We can be grateful for our emotions, for our frustrations, fears, and sorrows; they help us to wake up. We have no clearer messages about what is happening in our lives. Our emotions show us where to direct our attention; rather than obscuring the path, they can clarify and sharpen it. (p. 51, Openness Mind, by Tarthang Tulku. Dharma Publishing)
The more our awareness increases, the more time we have for positive action; three weeks for the person who is aware are the same as three months for the person who is not. (p. 82, Gesture of Balance, by Tarthang Tulku. Dharma Publishing)
After an emotion has already surfaced, there are two ways to deal with it. One is to objectify the emotional response by blaming someone or something for the way you feel. This way reinforces and escalates negative feelings. The other choice is to go directly into the emotion, become it, discover it, feel it thoroughly, and calmly watch its nature. Rather than ask why, observe how the emotion arises. Instead of trying to push the emotion away, befriend it. If you watch carefully, without involvement, you will see this emotion manifest in both body and mind and then dissolve into pure energy.
Just by sitting quietly and watching our emotional state without attachment, we become tranquil. No other instruction is necessary. Agitated, restless feelings are like muddy water, which becomes still and transparently clear when left to stand. As our emotional reaction naturally subsides, mind and body become peaceful and balanced. (pp. 13-14, Hidden Mind of Freedom, by Tarthang Tulku)
Usually . . . the throat center is agitated, so these energies become 'blocked' and do not flow properly. . . . All emotional extremes and imbalances occur in this state: very heightened emotion, like anger or hate, or severe depression and lack of energy. (pp. 36-8, Kum Nye Relaxation, Part 1 (Dharma Publishing, 1978, by Tarthang Tulku))
A particular way of breathing, described in Balance Your Breathing, can help you regain balance when upset; also when practiced extensively and consistently, this type of breathing can build strong awareness that can cut through emotional disturbances as they first arise. Opening Throat Energy, a visualization of warm flowing energy, can dissolve tension and emotions beginning to arise. Three physical exercises that are very effective with emotion are Transforming Energy, Transforming Emotions, and Relieve Your Tension. After gaining some facility in working with emotion, you can do a physical exercise that explores different levels of feeling, and read an example of "Different ways of experiencing a feeling, such as anger." The Mental Event Counting exercise can be very helpful and invigorating way to break up emotional reactions. The Question-Response Process can be an effective inquiry process for getting some clarity on what is happening in emotional or confusing situations.
Note: If you have questions or comments about these exercises or readings, please send email to or call Steve Randall at 510-690-0490.
Most of our suffering is psychological, nourished by fear and our identification with the pain. It is important to break down the idea that this is our suffering, our fear. Concentrate on the feeling, not on thoughts about it. Concentrate on the center of the feeling; penetrate into that space. There is a density of energy in that center that is clear and distinct. This energy has great power, and can transmit great clarity. (p. 52, Openness Mind, by Tarthang Tulku. Dharma Publishing)
As discussed in the article "Where Does Time Pressure Come From?," various situational feelings that we don't want to feel--like fear, guilt, sadness, confusion, or embarassment--can add energy to a work situation, intensifying the 'normal' and often somewhat constant pressure of time flowing. For example, we may feel guilty for not taking care of our part of a team project. You can do the following exercise to explore your relationship to the projects you have and see whether there are situational feelings that are creating pressure: Identify Pressuring Emotions
Consider experiences when emotions or mental blocks slow down your sense of time and limit what you can accomplish. What if you could quickly break through those experiences? Consider times when you feel overwhelmed, scattered, or anxious about not having enough time. The quicker you can cut through such feelings and concentrate your energy, the better. How about the feeling that you don't have enough time, that time is slipping through your fingers? These feelings can also be transformed.
In general, ordinary experiences of time flowing limit our productivity and appreciation of life. Contrast these with the timelessness of peak experiences: the spontaneous and effortless movements of skiing or playing the piano well, the timeless presence and satisfaction of accomplishing an arduous task, or the peace of meditation. Clearly, timeless experiences are more productive and fulfilling.
Could all experience eventually be timeless? Yes, I believe
so. My experience indicates that we can transform all of psychological
time and create a sense of timelessness right alongside the occurrences
of physical time. All that holds us back is our emotional attachments.
Feelings repressed or ignored since childhood seem to be all
that creates our sense of time passing.
--Steve Randall
You can read about the role of emotion in creating our sense of time passing: How Our Sense of Time Flow is Created.
Emotions may not have eyes, mouths or stomachs, but they can still suck our energies, hypnotize us, and destroy our natural state of balance. Emotions have the power to lure us into an artificial realm of sensation that is able to gain control of our positive energies. People seem to need emotions, like they need salt for food. But emotions are dangerous and unstable, for what begins as pleasure, often ends up as pain. And when we are in the midst of an emotional situation, we can be blinded by the dynamics of the situation so that our perceptions and perspectives are no longer clear. (pp. 78-9,Gesture of Balance, by Tarthang Tulku. Dharma Publishing)
When problems arise in meditation or in daily life, when we are overly emotional or trapped in a pattern of behavior which causes us to suffer, that is the time to practice openness and balance, and to awaken mindfulness. For example, when we are extremely sad or angry, if we concentrate properly on the emotion, looking at it intensely from above and below, and then facing it directly, it can actually disappear--because we see that it is really 'nothing'. With practice, we can quickly balance a depressing or frustrating situation by switching the mind back and forth--making it happy, making it sad, making it happy again--all the time watching what is happening inside ourselves. First, we can do something positive, then something negative. One time, switch the mind to depression and really cry. Then, immediately switch to laughter. What, really, are these emotions? Why should I be controlled by these transitory mental states?
This exercise may seem almost schizophrenic, but as we work on it we discover that an important change takes place within our consciousness and in the way we look at ourselves and the world. Sadness is not so serious and happiness is not so frivolous. (pp. 81-2,Gesture of Balance)
By means of awareness we can become sensitive to our emotions as they arise and thus begin to break our emotional patterns and our attachments to them. The more our awareness increases, the more time we have for positive action; three weeks for the person who is aware are the same as three months for the person who is not. When we remind ourselves to keep our bodies and minds in harmony with our awareness, we become familiar with every change in our thoughts and moods; and we can remember to bring our awareness immediately into the midst of any situation that could disturb our balance. This practice is like learning to swim; once we learn the first strokes, with practice we will gradually be able to swim--not just for five or ten minutes, but for as long as we like. Similarly, we can develop continuous meditation if we sustain an open attitude in whatever activities we are involved. (pp. 82-3,Gesture of Balance)
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