Part one:
We are used to pass life from a belief that day today pressures don’t really allow us to open ourselves emotionally and when we arrive at a saner and relaxed state, and will find the right person – than we can open our heart and express what we feel.
Well, all this may be true for a regular course of one’s life, but if we refer to a person who is on a path of self-actualization, or spiritual journey, or personal development or the expansion of one’s consciousness – one should be careful about pouring out one’s emotions. This statement needs an explanation; first of all, it is very important to be able to pour one’s heart to a friendly ear, but there are other things that should be taken into account. One of the things that Gurdjieff stress is not to express negative emotions. Also in the yoga sutras of patanjali – it written that the goal of the Yoga practice is to restrict the oscillations of the consciousness, for it should be still and quite as a lake. Two things cause the consciousness not to oscillate; one is will power that comes from the ego, and the other are the expression of negative emotions. All this is causing a kind of blurring and disorientation in the consciousness. When the emotions get borderless freedom, it oscillates wildly, and there are no more wild emotions than negative emotions. The more extreme is the power and the heat with which this emotions are expressed – so does the consciousness loses its clearity, it ceases to be a crystal that is passing through it the energies of the universe to the soul, but it ‘breaks’ the rays of light.
We are referring to negative emotions such as:
Anger
Annoyance
Contempt
Disgust
Irritation
Anxiety
Embarrassment
Fear
Helplessness
Powerlessness
Worry
impatience And Hate
Jealousy and envy
melancholy,
Sadness,
Hopelessness,
Despair,
Insecurity,
Humiliation,
Rejection,
Unhappiness,
Aggravation,
Depression,
What causes the most unrest and blurring of the consciousness are this uncontrolled negative emotions. They are like grass; that if not cut to be very short – it grows wild.
A person on a developed level of consciousness will either not express them, or at least will do it very moderately, without raising the volume of voice, without becoming heated up; he will ‘not get lost’ in expressing them; he is not allowing them to take him over.
A person that sees the necessity of keeping the consciousness quiet – treats his emotions like Nitroglycerin (very sensitive explosive), that if it is being moved strongly – it will explode. He might seem from the outside to be anemic or apathic, but he is only being careful not ‘to rock the boat’.
Looking after clear and still consciousness – is like a Gardner who plucks out wild ivy (negative emotions), so that it will not strangle the vegetation in the garden (high consciousness).
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Part two:
Positive emotions are unstable, any moment it can turn to negative; the love we feel for our partner can change into irritation about the smallest thing. The joy we experience on a sunny day can be shattered by a rude remark by a stranger. But it is not the other way around; wasting emotions on expressing hot negative emotions – weakens the person, we are not talking about repressing them with any stimulation, but managing them in such a way, that they don’t cause damage. If we compare stored emotions to money in the bank, that one needs self-discipline not to waste it on ‘consumer’s delight’, the same with the emotions; the emotional force is what allows you to do things. The force of the emotions is greater when not used, using it depletes its force. Force accumulated when not used, when used it turns into power. Power is done by taking force and turning it into energy (not to power).
Force is the initial, raw, state, for example; a person with force does not need to shout, no need to use power, just is.
The same with our emotions; the less they are used and the more they are just there – thus their force is greater. If almost anything causes them to become a river – nothing can develop there, because any minute, with any stimulation, it can turn into a vortex of mud.
And how does one keeps his emotions in a still state? By not taking any stimulation – inside. In fact, during the process of maturing emotionally one learns to feel emotions without getting exited.
For example; in nervousness, one needs to learn to let it happen on the surface without taking it inside, and thus cause the ‘lake’ to become stormy. It is possible to express negative emotion without identification; to be outwardly angry and to be inwardly quiet.
Gurdjieff believed that during the expression of strong negative emotions ‘finer substances’ produced by the human organism for the purpose of higher spiritual develop- are consumed and wasted. He even claimed that the expression of a violent emotion like anger could burn up these substances, leaving one emotionally and spiritually “empty,” possibly permanently. He also said that a person who managed to achieve a certain level of higher consciousness – can burn in one attack of rage – 6 month of personal development.
If one does not express negative emotions at all, than he is actually repressing them, which is bad, because from there it can cause more damage, so the way is to act on the outside mimics of anger or rage, to be angry externally, without letting it in.
You either live your life or you live your emotions.
We think that living our emotions is living, but this is not the case, so we in fact look for ways to be activated emotionally – like watching Telenovela or reading a novel and identifying with the characters. Living life through the emotions – does not allow life to pass through you.
Guided imagery technics to restrain emotional excitement:
I can imagen to turn my back on the excitement.
Closing heavy gate on the wild uncontrolled emotion.
Pushing the negative emotion down the body, and through the legs –into the ground.
Shouting the negative emotion into the toilet (and then flashing the water…).
To through it out through the window and closing it strongly.
Gabriel