Kuhloukhuh bagh vodguh dak aroghj yev eemasdoun
Kuhloukhuh dak vodkuh bagh hevant ou himaroutoun

Cool head and warm feet, healthy and wise
Hot head and cold feet, sick and foolish

There is another version of this proverb: “Vodguh dak kuhloukhuh bagh kenatz pezjeesk yeghav.” With his feet warm and a cool head, he has become a doctor.”

A person who is embroiled in a stressful situation, but remains calm and rational is described as possessing real wisdom (a doctor of life). A hot-headed person, however, is easily angered and can often lose control of his temper for trifles.

Why does a person lose his temper inappropriately? There is a profound verse in the Bhagavad-gita that explains this perplexing occurrence more profoundly than I have ever seen anywhere else. It says, “While contemplating the objects of the senses, one develops attachment for them. From such attachment lust develops and from lust anger arises. From anger, come complete delusion, and from delusion bewilderment of memory. When memory is bewildered, intelligence is lost and when intelligence is lost, one falls down into the material whirlpool.” The process that begins the downward spiral is explained with simple clarity. It begins by observing things improperly. We observe something out of the context of reality. For example, if I see a wallet on the ground. I examine the wallet and find a large amount of money in it as well as credit cards, driver’s license and other identity papers. The wallet belongs to someone. What should I do? If I look at the money and begin to imagine what I would do with it if it were mine, I might decide to take it and throw away the wallet. (I can also look at the wallet and emphasize with the person who lost it. Accordingly, I decide to return the wallet to its rightful owner without improperly taking anything.) Looking at the wallet and ignoring its real owner I begin to develop improper attachment to it. Three things happen. First, I think how good it would be if I could have the money for my purposes. Second, I feel how good it would be to spend the money for my pleasure. Third, I will that I must have this money otherwise I will not be fulfilled. Then I decide to act after thinking, feeling and willing. My attachment transforms into lust by inappropriately thinking, feeling, and willing. Lust is the strong (and often obsessive) desire to enjoy an object. If something happens at this point to stop me from satisfying my lust, I become angry. Anger comes from frustrated lust or powerful material desires that remain unsatiated generate anger (and also greed). The underlying symptom of persons who are easily angered by trifles is that they harbor powerful material desires in their heart that are frustrated. This makes them angry, impatient and greedy.

Keeping a cool head requires clear intelligence by which we see everything in the proper context. If I see a pretty woman, I may begin to meditate on her attractive features or I may think she is the daughter or wife of someone. By comparison I can think that I would not want a stranger lusting over the body of my daughter or wife, so I, in turn, should not lust over the body of a woman in the street. This is an example of seeing in the proper context. Lust and its companion anger is often the result of tunnel vision that ignores the proprietorship of others.