Last Updated on January 20, 2020
ex·pe·ri·ence
n.
1. The apprehension of an object, thought, or emotion through the senses or mind: a child’s first experience of snow.
2. Active participation in events or activities, leading to the accumulation of knowledge or skill: a lesson taught by experience; a carpenter with experience in roof repair.
The knowledge or skill so derived.
An event or a series of events participated in or lived through.
The totality of such events in the past of an individual or group.
What actually does the “Active participation” ? What is in “apprehension” of what?
Most would say “I (Jonathan, Sue, Bob…) experience this emotion”.
What is Jonathan, Sue, or Bob? What is the experience that is taking place when a certain emotion arises? What or who is having that experience?
Within my own use of symbols (language – English in this case) I differentiate between “Feeling” and “emotion” and “thought”. To me “Feeling” is the level of intuitive awareness that exists within all things. It is the plane of existence that sits in the fine gap between the dream and the dreamer. Emotion, thoughts, perception of the world… it all passes into the awareness of the Dreamer through this plane of existence that we, as “humans” can identify as feeling.
To me emotion and thought, as most people would define them, are no more valid or less valid than the rest of the “Story” that we call life.
They neither exist nor non-exist. Emotion is a valid aspect of the story. Yet, in my experience, it is just that. But in saying that, I trust you will not misunderstand me — by referring to emotion as part of the story I place no judgement on it… I am not invalidating it nor condemning it as some lowly thing that we must do away with. Far from it. It is part of the fabric of Dream. What is more,,, it’s a part of the fabric of life that can play a very crucial role for He or She who wants to wake up.
For, as you say, emotion is “energy in motion”. Motion (change of state) is what gives rise to perception. Perception is what becomes the object of awareness. Awareness is the means by which That which I Am comes to “know thyself”.
So far be it for me to invalidate emotion. In fact, it has been my delving into intense emotion (with awareness) (hence “fealing” – feeling with less of the E-motion and a certain presence of A-wareness) that has engage me most fully with my story, with unravelling the story, and liberation from identification with the story… hence remembering my I-dentification with God — the undoing of the “original sin”.
Now, reading over your words again…
Even if someone does “classify emotion as illusion or dream”… so what?
They would, no doubt, also classify water as illusion or dream. That doesn’t mean that within this wondrous world I deny myself a drink when this body feels thirsty. When my body is dirty I wash it with water. When I am hot I might jump in the ocean and bath in water. To me the level of direct experience within all these expressions of engaging with “water” takes place within my Awareness or feelings. The water is neither valid nor invalid. It is simply another symbol within the dream of life on earth.
Emotion to me is about “State”. It is generally a change of state that people feel and pick up on. By “State” I am referring to the present state of my energy. The state of my energy is symbolic of how I am “managing my energy”. How I am managing my energy is symbolic of the story I am telling and experiencing as “my life” — or visa versa. How I am managing my energy is symbolic of my beliefs. My beliefs are all WITHIN the dream.
E-motion is generally perceived when there is a change of state — a change of the state of my energy. Within the world energy is in a constant flux or moving through a change of state. Of course the “time” over which any given change of state takes can vary and hence we perceived different degrees of emotion through the course of what we have come to refer to as “my life”, “my day”, etc.
Because the only thing that exists is God I could then say that whatever it is I am perceiving (or “erroneously perceiving”) as reality (“energy” in this case) is in fact God. Yet I can tell a story around that. I can erroneously perceive it as being something OTHER than what it is. Hence (in Christian terminology) the Son of God is able to perceive (create/dream) a self that is separate from God, the Father, his Creator. That is the gist of the grand story. The story within all stories.
So here I am… the LIGHT OF GOD having a bad fucking day. Feeling like shit. Grumpy. Disturbed… you name it.
What is that?
Identification with my erroneous perception of reality (of God and what God created).
So if emotion arises as a result of my perceiving the change of state within my “energy field” then I would say that it is a highly valuable tool for getting in touch with my story and seeing the script of the story and then WITH AWARENESS reading between the lines — so to speak.
Identification with emotion, however, is where people perhaps get into troubles. But I can say that about anything within the dream. If I identify with a piece of chocolate I’m really up shit creak without a paddle when the sun hits the chocolate and it melts (changes state). Because within that I will erroneously THINK / BELIEVE / JUDGE that That which I AM has in fact just changed state. AND if that is fact what has just happened then I have someone just diverged from what I AM as God Created me. Hence I have somehow just invalidated God’s changeless Creation… which is not possible. Now we are back to the original sin or Guilt within the “Son of God”.
And, what is more, as it is not possible it can ONLY happen within what I refer to as a Dream or a story.
To me the question around “is emotion real” ceases — eventually — to have any meaning. I experience emotion and so be it. I experience water, and so be it. I experience God and so be it.
I am aware that many religious/spiritual paths have taken quite an active stance AGAINST emotion and made attempt to squash it out of the picture. I can see why (in my experience) we might try to attempt that. I can see what the perceived benefits would be and what the potential downfalls are. To me it is not so much about invalidating and squashing out emotion (what folly that would be) but rather to see it for the illusion that it is. The “erroneously perception” that I AM this emotion… which is forever changing and hence I have changed and diverged from What I AM as God Created me… hence I am now in a place of sin (guilt) as a result of somehow defying God… hence I am bad… I am wrong… I am a fuckwit… I am not worthy of Love… I am judged… hence I judge… etc etc. VOILA… AND NOW WE HAVE THE WORLD OF MAYA !!!
But don’t get me wrong. Back to the piece of chocolate melting in the sun… if too am best not to identify with that either.
Hence the religious idea of denying emotion was an attempt to turn away from the world and turn to God (Reality – perceived NON-erroneously) and hence UNDOING the dream.
But… for many I suspect this only results in some kind of twisted neurosis and schizophrenia that just impounds further misperception of WHAT IS.
With that I say ciao bella….
Jonathan
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