“Anger overflows because you have not included someone or something as a part of yourself. The very process of liberation is to include, not exclude. In inclusion, you become liberated. The day when everything, the whole existence, is included in you, you are liberated.” ~ Sadhguru Blog 3-15-16

Happy Sunday!
A week ago I attended a local meeting that I am a member of the board for. A local commercial business made an informal presentation about ideas they had to make changes. As it was an informal presentation just seeking input I was first to respond saying that I felt the idea went against the vision the town had for itself.
I have gotten more and more comfortable in recent years with public speaking and responding to questions from the public. I am confident in my own opinion as I recognize the knowledge I’ve gained from being older, holding a senior position at work, and years of experience in engineering and management.
So after the meeting I felt fine about my role and what I said but I could not get the evening from replaying in my mind. Part of me sensed that my words fell on deaf ears, not only for the business owner seeking input but also on my peers on the board. I woke up the following morning and still the events of the meeting were still re-playing.
Why wasn’t my opinion, direct and unwavering, enough to convince others?
The answer came quickly. I now receive morning wisdom emails from Sadhguru ever since I gave my email address in at his speaking engagement I attended in New Brunswick last month. That morning the email message was about controlling anger. Sadhguru explained that we get angry due to our identification with thinking in the way of likes and dislikes – everything gets labeled one way or the other and then we identify ourselves with the things we have chosen to like. This means we are excluding much of reality from ourselves. And, when another person chooses to identify with what we dislike we get angry at them.
The quote at the top of this blog helped me to understand that even though I may express my point of view with clarity, intelligence, and, I try, detachment it is still exclusive. I am pushing the other away and not trying to include them within myself.
I thought about the way Sadhguru speaks to a group, he asks questions such as “is it not so?” And he expects a response from the crowd. He is inclusive in the way he seems to under the irony of little things in our culture like our relationships or attachment to our technology. He teaches in an inclusive way.
I realized I need to be conscious of being inclusive in my work when speaking about the changes that may be proposed.
As I write today I see another side to being inclusive. The first lesson was to work on including the other into my own understanding of the situation so that they could see things from my perspective. This new lesson is to also remember to take the time to understand the others’ perspective. It would be very easy to think that I understand and just work on expressing my own views.
If I am to act toward inclusion of others into myself then I must acknowledge that they too have ideas and gifts to enrich my experience.
Here is a new lesson to work on.
Namaste’
“And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”  
Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.”
 “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.  
“The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” ~ Mark 12:28-31