Preserve your emotional freedom
Human society is in the throes of an emotional meltdown. Most of us
seem to be restless. We lose our tempers quite often. We cannot wait in
a queue even for a few minutes without getting restless. Domestic
violence is quite rampant in some households. When we get on to a bus or
train the amount of noise made by fellow passengers is sometimes
unbearable. Road manners are almost forgotten. You hear drivers yelling
at each other clenching their fists. Some private bus conductors are the
worst offenders who make our lives miserable.
Is this the way we want to live? Certainly not. We deserve some
degree of relief from getting crucified by daily stress. We need to be
happier and comfortable in our homes and workplaces. Then only can we
develop cordial relationships with our neighbours and live in harmony.
With all the noise, wickedness and cut-throat competition in society,
emotional freedom helps us retain our sanity and happiness.
Emotional freedom basically means increasing our ability to love our
fellow human beings, cultivating positive emotions and being able to
witness and transform negative emotions. These negative emotions may be
yours or somebody else's. However, these fundamental skills will
liberate us from fear and allow us to navigate through adversity without
losing our cool and getting derailed in the process.
With those who enjoy emotional freedom, you will be able to react
constructively. Then only can you communicate more successfully and gain
confidence in yourself. Although freedom generally means uncensored
speech and emancipation from slavery, emotional freedom aims at
achieving total freedom from worries.
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Meditation helps rid
all impurities of the mind |
According to psychologists, there are four major components of
emotions that shape our health and moods. They are biology, subtle
energy, psychology and spirituality. If your biological needs are not
satisfied, it will be difficult to enjoy emotional freedom. Similarly,
we need to be mentally healthy to enjoy happiness. In addition,
spiritual purity is a sine qua non for physical and mental equilibrium.
We must not forget that we are spiritual beings having human bodies. All
the religions have taught us the value of leading a spiritual life.
Every victory over fear, anxiety, and resentment is a way to develop our
spiritual muscles. Referring to spirituality, Albert Einstein said, "The
most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the
fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true
science."
Every physical illness, heartbreak, loss and pain gives us an
opportunity to learn more about emotional freedom. The not-so-happy
emotions help us to free ourselves from the dark forces that make us
suffer. The problem with emotions is that when we feel them internally,
their energy expands beyond our bodies affecting our colleagues, friends
and neighbours. Similarly, other people's emotions too have an impact on
us.
Human beings feel ashamed of feeling inadequate, lonely or afraid.
They feel that they have done something wrong. Therefore, we need a lot
of courage to tackle harmful emotions before transforming them into
beneficial ones. To do this effectively, we have to stand on a firm
foundation of spirituality.
Many people have spiritual guides. When there is a problem in the
family, they consult an elderly bhikkhu of the village temple or meet
other religious leaders. But good spiritual guides are hard to find.
Therefore, sometimes people travel to distant lands to meet their
spiritual gurus. Finding a spiritual guru is like looking for a soul
mate. You can search for your soul mate in every nook and corner for
years but you will never meet him or her. However, one fine day you will
meet that person quite unexpectedly at the market place or on the
street!
Buddhism is very clear on this point. The Buddha says, "There is no
external refuge. To be free you must go inside." In other words,
solutions to all your problems are found in yourself. A defining moment
of emotional freedom comes when you begin to become more conscious of
who you are. This is one of the most difficult philosophical questions:
Who am I? If you can answer this question satisfactorily, you are on
your way to self-awakening. This kind of awakening comes after so many
years of practice.
Sometimes, it so happens that we unconsciously become victims of
emotional burnout. For instance, if you are unhappy in your job or
marriage, it can have an adverse effect on your physical and mental
health. Extreme pressure of work and having to perform unpleasant tasks
also can create emotional burnout. The sure sign of this malady is that
you feel unenthusiastic and unhappy in life. If you wish to avoid being
an emotional burnout, try to avoid shouldering extra responsibilities
which are beyond your capacity.
Whatever you do, take a break and relax for some time. Getting
involved in social service is a good way to de-stress yourself.
To preserve emotional freedom, learn the art of forgetting certain
incidents that caused pain to you. People often complain that they
cannot forget injustices done to them so easily. If you keep on
harbouring such unpleasant thoughts, you will only be wasting your
emotional and physical energy.
Although nobody can tell you not to think of some unpleasant event,
you can train your mind to think of something pleasant. By doing this
you can reduce the number of unpleasant thoughts. You may have done
something foolish in the past. Tell yourself that so many other people
too may have done such foolish things. Therefore, there is nothing to
worry about such incidents.
Forgiveness is the most effective balm to heal emotional wounds. You
may have been hurt by a rude remark or an anonymous letter sent by one
of your enemies. If you still feel miserable about it, forget the
incident and decide to forgive the wrongdoer. This is the only way to
maintain your emotional freedom.
Finally, even modern psychologists advocate meditation to get rid of
all impurities of the mind. With meditation, you will be able to keep
your heart open to compassion and forgiveness, This will help you
entertain positive ideas and develop your mind to achieve higher goals
in life.
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