Negative feelings

One of the aims of self-observation - and a key to having an awakened spirit - is to be free of what is sometimes referred to as the "conditioned" self - what we think of as the self we  usually accept as it appears to us.  If our "self" is the unifying part of our stream of consciousness, what we want is for it to be able to see clearly what we are, to see things objectively - with detachment. What we think of as self has become conditioned by outer influences and inner censorship and is no longer our natural or instinctive self.


Strong feelings are a symptom of our conditioned self - particularly negative ones such as anger, resentment or hatred.


It's very difficult to move our position from subjectivity to objectivity. How can we question our convictions? It's impossible while we remain prejudiced (sure we know what's right) and mechanical (sleepwalking through our lives). Einstein is reported as saying that it is easier to split an atom than a prejudice.


Let's look at our negative feelings towards others and start to learn how to see things differently with a proposition that's hard to take.


Is it possible that our negative feelings toward other people are an illusion? If that's true then we're the ones at fault. Because we're not seeing things as they are. And this taps into a universal truth - we do not see things as they are; we see things as we are. So next time you start criticising somebody or something you might pause to reflect that this criticism can say more about you than it will about what you're criticising.

It's a fact that my life has been filled with some dreadful problems - some of which actually happened.


Hard as it is to accept, there is nothing wrong with the world. So, the world doesn't need to change. I need to change. The idea that the problems in my life are not caused by me but by other people came as a relief. I cannot change others (Boy, have I tried!) but I might be able to change me. And the change I need is a move from my conditioned self (from a prejudiced view of the world and its effect on me) to my real self, detached from prejudice and living free at this particular point in time and space.


So, today, when I am feeling unhappy - particularly when I can see that I am restless, irritable or discontented -  I just ask myself "Now, what have I done?" Often I've expected too much, become too attached to something or (all too often, I'm afraid) thought that I know best. I attend to my feelings and perceptions and discover that I am so often the cause of any of my own unhappiness.


It's worth a postscript about righteous anger. What do we do when we see something that is clearly wrong - cruelty to a child perhaps? We act, of course, where we can. But never from a position of righteousness (the cause of most of the world's ills) and preferably without anger, because we seldom see clearly when we are angry.


Image copied from  http://get-successful.com/self-concept/