Dealing with Human Emotions
Human emotions are not the Kleshas of Yoga. But emotions such as anger, greed, and lust get elevated to the status of an obstruction to yoga, and also get lectured about quite frequently.
In fact, more than 80% of “spiritual” teachings I stumble upon dwell on what you should or should not feel, how you should and should not control/deal-with/sublimate these feelings, and why certain feelings are bad for you in the long run, while others are good for you.
Sometimes this is done with valid intent to help spiritual children gain an elevated understanding of their condition, and is thus helpful to yoga.
Other times it is perpetuated as a social conditioning mechanism to create compliant servants for society, and is irrelevant, if not detrimental, from the perspective of yoga.
Worry not about discriminating between the two… A permanent solution is at hand.
Emotions are only in your mind. That’s why, they can be created, modified and destroyed based on the contents of your mind.
The contents of your mind can be controlled by word, breath and movement. The simplest method is to change your body posture as emotion follows motion. Stand upright to feel confident, smile to feel friendly, and thrust your hips forward to get sexy!
If any particular emotion proves too difficult to rule with this method, meditation on one’s own funeral pyre quickly does the trick.
And if that does not resolve it either, excessive drinking, that is drinking without the expectation of waking up tomorrow, might get you there. (DO NOT ATTEMPT! This is meant in jest not as an instruction – although the method is valid and I can vouch for it…)
The point is that chemical changes to your brain will yield changes to your emotions. To the educated and skilled, there are numerous paths of change to discover… And with some consistent effort, you can, rather quickly, gain the ability to switch between different emotions, regardless of your sensory input.
This is a worthwhile achievement. And if you need incentive, ask yourself: who are your emotions are serving? I hope they are serving you, after all, you have the burden of feeling them!
Configure your emotions so that they serve you. It is wise to feel greed when selling, anger when fighting, lust when sexing, and devotion when chanting – as long as you can return to blissful meditation once the karma is complete.
And remember: It is a Sacred Delight to elevate all emotions as an offering to and an honoring of The Divine, regardless of their social stigmas and unfathomable consequences.
Even if you cannot achieve this right now, you can at least become a master at switching between emotions, rather than obsessing over avoiding bad and nurturing good emotions, which are labeled thus by people who are desperate to keep their position in the pecking order by convincing you of certain perspectives.
Stop obeying, and focus on driving your emotional mechanism to give you the outcomes you desire in life.
(as a side note: it is wise contemplating these desires and discovering their source…)
Ultimately, those who lecture and guide your emotions care about your actions and their results – mostly from a self-serving, and in some rare instances from a benevolent perspective.
But, ultimately, The Cosmos is Indifferent.