No "personal development" without understanding how emotions work...
Emotions are sensations and reactions coming from various influences. Trying to control them only reinforces them and does not release the tension they cause. Dealing with an emotion like fear without understanding the overall thought process does not release fear in general. When we suppress one, a new one appears, just like a weed. When thought is identified with feelings, the ego is formed. The ego is therefore made up of a series of attachments with which it has identified itself. Without attachments, there is no ego.
The individual is in a permanent quest for sensations and pleasures: sex, food, distractions, ideologies etc. These feed the ego and maintain it. He has identified himself with so many things: his name, his body, his sex, his beliefs, his bank account, his nationality, his language, his country, his political party, his wife, his house, his experiences, his qualities, etc. He has identified himself with all these things. He has identified himself with all these and takes pleasure in possessing them.
We are not really aware of our attachments and emotions. We tend to suffer them, rather than anything else. It is therefore important to be aware and attentive to the manifestation of one's feelings. It is necessary to observe and recognize them, to perceive their strengths and intensities. It is also important to see the way in which one becomes attached to and identifies with the pleasure of possessing.
The pleasure is a sensation, and it is in the stimulation of the senses that the sensation appears. From this sensation is born the desire. Then a phenomenon occurs which will disturb the sensation: the thought takes over. When we see a beautiful car for example, the thought manifests itself and identifies itself with the pleasure of possessing this object. At this moment it gives birth to the ego. The senses react to the beauty of the thing but could leave it at that. Possessiveness is therefore linked to attachment.
Emotions are healthy and normal reactions. But when thought interferes, the trouble begins. It tries to control the emotion by interfering with the sensation and the pleasure. Feeling sensations when you see a beautiful object does not mean that you want to appropriate it and possess it, does it?
When, for example, we are aware of our jealousy or detestation, do we perceive that emotions dominate our actions? They condition them and distort them, acting as barriers that prevent us from thinking and acting clearly.
It seems that we accept attachment and jealousy as a fact. We accept the struggle as a principle of life not to be questioned. That's just the way it is. We accept conflict as if it were inevitable.
When one is totally attentive to the beauty of a sunset, thought disappears. Only the thing observed remains. When one is aware of inner violence without trying to modify and contain it, there is only the state of violence, nothing else. Can we see the attachment without dissociating ourselves from it, not as an external element on which we must act, but as an integral part of ourselves? Without attachment, the self does not exist.
To observe one's emotions is to observe oneself. Thus there is no more duality between me and the emotion. But when the thought makes the emotion a phenomenon external to itself, it tries to intervene by domesticating it, constraining it, resisting it and controlling it. Thus is born the pain of the emotion. One chooses to act on the emotion but this only leads to tensions and conflicts. But as soon as we perceive the indivisible nature of attachment, there is nothing we can do. There is nothing you can do about it. One can only observe without resistance.
It is observation without choice that matters, not intervention. For then only the observation remains. In observation and attention there is no choice. At that moment there is no longer any need for attachment, and the conflict disappears at the same time. Attachment is a trap that creates fear, anxiety, hatred and jealousy. When we understand the trap, we naturally move away from it.
But why does the mind constantly seek to identify itself? Because it gets lost in an endless stream of images. It is looking for something on which to rest and find certainty. It is then in search of stability, certainty and security.
We need security. To have a roof over one's head, food and clothing. These are basic physical needs. However, when the thought identifies itself and transforms the physical need into a need for psychological safety that it tips over into the illusion. The search for psychological security naturally generates insecurity.
Thus, in the consciousness of the global process of sensations, of the identification of thought, of attachment, of desire and of pleasure, one can feel emotions without trying to modify them. They then find their rightful role without generating tension or conflict.
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