Emotion — A Bridge between the Worlds (Relative & Absolute)
Are emotions mental states that arise spontaneously? How are emotions related to feelings? What is the relationship, if any, to love as an emotion, a feeling, and a soul quality?
A general definition of an emotion describes a neural impulse that moves an organism to action. It’s considered to be a psycho-physiological state and really does arise spontaneously and involuntarily.
As physical expressions, emotions are related to feelings, perceptions, beliefs associated with objects or others — even a certain aroma can remind us of someone or an event and “wha-lah” a particular feeling and/or emotion arises instantly. We’re all aware of how the physical body responds to emotions, i.e., changes in temperature and breathing; increased heartrate; tightness in throat, chest, or belly. You may very well come up with other ways your own body responds to specific emotions.
From a neurobiological perspective, emotion is a pleasant or unpleasant mental state organized in the limbic system of the mammalian brain. These mammalian elaborations use neurochemicals, e.g., dopamine, noradrenaline, and serotonim, to step-up or step-down the brain’s activity level.1 These ‘states’ are manifestations of any number of various non-verbally expressed feelings from one end of a continuum to the other end.
Looking at emotions energetically, we experience unpleasant (negative) emotions as energy-draining and pleasant (positive) emotions as energy-calming and sometimes as very alive and exhilerating. Emotions move energy — e-motion (energy in motion) — WHEN we facilitate rather than hinder the movement. Most of us have an automatic tendency (reaction) to “hold our breath” when we begin to experience a negative emotion. By doing the opposite, by breathing consciously, we facilitate the movement of emotional energy through us.
An emotion is experienced as a response to the nervous system and is a part of the Relative-world; a soul (or essential) quality is an expression of the Absolute-world. An emotion needs an “other” in order to arise. An emotion points toward a part/voice that needs something and is somehow trying to protect the self. An essential, soul quality doesn’t point to anything outside of itself; it’s complete, whole in and of itself — it is what it is. There’s no garment or anything covering up what It is. There’s nothing else determining what It should be. Love is pure, unconditional Love. Strength is calm without needing to be inferior or superior to anything else.
Consider this. The Ego rules in the Relative-world and it trys to imitate Essence. From the perspective of the Relative-world, we are our Ego/Personality and from this perspective our emotions often define who we are, i.e., an angry person, a happy person. From the Absolute-world, we are Essence and our essential qualities define who we are — our True Nature, i.e., Love, Value, Strength. From an integrated perspective, we’re able to see both views; and, we’re able to understand compasionately with an open heart what’s being pointed to. We’re not really an angry person. We’re feeling angry and that feeling/emotion is pointing to some part/voice who needs to be heard, who may be feeling unloved, unappreciated, disappointed.
1 Source: Wikipedia Article on Emotions