Feel Your Emotions

"Just as clouds form when warm air meets cold, so our emotions sit on the boundary between inner peace and outer attachment."

Our emotions are wonderful tools that guide us through this life.  Unlike our thoughts which tend to anchor us in the physical world, our emotions are reactive in nature.  They are neither positive nor negative yet simply float through our inner being.  Emotions, like our thoughts, should be observed and not identified with.

Our emotions originate in the space where our inner world and outer world meet.  Just as clouds form when warm air meets cold, so our emotions sit on the boundary between inner peace and outer attachment.  The greater the attachment to this world, then the greater emotional tumult as we journey within to a place of stillness.  If we realize that emotions are simply doing their job of making their presence known to us, we would not wish to rid ourselves of them, especially the emotions we may label as "negative" but are not really so.  These emotions are sadness, anger, hopelessness, grief, pain, guilt and other similar emotions.

In fact, the more we try and wish these emotions away or cover them up, they become trapped inside us without way of escape.  Like clouds, they need to freely move through our consciousness until they dissipate on their own accord.  Trapped emotions become part of our inner pain.  They will eventually work their way out through acting out behaviors, behaviors that we unconsciously do to bring pain into our lives.  We do this so that we will eventually confront our inner pain.

Instead, feel your emotions.  Go into them and experience them.  At the same time, we are the observer, taking an inner ride through our emotional clouds.  As we feel our emotions, they dissipate on their own, because the inner light of our consciousness eventually breaks through.  As we focus our inner soul radiance on our emotional clouds, we see that our inner joy never left but may have been temporarily obscured. We let our emotions percolate up from the depth of our soul as they expand into Supreme consciousness and are absorbed by the Love that is all there is.

As we journey within, this is why the emotions surface on occasion. Our consciousness begins to shift from attachment to this world and we run into the emotions. They are the fog or mist that separate us from inner peace. If we avoid them, we miss out on the peace that lies just beyond their perimeter. Instead, we brace ourselves and feel our cockpit rattle as we pass through them. Pass through them, we must to get a taste of Divine bliss. The joy in life is in the journey that we take to our destination.

Choose Peace

"Our thoughts and words produce reality, so, by speaking of a war, we indeed are creating a war by this intention."
 
On this spiritual journey, we discover the "clues" that help us discern teachings that are of a higher quality.  When it comes down to it, pure teachings should resonate with you.  There are certain attributes that we can look for, such as do we feel more peaceful after hearing it?  Does the teaching promote love and acceptance of others?  Is the teaching inclusive rather than divisive?
 
Within organized religion there are a myriad of teachings that have been accepted as fact.  Like a house of cards, these teachings are stacked upon each other.  Usually, the card you are seeing is near the top, whereas the core truth that it was built off of is hidden far beneath.  In other words, there are certain truths that underly all teachings of organized religion and we need to look to these truths that undergird the others.
 
One teaching that I hear a lot, mostly by organized religion but also by some spiritual teachers, is that we are engaged in a war in this life.  The teaching goes that there is a war for our souls, good vs. evil, heaven vs. hell.  We need to act now to prevent these eternal consequences.  If we look at this, we see black and white thinking, divisiveness, a sense of urgency, and a need for immediate action.  These fruits look more like fruits of the ego, rather than fruits of the spirit.
 
Spiritual truths are holistic, inclusive of all people, patient and require no action on your part.  Spirituality is a process of letting go, of giving up our pursuits, so that the Universe may fill the void.  Our thoughts and words produce reality, so, by speaking of a war, we indeed are creating a war by this intention.  By even declaring war on our ego, we are alienating a part of us rather than lovingly bringing our ego back into the fold of our consciousness.
 
If we live life in peace, then we will have peace.  There can be no war if you have forfeited the battle in your mind.  It has not even progressed from that space into reality.  The next time you hear divisive talk that segregates people into warring factions, know that the spiritual life is above this talk.
 
This does bring up the topic of Satan or demonic influences.  I cannot speak as to the existence of negative spirits but know that the Universe is a good, safe place.  If such spirits do roam, they are the exception rather than the rule.  The One who gave you form is inside you and is capable of dealing with such issues.  A more pertinent issue is the way in which we mistreat others through the blindness of our collective egos, rather than the debate about a kingpin of evil.  We do not need to launch a war yet need to bask in the peace of a God that is beyond our understanding.  This God calls for peace, love and compassion for others so that these flames of war may be extinguished.