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Examples of Useful & Harmful Emotion

From: "gabriel jans" To: am-global@earthlink.net Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2010 21:35:48 Subject: Examples of Useful & Harmful Emotion Baba "A'lo eseche ghum bheungeche, phuler vane raun legeche..." (P.S. 2253) Purport: With the arrival of effulgence, all drowsiness & sleepiness have been vanquished. In the flower garden, new growth has come. The buds of those flowers which were in hibernation have now all bloomed. And they have filled the flowers with nectar; it is overflowing. Each and everyone's heart is vibrated with the new color. Each and every movement in life is vibrated in His flow. The air, the water, the earth, and the sky-- everything is filled with His vibration and charm. The advent of the new dawn has come; now there will not be any more cries or laments due to the darkness. In the language and expression there will no longer be any bitterness-- rather it will be saturated with sweetness and love. Love will be the source of all inspiration. This transformation has all happened due to the causeless grace of Parama Purusa; He created this momentum and changed the whole vibration of this entire universe. He filled it with His own color. The new dawn has come and the drowsiness of staticity and dogma has disappeared. The sweetness and charm of spirituality has come...
== EXAMPLES OF USEFUL & HARMFUL EMOTION ==
Namaskar, Emotion plays a huge part in our human life. Without emotion, human beings do not take action, no matter how much knowledge they have. For instance, a mother may have all the facts and figures about the dangers of war, but she will not actively protest against it until her own son is drafted into the army. Propelled by that emotional feeling, she will engage in all kinds of activities in order to stop the war. If you take a moment to think, I am sure you can come up with many examples in your own life wherein you had the adequate knowledge but did not act until you developed an emotional link with that particular issue or practice. So emotion has a huge impact in our human activity. And that emotion can drive us in diametrically opposite directions. Blind emotion will hasten one into all kinds of degrading vices and harmful dogmas; whereas emotion supported by rationality will thrust one forward onto the path of dharma. There are so many present-day examples of how emotion shapes human activity: Everything from the recent oil spill tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico to taking tantric initiation, and everything in between. In all such circumstances, emotion plays a critical role. As Ananda Margiis, we should be pointedly aware of this, both in analysing our own actions and in understanding those of others.
BLIND EMOTION IN THE WEST
Currently in the west, although, much of the population is literate and educated in the worldly sense, many, many fall into various dogmas due to their emotional attachment. For instance, romance is a huge aspect of life in the materialistic nations. With crude romance comes heartbreak - for any number of reasons. Today, many of the people who have been heartbroken or hurt in a romantic relationship are now sharing their woes with Juliet - as if Juliet can empathize and solve their problems. Now the first thing you may be thinking is: Who is Juliet? Well, Juliet is one of the main fictitious characters in Shakespeare's tragedy: "Romeo and Juliet". In that drama, written 450+ years ago, the young couple in love are embattled by family disputes and ultimately die a most tragic death, without ever being able to express their love for one another. It is the quintessential tragedy of western literature. And it is totally fictional - these characters are 100% imaginary - Mr Shakespeare merely invented them in his own mind. Yet today, a Juliet website has been devised, and people from far and wide write in seeking solace about their romantic woes. Because of their deep emotional link with the female character Juliet - who never even existed in real life - people are writing to Juliet and pouring their heart. If they deem their romance to be similar in any way to that of Romeo and Juliet - i.e. if they are getting tormented by friends and family - then they write to Juliet and ask for her grace and promise that, "Just as you died for your lover, I shall do the same." Juliet does not even exist, yet they are taking this fictional character to be their guide. It is just like if Indian people started writing to Laela'. Such is what happens when people are consumed by blind emotion. In this way the educated elite in the west get caught up in praying to dogma, revering the fictional icons of pseudo-culture. It is not just limited to their fascination with Juliet, but also Harry Potter, Luke Skywalker, Rocky Balboa and all kinds of fictional heroes from the world of pop pseudo-culture. People are enthralled by such characters and aim to emulate them in all kinds of ways. They dress, talk, act, and behave like them; they idolize them. They think that such characters will grant them strength, or fortune, or love, or whatever it is that they desire. They even name their children after such fictional characters. Such are the ways of emotional attachment. The people have the knowledge that such characters are purely fictional, but even then they are drawn to them in such a poignant manner. Now, we must recall that there are positive ways in which emotion can be used - namely when it is guided by rationality - and that will be discussed further down in this mailing.
BLIND EMOTION IN THE EAST
Although the east is quickly moving towards western pseudo-culture, and even their own form of pseudo-culture, the classic example of blind emotion in India is idol worship. Due to their blind emotional attachment to various deities, worshipers pray to a piece of stone, thinking it to be a god. This is the way it unfolds with so many deities. People ask and pray to their chosen deity for everything, only because, devoid of a rational outlook, their emotion draws them to this dogmatic style of worship. Then of course there is this example from the Sati temple. The imaginary mother goddess Sati jumped on the funeral pyre of her husband. So females pray to this goddess because they think that by this way they will not lose their husband to an early death - rather due to the boon of mother goddess Sati, they will love together forever with their spouse. This, and many other examples like it in India, demonstrate how people become totally blinded by their emotional fervor. Here again the point is that if people exercise their sense of rationality, they will easily understand that such deities are imaginary and cannot help them, however, members of the public become blinded by their emotion and will even cry at the feet of such deities.
EMOTION AND ITS ROLE IN ATROCITIES AGAINST HUMANITY AND THE ENVIRONMENT (Part 1)
The field of emotional attachment is not limited to fictional pseudo-culture characters and / or dogmatic deities. In real life events, people are swayed or apathetic due to their emotional attachment to the topic. That covers up their sense of rationality. For example, people have knowledge about so many atrocities on this earth. Years ago in the Vietnam war, American forces used "agent orange" or dioxin as a means of chemical warfare. Some reports estimate 19 millions gallons was airdropped. Decades later still innocent Vietnamese families are suffering the effects of those past misdeeds, and the land became barren and dead. See the images for yourself on-line: Babies are born with two heads and no legs, the landscape has been permanently damaged- indeed thousands and thousands of gruesome tales can be told about the ill-effects of agent orange. Yet the American public is mostly unmoved. They have the knowledge that this was going on, but they are not emotionally attached with those events. Hence those tragedies remain mostly ignored. Those sufferers needed medical attention but the US government did not even consider that any injustice was done. So there was no question of compensation - neither in the form of medical care nor money. Today however, when a huge oil spill has taken place off the southern shores of the USA, in the gulf of Mexico, the entire American populace is in an uproar. Because they are emotionally attached with their beaches, waters and natural wildlife. While far worse environmental tragedies have happened elsewhere but due to a lack of emotional attachment those things go quietly. No doubt it is good that the US populace is taking a stand against the oil spill, the irony is that had they taken an equally strong stand against such disasters elsewhere, then this tragedy could verily have been averted. The key point to remember in all of this is that: When emotion is moving in a haphazard manner - i.e. devoid of rationality - then so many degrading and dogmatic things will occur, and so many good opportunities will be missed. Whereas when it is supported by rationality then great works can be done.
EMOTION AND ITS ROLE IN ATROCITIES AGAINST HUMANITY AND THE ENVIRONMENT (Part 2)
Here are many more examples of how emotion gets misused in society - it becomes a blind force that allows people to both unleash terror and overlook horror. Here it should be noted that, there are positive ways that emotion is used and that will be outlined further down in this letter. 1. At present, all the terrorists groups rely on blind emotion to recruit youths and blind supporter to commit all sorts of crimes like car bombings, machine gun attacks, and other heinous crimes. The youths lose all sense of rationality and are just stirred up into an emotional fervor wherein they will do anything, totally blinded by their emotions. 2. In the west, bound by their blind emotion, people spend huge money on their pets and will even kiss their cat or dog; they talk and share their feelings with their dog. they are totally emotionally attached. Yet they will overlook the cries of starving humanity. Devoid of any rational approach, people can overlook the pain of a suffering child or fallen man, but they will give their wholehearted love and attention to their cat. 3. Similarly, people will watch after their pets with extreme care yet when it comes time to sit down for dinner, they will cut into a steak (slaughtered cow) without thinking a second thought. Their lack of rationality and huge emotional attachment allows them to indulge in such duplicitous behaviour. 4. And of course in our Marga there are numerous ways in which emotion blinds people - especially in the case of our present group clashes. People get attached with a particular group or leader and then justify all the misdeeds of that group. Most recently this happened with SS Goenka. On the one hand blinded by his own attachment Goenkaji is calling B group the Pandavas, and side by side this is the same group that struck down Abhipremanandji to his bloody death. Plus there are so many instances wherein people express their support for H group or EC - once again we know that this is just their emotional blindness, nothing more, since these groups are also guided by selfishness etc. Ours is the path of rationality and dharma, not any group sentiment. Thus, emotion by itself is a blind force and is bound to lead humanity down the wrong road. When emotion is moving in haphazard way - i.e. devoid of rationality - then so many degrading and dogmatic things will occur.
EMOTION AS A POSITIVE FORCE
By Baba's grace, emotion can also be used in a positive manner when in coordination with rationality. When a person thinks, "I should do something - I should follow dharma", and when this is done with their emotional force, then good things happen. For instance, many have entered AM and taken diiksa based on this emotional propulsion guided by rationality. In the same way, others have served as LFT's, WT's, etc. Without that emotional-cum-rational feeling they would not have been moved into action. They may have had knowledge of Ananda Marga and dharma, but without that close emotional and rational link they would not have done anything. So in these positive cases, one's emotional flow is not haphazard, rather it is guided by rationality. Similarly, with their emotional and rational attachment to Baba, i.e. devotion to Baba, many have given their lives for the great cause and others have stood up to fight dogma and oppose injustice. Even they have given up all their friends and faced all kinds of opposition due to their emotional-cum-rational attachment to Baba's teachings. So emotion need not always be a liability. When linked with rationality it can lift one onto the field of dharma.
SUMMARY
So long as one's emotions are not guided by rationality, regardless of how well educated they are, there are bound to problems - problems of epic proportions. This is one idea. Secondly, if people have knowledge, they will not do anything until they have an emotional link to the situation at hand. If that emotional link is blind they will fall prey to dogma and misdeeds and if combinded with rationality that person can do great things for humanity. Thirdly, emotion should always be guided by a mind open in 360 degrees, and not be linked with any selfishness or group agenda. Fourthly, because of emotion, people often do not do what they should do, or do what they should not do. So it is a tricky force. Even educated people commonly fall into this trap. Fifth, the only answer is neo-humanistic education and AM spiritual practices. Buoyed by these rational and devotional forces, one emotional feeling will be used in solely for positive endeavours. Finally, when standing alone the emotional mind moves towards dogma and when guided by rationality that mind becomes a strong and dharmic force.
BABA'S BLESSING
By Baba's grace He has blessed us with all the proper teachings to succeed in life and not be blinded by the haphazard flow of emotion. The Juliet story - wherein people share their heartfelt feelings due to their emotional link with a fictitious character - is but an example of how blind the human personae can become when goaded haphazardly by emotion. We should all take proper care to ensure we are always moving along the methodical path of emotion known as devotion. Then great works can and will be done on this earth and the sadhaka will attain the Supreme stance. Baba says, "Now, even those who are advocates of devotional or emotional faculties say that people get propensive propulsion from devotion or emotion. When the mind moves along a particular track or follows a particular discipline in a methodical way, this is called “devotion” or bhakti; but when it does not follow a particular method, when it moves haphazardly, swept away by whim, it is called “emotion”. This is the fundamental difference between devotion and emotion. You must know this clear-cut silver line of demarcation between devotion and emotion." (YP) Baba says, "Those who adhere to this cult of pinnacled order know that there must be a happy blending amongst intellectual-cum-intuitional faculty, actional faculty and devotional-cum-emotional faculty. None of these is unimportant, all are of equal importance, but the finality comes in devotion. That is, the final outcome or resultant of intellectual-cum-intuitional faculty and actional faculty is devotion, not emotion." (YP) Baba says, "If one wants to realize an entity, does one realize it only through knowledge? No, certainly not. To realize an entity, one must possess a loving heart, a sweet intellect, and a free flow of emotion... I said a little earlier that by merging one’s individual sweetness into the sweetest entity, the realization, “You exist, only You exist,” becomes firmly established. One becomes finally ensconced in that Supreme Entity. There is no other way. And this self-knowledge is the sweetest essence of the devotional feeling of one’s heart." (NSS, Disc: 12) Namaskar, Gautam
*************************************** Like New Born Baby and Mother
Baba says, "It is a law of nature that nature provides a mother with sufficient breast milk to feed her newly-born baby. In the same way, nature provides sufficient resources like food and other essential requirements for all human beings. Human beings need only utilize these resources in a proper way. Shortages of food and space cannot be blamed on nature. These problems have been artificially created by the folly of human beings." (PNS-13, p.45)
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