Anger management

Submitted by Mahabhagvat Das

I met this young boy who was rushing by but something (or Someone) made him stop and said "yeah man, yeah, actually, what am I doing, just walking around, yeah, I will hear what you have to say". I spoke a few sentences about the Bhagavad Gita, the people who read it and benefited from it, yoga, meditation, and I asked him for his name. He replied with his name - Sebastian. I then asked him what he did. He began to tell me how he was in a special school working off issues with anger. I told him I had issues with anger also, and it got me into a lot of trouble. He said he was getting out of those troubles now. He then spoke about how everyone should have an open mind, about how everyone should be free to speak, and there should be more patience and tolerance in this world. I gave him a mantra card and asked him to chant. Half-way through the mantra, he stopped and asked me if I was tricking him into glorifying Krishna. I said I will tell him what the mantra meant as soon as we finished chanting once without interruption, and we chanted together. Then I told him that the mantra would help him totally conquer anger, that it helped me a lot. he compared it to counting to 10, and said, that doesn't really work, but this was more majestic. I said it was magical, it always calmed one down, and I said I'd been practicing for many years and had personal experience of its power. I told him that reading the book will also help him conquer anger also, on a deeper level too. He said he'd surely read it. He gave me a donation, practically all he had at the time, wished he had more to give. I invited him to the sunday feast, asked him to come with friends and have a great experience with food, drumming, chanting, music and singing... he shook hands and departed.

I just reflected upon this bright spark, part-and-parcel of Krishna, and wondered if it was being out of touch with Krishna that was making him so angry, and what made him stop and chat with me, take the book, chant the Mahamantra. I pray he reads, I pray he chants. I pray he pursues devotional service wholeheartedly.