How do you transcend emotional economy to make a non-reactive choice? To be reactive is natural. That is the way nature made us. To overcome this tendency and be objective, we need to evolve in consciousness with self-effort. We can develop this habit of objectivity or ‘witnessing’ by shifting our awareness from our mind/thought process to a feeling of love in the heart. This shift in awareness makes the experience of love in our heart, our primary, normal state instead of a random emotional state that can easily be triggered both internally and externally. How do we gain the awareness and equanimity to avoid catching the "rhinovirus"? When our normal responsive state becomes love, the reactive “rhinovirus” of emotions will be reduced. This stability in emotion gives us the confidence and the time to respond, instead of hastily over react, to an unexpected hostility. Our emotional stability also creates a positive, predictable environment around us….. We can ignore the rare occasion of a surprise ‘virus attack’ as being a test of our own presence of mind in ‘witnessing’ and by reminding ourselves that we are all in different states of evolution and some of us are under unpredictable stress situations. This is a better alternative than being constantly pissed off with a defensive attitude, like a lonely, nasty tiger in a bad neighborhood. Can you share a personal story of transcending the emotional economy? A few days ago, I was all dressed up and in a hurry to go to an important appointment. A crow on a tree just outside the house, ‘did his job’ on me. I had to rush back, take a shower, get dressed again and be on time to my appointment. I had no reason or time to be pissed off. It helps to remember that there are many crows in human form, unaware of the damage they cause.
On Jan 2, 2013 Narendra wrote :