Here’s a poem I have penned which was inspired after reading an article by Luke Coutinho about the importance of feeling, acknowledging your emotions, especially the negative ones. I have posted the article at the bottom of the page.
How we were ordered,
To feel this way and that,
And blindly in ignorance,
We followed the diktat.
How wisely we ensured,
That we denied what we felt,
To make Saints out of us,
To be guilt-free when we knelt.
And now, how do I?
Unearth the emotions,
That were so skillfully buried?
For, in it lay my Happiness Seed!
And surprisingly,
Not denying, but
Accepting them,
Is the path to be Saintly.
Sheetal Patil
An excerpt from the writings of author and spiritual teacher Jeff Foster:
NO EMOTION IS A MISTAKE
Awakening is not about deleting or transcending human emotions, for how would the ocean transcend a single wave, and how would the Sun transcend one of its beloved sunbeams?It’s about seeing that every emotion – from joy to despair, bliss to boredom, agony to ecstasy – is only a movement of life energy, actually a movement of yourself, a wave in your vastness.
No emotion is a threat, an enemy, or a punishment. Every emotion is an invitation to remember your vastness, rest in your oceanic nature. You are on a pathless path of radical inclusion, friend, and there are no mistakes here.
– Jeff Foster
Some precious words by my friend and Life-coach Monica Mehta:
Our original state is love, bliss, Joy….. so whenever we have an uncomfortable emotion, our attempt is to shake it off..
We do that by distracting our self or by resisting it. This in fact suppresses the emotion. To change it we need to look at it.
Some more pearls of wisdom :
One common misconception about spiritual growth is that individuals who have done the inner work should not feel any negative or undesired feelings at all. Most people therefore go to great lengths to avoid feeling angry, critical, judgmental, irritated or frustrated at others. When they do, they become extremely disappointed with themselves and criticize themselves for their own lack of spiritual progress. This form of self-judgment and self-criticism is seldom useful.
Spiritual enlightenment does not mean a total inability to feel these negative feelings.Even the Dalai Lama has candidly admitted that he gets angry at times. Spiritual enlightenment refers to an inability (or an unwillingness) to stew in these negative feelings. It refers to the ability to let go of these feelings so quickly the moment they arise before any damage (physical manifestations or the attraction of other negative thoughts) is done.
Author Unknown
Link to the article by Luke Coutinho:
MySoulfood 