Can we choose our emotions or do they just happen?

[Miss Hepburn]

Hi, FC, I know, people have strong feelings about that phrase Thought Control.
And all I ever really mean is - if a thought comes onto my head ---
'I would like that person to get a speeding ticket.'
I stop it in it's tracks.

I really believe what Emmet Fox said:
"You must not under any pretense allow your mind to dwell on any thought
that is not positive, constructive, optimistic, kind."

[FairyCrystal]

Hi Miss Hepburn!
Yes I know what you mean, but I think it's a personal thing, residue from 10 yrs with a narcissist. And/or maybe 1 too many movies on the subject of mind control.

[Starman]

Native Spirit, your side note is well taken and bears truth. Emotions can be repressed,
but even repressed emotions often find expression in our outward behavior. Like you have said,
something may trigger a feeling or behavior and the person does not know why they feel that way,
or are behaving that way. The answer is often a repressed emotion expressing itself.

Most people have unconscious or repressed desires, or repressed conditioning from the past. It may
even be a defense mechanism, an embedded dysfunction, or some other maladjustment. We all have
idiosyncrasies, foibles, and other sensitivities in our persona that may bring a knee jerk reactive feeling
to our consciousness.

These repressed responses can also happen while we are asleep dreaming. Understanding that even
waking life is a dream. In raising our consciousness we may become clear, transparent, and not carry
around the various hues of emotion as much as we once did. We separate ourselves from the various
astral bodies which make up our human existence when we engage in spiritual development.

Namaste

[Native spirit]

True I Agree with you


Namaste

[lemex]

Are there some emotions which are (suppose to be) true? I think there are. Are we to chose emotions that are (only) brought into the light when events happens. We learn. Events often happen by what is chosen. Are there emotions we are to choose and those we are not to? I think there are. Here we enter into the spiritual realm (consciousness). One of the things I became aware of is emotions were the first logic we had and so are not new thoughts. So you chose the emotion long ago, not that they just happen but are automatic and we think we thought it. The body remembers and keeps the same state.

[Starman]

When it comes to “true” and “false,” there definitely are false emotions which can lead us to feel falsely about something. A person can have false memories and emotionally react to those false memories. Thoughts can generate feelings and people are generally too close to their thoughts to separate themselves from those feelings.

A number of times I have remembered something as though it actually happened in physical reality, and after further inspection of that memory I realized that was a memory of a dream I had long ago and not something that actually happened in physical reality. This has happened a few times to me and I had emotional feelings about that memory thinking it happened as a physical reality.

There is more to knowing our self then knowing our spiritual nature, in my opinion it is also helpful to know how we ourselves think and the reoccurring feelings of emotion that we may feel. Patterns of thought and feeling, by their nature, are automatic. But we can change those patterns. Spiritual development involves the process of going from an automatic reactive inner life to a manual proactive inner life.

[zerojack]

If you believe that we can choose our emotions, then it stands to reason that we can also choose to not feel certain emotions.
For example, if you are feeling angry, you could choose to not feel that anger and instead focus on feeling something else, like happiness or peace.

On the other hand, if you believe that emotions just happen, then it may be difficult to control how you feel. You may still be able to choose how you react to your emotions, but the emotions themselves may just happen without any conscious control.

[Starman]

It might be helpful to understand the attributes of human consciousness. Attention is one of the more important attributes; attention gives us awareness. We also have memory, which is looking back into the past, imagination, which is looking forward into the future, and human consciousness has a number of other attributes as well.

When we talk about anything we are talking about what we are conscious of, and lots of people are not conscious of their emotions. Psychology tends to help us become conscious of what we may be doing unconsciously, as do spirituality in my opinion. The spiritual process helps us become aware of our unconscious. Spirituality is not about what we believe rather it is about what we experience, and our interpretation of experience can lead to personal beliefs.

Understanding without putting a label on it; just the uncategorized raw experience without interpretation or classification, is another way of knowing things. What we believe we put faith in and that faith will make it real for us. Can we truly know something without believing it? The most important subject is learning about ourselves and that process of learning has many layers of perception.

[Altair]

Good thread. I am very interested in how people detach themselves from rising emotions, of any kind really. As for myself, I notice that my desires can control me to the point of unhappiness. Perhaps the first step is to recognize the emotions. They're valid but I should not be immersed by them. It therefore becomes a matter of learning to detach myself. Of course, that's easier said than done. Advise is welcome.

[lemex]

Originally Posted by Altair

... recognize the emotions. It therefore becomes a matter of learning to detach myself.

Emotions are a program and biochemical by nature. Emotions are automatic. The mind is powerful. All of this is happening at the speed of energy. Emotion arise by the Limbic system and brought into the conscious mind from the subconscious. The emotion generates energy. In every case of emotion the body prepares itself. It is also a physical process. I love energy generated. Is there an attachment as well. It is said energy cannot be created or destroyed. So understand emotions are part of a program and what you are doing is changing that energy. Emotions begin as primitive responses. The first thing a persons sees is what they think.