Sri Aurobindo
Letters of Sri Aurobindo
5. Planes and Parts of the Being
Fragment ID: 487
But is it true that even anger which is of the lower vital and therefore close to the body, invariably produces these effects1? Of course the psychologist can’t know that another man is angry unless he shows physical signs of it, but also he can’t know what a man is thinking unless the man speaks or writes – does it follow that the state of thought cannot be “fancied” without its sign in speaking or writing? A Japanese who is accustomed to control all his “emotions” and give no sign (if he is angry the first sign you will have of it is a knife in your stomach from a calm or smiling assailant) will have none of these things when he is angry,– not even the “ebullition” in the chest,– in its place there will be a settled fire that will burn till his anger achieves itself in action.
1 Physical signs like ebullition in the chest, flushing of the face, etc.