Is repression essential?

betaboy

Namaste,

We observe good things like creativity, happiness, kindness etc., and we express them in the form of painting, charity, and so on. We also observe bad mental states like aggression, hate, and we tend to repress them.

So is this the way forward? Observe first, and then express or repress according to what we observe? If good, express; if not, repress.

BB

ihbryant

Absolutely not. Buddhism is about self reflection and recognition. We work to correct what we have done wrong. In no way do we deny our transgressions. The law of karma states that we will be subject to them anyway, so there is no benefit in denying them,

People have bad habits and perform wrong actions. I do them. You do them. Everyone does them. Repression is silly. 'Reflect and Correct' is a mantra of my Buddhist teacher. Denying that we do bad things is just more problems waiting to happen.

footiam

Maybe it's not a matter of repressing but eradicating.

aMatt

We also observe bad mental states like aggression, hate, and we tend to repress them.

Bad mental states, like anger, flow like water from a hole in a dam. We don't repress it, like sticking our mental fist in the hole. We notice the hole, widen it, let the pressure release without doing anything with it. Said differently, we don't try to "not be mad" when we are "mad", instead we nurture the angry flow with mindfulness and work to uproot the poisons that cause it (through the noble path).

justbe

@aMatt or anyone that would like to speak on it

when you say widen the hole, does that mean to allow yourself to get tense and furrow your brow? I try and feel the anger in my body without tensing up when I do get mad so that I teach my body to react differently. Is the tensing/frowning of the face a natural response to anger that needs to be conducted in order for the "water" to flow through the hole? Esp. when anger arises in meditation, do we tense up or just allow the anger to be as long as we're able to get back in to a relaxed state. I was going to make a topic on this but I don't want to flood this website with too many postings by me lol

Great question to the OP @betaboy

Weird_Artist

this is a very interesting question

Personally when I experience anger I try to remove myself from the situation so as not to damage anybody (emotionally!) then I take time to think about it in a different way. eg. I am angry because X just said I was lazy, but is X saying that because there is an element of truth, do I need to improve my commitment to work? or is X saying that because they feel inadequate? Either way there is no cause for anger, simply address the problem if it is yours, and carry on. If X feels bad about themselves empathy is a much more appropriate feeling. This theory works for most situations where anger arises.

I have never felt anger arise during meditation, so I cannot share a personal experience on that topic, but I guess 'accept and correct' works there too. There is no point in ignoring your feelings, but changing them logically is much easier that it sounds, bit by bit

pegembara

Under Right Effort in the N8FP

1. to prevent the arising of unarisen unwholesome states;
2. to abandon unwholesome states that have already arisen;
3. to arouse wholesome states that have not yet arisen;
4. to maintain and perfect wholesome states already arisen.

It says prevent and abandon unwholesome states. Suppression is not abandoning.
Abandoning is achieved by observing the rise and fall of all mental states without mental proliferations(papanca).

Jeffrey

People express negativity, but there is ettiquette. I'm not too good at it. I think you also have to be conscientious and suck it up a little and experience the energy within yourself rather than be reactive based on deluded ideas. The energy of anger however is nothing to be afraid of. Its actually in some ways easier to take care of then other poisons because you can use the energy. Some dull states are hard to overcome because you have to just let them sink and sit with all that drain I guess. Anger is addictive and for some people it is an ordeal which de-energizes them.

vinlyn

I think the word I would disagree with is repression. I think self-control is more accurate, because that is based on being mindful.

zenff

There was a time when I experienced anger (rage actually) during meditation.
And in meditation – just like anything else – this anger is fine.
It’s just another thing which comes up and eventually goes away.
In fact the anger worked well for me. It intensified the meditation.

In meditation we learn to see anger (or fear or whatever) as something which happens – and not as something that we are.
That’s maybe a crucial part of meditation – seeing things (in the mind) without being them.
A nice way of putting it is “dropping body and mind” that’s what we do in meditation.

When this clicks, we can handle our anger - when it comes up outside meditation –much better. We no longer identify with the anger and that simply takes away its reason of being.

So maybe a short way of putting it is:
We don’t suppress anger we welcome it.
Because we welcome it we neither identify with the anger nor with the rejection of anger.
Being sort of irrelevant the anger goes away.

Imho like always!

Mountains

Repressing negative emotions and feelings is like a jack-in-the-box. You can stuff it down in there, but eventually it's going to pop back out when life turns the crank on the side of your box.

aMatt

Justbe,

Many people falsely think that it is gunpowder that makes TNT explode and bullets fly. In actuality, its the interplay between the outward pressure in the igniting fuel and the solidity of the casing. If you were to light gunpowder on an empty table, it simply flares for a moment and causes no concussive force. If you were to meet the phenomena that "made you angry" without self, there would be no anger.

We do the same in our mind. We notice the anger and notice how our thoughts are in the way. Notice how you run with causes or effects (if I furrow my brow will it be less merit?, I am mad because..., Is being angry now bad?, etc) and simply try to give yourself the respectful space you need.

My teacher described it as a process of giving the appropriate space to the emotional outflow. If you stub your toe, you give it room to throb, maybe give it some ice, wait a few moments before putting weight on it. In the mind, we do this by caring for ourselves, correctly seeing as our minds afflicted with anger and deserving of some space to throb. Maybe taking a bath, listening to music, or breathing mindfully... but essentially giving the body what it needs to heal from the affliction.

It takes practice, and meditative practice is the best type I know. Because, in meditation, we get used to holding our mind open by staying with the breath, not substantiating the arising flows, and letting them simply flow out. When we are not distracted by mountains of fetters, this flow becomes quite simple. Said differently, when we learn to unclench the 'self view', there is nothing for the phenomena to bump up against to create the sense of anger.

When anger arises in the meantime, simply realize there is more of your barrel to dismantle, more junk on the table, more "self" to clear away. That's the real work, the clearing. The anger is just a karmic flash that illumines the remnants of that inner solidity.

With warmth,

Matt