All of this sounds good, and sounds productive. As I said to you, we were speaking different languages. I assumed you were talking about "transforming" emotions by pondering them intellectually; you were talking about "feeling the body." And as I said to Dr. Pete, I think that can be beneficial.
I guess that the reason I like the Tibetan guy's approach to dealing with emotions is that it assumes that they're not "our" emotions. They are merely the way the world looks from a particular state of attention that flows through us briefly. In this paradigm, the world looks the same to ALL people who are experiencing that state of attention; ALL of them experience the same set of emotions. This strikes me as possibly a more accurate model than the Western idea that "our" emotions are somehow "ours." That's all. Unc --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "Irmeli Mattsson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Unc:Continuing the discussion (and I really see it as adiscussion, not > an argument or an attempt to convinceanyone of anything), IS > suppression the same as simplyshifting one's attention?Think TM. When > you become aware that you are on otherthoughts and effortlessly come > back to the mantra, areyou "suppressing" those thoughts? > > Irmeli:I didn't claim suppression is happening that situation. I was > discussing the situation were you indulge in the positive emotions > compassion and love. That can pretty easily lead to suppression of > other emotions. I interpret that kind of approach being dualistic. > That is not my path. It is has not even been possible for me after the > powerful awakening experience I had at the age 16. > > Unc:We must agree to disagree on this. I've already statedmy view, > that there is an infinite supply of ALL emotionsavailable to ALL > people at ALL times. Nothing either addsto or subtracts from the > supply of "available emotions." > > Irmeli:I'm here talking about emotional states, we all have, and many > of which we are not aware of. They are suppressed. An emotional state > has too sides to it like a coin. One is mental and the other is > physical. Suppressed emotions often create in the long run not only > mental but also physical illnesses. And these emotional states can > gradually be exposed and transformed or healed. I do it by focusing my > attention on where the emotion is located physically in body. I hold > the physical and mental parts together and infuse this package by > bliss. Many interesting things can happen then. The most important > being the gradual improvement of health. If I work with fear, I shift > my attention away from the thoughts, what I might be afraid of, and > pay attention on the physical counterpart of the emotion. > > And here I really know, what I'm talking about, because I have done > this kind of work a lot. And I have had good reasons for why I've been > doing it.I grew up in a dysfunctional family. My mother is mentally > ill, and was physically very violent towards me. As an adolescent I > had many problems: I was withdrawn, suffered from anxiety, was > stuttering, my bearing was poor, I had mild scoliosis. Starting from > early childhood I suffered pains during the nights in my hands and > feet. When I grew older, the pain got worse. At age 20 I was diagnosed > with a progressive muscular disease. I had mild pathological changes > in my muscles. Later that disease was found to be genetically > inherited. These reasons have drawn me to work intensely with my > energies = suppressed emotions. > > This work included meditation in a way where a lot of attention was > paid on the physical sensations simply because their were many > uncomfortable sensations in my body. I have not used pain killers. > Later I also started to use a powerful breathing technique to better > to connect to the emotions. I have also gone through eight years of > psychoanalytical psychotherapy. > > And how am I nowadays? I'm 54 years old. I'm not withdrawn, no > anxiety, outgoing, and have many hobbies. My energy flows. The > scoliosis has gone, my bearing is good. I'm stuttering much less. The > muscular disease is not completely healed. But I'm capable of doing 3 > times a week 1,5 ?2 hours rather heavy astanga yoga exercise. In > addition to that I swim, and cycle. I experience very little pain or > discomfort in my body. The energy just flows. To get to this I have > done a lot of transformative work with the emotions, especially with > fear, but also with fury, anger and sorrow. When I do this work I can > clearly feel how the energy (emotion) transforms itself, and I enjoy > that process very much. It is a slow work though. To transform even > partly a certain fear structure inside the body is needed usually > hours of work in deep meditative blissful state. But transformation is > a fact. > > Irmeli To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
