammapada, Buddhist's hand book of living, "He who checks rising anger as a charioteer checks a rolling chariot, him I call a true charioteer.

Others only hold the reins". It is also said in Dhammapada that the anger should be overcome by non-anger.

If you're angry, I know, it's hard to curb that sensation. I also have gone through that difficult situation. Even I have acted as an insane person at times when I got angry. It took some time for me to realise the unpleasant outcomes of anger, when I had to yield, not so pleasing repercussions of my anger.

I am telling you, you won't at once be able to curb your anger when you meet with a situation which is intolerable and lacking patience. It may at first be difficult to control yourself without making any violence or agitation against it.

Endure that hard feeling of anger. Train yourself to do that. It's not very hard thing to do when you're trained. It may take little time to train yourself to curb your anger. I'll suggest you a little exercise to practise when you get angry. It's very simple and easy.

Count up to fifty and then try to count in the reverse manner, that is from fifty to one. You'll have your full attention on counting, not to the present unpleasant situation, so that you can forget about things which made you angry.

If you can control this devil, it is as if you've killed all your enemies. Actually, if you don't get angry you can never have enemies.

"How many evil men could I kill?, Their number is boundless as the sky. But if the thought of anger is killed, all enemies are killed" - Shatideva