Speaking Tree paper, 10.03.2013.
We are all quite aware of what emotions are. We seem to encounter them everyday within ourselves and in people we may meet with. We know that emerging emotions can be either positive or negative. But it would be surprising if you were told that emotions by nature are not positive or negative. They are simply upsurge of energy of the mind. How we transform this energy as seen or unseen manifestation turn out to become positive or negative experience of our emotions.
Ofcourse all experiences of emotions are not unpleasant. Some of the finest creative expressions of art, dance, poetry, theatre have been as a result of manifesting emotions. Also if experiences of mind energy transform into positive experiences every time then there is no discussion really. No one really complains about positive experiences! But experience tells us that this is not always the case. Some powerful upsurge of energy has seen the most ugly and brutal manifestation since time immemorial. In Hinayana tradition emotions are seen to be something quite destructive, dangerous to us and others and therefore to be avoided like an enemy. In Mahayana tradition these same experiences of emotions can be seen as something beneficial that can be worked upon with skill and transformed to our advantage on the path of enlightenment. By understanding them better we can develop some kind of antidotes to our negative emotions. In this tradition passion is transformed into experience of compassion. In Vajrayana tradition of Buddhism emotions are to be neither accepted nor rejected. But when they arise the practices teach us to look directly at their true state and pierce the heart of this energy to see their true nature.
To be able to get a hold of our emotions - especially negative ones - and trying to understand them some simple tools like those mentioned here can be applied. As one such negative emotion arises (kleshas of passion, aggression, pride and envy arising from ignorance) we try to recognize it and having done so we create a sort of ‘distance’ between us and the arising emotion. It means that we just feel the arising energy without referencing it to the object it has been directed at. This may requires some time and some skill. As Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche succinctly puts it: “It is like handling a poisonous snake! We must act with the objective that we don’t want to kill the snake but merely extract its venom. So therefore, we mindfully create a gap between us and the arising emotion and work with it skilfully, with care, precise discipline and lot of heart like an expert snake catcher. Else there is a danger of mis-handling. We develop a relationship and communication with this arising energy of emotion. We then see these emotions as something useful and transform their poison into medicine. When we develop a relationship with our emotions they relate to us differently.”
As a next step we try and ‘clearly see’ in this gap that we have created between the emotion and us. To begin with we investigate what are the dominant emotions in us and which are the weaker ones. Then we contemplate on how or why they manifest and what is it that triggers them off. Finally we identify their frequency of arising in a day, duration of their ‘stay’ and speed of arising, if gradual or sudden. Then we try and do some quick fact-finding. How (not ‘why’) did it happen? Just seeing that it did happen without giving any reasons for it. Without applying any kind of subject-object duality, we just remain in a state that it did happen. As a last step we just let this arisen energy to go. Just letting it pass away. Not pushing it out or purging it out of our system but just naturally allowing it to go without making an attempt to engage it. As this mind energy by nature is self-liberating it will go off on its own only if we allow it to go. With this release, we just relax. A quiet stroll or steady breathing allows the disturbed physical parameters also to normalize.
Needless to mention this must be done in the calm abiding state of ‘shamatha’ in the laboratory of our meditative sessions with technical perfection and lot of heart involved into it. Then whatever little realization we can get from generating awareness of our emotions will be profound and can be applied to day to day situations to learn from them. Increased awareness of emotions reduces their activity. Even if we show little progress every passing week it means that we are benefitting and we can rejoice! Important thing is to be able to tell ourselves openly ‘yes, i want to give it an honest try and change my negative habits and/or emotions’.
This is a simple way to get over our negativities which harm us and others alike. Certainly there are profoundly advanced practices such as Mahamudra (Kagyu lineage) and Dzogchen (Nyingma lineage) wherein self-liberation of emotion happens alongwith the arising energy itself. Dzogchen practice says: ‘Emotions are primordially free and there is no ground or basis for their liberation. They are self-liberating. When we penetrate the experience of emotion we will not find emotion but pure and naked awareness there without any philosophical, religious clothing.’
We are all quite aware of what emotions are. We seem to encounter them everyday within ourselves and in people we may meet with. We know that emerging emotions can be either positive or negative. But it would be surprising if you were told that emotions by nature are not positive or negative. They are simply upsurge of energy of the mind. How we transform this energy as seen or unseen manifestation turn out to become positive or negative experience of our emotions.
Ofcourse all experiences of emotions are not unpleasant. Some of the finest creative expressions of art, dance, poetry, theatre have been as a result of manifesting emotions. Also if experiences of mind energy transform into positive experiences every time then there is no discussion really. No one really complains about positive experiences! But experience tells us that this is not always the case. Some powerful upsurge of energy has seen the most ugly and brutal manifestation since time immemorial. In Hinayana tradition emotions are seen to be something quite destructive, dangerous to us and others and therefore to be avoided like an enemy. In Mahayana tradition these same experiences of emotions can be seen as something beneficial that can be worked upon with skill and transformed to our advantage on the path of enlightenment. By understanding them better we can develop some kind of antidotes to our negative emotions. In this tradition passion is transformed into experience of compassion. In Vajrayana tradition of Buddhism emotions are to be neither accepted nor rejected. But when they arise the practices teach us to look directly at their true state and pierce the heart of this energy to see their true nature.
To be able to get a hold of our emotions - especially negative ones - and trying to understand them some simple tools like those mentioned here can be applied. As one such negative emotion arises (kleshas of passion, aggression, pride and envy arising from ignorance) we try to recognize it and having done so we create a sort of ‘distance’ between us and the arising emotion. It means that we just feel the arising energy without referencing it to the object it has been directed at. This may requires some time and some skill. As Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche succinctly puts it: “It is like handling a poisonous snake! We must act with the objective that we don’t want to kill the snake but merely extract its venom. So therefore, we mindfully create a gap between us and the arising emotion and work with it skilfully, with care, precise discipline and lot of heart like an expert snake catcher. Else there is a danger of mis-handling. We develop a relationship and communication with this arising energy of emotion. We then see these emotions as something useful and transform their poison into medicine. When we develop a relationship with our emotions they relate to us differently.”
As a next step we try and ‘clearly see’ in this gap that we have created between the emotion and us. To begin with we investigate what are the dominant emotions in us and which are the weaker ones. Then we contemplate on how or why they manifest and what is it that triggers them off. Finally we identify their frequency of arising in a day, duration of their ‘stay’ and speed of arising, if gradual or sudden. Then we try and do some quick fact-finding. How (not ‘why’) did it happen? Just seeing that it did happen without giving any reasons for it. Without applying any kind of subject-object duality, we just remain in a state that it did happen. As a last step we just let this arisen energy to go. Just letting it pass away. Not pushing it out or purging it out of our system but just naturally allowing it to go without making an attempt to engage it. As this mind energy by nature is self-liberating it will go off on its own only if we allow it to go. With this release, we just relax. A quiet stroll or steady breathing allows the disturbed physical parameters also to normalize.
Needless to mention this must be done in the calm abiding state of ‘shamatha’ in the laboratory of our meditative sessions with technical perfection and lot of heart involved into it. Then whatever little realization we can get from generating awareness of our emotions will be profound and can be applied to day to day situations to learn from them. Increased awareness of emotions reduces their activity. Even if we show little progress every passing week it means that we are benefitting and we can rejoice! Important thing is to be able to tell ourselves openly ‘yes, i want to give it an honest try and change my negative habits and/or emotions’.
This is a simple way to get over our negativities which harm us and others alike. Certainly there are profoundly advanced practices such as Mahamudra (Kagyu lineage) and Dzogchen (Nyingma lineage) wherein self-liberation of emotion happens alongwith the arising energy itself. Dzogchen practice says: ‘Emotions are primordially free and there is no ground or basis for their liberation. They are self-liberating. When we penetrate the experience of emotion we will not find emotion but pure and naked awareness there without any philosophical, religious clothing.’
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