Freedom from negative emotions

forum posted by Anonymous Thu, 2007-02-22 18:25 Tags:

Empowerment Forum

Dear moderatos, I'm sorry if I've written in the wrong theme. Please, don't delete my post and move it in the proper section. Day after day, minute after minute people keep feeing negative emotions ("NEs"): jealousy, pity, fear, anger, irritation, discontent, resentment, rage, perplexity, insult, malice, envy, anxiety, uneasiness, contempt, disgust, shame, revengefulness, apathy, indolence, grief, melancholy, disappointment, greed etc. Is freedom from NEs possible? People are stuck in them so hopelessly that even the very idea of having freedom from NEs irritates them. When they imagine themselves without NEs, it perplexes them to think how it is possible to live without them. They believe that without NEs they would turn into a dead unfeeling thing. They are so addicted to NEs that they cannot even imagine something besides them, although many people had short outbursts of weak EPs, especially in the early childhood. This is a citation. I suggest reading about it ( http://bodhi.ru/samadhi/for/eng/01001-eng.htm ) and express your opinion. If you don't speak English then choose your language here - http://bodhi.ru/ . On this page there's email where you can send your questions and wishes.

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On the value of Tragedy

Submitted by Not24601 on Thu, 2007-05-24 22:09.

Without negative emotion we would have nothing with which to gauge positive emotion; everything is defined by it's opposite. An object is defined by the empty space around it. We would have feeling; we would have positive feeling. But we would not know 'this is happiness; it is good because it is not sadness'.

Besides, do we really want a world without negative emotion? Is the elimination of negativity really our goal - or is there something beyond contentment? Some greater meaning?

"It was the sort of idea that might easily decondition the more unsettled minds among the higher castes - make them lose their faith in happiness as the Sovereign Good and take to believing, instead, that the goal was somewhere beyond, somewhere outside the present human sphere; that the purpose of life was Not the maintenance of well being, but some intensification and refining of consciousness, some enlargement of knowledge. Which was, the Controller reflected, quite possibly true. But not, in the present circumstance, admissible." -Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

I would not want to live in a world without tragedy. Tragedy has meaning and value; if it didn't, Shakespeare would be completely unknown.

I'll second that!

Submitted by lxpk on Fri, 2007-05-25 11:42.

Reminds me of the song Without Emotion by Combichrist: "Without pain, without emotion, life is just a clock, ticking, ticking, ticking...." Great Huxley quote too. We grow through suffering. It's like the fire that hardens and alloys all the parts of us that need putting to the test.

On a related note.

Submitted by adnauseam on Mon, 2007-11-05 22:48.

So after a recommendation from Sean Kennedy (The Fucking Man) I went out and prayed to server that I might find a copy of Brian Tracey's Science to Self Confidence someday... and server-bless I found one on my hard drive!

One particular point that lxpk just mentioned relates to a meme he expressed in I think CD1 of his package. His meme was that every time you stuggle through an experience and resist against your values to continue on in that situation this creates mental friction which has the result of crystallizing your inner-most values closer to the point of permanence. So going on that very notion it could be said that negative experiences only program in more deeply those things which we appreciate and accept as useful.

I have a concept for you all to add to your meme-scheme:

Harness the Antimatter

Every time you are in a situation that makes you uncomfortable remember that this negative energy you are in the midst of can be used to fuel your ultimate goals and desires. Remembering that the negative energy is yours for the taking. Every time you access this meme it becomes more and more powerful. Take back your energy. Harness the Antimatter.

that's bloody brilliant

Submitted by cidviscous on Wed, 2007-11-07 20:27.

I've often tried to treat certain unfortunate/unpleasant as little games in order to draw strength (which can be applied to the situation, and build your inner reserves down the road). If you're dealing with someone who's being an asshole, just view it as an opportunity to develop your self control and personal skills (and you can often gain a great deal of personal satisfaction and amusement from the behaviour of others, not to mention, you're simultaneously building your repertoire of people skills and mastering yourself).

But as a nerd, and specifically, as a sci-fi geek, the concept of negative emotions (or negative situations) as just being antimatter strikes a personal chord with me.

Good show.

-cid

I agree

Submitted by thekid12 on Fri, 2007-05-25 14:47.

its probably true that without "negative emotions" there would be no Contrast to Positive ones. but I also think that we should be striving to free ourselves from emotions that hold us back from our goals.

I agree, but would like to add...

Submitted by Jetrosr on Tue, 2007-08-07 03:00.

I believe emotions, good or bad, are given way too much credit in this day and age. We have become 'emotion junkies', looking for our next fix. Emotions are generated out of our principles, our core beliefs; if you believe smoking is bad, to whatever degree, someone smoking around you generates negative emotion. The point I'd like to make is, I think emotions should be used more like street signs than a place to camp out. It's hard to be empowered when your emotions rule you.

I like your imagery. I like

Submitted by lxpk on Tue, 2007-08-07 18:45.

I like your imagery. I like to make the analogy that emotions are like weather: here today, gone tomorrow. Character is like the landscape that shapes the weather. One is a fleeting phenomonon, the other a lasting bedrock.

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