Today our societal culture is regressing back to the ancient jungle culture of ‘might is right’. It is becoming more fashionable to terrorise and threaten others and feel proud about it. At home one tries to establish supremacy by being aggressive. At the workplace one tries to scare people into submission. Road rage is another phenomenon that has become quite common these days. The offence will be small but our reaction will be ridiculous. Our mentality is becoming like that of animals. We are treating others with disdain.

Such behaviour is doing a lot of harm to our society in general. Aggression on the part of family members is a major cause for family rifts, Usually, the matter would be small but the behaviour would be unacceptable. In offices bullying vitiates the atmosphere. Schools are now being forced to grapple with this serious problem.

Aggressiveness is defined as being angry, or behaving in a threatening way, ready to launch a verbal or physical assault on another person. What are the reasons behind it? In most cases it is the ideas that rules don’t apply to him or her that makes a person aggressive. Such people have double standards, that is they think that there is one set of rules for them and another of others. There is bodily consciousness, that is they don’t see others is significant souls. They lack mercy and compassion. This is especially true when one gets behind the steering wheels. Suddenly, he or she has power, which otherwise one doesn’t possess, and, therefore, one is tempted to misuse it.

Such aggressive behaviors creates enmity, provokes others to act foolishly, affects one’s health, isolates one from others forces one to deviate from one’s duty, and it affects one’s peace of mind.

How does one cure oneself of this harmful habit? The Bhagavad-Geeta has the answers. “One should realise that everyone is a soul and equal” (5.18). “One should practice equanimity” (5.20). Keeping good company helps. Faith in God is also useful. One should try to befriend the mode of goodness by doing positive acts like helping others. Humility actually counters aggression.

The present day menace of terrorism is also a manifestation of this aggressive behaviour. With each passing day we are becoming less civilised. This is highly condemnable. We must reverse this trend by training our minds to remain calm even in the toughest of situations. And spirituality is the path to attain this inner peace.