Greetings All,

Do you have a method of determining what type of pain near a chakra center is the sense of releasing negative energy (positive) and which type is the damming up of holding more negative energy?

I know that emanating PUL doesn't hurt. But in continuing to clear my system of emotional blockages, I do feel negative effects like aches or weaknesses. Maybe every step of our spiritual development should make us feel better --?

I used to think that heartache was a sign that I cared and that I was building more compassion, but I find that kind of pain results also from a sad film or even a sad photo. Am I 'duping' my soul with photos of situations that have no known consequences, like of a wet puppy or a sad child?  Would that chakra (window or motor of the soul) be weakened by exposing it to 'fake' situations? I'm not referring to news photos of negative situations where you can respond with a prayer or wish that war end, etc, but just the random anonymous heart-tuggers.

Thanks in advance 

Bets

Betson:

I've found that I can find what causes an energetic block just by asking. I'll be shown a visual image that relates. I've also focussed my attention on a block, and found out the cause. I've also found that if I think of an issue that binds me, I'll sometimes feel energy move around in the area where a related block exists. One time my guidance pumped up the energy real high, so I could see where within my body my blocks are located.

I believe it is fine to look at things that make us feel sad.  It provides us with the opportunity to learn about compassion/empathy.  I believe that the compassion aspect of love is something each of us needs to learn about in our own way.

Regarding the idea that we have to feel good all of the time while we are on the spiritual path, I believe this is false. If we are going to learn to deal with the creative aspect of our being, we need to learn to deal with the various possibilities, until we get to the point where we can use it to create only as we want to create, perhaps according to love?

It's called being human, Bets....

These days I am grateful for the wide-ranging emotions that I can enjoy, having been on antidepressants briefly during the past spring; however, disliking the feeling of "flatness" which resulted for me, I subsequently gave them up.

I think it is important to remember that many times sadness is simply holding onto the past or the future. It is our choice whether we want to do that. Certainly, letting it all go can produce a nice, clear feeling.

However, where is the poetry, the song in life, if there are no heartaches along the way, no fierce joys, no subtle tugs of emotion?

love, blink

Bets is a genius for getting a good topic underway. I noticed her ability right away.

one of the ways she gets a topic going is to introduce several questions at the same time. I notice Bets asked "on a spiritual path shouldn't one be feeling no aches nor pains?"

its already been answered well, that the answer is no, then again, it can be a yes answer.
just depends on circumstance.

it has been noted by energy therapists that all pain is a build up of tension. so to practice releasing tension which to my pov is related directly to thought and emotion can only be a good thing, especially when combined with visualization.

I've recently come across some material stating to actually "expect" various uncomfortable physical sensations when on a spiritual path.

I did not take well to this information and so I don't accept that for myself personally and I do seem to be healthy as a horse and getting more healthy as I go along as long as I keep monitoring physical, mental and emotional constantly. yet there may be legitimate claims for these others who claim they are  experiencing  pain of certain adjustments, what not due to their chosen spiritual path and/or their guides manipulations.
suffering is said of certain mystics to be ecstasy, perhaps it can be seen that way,  but on a practical level, pain can be turned off and looked at differently by those whose pain threshold is very high, and some of us, consider "no pain, no gain" type of thinking.

so I would say your question can be either yes or no on that score. just depends on the particular soul. I had a friend who loved to be conquering pain, it made him feel in control if he could master it..it just bothered me to see him constant battle with it, as of course, all I could do was watch, not help because I was not allowed to be helpful in this case, but I thought it was interesting how people learn to live with pain and even get so used to it, they hardly notice they are in pain.

                                How to live your life by Alan McDougall
In order to grow through life one must first establish a harmony within oneself, harness all our natural talents, gifts, formal and non-formal education towards the essential goals in life. Chose early that which you love and do the utmost to make that your career and you will not really have to work one day in your life. Establish a hierarchy of preferences and aim for those most realistic and highest on the list. Imagine you have only one year of life left and list the things you would do if this were all the time left for you. Incorporate this into the list, ranking all the events, and look at it. It should give you much food for thought in planning your journey through life. “THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN DO IN LIFE IS LOVE YOURSELF AND ONLY THEN WILL YOU BE ABLE TO LOVE OTHERS”

Never ever, stop learning, even if you live to be one hundred years of age. Fascination with all things around you makes a rich and wonderful personality. A very high-developed sense of humour is of absolute prime importance in order to overcome the pitfalls of life. You might say, ‘well that’s all right for the young but I am middle aged or older, However no matter what ones age, do the suggested exercise and you will be amazed at the richness and opportunities out there still within your grasp. Life is rich and has so much to offer us all. Be positive in the midst of negativity by using that powerful tool, your sense of humor. Very important although not apparent to many persons is the absolute necessity of having a real soul mate and friend who travel’s the road of life with you. This might not necessarily be you spouse, amazing as this sounds. They are often not our eternal soul mate, strange as this might be to some. They are the ones with which we will share eternity.

Establish and maintain a link to the Divine, each one in their own personal way, be it by meditations, prayer, or contemplation of the glory of existence. Do whatever invigorates you the most. Make life fun, pleasurable, happy, joyful but never depraved. Sensuality is a wonderful gift if used correctly. Use this part of your psyche correctly and to the utmost. “Really, life should be exquisite, fun, pleasurable, enjoyable and glorious. Unhealthy obsessions must be avoided like a plague (religious fanaticism etc).

There are energy vampires, who will drain you of your life energy, leave you exhausted and depressed. Avoid them at all costs where practical. Make your friends are energy invigorators and be one yourself. Again, the key here is ones sense of humor. The mendacious are a pain and do not really make good company but sometimes we can overlook and just laugh at their ridiculous stories.

Of course, life is not always a bed of roses and those dark times will come to us all. Nevertheless, when in the long cold night of darkness of hopelessness and despair, one should always realize that the dawn will always come again and the sun shine warm once again upon ones cheek in the morning of joy. Take it from someone who really knows!
Oh! How important it is to be forgiving. Unforgiveness has no purpose and will fester like a malignant tumor and result in ill health, doing more harm to yourself than to the one you will not forgive. Love each other. However, how does one do this? Love is an action, so do love, even if you don’t feel it. Carry it out by actions. Compassion is a wonderful unique human quality, so enhance this within your being to the utmost degree.

Don’t allow anyone to take away from you that which you know is true to yourself. Honesty is the best policy and sometimes-absolute truth can hurt. Humanity consists mainly of good people, who are being held ransom by a minute evil 0000.1 few. Some religious fanatics say that humanity is intrinsically evil and destined to hell. However, I simply don’t buy into this nonsense.

Wisdom comes with the passing years, but ask children difficult questions and you will be amazed at their insight. Live life like an incandescent light, glowing brightly until you put off this mortal cloak and blink out of existence. In other words, live until your demise. Savor and cherish each glorious moment. Be careful not to say hurtful things to others because once the words have left your lips you can never take them back.

You legacy will become the heritage of those that come after you, and so what you do with your life is not only important to yourself. There is one companion that will be with you every moment of your life and you should love this person as much as you love anything in the whole world. This precious person is none other than you. Use and develop your intuition to a very high degree and it will help you from stumbling on the rocks along the pathways of Life. Have you not been aware when you come into a room and meet a stranger that there is an instant liking or dislike between the two of you? On the other hand, you have felt that a course of action was wrong and the closer you got the more uncomfortable you got with this course of action. These are examples of intuition, listen and adjust to them carefully and you could avoid much pain sorrow and anguish in your life.

The eye is the window to the soul, look into the eyes of a stranger and you will hear your mind saying “beauty, kind, shy, bad, ugly, evil” or remote etc. By just one careful look, one can read much about the character of one you do not know. When alarm bells ring in your mind, please listen to them.

You are truly absolutely 100% unique. There has never been one like you, there is now no one like you, and in all the future eternities, there will never be another just like. Of you fathers half billion sperm cells, only one reached you mother’s egg and this was you. No has ever had your unique genetic D.N.A. code or fingerprint. Are you not, therefore, very special and is it so wrong to love and respect the wonderful creation you are?

Go outside or get away from the noise of the city and in the quiet of early morning listen carefully, you will hear the birds chirping like beautiful electrons in the mind of God. Take in the glory of existence all around and feast your eyes on its beauty. You know, of all the countless trillions of snowflakes, leaves, flowers, and no two are identical and each one is a unique creation of the Divine mind of God. Feel the breeze upon your skin, smell the fragrance of the universe bath in the glory and joy of you existence. Be at peace with yourself and all the rest of the universe. You are a child of the universe, so special and wonderful. Develop the dormant senses beyond the five that are not utilized, and you will merge yourself in the wonder of the cosmic mind.

Take your mind into the place of unimaginable beauty and wonder, go on a journey into places you have never been and go further into the cosmic vastness of the beauty of the universe, with the power of imagination. What is the purpose of life? It is to live it to the full, without hurting others or doing the depraved. Charity is wonderful gift to the soul. Question everything with a sense of anticipation and wonder. Love and respect your mortal body, as it is the vehicle that takes on this journey through mortal life on earth. However, know this your consciousness or life energy is eternal and continues on forever, beyond the last curtain of life on this blessed earth. Planet earth is our beloved mother and we must preserve her, love her and cherish her in all her blue glory. She is a blue blazing diamond glowing brightly in the vastness of the universe. Love all gods’ creatures. Get all your priorities in order. Spouse, companion, family and children first. A balance in life between ones occupation and home life is essential or the psyche becomes unbalanced and depression and anxiety will take hold of you. Take much time to be with the one you know best, namely, yourself.

Life is a school and if you do not pass a test, you will repeat it repeatedly until you have passed it and only then be able to move on. Life made up of countless choices and each choice could ultimately determine and define ones destiny. Refer back to chapter one!

How we maintain good health, I think by developing a powerful sense of humor, much laughter and exposing one to things we find extremely funny. Then having sufficient exercise combined with a balanced died of fish and a combination of as many brightly colored fruit and vegetables as one can afford. Genetic proposition unfortunately plays a factor not always under our control. Red meat should be restricted to the rare occasion. Remember, your body is the temple of your soul and if you pollute it with toxic substances, you will suffer the consequences thereof.

What about pollution of the mind? Yes, one must be very careful about what you allow into the gateways of your mind. As a young boy, I was shown terrible photo that horrified me and gave my young mind the idea that sex was an evil perversion. This horrible image of nearly sixty years ago still haunts me and remains implanted in the basement of my mind. Once we have looked at filth, it is with us all the days of our lives, imbedded deep within the brain.

Look, listen, read and enjoy that which is good and healthy to the mind. Guard all the doors or inputs to your mind; you are the one that permits these images or sounds into your brain. What we allow into our minds in of such prime importance that it cannot be overstated.

I, however, acknowledge that the complexities and realities of life are much more complex than what I have written in my brief essay and thousands of voluminous unreadable books have been written of this subject. Therefore, the above is my humble attempt by it what it may.

By Alan McDougall
Composed 12/7/2007 



   The experience of merging with the light of Jesus and God is like having your body explode in a pleasant way and becoming a million different atoms. Each atom can think its own thoughts and have its own feelings. You feel all at once what it feels like to be everything and everybody.
   What people call "heaven" is really our final true home and destination. It is where we go for "recess" or to be rewarded by Jesus who assesses our progress as a soul, evaluating our lives, and to remember all truths, including our real Christian identity. We stay there for however long best serves our development.
   Heaven is not a place of rest because no one there gets tired. It is a new lease on life.
   Heaven is a place of imagination. Heaven is exactly what our imagination needs it to be.
   In heaven, where all people really love each other, there are no inhibitions, or need for them. Everyone does exactly as they please; which works out well because only the best in each person survives, and good is all anyone ever wants to do. This allows a freedom and happiness that people on earth cannot imagine. Of course, there is no sin or evil in heaven
   People don't go to heaven because of their good deeds, or because they believe this or that, but because they are saved by the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's what you are that counts.
   Each soul has a "job" to do, a position to fill in the greater scheme of things. All souls grow and continue to learn in heaven. After death, each soul has to rise as best it can through a hierarchy of heavens and face the increasingly difficult challenges posed by God of each level or dimension of heaven. We continue to progress towards the infinite.
   Things in heaven do not age, don't get dirty, don't wear out, and do not get tired.  Everything is kept pure by God.
   Our deceased pets appear in heaven the way we remember them, only younger and more vital. We can communicate with them telepathically. They also have dwelling places of their own

















HOW TO LIVE A HAPPY LIFE?

1) Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let
the doctors worry about them, that's why you pay them.

2) Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3) Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, birds,
and foreign countries, whatever you find interesting. Never let the brain
idle. "An idle mind is the devil's workshop."
.

4) Enjoy the simple things. When the children are young that is all you can
afford. When the kids are in college that is all you can afford. When you
retire that is all you can afford.

5) Laugh often, long and hard. Laugh until you gasp for breath. Laugh so
much that you can be tracked in the store by the noise.

6) Tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person who is with us
our entire lives is ourselves. Be alive while you are alive - do not put out
a mailbox on the highway of death and just wait in residence for your mail
Accept those things that ache with longing in your heart that are beyond your control. .

7) Surround yourself with what you love, with what makes you smile. It may
be family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, and hobbies, whatever. Your home
is your refuge, your beloved ones.

8) Cherish your health. If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable,
improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, make peace
You really tried your best with your son; god knows and loves you with an everlasting love.
Although you don't feel god is close to you now he is closer than ever before in your life
Moreover, sees the deep agony, longing, and separation from your beloved son.

9) Don't take guilt trips you did the very best you could with your son’s life. Go for a hike, go to the mall, and visit
some place you have never been before. Nevertheless, do not go to "guilt country".

10) Tell the people you love that you love them at every opportunity. Life
is not measured in the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that
take our breath away.

You do not need to pray a deep prayer to god, pray softly in
Your mind and he will hear and bless you. God knows how weary your soul is from sorrow deep.

THIS IS THE REAL YOU MY DEAR

Take a bit of time and say these words each day and just how remarkably better you feel

I love god. I love myself. I love my parents. I love my partner. I love my children.
I love my siblings. I love my grand parents. I admire and have affection for my colleagues and peers.

First thing in the morning put on happy music and say the words below aloud:

And see how more positive you become.

Each morning I am awake, aware and alert, quick, zippy, I am full of :- happiness, laughter, amusement, enjoyment, pleasure, delight,, joy, ecstasy, thrill, rapture, bliss, elation, jubilation, euphoria, exultation, excitement, wonderful  anticipation, expectation, optimism, cheerfulness, exuberance, enthusiasm, passion, zeal, fervor, beauty , delight. glee, joy, heavenly, divine, celestial, wonderful, fantastic,

I am striking, I am gorgeous, I am stunning, and I am handsome. I am erotic. I am stunning, I a glad I am peaceful. I am beautiful. I am dazzling. I am attractive. I am alluring. I am lovely. I am smart. I am sweet. I am remarkable. I am significant. I am humorous. I am amusing. I am entertaining. I am interesting. I am engaging. I am knowledgeable. I am good. I am honest. I am frank. I am sincere. I am genuine. I am authentic. I am truthful. I am well. I am glowing.   I am fascinating. I am intriguing. I am music. I am harmonious. I am melodious. I am energetic. I am full of life. I am love. I am irresistible. I am alluring. I am charming. I am eloquent. I am articulate. I am lucid. I am cogent. I am desire. I am sparkling. I am radiant. I am funny. I am excited. I am free. I am liberated. I am successful. I am flourishing. I am prosperous. I am rational. I am lucky. I am intuitive, I am discriminating, and I am sharp, I am harmonious, I am victorious.


I am loved. I am special. I am blessed. I am proud of myself. I am forgiving. I love myself. I love others. I am forgetting past hurts. I am living in the moment. I am savoring each moment. I am compassionate. I am empathic. I am sensible. I am sane. I am wise.
I am secure. I am sheltered in the arms of God. I am contented. I am secure. I am at peace. I am relaxed. I am capable. I am tranquil. I am faithful. I am gentle. I am kind. I am honest. I am unique. I am reasonable. I am healthy.

I am able to achieve anything I put my mind to. I have a clear objective in life. I will do what I set out to do. I plan carefully. I set realistic priorities. I have purpose.
I am eternal, I am spiritual,, I am intuitive, I am precise, I am principled, I am moral, I am intelligent, I am incisive, I am perceptive, I am discerning, I am observant, I am climax,

At night read a quite book, have a glass of warm milk and then meditate or pray for fifteen minutes until you mind becomes less active. Sleep the sleep of contended peace and beauty until you wake happy in a new morning of purpose.

Words are living things that can kill destroy or give life. Choose the words of life, above.

Heaven is like this
   The experience of merging with the light of Jesus and God is like having your body explode in a pleasant way and becoming a million different atoms. Each atom can think its own thoughts and have its own feelings. You feel all at once what it feels like to be everything and everybody.
   What people call "heaven" is really our final true home and destination. It is where we go for "recess" or to be rewarded by Jesus who assesses our progress as a soul, evaluating our lives, and to remember all truths, including our real Christian identity. We stay there for however long best serves our development.
   Heaven is not a place of rest because no one there gets tired. It is a new lease on life.
   Heaven is a place of imagination. Heaven is exactly what our imagination needs it to be.
   In heaven, where all people really love each other, there are no inhibitions, or need for them. Everyone does exactly as they please; which works out well because only the best in each person survives, and good is all anyone ever wants to do. This allows a freedom and happiness that people on earth cannot imagine. Of course, there is no sin or evil in heaven
   People don't go to heaven because of their good deeds, or because they believe this or that, but because they are saved by the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's what you are that counts.
   Each soul has a "job" to do, a position to fill in the greater scheme of things. All souls grow and continue to learn in heaven. After death, each soul has to rise as best it can through a hierarchy of heavens and face the increasingly difficult challenges posed by God of each level or dimension of heaven. We continue to progress towards the infinite.
   Things in heaven do not age, don't get dirty, don't wear out, and do not get tired.  Everything is kept pure by God.
   Our deceased pets appear in heaven the way we remember them, only younger and more vital. We can communicate with them telepathically. They also have dwelling places of their own
Alan McDougall

I hope these words of encouragement help

m[email][/email]cdougall.alan@yahoo.com

Lucy said: Now this doesn't address the cultural issue of ...when do I help (or get help) and when do I let others figure it out for themselves, but I think it is an important point. 

This is a process, not an act.
____

I like the way u said this is a process, not an act..I think you're right! If we look closely at what you just wrote, I think you can find the answer right within your question.
in other words, your simple expression helped me; if it helped me, it may help the cultural issue you speak of as well, in ways, u cannot know your effect upon the culture, all the parts of that culture just while in C1.
so I see in the questioning mind, a movement, as you said, this is a process, you are saying that You yourself are a process. that is how you answered yourself.

I do this all the time, lol, Lucy, every written poetry? drag out some old poetry you did years ago, one tends to be amazed at what we knew then, but somehow didn't understand where the knowledge was coming from.

love, alysia

I guess, Bets, that sometimes I also can remind myself that if a thought is really true, I mean really really true, it will bring peace.

Peace and strength.

It's guaranteed.

Most other thoughts are not as productive. But those thoughts are sometimes the route by which I make it to the truth eventually.

So, because of this, I think we can sometimes judge our own thoughts on certain merits alone.

I guess that's why love is always the answer, whether it be for self or for others.

love, blink

Ladies! It seems we are indeed process in every way imaginable - there's not a single aspect of so called (conventional) self that's not changing all the time, that is not the result of this huge network of cause and consequence. Body, thinking mind, the reality we exist in, everything. It's only at the very highest level of (God) consciousness or the absolute that there's stability.

Put another way - the perception that we exist as an independent entity is only that, we in practice exist only as some sort of nexus in the midst of this great sea of change. Like a wave crossing it ocean - it's not a 'thing' because the water does not travel with it.

Buddhist teaching on interdependence and emptiness deal with this view for anybody that fancies a Google. Expressed most sublimely in the Heart Sutra. 'Form is emptiness, emptiness is form....'

On unhappiness. There are indeed many things we can do (of an inappropriate and egotistical nature) that will make us unhappy - the agitated, obsessive, fearful, intensive thinking sort of unhappiness, and the negative emotions it creates.

But spiritual progress is not necessarily pleasurable either, it's in fact usually not.

Opening creates a very distinct and often very intense emotional rawness. We perhaps become aware of realities that we didn't previously perceive that with our new found empathy now bother us, or realise that things we do or did are/were wrong, or suffer the existential angst that follows from progressive death of the ego  - as beliefs that prop the sense of 'me' fall away we at some level  mourn our own death.

The light
Creeps in
This multicoloured dawn
Brings joy
With pain

Hi Lucy,

It sounds like A-H oppose the Buddhist/Eastern perspective of emotions being annoyances to overcome.
Maybe a Buddhistically attuned being will comment on this 'new' concept of emotions. Oh never mind, you say you don't want to get into that.    sorry.  But I do like how Eastern poetry can describe something in nature and leave the reader with just a whisper of a related emotion, like it has already floated away. 

!  I agree with you completely when you say " I talk to myself so much inside my head,
I never did understand how I was supposed to know if the thought was "the word of God"
or just more of my random talk. "

Just thought of the fact that several art movements based upon the importance of following one's emotions had rather short lives because the importance given to the emotional lives of the artists and writers became so self-destructive (the Bloomsbury Group , and the Pre-Raphaelites, for example.)

Come to think of it, I was associated with a false guru once who said 'listen to your emotions."  Then when that got  complicated he quickly stepped in to offer his interpretations and guidance, which were always wrong.

OK we're getting some parameters anyway. 

Bets

Greetings,

Alysia said:

Quote:


Western philosophy points out a rational and quite mannered lifestyle, in order not be overwhelmed by emotions. To say, emotions are sometimes seen as irrational, and following them would be like a fruitless path.
That does not means neccessarily that western philosophers are unable to feel (my reference were the ones during the illumination period/ classical literature period), but considered it would be a better way to not allow oneself to dwell in feelings.
But one thing is forgotten too quickly, that there is a reason for emotions, so they cannot be that irrational.

yours sincerely,

pulsar

Eastern thought may well view strong emotion as a nusiance, but it depends bit on what you are talking about.

Tibetan Buddhism talks (and I'm no expert) of the three veils - the mental, the emotional and the conceptual. Meaning veils that block our perception of reality. Mental means the arising of thoughts - which can be a babble that drowns out all other forms of perception. Emotional means affect or feeling - which when strong has the same effect. And finally there's conceptual thought - which in addition to producing noise may also predispose us to see things in a certain way.

Emotions are regarded as being more heavily linked with conceptions (attitudes, value positions and other beliefs) than with thoughts. (we tend to assess fresh thoughts fairly carefully before totally buying into them)

Strong emotion is in this sense a nusiance. Equanimity is equally seen as a highly desirable state of mind, although mild emotion (as one of the primary feedback systems used by mind) is presumably  useful if not essential.

Intuitive knowing or feeling is regarded as the highest aspect of intelligence. Especially since intellectual reasoning while an essential tool is (unlike in the western scientific rationalist paradigm where it's elevated above all) regarded as limited and potentially misleading  - it's purely relative (proceeds in steps of logic by comparing one thing with the next using various rules e.g. 'hot' has meaning only relative to something that's not nearly as hot, or is in fact 'cold'), has no sense of right and wrong built in (we can with sufficient mental creativity rationalise almost anything as being the correct course of action) and can handle only one variable at a time.

Compared to for example the 'flow' state where when playing music or performing complex learned tasks we can multi-task effortlessly - and intuitively 'know' right from wrong.

Most of us struggle to access flow precisely because the mind babbles away so loudly that we can't discern the still, small voice - another reason why intellectual thought can mislead unless controlled.

The highly trained (by meditation) mind is not filled with a babble of thought. It rests quietly until needed, or at least the thoughts that do arise do not suck the watcher into uncontrolled identification with them, and consequently into ill considered reflexive responses. (which being often selfish, at least in the unrealised person can often result in harm for example being done to others)

I'm not too sure what the precise distinction between intuition/feeling and mild emotion might be in Buddhism  - but suspect they may be variants of the same thing.....

PS added later: Buddhism does not teach the sort of direct suppression of emotion by an act of will as is common common in the West - it regards this as thoroughly unhealthy state where compassion for both ourselves and others gets shut down. It rather teaches a path of meditation which amounts to practicing and working by other means (providing a workable view of reality and the self) to calm the mind - but far from suppressing anything this by stilling the mind actually awakens seeing by slowing or stopping the production of mental noise....

These are all interseting points and I think it will take me a long time to absorb all this completely. Being thoroughtly Western I did grow up with the idea that emotions are things that interfere with logic. And that just isn't working for me now. Also, I see I have a bit of trouble distinguishing emotions from feelings from intuitions....are there differences and where are they? Are there different levels of emotios? We seem to use the terms somewhat interchangeably but I think there must be some distinctions.

Much of A-H is concerned with creating your own reality and the above quote should be read in that context. Eastern thought is, I thought , more concerned with attaining a particular state of being. So that leads me to wonder if, not only there are different levels of emotions, but also there are different ways emotions can be used (or disallowed).

So A-h talks about thinking of something you want and launching its creation by giving emotion to the thought. I guess that would be communication back to the higher self, not the communication from the higher self (that we often call intuition).

So, Bets, this is confusing for me because I'm not sure what emotions are or how to use them. I used to stifle them...I tend to be high energy and opinionated so this may not have been a bad learning experience for me. But carried to an extreme, or done not understanding there may be a connection between thoughts and emotions in the creation process, there can be another set of problems. People who can't express emotion have their own problems. Anyone can repress. But if givng thoughts a launch with emotions is part of the creative process, what am I doing when I vent? Am I releasing pent-up emotions or am I creating more of what I don't like? If the road crew comes along and puts up a road sign over the edge of my property line and I get angry, what is the message to myself? or more seriously, if I see a picture of a gaunt African mother holding the last of her dying babies, dying because she has fled a war zone in a desert region and there is no food, does my strong emotional reaction and wondering how she can bear the pain create more of the same? and is that a communication from my higher self or a venting? or maybe neither.

Hi Lucy,

It sounds like we're in the same boat as far as a history of stifling emotions and now wondering what they are and how to 'use' them. Vajra's approach is best, I believe, but I'm going to play around with word definitions because that's what I do -- that and complain that there aren't enough words in the English language to fully describe the non-material aspects of life. 

Take the word 'anger' for example. Like any emotion it's an outward flow/burst
of energy, usually relatively brief, and directed at whatever we think caused it. Say that the road sign situation was such a brief incident and you soon forgot about it. Then consider the dying mother and child. Emotionally that's more complicated because the cause of their situation is complex and difficult to aim one's emotional energy at. We'd like to aim our anger at some cause but since no single cause is apparent, we splatter it out at anything in sight! We find ourselves left with an attitude of frustration at our own inability to respond in a meaningful way. (This is getting too long.)

My HS told me that emotions are not of much concern to our Guidance.  It's when we connect an emotion with enough thoughts that they last a long time, enough time to motivate our own future actions, that Guidance becomes concerned. So it seems important that we figure out which emotions have developed into attitudes and which we can move through quickly. I've made personal inventory lists, it helps.

This doesn't even get to the complexity of what is so beautiful in you /your example, dear Lucy:   You react so strongly when your essence --of being a compassionate channel of PUL -- is violated by being confronted by such inhumanity.  Your soul is put in a quandry--it must be a very loving soul to react so vigorously.  (Can you find a cause to work for/pray for/volunteer some effort toward --as a token of your caring to return to the Universe ? I found this helps.)

The energy of intuition comes in and emotion goes out. Strong intuitions are sometimes perceived with a light buzz sound, I find. I think there is some sort of receiver for intuition near our temples; a light energy might be felt there, whereas emotions come from/through lower chakras.

Sorry that's so random, just a bunch of thoughts I hope might some way fit with what's happening.

PUL,  Bets

Hi Vajra,

Thank you!

Could you please explain or paraphrase the following :
" The unfortunate reality seems to be that no matter how well suppressed an emotion is  the feeling it's the result of will find an out."

Perhaps the difference between 'emotion' and 'feeling' is what I don't understand.

Bets

I know that feeling you talk of when writing Alysia. I'd call it flow - when all you are is fully engaged in the task, but the monkey (discursive intellectual thinking) mind is quiet and isn't trying to hog the stage. I know it best from motorcycle racing and meditation (when they are going well), and can find it to write if I don't get uptight but it's not a state I can access 100% reliably.

It's deeper than just stilling thought - I can manage that almost any time with meditation. But there seems to be still the possibility of some underlying (suppressed?) tension that blocks the feed, but which does not express as thought and surfaces more as an edgy tight sort of feeling. Which can spill over into  thought, but not always. (there are meditative techniques which will lock down an agitated mind, but it doesn't at least for some time produce the same deep sense of calm centeredness that's required for flow)

Intuition isn't black and white for me yet either. There are times when it's clearly the real thing, when this very strong sense of knowing comes through in moments of calm. Lots of the time though I struggle to separate between what are basically passing mind states (like irrational fears) and the real thing. Your point about fear rings true, the spurious variety is often when you look closely at it based on an irrational feeling of fear.

Sorry I'm not clear Bets, I'm not sure I can be that in that I don't have a fully worked view on the definitions of the terms - although I'm sure it's in there somewhere in Buddhist teaching if you look for it. Here's an attempt to clarify though.

There's a view that mind states can be expressed in sequence of declining rigidity of belief as values (firmly held long term beliefs, very hard to change), attitudes (beliefs held firmly enough to inform action, at least for the present but capable of change), moods (belief based states of mind which while potentially fairly long lasting come and go) and emotions.(states of mind which rapidly come and go)

The underlying beliefs are not necessarily consciously held, or expressed in the form of thought - we may have to grope to put words on the beliefs which underlie the cause of a mood or an emotion. I used the term 'feeling' loosely as pointing in some general way to an underlying belief.

I don't 100% buy this model as mind states don't seem to be quite that simple, but it does illustrate a progression from strongly held almost permanent beliefs to transitory mind states.

What I was getting at is that emotion is our immediate response when something threatens (or reinforces) a belief we hold dear. We may be able to suppress the emotion (drive it below consciousness), but if that emotion is the result of one of the more strongly held beliefs being threatened then suppressing it is not going to eliminate this root cause.

It's almost impossible to avoid suppression, the road to higher consciousness is in effect a progressive digging of ourselves out from under the results of it. Of one by one unearthing suppressed fears and delusional beliefs and releasing them.

Our (as Buddhist thought would argue delusional) sense of self is an example of probably the highest and most deeply entrenched belief (value) we hold. Realisation is basically about releasing it, but since very few of us achieve this we're in effect condemned to live large parts of our lives out of fear. Which initially has to be suppressed if we are to function, it's only afterwards that we may figure out that our fear and the underlying belief are irrational. Some people end up consumed by their fears which become obsessive and even more irrational than normal.

The result of all of this is that our ability to live from love is to various degrees compromised until we clean up our act.....