Oakville Zen Meditation
Negative feelings: Pamper them!....the Zen way.
Negative feelings are an important part, if not the default mode of our emotional mind.
They can be permanent, transient, intense, or shallow.
To name a few: regret, guilt, anger, worry, jealousy, sadness, anxiety, hopelessness, apathy, depression, pain, etc..the list is endless.
Remember this: Negative feelings do not explain unhappiness or suffering, they cause it. Nothing else.
How do we deal with our demons?
Sometimes the need for therapy is obvious; if not what to do?
The Zen approach is, as usual, counterintuitive.
Don't complain, react, resist, fight, or resist with the urge to eliminate negative feelings from your mind when they pop up; if you do, they will blossom. instead, act positively.
How?:
Ask yourself: “ Is there negativity in me? at this moment?”
Why is practicing active awareness of our negative feelings so important?
Without this awareness, we always identify ourselves with our inner emotional states, and such identification is called ego-driven mind control.
The moment you become actively aware of your negative mental state, you do not fail; you have succeeded in being the observer, not the object of your mind.
Active awareness means a conscious choice that is: observing, accepting, and giving them your complete attention and alertness, as we do when pampering a crying toddler.
Keep focusing on the pain, grief, anger, worry, dread, loneliness, low-level unhappiness, discontent, nervousness, being “fed-up,” or whatever is present.
It does not mean being masochistic.
At first, it may seem like an impossible, daunting task to do while being in a dark and terrifying place,
By doing so, you are bringing the light into this dark emotional mental place, allowing you to deal more effectively with your negativities.
This light is the flame of your consciousness.
Remember: consciousness cannot be emotional, only our mind is. Thanks
