Is
Life just about Emotions?
We
react emotionally to situations throughout our lives – but that is not just
true of human beings but also of the animal world. There are so many stories,
where dogs, cats, elephants, crocodiles, etc. show their sensitive sides and
react emotionally by denying themselves food when someone close to them dies or
falls sick.
Rational
thought helped us shape the world for our future: rerouting rivers, breeding
plants, caging tigers. We now have two highly developed systems: reason and the
emotional core still sitting there, like the primitive animal inside us. As
said above, mental illnesses often result from an imbalance in those two.
The
distinction between man and animal is that man has got the capacity to think
whereas animals do not have that capacity. From very early in life, in fact
immediately after a child is born love flowers between mother and child, then
if the child falls sick there is care and concern, which turns to worry and
fear if things turn for the worse. Therefore, it has always been said that man
is a bundle of emotions. Being emotional is not bad, but invariably extreme
emotional reactions lead to all round stress.
If
we learn to manage our emotions, get control over our emotions then we can be
both loving and compassionate which are the positive manifestations of our
emotions. It is necessary to master the negative emotions, better still it
would be wonderful if we could just focus on the positive aspects of life and
grow emotionally strong.
The
way to mastery over emotions is through the practice of mindfulness and
meditation. Meditation under the guidance of a realised Master helps us turn
inwards and our search for external happiness comes to an end. The inward
journey takes us to the core where our identity merges with that of the soul.
Once that happens, we become a witness to life – becoming a witness means
transcending the emotional state of human beings and becoming loving and
compassionate towards all those whom we come in touch with. So, even
though life is about emotions – what is important is how we enhance our positive emotions
while mastering the negative ones!
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