Beloved Friend: What do you do when you are feeling so many emotions at once, but don’t know how to deal with one at a time?
Loving Reminder: Let the clouds pass through
All upsetting emotions arise from only a seeming misidentification with a false, separate self. It can be called the ego. When this false sense of self is sought for through a form of inquiry it is never found, being causeless.
When one misidentifies with the false ego-belief and its unloving thoughts arising in awareness, giving them reality, one then seems to experience the effectual upsetting emotions and fearful perceptions of the world. Yet, it is only this misidentification on the level of mind with the ego that needs to be raised to doubt and seen as false for the experience to shift, rather than a change of anything in the world or perception.
If inquiry is too direct in the moment these emotions arise, joining with a Mighty Companion who is willing to hold the space, willing to listen without judgement can be a helpful stepping-stone. Expressing what is on our heart in a non-judgemental environment can be enough to see its falsity and to allow a shift in perception, to allow a shift to occur where one recognises the falsity of the misidentification with a false sense of self, to remember the true Self that’s “underneath” or “behind” the ego.
In the truest sense, the terms “underneath” or “behind” are stepping-stones, as the mind is That in which all thoughts, emotions, and perceptions arise or appear within, like in a night-time dream.
In Awakening, everything arising within awareness can be all re-seen as coming up to be seen as false. Love casts out fear and will flush up anything unlike Itself. It is okay to feel them as they arise, aware that nothing is really going wrong. While the ego will interpret this as a great retreat, the Self sees everything working out for the good. Indeed, it is a massive advance.
In this embrace nothing is repressed and one sees that all emotions are not personal. Only by misidentifying with the false ego-belief and its false effects does one feel a personal responsibility to them; as if one is the judgemental one, the painful one, or the angry one. They are all but a false effect of false thoughts and a false belief in the mind, and these thoughts are not yours.
The true Self does not share the same qualities of the ego. Therefore, as one is aware of what is arising on a mind level, one gently opens to discerning the false from the true, the ego from the Self.
In any moment when uncomfortable feelings arise, notice that one is aware of them but is not the feeling itself. Looking calmly upon it all with non-judgement, the ego thoughts and resulting emotions can arise without judgement and be seen as false. No need to get rid of them, no need to fix yourself, and no need to try and control them. What is an illusion does not need to be rid of or fixed.
Listen to the gentle Voice within, the guidance of the true Self that will remind you that the Self that You Are always remains unchanged and undisturbed by any ego thought, emotion or perception.
This Voice, which is loving and gentle in nature, will show you what is real and what is unreal. It will show you what is eternal and what is temporary, so that you may accept what is unchanging and overlook what is changing. It will show you your true Voice which silences the harsh critic in mind.
This critic and its upsetting emotions is not you. One is the ever-present Presence of Peace that is aware of the ego, just like the sky is aware of all the clouds passing through. One is not these clouds.
Let all the clouds pass through and stay within this unchanging Peace.
You are safe and completely loved.
Love you just as you are.
One Silent Mind 