Temper-Keep it with you ,no one wants it .                                            
                                                  
                                                   Lord Krishna in Bagwad Gita says,
                                                    Krodhaad bhavati sammohah
                                                    sammohaat  smruti-vibhramah
                                                    Smruti-bhramshaad  buddhi  nasho,  
                                                    bhuddhi  nashat  pranashyati !
                                      
 Chapter  2  , Verse,  63  meaning from anger arises delusion, and from delusion emerges bewilderment of memory finally leading to loss of intelligence.
Often we hear that the elders are more easily irritable and they loose their cool.I used to think that it may be because of
1. The physical discomfort because of aging like lack of sleep, getting tired
easily etc.
2. Due to diseases like BP, Sugar, Arthritis etc
3. Due to ego inflicted problems.
For example a retired officer in any cadre suddenly after retirement finds the difference in the level of respect he used to get then and now, frustrates himself and vents up at wrong places.
It happens even to a normal housewife who suddenly finds out that the attention of her children suddenly gets divided when they get married or move out to live independent  

So I started reading more on the subject and I want to share some of my findings and thoughts with you...

The belief that the pent up feelings causes pressure and heart attacks and it's healthy to let off steam no longer holds up. Studies show that outbursts ; actually augments anger.
Frequent  angry bursts escalates health causing cancer, heart diseases etc.

The people who suppress their outbursts and those who express their anger invite health problems with equal veracity.


''The heart rate and blood pressure increase and the system reeves up
too fast ,just like when a car is accelerated than what is necessary.''
Say Dr.Brian Baker., a cardiac psychiatrist.

Angry women were found to be four times more likely to have high
cholesterol and become overweight than the calmer once. The angry men are twice the risk of stroke than the laid back one. Thus either sex is not spared.

Anger prompts the pit pouring of stress hormones, which cause heart rate and blood pressure to rise. An excess of these hormones cause damage to arteries and heart muscles and make the heart beat irregularly. They can constrict blood vassals, disrupting plaque that  block an artery, causing a heart attack or stroke.
20% of us have angry personality and 20% are easy going. the rest fall
somewhere in the middle.

How do we know what kind of personality we are?
Chronically angry people tend to be more depressed, sad and anxious. They are prone to being aggressive, cynical, and suspicious of other people's intentions. Says another specialist .So we need to deal with our anger and at the same time do not get tensed suppressing the feelings. 
But if blowing your top and suppressing it, both are bad, then the question arises what's the healthy alternative?
Invariably everyone suggests the diversion of the mind as the best solution.Several simple methods are preached  some of them  sound childish.But what is wrong as long as we do not have to take any pills etc.
A few are listed below. Select the best one which suits you
1. When in a spot and your temper rises try to leave the place quietly .
2. Count ten mentally with deep breath...
3. Go for a walk.
4. Make an excuse get up go and have a glass of cold water
This gives you a few minutes to calm down and regain perspective. 
A tougher method is shifting your anger from heart to head. Ask yourself
''What made me angry? Why do I feel this way?Is my anger justified? Was blowing my top worth it?''
Keep reminding yourself that we seniors are supposed to be the role model to the society. These may  sound very western and very psychiatric.What does our spirituality teach us?
1. Meditation to calm down the mind.
2. Pranayama to control anxiety.
3. Yoga to unite the healthy body and healthy mind.

 Hear is Swami Anubhavanadaji’s formula-

When you are about to get angry, instigated by others try these.
“Bade ko aadar do,Chote ko maaph karo”. Meaning, respect  them if they are your elders as they have the right to err. Pardon the youngsters as they are erring because of ignorance.    
Why is it necessary for us to hold our temper?
1.Getting angry always causes more damage in the elders  like a heart attack ,stroke etc and may make one totally dependent on others.
2.People will tend to isolate and push one to loneliness.

 So friends, the results of my finding is that Anger and temper are self inflicted wounds for which the ointments is within ourselves.

It is unfortunate that the habit of maintaining a diary has vanished otherwise each one can find out at the end of the year how many times he/she has lost temper and whether it was all worth it!!!  

                                         Happiness and bliss {Compiled from various sources}

  Many times we conclude that we are in bliss. But do we know what bliss is?

The dictionary meaning of bliss is ‘the joy of extreme happiness’’ a condition of supreme well being and good spirit.

In these modern times, you ask a person “what is the meaning of life?”  Getting happiness” is the prompt reply. Today there is such a big emphasis on being happy. We have movies regarding the subject and commercials are almost exclusively about happiness. Every commercial tells you that you will be happy as soon as you buy their product. We even have books on the subject of how to achieve the magnificent state that happiness is. Our constant obsession with happiness is very much reflected from photographs. When someone is to take a portraitor a selfie , it’s important for us to smile and look happy, in order for others to see how happy we are. Happiness has become something prestigious.

What is happiness? The happiness that is being preached by media is about being content. When you are happy you are satisfied with your life, and how it has turned out. The happy man today is shown as someone with a good career, having a pretty good income of money, have a loving and faithful wife. Also you have two kids, one boy and one girl that you live together with preferably on the countryside. Now, this man is according to the myth happy, But The moment you declare your happiness, you have nothing to strive for anymore. It is in man’s nature to struggle, to fight against one self and to become a better man. We are not meant to be content, we are meant to improve our selves. “Happiness” is a false virtue. In fact it’s a non-existent virtue. It is not natural to feel a constant happiness as modern society’s myths claim.

I do believe in  short moments when one experience euphoria due to things as seeing beautiful nature. It is not something that is long lasting, something we are constantly told it should be. The only way we can be constantly happy is by distributing happiness. And for that one needs to look within and try to be better than what you are as a human being.

Many people don't realize , that money , wealth , fame , beauty and fashion don't make you happy. "Money doesn't buy you happiness". If it was so ,then Michael Jackson who was at the pinnacle of fame and having altered his looks should not have become miserable and take the help of drugs! Studies show that Lottery winners, once they have got over the initial rush of apparent well-being and excitement, return to their prior level of happiness or unhappiness within a reasonably short time.

Dalai Lama has said,’’I believe that the purpose of life is to be happy’’. From the moment of birth, every human being wants happiness and does not want suffering. Neither social conditioning nor education nor ideology affects this. From the very core of our being, we simply desire contentment. I don't know whether the universe, with its countless galaxies, stars and planets, has a deeper meaning or not, but at the very least, it is clear that we humans who live on this earth face the task of making a happy life for ourselves. Therefore, it is important to discover what will bring about the greatest degree of happiness.’’

Although in external matters we are highly developed and continue to progress, at the same time it is equally important to develop and progress in terms of inner development.

 Man constantly craves and thinks of bliss.’’ If I get her as my wife, I will be in bliss’’. Think some. For most it is money, others success and still others sexual fulfillment.

But the search never ends. If a person has everything, still he wants some higher thing than what he usually has and so he goes after drugs, alcohol etc. For some few, spirituality gives them bliss. Here we are talking of spirituality and other mundane things like marriage in one breath. Why? The answer is given b

Under the influence of drugs like Ecstasy one gets the feeling of high, a feeling of light headedness and a sense of profound connecting to others, the feeling that one’s heart is exploding with love. It is akin to a spiritual experience. One transgresses the limit of our own being and self-consciousness to feel a part of something much bigger. Chanting divine mantra and kirtan gives the same experience.  At base level all our emotional and physiological feelings could be explained in terms of different biochemical combination. Taking drugs alters our biochemistry and so our feelings .The ecstatic state in spirituality is just as drug induced as taking Ecstasy. But in chanting or kirtan the drug is our bodie's own. This we realize only if we know yoga where body, mind  unite. The experience of bliss is a part of our physiology. We are wired that way. The mind translates biochemical changes into emotion. The endorphin and other receptors like neuropeptide in the brain make us feel good. Therefore our own biochemistry is the key to our happiness.

According to an ancient  'knowledge - known by its Sanskrit name as 'ayurveda' - there is a subtle biochemical substance known as OJAS that is responsible for the experience of joy, exhilaration and happiness in the human mind-body system.

That amazing meal you had at that restaurant, which filled your senses with delight and exposed you to amazing new flavors, can certainly be described as bringing you happiness because of endorphin. The same goes to for any spiritual experience.

     By looking at American society today, one would think that there is a massive epidemic of OJAS deficiency.  Millions of Americans are complaining of being unhappy and depressed—yet most doctors simply throw a pill at the problem!  They do not go to the underlying problem. Endorphin represents a category of peptides. They produce bodie’s pain and pleasure feeling. Acupuncture and massage can alleviate pain by the release of endorphins into cerebrospinal fluid. Exercise, yoga and running stimulates endorphin production and the resultant feeling of wellness. Pranayama and deep breathing have the same effect.

When we do pranayama, chanting or kirtan , it causes the body to make it’s own drug and  metabolize it’s own drugs which produce heightened feeling of well being similar to the drug Ecstasy , although the  health benefit of chanting, kirtan and pranayama etc clearly outweigh those of taking ecstasy. The mind is fooled and doesn’t differentiate between endogenous and exogenous drugs.

Our experience of bliss does not lessen because they can be explained.

Sat-Chit-Ananda is a triple consciousness. Sat is existence, Chit is consciousness and Ananda is bliss. You can separate them if you want to and, at the same time, you can take them as one. If one achieves Existence, then inside Existence he has Consciousness itself. And if one has Consciousness, then Bliss is there.

‘’To reach Sat-Chit-Ananda is a most difficult thing. Hardly twenty or thirty Masters have reached it and stayed at that plane, and hardly one or two can embody it. Some Masters have reached that plane and immediately came down because it was too high for them. It is much easier for people to reach the illumined mind or the Supermind, but Sat-Chit-Ananda is absolutely the highest. That consciousness is almost impossible to attain, even for the spiritual Masters. When we go deep within we feel these three together, and when we acquire the inner vision to perceive them all at once, we live verily in the Kingdom of Heaven. Otherwise, Existence is at one place, Consciousness is somewhere else and Bliss is nowhere near the other two. When we see and feel Existence-Consciousness-Bliss on the selfsame plane, each complementing and fulfilling the others, Not only can we feel it, but without the least possible doubt, we can become it. we can say that we live in the Kingdom of Heaven. Yes, the Kingdom of Heaven is within us.’’ Yoga and the Spiritual Life by Sri Chinmoy
Man chases bliss like a lion chasing the deer and it eludes him ,not knowing that it is actually within him.I agree with the Dalai Lama .’’People in modern societies tend to depend more on machines and services rather than on fellow human beings. The consequence of all this is unhealthy competitions, envy, hatred, accounting for the problems, tensions and unhappiness in our societies today. This trend must be challenged and changed, by all of us, individually and collectively. As we all seek ways and means to find happiness and fulfillment in life, His Holiness calls us to reflect on the fact that there is someone else somewhere, very close to us, who needs our help in order to be happy too. Only when we succeed in making such a person happy do we become happy ourselves and find the fulfillment and satisfaction that we seek.’’
Happiness is short term, comes from outside .Bliss comes from inside and lasts long, it is the joy of being.

Happiness is something we crave for and get and bliss is nothing to crave for. Happiness  is a tiny piece of bliss .Bliss fills you with the reality of supreme and depends only on him who dwells within us.