To feel is a verb; it is something that happens. We all feel. Emotion
is a noun, a thing. To feel is beautiful, belonging to both the animal and
human condition. When we allow feelings to harden and coalesce into
emotions, which we transport like overburdened slaves, we deny our
selves life's freshness, its ever-present potential for renewal and trans
formation. We waste so much energy through allowing our emotions
to govern us. Feelings and emotions involve our organs, breath, and
mind. Those feelings that we experience before they pop up in our
heads are called "gut" feelings and are respected for their instinctual
source. In a healthy organism, feelings should pass like clouds over the
sun. When feelings get anchored by thought into our memory, they be
come emotions, which are no longer related to the moment but to the
past. They accrue a greater density and darkness, like storm clouds that
block out the sun itself. These stagnant emotions poison us and pre
vent us from seeing what truly is.
Look at your dog. When you leave him, he is sad; his heart is on
the ground. When you come home, is there resentment? No, he is over
joyed to see you. Are you closer to reality or is your dog?
Normally, we find life full of pressure, pain, tension, stress, and
strain. By understanding these six emotional disturbances that plague
humanity, we will be able to have a chance at transforming them and
transforming ourselves.
LustNothing scatters the mind more than lust. Yet lust is the impetus for
procreation. It is the glue that holds family life together. Sexual dissat
isfaction is where problems in marriage begin. Patience and tolerance
are necessary. There is a natural progression in marriage whereby the
importance of passion becomes less important-not unimportant, but
less important-and its place is filled evermore by love and friendli
ness. The gateway to divine love, I believe, as I have CXIWrit•JKt·d il, is