Management of emotions through Vedanta

by C. Venugopal

Smt Sunandaji, daughter disciple of the world renowned philosopher Guru Swami Parthasarathy will deliver a lecture on Bhagavad Gita, a Vedantic text from March 1-4, at 6.30 pm at the Buddhist Cultural Centre, Havelock Road, Thummulla junction, Colombo. The topic will be on divine and demonic nature within a human mind. The study of this topic helps one in identifying negative emotions within and convert them to positive so that one becomes productive and peaceful in life.

Swami A. Parthsarathy in Vedanta Treatise: The Eternities says that every human has a physical body which perceives and acts, a mind which feels emotions and an intellect which thinks thoughts and ideas.

The human mind contains a wide variety of emotions. It ranges from obscene to pure, gross to subtle, demonic to divine.

The quality of emotion would depend upon the direction it takes. An emotion that merely satisfies one's selfish, self-centred interest would be classified as impure and ignoble, whereas, that which extends beyond one's personal interest to accommodate the welfare of the community at large would be pure and noble. And when the emotion rises to embrace the entire universe, it becomes all pervasive. It is considered spiritual, divine.

Emotions become detrimental when they are concentrated in your selfish interest. Emotions act like medicine. Medicine cures a disease when administered in proper dosage. The same medicine turns harmful in a concentrated form. That explains why medicine bottles bear the stamp POISON on their labels.

It is meant to warn users against concentrated dosage. So too, Vedanta cautions you against the peril of excessive egocentric emotion. A selfish emotion constricted to extremity could prove fatal. It is in your interest to heed this warning and avoid the devastating effect of emotion.

Emotions

People the world over experience the devastating effect of uncontrolled emotions yet they are not aware. It causes strained relationships leading to disharmony among parents and children, divorce among spouses. The interesting part of this is the most affected people being completely driven by emotions are not aware of the damage being done.

One needs to develop a discerning intellect to control and guide the emotions through the proper channel. Be a master not a slave of emotions. Such a one may entertain emotion but not turn emotional. Have sentiments and not become sentimental. Excessive emotionalism upsets your intellectual balance and poise. It deteriorates efficiency at work place.

Passive subservience to emotion ruins your material and even spiritual well-being. Your intellect rather than the impulse of your mind, should guide your life's activities. Do not fall a prey to your likes and dislikes blindly. Nor yield to your emotions indiscreetly. Learn to become self-sufficient. It is the prerogative of human race.

Intellect

The systematic study of Vedanta philosophy helps to develop a strong intellect. Through this one can change the quality of emotion from selfish to unselfish, converting the frail form of emotion to a pillar of strength.