ARROGANCE IS AN ATTITUDE characterized by feeling or acting superior to other people. It’s not the same as taking pride in our work and expressing our genuine pleasure when we accomplish something in a skillful way. And it can be very subtle. We may treat someone kindly but in a condescending manner. We may assume we know all the answers in our area of expertise. Or we may privately believe that our mode of living, or our politics, or our spiritual practices are best for everyone. Of course, arrogance can be blatant, too, as when we denounce or punish those whose beliefs or practices diverge from ours.
Impatience with ourselves or others comes from not being aware of the dynamics of a situation. Every action, every interaction, has a rhythm, a natural energy flow. Although we may think we are saving time by being impatient, we are probably slowing down or compromising the completion of a task. The calm, aware person will hear the abrasive wheel, stop the motor, and oil it. The impatient one will force it forward and break the machine.
Hate and cruelty are extreme emotions and especially harmful to your heart, your Soul, and your Spirit. Mania, or overexcitement, is a heart imbalance that results from sudden, extreme joy or success.
If we are feeling arrogant, impatient, cruel, or hateful toward other people, this is a clear message that we are estranged from our enthusiasm, our gratitude, our trust, our compassion, our joy, and our love. These positive emotions are the natural expression of our Original Spirit, which connects us to Tao and resides in our heart.
As the proverb says, “Pride [arrogance] goeth before a fall!” When we puff ourselves up with importance because of our beliefs, our talents, our achievements, our possessions, or our looks, sooner or later we fall on our face — we make a major blunder. Reaching a position of power in any field of endeavor is a test of our character. The media love to highlight famous athletes, film stars, or elected officials — or their kids — who become addicted to drugs or commit crimes. We may not break the law or become junkies, but none of us are exempt from letting power go to our heads. Spiritual leaders, college professors, writers, accountants, nursery school teachers — anyone can fall prey to arrogance. As parents, we may find that it’s easy to cross the fine line between being firm and being overbearing. There’s an implicit arrogance in demanding compliance from our children simply because we hold power over them.
Very few of us are deliberately cruel. When we are stressed, exhausted, or ill, we may say or do something unkind to someone who is pressuring us. Sometimes what we intend as a helpful comment to someone is perceived by him or her as hurtful or condescending. Even if our comment is the perfect solution to the problem, he or she may need to find that solution alone. As a general rule, it’s best not to offer advice unless it’s asked for — and even then we must tread lightly.
No one likes to lose face. Yet it may be necessary to criticize another person’s actions or words. If possible, first find some aspect to praise, and then gently voice what needs to be changed. Dena at one time taught college courses in public speaking to working adults. At the beginning of a semester, about 90 percent of them would be fearful about speaking before the class. Speech researchers tell us that fear of public humiliation, especially in public speaking, is the second- most common fear, after death. Knowing this, Dena required alternating groups of students to verbally critique each speech after it was delivered. They were asked to follow the criteria taught in class and to first identify the specific strengths of the speech. Then they were asked to suggest specific improvements, always in a supportive way. This method worked beautifully for a few thousand students. The praise made them feel appreciated and validated; then they were able to hear and accept the “improvements.” And, to their credit, almost all of them became noticeably more confident, more dynamic, and more informative in their speeches.
If you find yourself hating someone or some situation, or having cruel thoughts, it’s time to back off and take a break. Quietly, by yourself, use the Six Healing Sounds and Releasing One Emotion practices to understand the reasons for your hate or cruelty and to find a way to transcend them. Sharing your concerns with a compassionate relative, friend, or counselor can be helpful. At any rate, you can’t allow hate or cruelty to harm yourself or others.
Overexcitement or mania is a heart imbalance. Too much joy or success that comes on suddenly, without preparation, can upset your heart energy and spill over to all your internal organs. Some people have died from heart failure in response to too much happiness all at once. Manic depression, or bipolar disorder, is also an imbalance of heart energy.1
Fear is really the cause of these troublesome emotions. Arrogance arises when we secretly or unconsciously judge ourselves as unworthy. So we put up a big front, to hide our poor self-esteem. Impatience occurs when we’re afraid a project will not succeed. Hate and cruelty grow from the fear of being too vulnerable. And overexcitement comes from too much happiness all at once, making us fear that we don’t deserve it.
The Six Healing Sounds, Inner Smile, and Releasing One Emotion practices help enormously in connecting with our Original Spirit, in our heart. Our heart will then speak to us. It may speak kinesthetically, letting us feel a sense of calmness and lightness when we consider beneficial actions and a sense of uneasiness and heaviness when we consider adverse actions. It may also communicate with images in our mind or even in words. It will guide us to those actions that create compassion, gratitude, trust, joy, and love.
The way to happiness and health requires us to face our deficiencies, learn from them, and then let them go. So if we find ourselves being arrogant, we forgive ourselves and then we correct it. The same with impatience, cruelty, hate, and overexcitement. The more we consciously correct ourselves, the easier it becomes to do. And the less often we have to do it.
FIGURE 9: Heart and Small Intestine
When the troubling emotions of arrogance, impatience, cruelty, hate, and mania are not processed and transformed, they build up in the heart and small intestine. They weaken these organs and cause them to malfunction. They also weaken the positive emotions that reside there: enthusiasm, gratitude, trust, joy, compassion, and love.
Western medicine tells us that the heart is the first internal organ to develop in the fetus (a beautiful plan by Mother Nature). Anatomically, it’s a muscular double pump that, in an adult, is about the size of our fist. It controls and regulates the circulation of blood through the blood vessels to all the cells of the body. In its one-way journey, away from the heart and lungs and back again, the blood delivers oxygen, nutrients, antibodies, and hormones, and it removes carbon dioxide and other metabolic wastes. It’s constantly working for us — it never takes a vacation.
Western medicine describes the small intestine as a curled-up tube measuring about twenty feet long that is the main organ of digestion and absorption of food. It receives partially digested food from the stomach and then alters it chemically by means of digestive juices and enzymes. This converts the food into the body’s basic requirements of simple sugars, amino acids, and fatty acids. Next the small intestine absorbs these nutrients into the bloodstream and sends them to the liver for immediate use or storage. It sends the wastewater and solid particles to the large intestine, which absorbs the water and salts and excretes the solids.
Traditional Chinese Medicine calls the heart the “chief” or “director” of all the internal organs. It governs the blood and controls the blood vessels. It manifests in the complexion and controls the tongue, the taste buds, and the sweat.
Spiritually, the heart is the leader of our being. It houses Original Spirit, our direct connection to Tao (God, Source, and so on). Original Spirit can also be called Shen. Shen has two aspects, ordinary mind and Higher Mind. Ordinary mind includes memory, intelligence, thinking, and emotional abilities. Higher Mind includes the sum total of the functions of the entire spiritual team composed of the heart Shen; the liver Soul, Hun; the spleen Spirit, Yi; the lung Soul, Po; and the kidney Spirit, Zhi. Heart Shen leads, coordinates, and harmonizes the team. Higher Shen is the coach, a player, and also all the players working together.
TCM says that the small intestine rules the separation of the “pure” from the “waste.” Psychologically, it says, the small intestine rules the ability to discern relevant issues with clarity.4 In other words, it separates the useful from the extraneous.
The tongue is the sense organ connected energetically to the heart. A normal, pale red tongue and normal taste buds reflect a balanced, healthy heart. Distortion in tongue color, shape, or taste buds reflects a heart imbalance from arrogance, impatience, cruelty, hate, mania, or some other external cause. In relation to the tongue, heart imbalance can also manifest as speech problems, such as stuttering, or in incessant talking or inappropriate laughter.
Excessive heat from the sun is harmful to the heart and small intestine. It can trigger impatience or overexcitement.
Chronic arrogance, impatience, mania, cruelty, or hate weakens the heart and small intestine and causes them to malfunction. Symptoms of heart malfunction include heart murmurs, chest pain, weakness, dizziness, insomnia, coma, stroke, and heart arrest. Symptoms of small intestine malfunction include indigestion, nausea, cramps, diarrhea, constipation, and malnutrition.
Fire is the element of the heart and small intestine. The season when they work the hardest is summer. The energetic actions of fire are energy rising and growing. We can see these actions in both the positive and negative emotions. Enthusiasm, gratitude, joy, trust, compassion, and love are ascending emotions — they raise us up; they make us feel taller and more wonderful. Arrogance, impatience, mania, hate, and cruelty also rise and grow in intensity until we lose our balance and fall.
Eat fresh, locally grown, organic food as much as possible. Avoid canned, processed, irradiated, or genetically modified food. Include all five tastes and colors in your daily diet. Bitter is the taste that supports the heart and small intestine. Most Americans eat few or no bitter foods. Could this be related to the fact that heart disease is the number one killer in the United States? Bitter foods include artichoke, asparagus, avocado, bok choy, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, dandelion greens, leeks, mushrooms, mustard greens, rutabagas, and turnips. Avocado, broccoli, cauliflower, and celery can be eaten raw for optimal vitamins, minerals, and enzymes. Cook the others lightly and briefly on a medium flame in a small amount of water. Or stir-fry quickly in organic raw coconut oil or olive oil; then add a little water and simmer briefly. This will retain most of their vitamins, minerals, and enzymes.
If your heart or small intestine is very weak, it’s best to minimize the bitter foods and emphasize sour and sweet foods. (See index for these.)
Red is the color that nourishes the heart and small intestine. Red foods contain the antioxidant lycopene.5 Include in your diet beets, radishes, raspberries, red cabbage, tomatoes, and a small amount of red bell or hot peppers. Organic grated raw beets in your salads will lubricate your intestines, nourish your blood, and provide hydrochloric acid for digesting proteins.
Wearing red clothes is fun and energizing, and most people enjoy seeing other people wearing red. However, if you’re overexcited, it’s best to cool down with blue, green, or black clothes.
Appreciate the element of fire in your life. We need it to cook food on stoves, outdoor grills, or in fireplaces. We warm our homes with furnaces or wood-burning stoves. And fire is crucial in transforming and shaping metal for so many of our modern necessities, such as manufacturing machines, agricultural machines, building foundations, appliances, electronic devices, cars, trucks, trains, planes, tools, pots, tableware, and musical instruments.
Of course, our most important fire is the sun, which sustains all life on earth. We suggest giving thanks every day for our sun. If you do this at sunrise or sunset while turning your closed eyes to the sun, it will give you additional Cosmic Chi energy. Getting some sun for twenty minutes every day when possible, preferably before 10 AM or after 2 PM, boosts your Life Force Chi, your Internal Organ Chi, and your Sexual Chi.
1. Giovanni Maciocia, The Foundations of Chinese Medicine (Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone, 1989), pp. 73, 210–11.
2. Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English, Lao Tsu: Tao Te Ching (New York: Vintage Books, 1972), chap. 24.
3. Ronald P. Beesley, The Path of Esoteric Truthfulness (Kent, England: White Lodge Publications, 1976), p. 104.
4. Maciocia, Foundations of Chinese Medicine, p. 115.
5. Maoshing Ni, Secrets of Self-Healing (New York: Avery, 2008), p. 78.