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Overly sensitive emotions are a common problem it seems for many mediums / clairvoyants. I have to be careful in saying there is a link because not all overly sensitive people can be suffering from potential mediumship / clairvoyant abilities. What I can say is that when clairvoyant abilities are developed overly sensitive emotions can be a side effect. Once this is understood they can be controlled.
If you do not know the reason behind your overly sensitive emotions and sometimes even if you do consult with your medical physician .
| Grief | It is only our eyes that cannot see. The love to and from still resides within us. Even though we may know this, I see no reason to hide our feelings. After all it is an expression of love. There are many different thoughts on this, some of which I used to think were true. Now I see these feeling are there, not to bottle up, but to express how you feel. Love will not hold anyone back, let you heart speak for you |
| Hate | Hate is one of the so called negative emotions. As the opposite of love, this may appear to be the case, yet all is not what it seems. In many ways it defines and is directly responsible for what we love. For an example I personally hate violence and love peacefulness, this I learnt by experiencing both. In this way hate had a positive effect by enabling me to feel and express my own truth. A balance was reached where I no longer experience the extremes of hate, it being replaced by feelings no stronger then to dislike. The understanding of ones emotions would seem to be the key rather then suppressing those we consider negative. |
| Jealousy | Jealousy is seemingly an uncontrollable emotion many of us will face at sometime in our physical incarnation. It has many names. Envy, Covetousness, Resentment, Protectiveness, Suspicion, distrust to name a few. They are hard task masters and few of us are willing to admit fault. It is not until we ourselves are on the receiving end, do we begin to understand the effects they cause. Most are based around fear, whether it be a fear of losing or losing out. Within each there is a lesson to learn, reached by the understanding of why. If we deny the truth to ourselves then the lesson remains unresolved. Suppression is not the answer for it remains within. |
| Loneliness | Loneliness is not uncommon among spirituality minded people in
fact for many of us it is the main cause behind our interest. We
seek answers to explain life's events that may have been cruel to us
be it the death of a loved one or simply the fact we feel alienated
from our fellow human beings. We are in many cases easily recognized
by our sensitivity. There is often an ability to sense things other
people cannot which only leads to more confusion and a fear we are
not normal perhaps suffering from some mental illness.
Take heart if you see yourself in my words, you are not alone. There are millions of spiritual people in the world some based in religion and many more hidden away locked in their private lives. I need to be careful here not to portray all mental illness as suppressed spirituality. What I am saying is increased sensitivity or an ability to sense what others cannot, is not in itself a sign of mental illness. In fact there are some respected and well-known people that are spiritually minded. The computer with Internet access has opened a portal linking each of us to a worldwide group of like-minded people. We are free to share our views with others, while remaining protected by the anonymity the computer offers. In reading the views of others we will find that we are not alone in our thoughts or feelings. We are in fact part of a very large family whose love does not demand or judge. Of course there will be family tiffs as in any family but our love or that given is not in question. |
| Love | Love and the role it plays in our lives is a complex subject
shrouded in mystery. Love is an inner merging of two souls. Our
weaknesses and strengths shared with another in an act of total
surrender. Everything given, nothing taken. Love transcends the
physical prejudices that plague our lives. It seeks the soul that
lays within, not the body and its trappings. Our expectation of love
can be the very thing that prevents us from finding it. To demand a
return and precondition what form it should take, is to seek control
over another's soul. Love cannot be, unless it is able to flow
freely. Many people confuse biological functions as love and where
it may be present and enhance these experiences they are not love
itself. As our love grows we become so interlaced that the initial
excitement gives way to an air of complacency. We crave that
excitement and claim our love has gone with it. We become demanding
of love totally blind to what we really have. Love is The single most important aspect of love is ability to love
oneself. We are taught that loving ones self is an act of
selfishness, nothing could be further from the truth. To judge the
body and condemn it to a lifetime of misery simply because we have
a preconceived idea of perfection, is to follow a path of
self-destruction. Your preoccupation with what you perceive to be
imperfections will be reflected in your day-to-day living. Happiness
will always be just out of reach, love never fully realized. |
This is a submitted article about which my personal views will not be added. Providing they contain no personal attacks on a person or belief submitted articles will be edit free. Those that do contain such attacks will not be included within this website. There is no charge for inclusion of any article or link. I do however have limited space available and if that space becomes short articles may be replaced with more current ones thereby giving everyone a fair chance at expressing their views.
Emotions : Definition and Characteristics, using Guilt and Pride as examples -- by Ian Heath
The analysis of emotions has been ineffectual up till now since they are very difficult to identify, except for a few such as fear and anger. Many years ago I began an intense psycho-analysis. It took me five years of constant awareness to finally identify the range of emotions that I usually experience. The peculiarity of any particular emotion is that, whilst it is just an emotion, it is nevertheless intimately associated with specific mental attitudes and ideas that have become characteristic of that emotion.
In general, I found that each emotion acts as a nucleus for pre-set ideas and beliefs about the world. This fact gives rise to a notable phenomenon. As one emotion fades away and the next one is generated, so the ideas and beliefs in a person's mind automatically change : the fresh emotion brings with it its own associated ideas and beliefs.
Feelings
One area of confusion is that feelings are often loosely equated
with emotions. This is all right for everyday use. I can ask a
friend how he is feeling today; it would be awkward to ask him how
emotional he is being today. Some people might take offence if they
were thought to be emotional, whereas it is acceptable for them to
show feelings. However, there are fundamental differences between
feelings and emotions.
There are just three feelings: the pleasant one, the unpleasant one, and the neutral one. This is the Buddhist understanding and I verified this fact directly during the time when I used to practise meditation. In the past, some moral theorists believed that the neutral feeling is only an equal mixture of both pleasant and unpleasant feelings, so that the net effect is zero. But meditational awareness disproves this assumption.
Model of Emotions
Emotions are partly derived from feelings. To explain how this
derivation occurs I use a model of consciousness that is a
traditional one: consciousness has three modes or parts, those of
will, mind, and feeling. Past variations on this model substituted
action for will, and emotion or sensibility for feelings. However,
my model has an innovative feature: the three modes are separate,
but they interlock by the production of desires and emotions, with
the mind taking the central role.
When will is united with mind, it generates desire. Desire is the activity of will directed into a mental concept.
The concept governs the use of will. For example, will plus the concept "social status" gives rise to the desire to achieve social status. Will plus the concept "fame" gives rise to the desire for fame.
When feeling is united with mind, it generates emotion. Emotion is the activity of feeling directed into a mental concept.
The feeling energises a conceptual response to a stimulus. The pleasant and the unpleasant feelings produce opposite responses. For example, feeling plus the concept "domination" gives rise to the emotions of anger and fear. Anger arises because the pleasant feeling makes domination of others acceptable to me ; the unpleasant feeling makes fear arise when I become subject to domination by others.
The mental concept is normally unconscious, so I call it an unconscious idea. Now an unconscious idea has two values: it is good or it is bad. The good value generates the pleasant feeling, the bad value the unpleasant feeling. This division leads to two choices. One choice gives rise to one emotion, the other choice to its complement
In general, my definition of an emotion is that it is an unconscious idea powered by either a pleasant or an unpleasant feeling.
The unconscious idea enables all emotions to be arranged in pairs of complementary opposites. The one exception is that the neutral feeling is unique, it is not part of a pair. It is the basis of equanimity, the ability to be unaffected by any kind of stress.
As an example, the complementary emotion to guilt is pride.
Compound Emotions
Some emotions have an additional complexity: they are compound and consist of two simpler emotions. Each of the separate emotions within a compound emotion I call a "mode" of that emotion.
As an example,
Guilt = self-pity + self-hate.
Pride = vanity + hatred of other people.
In compound emotions, only one mode is felt at any one time � they
are never experienced simultaneously. For example, guilt is felt as
either self-pity or as self-hate.
I list the unconscious ideas of guilt and pride. I use the word "implies" to indicate the central idea that determines a particular emotion.
The theme of guilt and pride is punishment / humiliation.
Guilt is self-punishment
self-pity mode implies life is punishment.
self-hate mode implies I deserve punishment.
Pride is punishment / humiliation of other people.
vanity mode implies you are inferior to me.
hate mode implies I despise you / I will punish you.
Characteristics of Emotions
Now I turn to the differences between emotions. Emotions and their
modes have definite characteristics which help to identify them.
These characteristics have been identified empirically, and not by
using logical thought. When I am aware of what the present emotion
is that I am experiencing, I consider relationships, views of
reality, of politics, of religion, ideas of morality, how I feel
about my own needs, etc, and then note what influence the present
emotion has on this inquiry. I was often surprised by what I found.
As examples, I give the ideas on guilt and pride.
Guilt (= self-pity + self-hate).
Guilt prevents me from seeing life as good, as worthwhile in itself;
it neutralises aesthetic enjoyment of the world. Guilt focuses on my
failures in life.
The self-pity mode knocks out all meaning in anything and my motivation collapses; to survive it I become rigid and accept dogmatic rules. I become a perfectionist in my work. In this mode arises the need for psychological support, for a confessor or a confidante, and I embrace authoritarian methods of control. Without support, life becomes unreal. I practise homeliness, I keep my house tidy.
The self-hate mode belittles me as a person, I am not worth anything. My motivation is retained but my self-image is pitiable. I have no value (either individually or socially). My faith in my own abilities becomes eroded. I romanticise the life of simpler, less intellectual (therefore more "grounded") peoples as my life transforms into purgatory. To survive I develop concepts of purity and cleanliness; only sexual practice that is "pure" is acceptable. I keep my house clean. When self-hate is intense I feel sick of my past life, my life is a wasted life; I wish that I could forget my past so that I can start afresh.
Pride (= hatred of others + vanity)
The presence of negative thoughts about other people indicates
pride, the vanity mode of which reflects a sense of superiority, and
the hate mode originates destructive comments about them.
In the hate mode I seek freedom from social restraints; I negate the value of social concepts and responsibilities, I value only my own independence. I prefer to be left alone; if I am not, then I daydream of violence. I belittle the achievements of others. I see my past life as a dreary life, a drab life of obeying rules and regulations, a dull life of obeying other people.
In the vanity mode I judge all issues in black and white terms, I have no moderation, no flexibility and no toleration to opposing views. I am dogmatic. My views cannot be wrong.
Conclusion
Emotions are just concepts which are energised by feelings. The concept introduces the factor of mind and so each emotion has its own cluster of ideas and beliefs associated with it. Once a person learns to identify their full range of major emotional responses, then they can use them to clear confusion and self-deception from consciousness.
A more detailed and extended analysis of emotions is given on my
website "Patterns of Spirituality", at
http://www.dawndreamer.co.uk
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regards,
Ian Heath
London, UK
Copyright Spiritual Journey 2007