Psychology

randomguy

So I'm reading a book on psychology, and I found this passage interesting. What do you think of it?

... after all, who needs anxiety, sorrow, regret, and anger? The answer is that we all do. Emotions are adaptive because they function as signals that tell us when we are putting ourselves in harm's way. If you felt no anxiety when you thought about an upcoming exam, about borrowing your friend's car without permission, or about cheating on your taxes, you would probably make a string of poor decisions

If we are simply accepting our emotions as neither good nor bad, how can we ever survive?

Engyo

randomguy wrote: »

If we are simply accepting our emotions as neither good nor bad, how can we ever survive?

Well, that isn't part of the practice I'm doing........

Jeffrey

The emotions are often distorted. For example when someone criticizes us we overreact and lash back. Out of proportion to the situation..

buddhism allows you to see through your 'conditioned' behaviour in a way that lets you make better decisions.

But yes you still have a sensitive response. My teacher teaches that the buddha nature is clear open and sensitive. We open to a situation. We see it clearly. We respond. When our clarity is not enough at the time we experience distress and confusion. The habitual conditioned response is to get an object of pleasure (attraction), to exagerate the situation as us against them (aversion), or otherwise dull out from that tense feeling of confusion.

The buddhist path teaches instead to open to your negative feelings. This allows the clarity and sensitivity to naturally develope on the basis of opening.

At least thats what I understand from my studies.

sambodhi

Anyone else not understand the question?

randomguy

so when they say those who attained nirvana were not swayed by emotions, does that mean they still had a distinction of which ones they were?

Jeffrey

Well I think mindfulness can be like the following:

I am angry because blah blah and so that means that I am an angry person and that the situation is just going to get worse and blah blah and then they can do that to me...blah blah..

Mindfulness just says "Oh so you are angry at joe" and drops the storylines.

newtech

Hi.

In the first place buddhism postulates: without ethical conduct you cant achieve a no suffering (including anxiety) state. Understanding this, the actions like "borrowing your friend's car without permission" or "cheating on your taxes" get out of the picture. No anxiety means total acceptance, love and kindness,etc..so you cant be loving while u stole something, its contradictory.

About studying for an upcoming exam, just imagine a mind without anxiety. Whats anxiety?..postponing the study due to the lack of energy or repulsion to the material, "not wanting to study" means anxiety.

seeker242

after all, who needs anxiety, sorrow, regret, and anger? The answer is that we all do. Emotions are adaptive because they function as signals that tell us when we are putting ourselves in harm's way. If you felt no anxiety when you thought about an upcoming exam, about borrowing your friend's car without permission, or about cheating on your taxes, you would probably make a string of poor decisions

I would say that this is not necessarily true. If one is mindful of the consequences of their actions, one would not need anxiety to make proper decisions. If one is mindful of the consequences of their actions one naturally does not take someone's car without permission and one naturally does not cheat on their taxes. So all the proper decisions are being made, but without anxiety, sorrow, regret, and anger. It is a vary narrow view they are putting fourth here and not a very well thought out one either. In fact. it's a load of crap.

they function as signals that tell us when we are putting ourselves in harm's way.

However, if one already knows what decisions will put one in harms way and what decisions will not, then one naturally does not put themselves in harms way to begin with.

IronRabbit

Would that be load of crap....or just simply crappola?

Psychology is called many things isn't it?

Emotions are the physical manifestation of thought processes, skillful or unskillful, no?

Mindfulness does not seem to preclude emotions.

Witness the emotion filled responses on a Buddhist Forum when one mistates, contradicts, condemns or sometimes just plain misunderstands.

Survival is hard wired in humans - all creatures - irrespective of mindfulness. Mindfulness simply adds an intelligent, compassionate, aware element to the richness of an emotional, psychological, physical, metaphysical, microbial, cosmic, universal, mundane life.

TreeLuvr87

randomguy wrote: »

If we are simply accepting our emotions as neither good nor bad, how can we ever survive?

The reason that we accept our emotions as neither good nor bad (using nonjudgment and being mindful of the fact that "good" and "bad" are all constructed and don't even truly exist on their own) is to avoid reactivity with our emotions. Of course it's natural to experience anxiety when thinking about an upcoming exam if we are ill prepared. The difference lies when one person might proceed thinking, "This is anxiety. I will prepare more for the test," while another might proceed with, "This is anxiety. Oh my gosh, it is uncomfortable! It is bad! What if I fail the exam (being in the future)? What if this turns out like that exam I bombed last week (being in the past)? What's wrong with me that I keep having this anxious feeling? Why isn't it going away?"

However, like many have already said, if you practice mindfulness, then you'd be prepared for the exam anyways, so it will be easier to let that feeling of anxiety pass naturally and be able to stay in the present moment.

treederwright

I like what Geshe Tashi Tsering says about western Psychology , to the effect: western psychology looks to reassemble elements of a damaged or underdeveloped self, whereas , eastern psychology , specifically buddhist psychology, seeks to do away with the self structure altogether.

HH the Dalai Lama says in Art of Happiness: to the effect - we in western thinking look to isolate one problem and come up with an antidote to that cause. he says that buddhism doesn't isolate the problem but looks at the effectual results of mysterious causes.

This is very helpful when it relates to typical Psychology and how it attempts to isolate causes.

I'd reccommend Mark Epstien books he is a clinical psychologist and a buddhist. He makes a great foundation for this topic

Hope this helps.