Emotions, Chemically based and Others
In fall of 2012, at a KTD retreat with Lama Dudjom Dorjee he was teaching the Heart Sutra, an encapsulation in a few pages of over 8,000 verses. We started with the lineage and I realized why direct transmission of the teachings is so important (versus just studying the writings on your own).Amiguity of words for feelings
Words are inadequate for accurately expressing feelings as we never really know another person's feelings. I can point to an apple and say that it's color is red and we can all agree on what red is even though we may not perceive red the same way (unless the other person is red / green color blind in which case further explanation is required to reach an agreement). It is even possible to break light apart using a prism and define a precise range of wavelengths as being red. However, for feelings there is no way to achieve such a precise definition; there is nothing to point to allow direct sharing or experiences. We can share stories and describe the feelings that result as a way defining the feelings (by the stories which brought them up), but in reality people can experinece very different feelings in the same situation. This makes the expression of feelings somewhat ambiguous at best and certainly limited by the range of feelings which have been experienced by our audience in any given situation.Chemically derived emotions versus others
Our understanding of the physical processes in the human body has made it clear that many emotions are caused by various chemical reactions. For example, endorphins are closely related to pleasure and pain. However, it is also known that our bodies adapt to stasis quite readily such that being happy could simply mean higher than average levels of endorphins and unhappy could simply be lower than average levels of endorphins. Of course, since any chemical level is related to its average, that means that pursuit of chemically derived pleasures is pointless as in the long term it will always average out. If eating is to produce significant pleasure, then it must be balanced with some unpleasant predecessor like hunger pangs. For all chemically derived emotions, they produce a roller coaster effect with highs and lows, but also have no long term effect, they always average out to practically nothing. It is also my experience that there are other classes of emotions which are not chemically derived and which do not necessarily have the stasis effect of averaging out over time. For example, there is a certain joy that comes from being the sort of person you want to be, but that is very much different from the highs and lows which come from the successes and failures in our day to day lives. The ambiguity for such feelings is even worse as they tend to be much more subtle and often are accompanied with chemically driven emotions. For example, if I stand up against social pressures and do what I know is right, there may be a long lasting satisfaction from being true to myself, but there will also likely other feelings such as relief from the stress of the situation which are chemically driven. In developing a story to explain the long lasting feelings such as this, the listener may well focus on the stronger and more familiar chemically driven sort of happiness which results and completely ignore the more subtle long lasting emotions. Indeed the strongest and best of the long lasting emotions don't seem to be the result of day to day events (which can be described in stories) but rather the result of years of consistent practice and habits of thinking about the world (choosing the stories we write about the events). In this regard, individual stories don't describe such feelings at all. Further, as alluded to above, it is not possible to describe these feelings which are not subject to the wild gyrations of more chemically driven emotions to someone who has not experienced them. There is no shared 'story' to allow understanding. Of course I believe that the central part of any worthwhile spiritual practice is cultivating long lasting emotions such as peace, satisfaction, compassion, and appreciation (in distinct contrast to the pointless pursuit of chemically driven happiness which is intrinsically ephemeral). That is the crux of the dilemma for spiritual teachings as, if they are expressed in words (e.g. written down), then they can be worthless to those who have not already tasted the fruit of the practices. Of course that also suggests the solution to our dilemma. We have all experienced that emotions are infectious (anger in one person tends to draw others into it and similarly with happiness and compassion). I imagine that the components of enlightment are timeless feelings (like the joy of being true to yourself) which aren't subject to the daily flucuations of our lives. Since these feelings are impossible to describe in words to someone who hasn't experienced them, an experienced teacher may allow the student to experience the emotions directly just from being in their presence. There is the further complication to such direct experiences of these emotions in that the recipient needs to be receptive. While the anger of another person may pull us in the direction of anger, there are numerous factors which impact whether or not we are actually drawn into their anger, our own propensity to compassion being a distinct countervailing force. I imagine that is what is meant by direct transmission of the teachings. It is an experience of the feelings which are a taste of the fruits of spiritual practice and helps motivate the student through a real understanding of the benefits of the practices. In addition such direct experiences can be useful in guiding the student in their practices. It helps the student identify which practices are most effective and how much do they bring up feelings like those which were sampled through direct transmission. This analysis of the feelings related to a spiritual practice helped me understand another aspect of the advantages of having a living master instead of just studying scriptures on my own. Click here to see the next rambling tale.This page was last updated on November 3, 2012