Releasing Negative Emotions

Into Emptiness
[Article originally published as a guest post on WakeUp World, updated and
expanded.]
Do you sometimes feel oppressed by negative emotions such as fear, anxiety,
anger, shame, worthlessness, or depression? Are you open to discover a way to
overcome them transcend them that requires no medication nor years of
psychotherapy? I have good news for you.
Ancient wisdom traditions of the East such as Buddhism, Hinduism,
Daoism have put a lot of study into the human body and mind,
for thousands of years, with the goal of transcending human suffering. With
centuries of devoted experiments, revelations, and insight, they discovered
that all these negative emotions are not natural to our true being they
belong to the realm of the ego, our mistaken identity.
Following a certain set of contemplative practices and some lifestyle tweaks,
these masters discovered their true being, and saw that in this place the
negative emotions do not live. Out of their compassion and sense
of oneness with all beings, they then spent their life teaching us how to find
this space of freedom, of peace, of bliss. The insights and techniques that I
share in this article come from the Buddhist traditions, and the teachings of
Sri Ramana Maharshi.

Dissolving Negative Emotions

Every single thought, feeling or sensation that we have is, by its very nature,
impermanent. It comes and goes. It comes from emptiness, exists for a small
period of time inside our system, and then subsides again into emptiness. If
you would simply perceive everything that happens to you (and in you) as
a temporary phenomena inside you consciousness, see it for what it is, and let
it go when it goes, you would not have any problems. Basically, all suffering
would disappear.

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But, of course, that is not how our mind usually operates. We normally react
and in a very personal level to everything that we perceive. We create
stories, interpretations, and turn every little happening into a stitch in the
fabric of our personality, our identity. We then meet the world and suffer
through the lenses of this limited identity. Without questioning who we truly
are, and without understanding the nature of thoughts and mind, we feel
oppressed by our own feelings, and build walls of separation and limitation
with our beliefs and attachments. This is the state of most people in this
world.
From the enlightened point of view, however, we are simply pure
consciousness, and everything that happens is just a movement of energy
inside of us, like images projected on the cinema screen. The screen is not
burned by images of fire, nor cut by images of a sword. Therefore, the surest
way to dissolve any suffering, any negative emotion, back into emptiness, is to
realize who we truly are. To remember and experience that we are the
cinema screen, and not the images projected on it.
Lets take fear as an example. The ultimate cause for your fear is your
identification with the small self (the ego), and your attachment to your ideas
and desires. Fix this, and fear will be impossible. Postpone looking at this, and
all you get is symptom treatment. Fear has, for sure, effects in our body,
emotions, and energy and many times its helpful to treat it in this level via
bodywork, therapy, energy healing, or even medication. Sometimes without
these treatments we are so distracted by the symptoms of fear that we cant
even have the head space to look deeper into it. But, ultimately, we need to
tackle the fundamental cause of fear.
Ok, thats great! Now how can I work my negative emotions at the root?
Give me some practical hints. Im glad you asked. Lets continue with the
example of fear. Lets say that you are having a conversation with a friend,
with your partner, or with a colleague, and suddenly the fear of rejection
comes up inside you. Excellent, this is a great opportunity to practice.
Depending on your needs, and level of maturity (self-knowledge), take one of
these two approaches below.

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Seeing Clearly
I like to call this the L-I-E-R method (label, introspect, examine, release),
because it deals directly with the negative feeling and the lie it carries.
1. Label. Recognize that fear has arisen, and label it in your mind. The
words you use are important. Dont say Im afraid or I have fear;
instead say fear has arisen, or fear is here. Do you see how just
changing the words already creates a different perspective and more
space?
2. Introspect. Take one to three deep breaths, and bring your attention
inside yourself this means dont pay attention to the object, person or
circumstance that triggered the emotion, but rather attend to the
emotion itself. Accept that the feeling is there.
3. Examine. Study the feeling deeply: its causes, effects, and nature.
Here are some questions to guide your contemplation:

Causes: what exactly triggered this feeling in this moment?

There is no need to go to the remote causes of it in your
childhood or whatever. For now just stay with whats happening
right here. Once you find the core assumptions or mindsets that
are at the root of the feeling, challenge them: is this the only way
to see this situation? Is this an empowering way of looking at
things?

Effects: how does it feel in my body? Where does the feeling

reside in my body? What memories and thoughts swim around
this feeling in my mind? What are my thoughts and feelings
about this feeling?

Nature: Look inside and ask yourself what is this feeling?

Dont use words to explain, just keep the question alive. Does
this feeling have a substance, a color, a size? What is it made of?
Whats the vibration of it? Contemplate how this feeling is
impermanent. It was not here a few minutes ago where did it
come from? It will not be here after a few minutes where will it
disappear into?

Spend as much time as you need in step three. Learn as much as

possible about the negative feeling. We are slaves of what we

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dont understand. See if this emotion is the real problem, or if it

is something else underneath it.
4. Release. Let it be whatever it is but dont create stories and
interpretations around it. And let it go. I cant tell you how to let go, but
intuitively every human being knows how.

The outcome of this process is fourfold: clarity (about what the emotion
is); composure (to be with the feeling without being overwhelmed); selfknowledge (understanding the nature of the emotion, the triggers, and the
effects in your body); liberation (a sense of separation between the emotion
and yourself).
For step number three, you may encounter certain concepts or assumptions
that are at the root of the negative feeling. Or perhaps certain subconscious
"decisions" of looking at things a certain way. In this example (fear of
rejection), it may be self-judgement about your feeling of worth, or perhaps an
attachment to an idea that you need the approval of certain person to
"confirm" that you are worthy of love and value. It may be useful, here, to
spend some more time and thoroughly challenge these assumptions and
choices.
In some cases, also, the emotion is indeed pointing out to something that
needs some attention in your life; then you may need to take some external
action, to change something. The "external fixing" does not prevent this
internal process, nor does going through this process requires any external
passivity.
After going through this you may find that the negative emotion has already
disappeared, lost power, or transformed into something else. If not, you can
move on to the next exercise (Returning to Emptiness), or practice
contemplating the opposite quality (more about this down below).

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Returning to Emptiness
I like to call this the L-I-F-E method (label, introspect, find, experience),
because in here we dont deal directly with the negative energy, nor try to
learn from it, but simply return to the inner life of pure consciousness, as
naturally detached and untouched.
1. Label. Recognize that fear has arisen, and accept it for what it is.
2. Introspect. Turn your attention inward, and ask yourself Who is
afraid? Who is the one that is affected by the fear? Who are you that
perceives the fear?

Take it slow. Dont assume actually do the looking. Use these

questions to bring all your attention inside, towards yourself, the
subject and experiencer of the fear. This subject is the ego, your
identity, or who you think you are. Spend time keeping the
attention here, in this space.

If your focus is intense and persistent, at this point you have

already forgotten about the fear. But keep on.

3. Find your center. Ask yourself, Who am I? Reject any answer that
your mind gives you, because you are aware of your mind (and all its
products), therefore you cannot be your mind. You are aware of your
shirt, so you are not your shirt it is an object of your perception. You
are aware of your body, so you are not your body. You are aware of your
fear, so you are not your fear. You are aware even of this mental
process, so its not you. Who are you, who is aware of all these things
4. Experience yourself beyond the fear. Is this space of awareness
afraid? Is it male or female? Does it have a shape? A substance? A
nationality?
You may use these techniques one after another, or individually. In any case,
clear understanding is very important. You cannot overcome what you are not
aware of, what you dont recognize. As your self-knowledge becomes more
sharp and habitual, however, you will be able to jump directly into dissolving
back to emptiness.

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I dont want to spoil your discovery, but if you follow this through long
enough, and deep enough, you will discover your true position as the witness
of everything, fearless awareness itself. There is no suffering in here.

Contemplate the Opposite

Another practice that Buddhism suggests is to contemplate the opposite
quality. Our mind is unable to hold on to two thoughts at the same time
especially opposite thoughts. At most it can quickly switch between them, but
at any given moment its only busy with one thing. So, if you are feeling fear,
and you make an effort to contemplate fearlessness and courage (both the
thought and the feeling of it), fear will subside. If you are feeling sad,
contemplate gratitude; if angry, contemplate compassion and love; etc.
That is why practicing Loving-Kindness stops us from having negative feelings
towards ourselves (unworthiness, self-criticism, lack of self-esteem, etc.) and
others (hostility, hatred, anger) because we are cultivating love for ourselves
and others.

Freedom of Mind
With the Returning to Emptiness technique, you will get the ability to simply
dissolve any troublesome thought or negative emotion in a couple of seconds,
by simply looking at it and remembering your true position. What a powerful
freedom this is!
Dont expect to achieve this level of mastery in a couple of weeks, though. It
takes time, and the process is hugely helped if you keep a daily seated
meditation practice. There are many types of meditation that you can try; but
in my experience Self-Enquiry (or I Am Meditation) is the one that is most
helpful to develop Returning to Emptiness. This process works not only when
dealing with fear, but also with most other negative emotions, because of all
them come from a single cause: the forgetfulness of our true being, and
identification with the ego and mind. And its more effective when you use it

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whenever the negative feeling comes up, then and there, or immediately after
and not in retrospective.
So, this is the invitation that I have for you
Break free from the shackles you have made for yourself. Go beyond the ego
with all its limitations and suffering. You are the space of Being; you are pure
consciousness. Suffering is not natural to you peace and freedom is.
Discover that, be that. This is the teaching of the ancient sages.

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