Emotion / Meditation

On the surface, you may think Emotion and Meditation are rather antagonizing idea hence

they wouldn’t come together though, it is because you are trying to keep your pretense.

In reality, our Mind is always in the mess, otherwise we didn’t need to talk

about the Mind and its trouble 2500 years, and the Buddhism could have

become redundant long ago.

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Meditation is a funny practice. In principle, it supposed to sit while you vacate

your mind.    Yet, in reality, all sorts of your bothering ideas, thoughts, images

are coming up  = The more disturbing,  the more keep coming back. 

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Long time ago, in the mountain shelter, I talked with a man said to be a Japanese classics

teacher —– while talking about a poet, Saigyo, who became a monk in his later life, it

touched Buddhism idea, then the teacher reviled, in fact he is a trained, ordained Zen monk.

( Mind you, on that time my knowledge of the Buddhism was rather poor = a son of priest

didn’t mean know the Buddhism well.  😀 )

So, I’m not sure whether I made right question to him and how serious the answer he gave me.

He could have just kidding a young man. 😀 —– Any how, he said

“ It is a lie to Meditate in Mushin.   I sit while visualizing the image of a

woman taking her cloths off, one by one and become naked.    Ha ha ha  :-D”

“ Didn’t you get aroused ?”

“ Oh no. If you do everyday every time, it just became a simple routine and

the same old image.  Nothing exciting”

“ How about to change character to top film star and imagine her naked ?”

“ Yah, I did though, it’s all same”

—– Looking back this conversation half century later, I think he was telling me his truth

and the truth in what the function of Meditation is.

Meditation wear-out your thoughts = To see disturbing thought  straight,

and analyzing again and again,  soon or later you will fed-up, and the idea

will loose its fresh impact to induce an Emotion. 

Without having an involvement of the Emotion, it become just another

opinion and a remote episode in the life ==> Detachment (Emotion put a tug

to the signal / information “this is Mine / My concern” = Turf of the Self )

When you get used with this process, again and again, you will become

rather not to have any useless thought = this is Mushin !

And start to see the things Objective = in the Detached Mind !

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Emotion is developed in our old part of the brain / Hippocampus.  This old part is common

with any animal and it is directly dealing with one’s survival.

Hence, not only one’s survival instincts or sexual desire, but also one’s welfare = comfort

for oneself and for the species general, are all part of this Emotion.

Desire, Greed, Envy, Fear, Like-Dislike, Want or Avoid, even a judgement

of Right or Wrong —– are all related to the own survival (and better survival

condition) of oneself  = (hence,  it is the Ego / Greed)

Those feelings are the basis of the conscious of the Self (and its turf).

More importantly, Emotion is always causing a seclusion of particular hormone.

(Such as a fear to a danger needs whole body to prepare for prolonged battle by

seclusion of Adrenalin.  Or whole process of sexual activity needs continuing higher

level of Testosterone.)

—– In comparison, higher logical thinking is done by the later addition of the larger

brain and its process is not necessary induce a seclusion of hormone or Emotion.

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So that, when you hear the call of the Wolf = its signal rises your Adrenaline and become

Emotionally alert.   But if it is the same “Wolf-call” again, you just get used and

start to ignore = your perception would no longer trigger the Emotion.

—– Logically, Wolf is still somewhere in the woods yet its logical possibility wouldn’t

trigger your Emotion, because you are not in imminent danger, still, a kind of strong belief

or persistent thought / obsession would trigger an Emotion.

( But they are a subject of mental, neurological disorder)

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Seeing those function of the brain,

you might be realized that what the Meditation is doing.

= When your brain keep receiving the same signal, threshold of the reception

rise higher = the same signal loose impact.  You become immune to the signal.

Those external incoming signal or internal thought would work alike.

When the brain (or a Mind set) starts to ignore the signal or thought, it no

longer trigger an emotional reaction = therefore loose the tag  of ” Mine” =

and it become detached from the Ego = your mind would be in PEACE.

And when you do the things without involving your Emotion =

“ Effectively you are in the SELFLESS state” as all of your Emotion which is

defining  “ This is mine / my interest” is no longer there.

—– Buddhism teachings are using those brain function and its tendency =

Mushin and the Selflessness to control our MIND.

( Without Emotion, Selfless, and in Mushin = Just get on the task / Life ! )

Hence we can have PEACE of MIND and the  SMOOTH  LIFE.

———

( Though, there was an interesting question ” How and why,  some people

who is seeing a lots of sexual images, the person become immune to a

sexual stimulant  (like a Gynecologist),  but in the other hand it would lead

some others become rapist ?”

—– Well, this is the matter of the Mind-set on the starting point,  which I’m

going to write about in later post.)

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PS : Please do remember, there is yet another purpose in the Buddhism training, other

than [Eliminates Thinking = Mushin] and [Cut off the Emotion = Selfless] . Also

to sublimates the teaching = Imprint the Teachings into Subconscious by

repeated practice and repeated reading or reciting, is the crucial process. —– here

again invisible Mind.

When the Teachings were imprinted into subconscious (sublimated), it

controls the person unconsciously

= no need to consciously remember it = Mushin again !

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