Day 5 (round 2--day 12 for me): Letting go of anger the destructive force

Day 5 Deepak Chopra's daily meditations on how to discover your "Synchrodestiny" out of his book, The Spontaneous Fulfillment of Desire: Harnessing the Infinite Power of Coincidence.

After meditating for 20 minutes using the "so hum" breathing technique (breath in through your nose thinking "so" and out through your nose thinking "hum") I focussed on today's principle: Moksha which means I am emotionally free.

Chopra talks about the different emotions and how they capture and enslave us. The most destructive, he argues, is anger. He says that venting anger can only make things worse, that it does not produce freedom. Anger is the most destructive emotion because it creates the illusion that we are separate from others instead of one. When we are angry, or vent anger, we literally tear the fabric of the universe, the whole cloth into which we are all woven.

Instead of venting anger, better to deconstruct it--break down the anger so that I can take personal responsibility for it. He has a couple of different exercises for this, both of which are good, but I really don't know a better one than that set forth in the 12 steps of Alcoholic's Anonymous.

Step 4 is to do a searching and fearless moral inventory. The classic "Big Book" way to do it is to identify the emotion, say anger, then put who you're angry with and briefly why you're angry. Then write out what this anger or resentment affects (my personal relations, pocketbook, sense of self, whatever). Then, and this is the most important part, what is my part in the resentment or anger? Where have I been self-seeking, selfish, dishonest or fearful.

IF I do this relentlessly with every bad emotion, it brings me true emotional freedom because the only thing that I can control is my part. I can't do anything about other people's parts. Nothing at all.

If things are challenging today, here is a Sutra statement: Imagine that you are free from blaming, free from feeling blame or guilt.