In Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, a young Anakin Skywalker reveals to Yoda that he fears losing his mother. Yoda tells him, “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.” Yoda then concludes that he senses much fear in Anakin.
Fear causes us to want to avoid, which leads to us to feeling less emotionally resilient. It can drain our attention, leaving us feeling guarded in other areas.
Fear can easily trigger anger. For example, say you are running late to work, and you are rushing to get there. A car cuts you off while you’re driving, and you lose it. You even surprise yourself at the level of road rage you have. Another example would be if you are worried about finances and fear not being able to pay all your bills that month. Your spouse comes home, having purchased a $5 plant and you get angry with them for overspending because they aren’t being frugal enough.
While fear can leave us feeling vulnerable, anger, on the other hand, can make us feel like we are more in control of our situation. It may even feel energizing.
Hate is a natural outgrowth of feeling fear, anger, or a sense of injury for a period of time. And when our hearts are filled with hate, we suffer. And not just mentally. When we carry hate with us for a long time, our physical health suffers. Holding on to hate impacts the nervous system, immune system, and endocrine system. When we feel intense bouts of hate and rage, stress hormones are released in the brain. And over time, this can lead to all sorts of health issues.
