AM or FEEL?

Greetings, Sisters, Brothers and friends of the Community!

I pray you are well and at peace!

Several times this past week the subject of Study came up. This is, of course, one of our cornerstone values as a Community, but I wanted to re-emphasize that this does not always mean we have our face in a book, or are attending a class, or are listening to a tape. The value of Study often has to do with the study of ourselves: particularly as we walk through a day’s journey and encounter other people and life situations. Why did we react to that person the way we did? Or why did we react to that situation the way we did? Examining these reactions can be a huge key in the process of “awakening” to our true selves and releasing the natural joy and goodness built into our hearts.

Let’s look at two sets of statements:

I am angry! vs. I feel anger.
I am worried about… vs. I feel concern about…
She hurt me when she said… vs. I felt pain when she said…
I am sad. vs. I feel sadness.
I am agitated. vs. I’m feeling agitation.

The statements on the left indicate that the speaker has fully identified with the feelings that he or she is experiencing. This person has been taken over by their dysfunctional ego. They have identified with their feelings and are totally controlled by them. Decisions made by people in the left column will usually be damaging to self or others. People in this state of mind “can’t think straight.” High emotions and high energy can disrupt logic.

The statements on the right begin to show some separation from this ego. The true self can step back from the feelings, distancing itself from the feelings, and look them over as if holding up a object to the light. The observer is separated from the observed. Upon separating oneself from his or her feelings, the probability of making good decisions greatly increases. What you will also notice is that the feeling begins to diminish greatly as soon as you distance yourself from it. (This is because you are now letting your true, calmer self out from your heart, which has the power to examine this separate feeling that is attempting to control your behavior.)

Separating ourselves from the things we feel is the beginning of awakening. So, this is the first step: Awareness of what we are feeling, and putting it in a place where we can study it. The second step is Acceptance. Do not resist what you are feeling because this does nothing more than expend huge amounts of energy. Resistance creates emotion which again clouds your decision-making ability. Accept what you are feeling, whatever it is, and then you can begin to deal with it.

And now, thirdly, you can ask yourself, “Why am I feeling this?” Or, better yet, you might ask, “Why is my ego feeling this?” because that is usually the root of the problem. The ego begins to throw a tantrum in the form of anger, despair, worry, regret, guilt, etc., when it is threatened or not being fed.

Once you realize what the source of the feeling is, you can react properly to it. True joy, peace, gentleness, and the other gifts of the Holy Spirit are feelings from the heart and are natural. This other stuff is from the head, the home base of the dysfunctional ego.

This, for me, is the cornerstone of Study. I ask you to reflect on your reactions to the situations and people in your day’s journey. What is coming from the head, and what is coming from the heart?

I am yours in Christ,

Br. Daniel-Joseph, CTG