Website owner: James Miller
We have all seen a person so possessed by anger that he is
acting totally foolishly, like a person deranged. The same
thing can happen with hate. A person can be so filled with
hate, so overcome with hate, that he is acting totally irrationally.
There are some things that impair the proper working of the
rational mind. There are things that can interfere with
reason, sense and judgment, that tend to overpower reason,
suppress it, render it inoperable. What are they? Let us list
some of them:
pride romantic passion
arrogance lust
hatred anger
envy impatience
jealousy impetuousness
fear contentiousness
malice hastiness
worry vengefulness
All these things tend to overpower and suppress reason and
sense. Let us just take one example: romantic infatuation,
"love", romantic passion, whatever you wish to call the
phenomenon. We all know about it and we all know its power to
overpower all reason, sense, and judgment. How it can kill
reason, render it null. When romantic imagination and passion
come together they can roll over all else. Well, anger can do
the same thing, although perhaps in a lesser degree. So can
fear. So can hatred. So can all the others. All these things
can short out the circuits governing reason, judgment and
sense, kill them, render them null. They have the power to
temporarily suppress reason, perspective and balance.
Reason and good judgment require a calm, quiet, tranquil,
collected, dispassionate mind. Any disturbing agent acting on
the mind impairs its proper working. Noise or commotion can
interfere with concentration. A person under stress (as from
fear, distress, concern, or worry) or who feels upset,
troubled, agitated or disturbed for any reason doesn't think
well. His mind is perturbed and won't focus, won't
concentrate.
The wise man is a man of reason, sense and understanding. A
man of balance and perspective. And this requires a
tranquillity, equanimity or calmness of mind. All of the above
named things are detrimental to equanimity of mind and thus to
reason and the power to make balanced and wise judgments. All
are enemies of sound judgment. All stifle the proper
development of the mind, heart and soul of man. The wise man
is the man of peace, humility, meekness, patience, benevolence,
kindness, forgiveness, justness, goodness, temperance,
chastity, godliness, faith, self-denial, and contentment with
little. All of these things promote equanimity of mind,
wisdom, and personal happiness because they promote peace with
other people, peace with ourselves and peace with God.
Let us consider some specific examples. Suppose you are a
pugnacious, argumentative person who goes around stepping on
people's toes all the time. Then people will strike back and
you will go around upset all the time. You will have all kinds
of reasons for complaints and anger. You will have continual
agitation of mind. Suppose you are a proud, arrogant person.
Again you will go around agitated and upset all the time
because you will always be feeling slighted. Suppose you are a
envious or jealous person. Again you will go around agitated
all the time. Etc, etc. All these are examples of foolish
conduct, conduct against reason. All are against quietude,
calmness and equanimity of mind. All work against reason and
understanding.
Thus we see that the Way of Reason requires the right
attitudes, outlooks and personal behavior in life. The wrong
attitudes, outlooks and conduct are against Reason and are
self-destructive. The man of wisdom and understanding
understands this.
The man who has as his first object truth and understanding
will do well to pursue those virtues named above, virtues that
promote calmness, tranquillity and equanimity of mind.
Dec 2002
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