Emotions under control.
One of Sigmund Freud’s observations on the human psyche was that our emotionality is far stronger than our rationality. We have come so far in our lives, from pyramids to hybrids, we have gone to the moon and beyond, but somehow, we cannot find the source of this existence. Now, about the source of existence, each of us has a different theory. Some of us believe in religion, while some of us try to seek the truth by ourselves. Yet some believe in nonbelief—call them atheists.
The world is filled with theists, atheists, and polytheists. So, these questions remain: Is there really a god? Did God create us, or did we create God? The concept of God has always brought us nothing but inconclusive debate. According to the Bhagavad Gita, just as a tree requires water and sunlight to thrive, so does the body require food and an inner source. Water is an immediate source, while sunshine is a remote source. Similarly, the food we consume becomes the immediate source and our consciousness is the remote source provided by the Lord. It also says that we are all a part of him (the supreme soul), travelling individually using our freewill, creating our own karma, and keeping our goal as reaching the supreme soul. This is the reason that when the soul leaves our body, the body, although it still possesses all the organs and limbs intact, is not active. The sunshine is missing.
René Descartes (1641) discusses dualism, which holds that the mind is nonphysical and thus non-spatial (it does not occupy space). Whatever may be the reason for one’s being alive, be it one’s belief in religion or their prudent journey towards seeking the truth, emotions play a significant role in us being happy, and the emotions we feed transcend us closer to the supreme soul/goal or to the higher order of happiness. When Bharath and Shatrugna came to know about Rama`s exile, Shatrugna wanted to take revenge on Manthara, but was reminded by Bharath that one cannot go anywhere if one gets incensed; rather, one must focus on higher emotions like love (here towards Rama) and act on what is needed, but not be inexorable in lower emotions like anger.
I guess the whole soul thing, freewill dualism all boils down to one thing- Keep your emotions under your control and not the other way round. But to keep emotions under control one must understand what those emotions are and how would one respond when our emotionality surpasses our rationality. When one can achieve this, I am sure we all would see a beautiful world where everyone understands the language of empathy.