Ferret's domain

Something that crops up a lot in Buddhism is the “middle way”. I have been pondering this with regards to emotions. One extreme is to be at the mercy of one’s emotions, and as a consequence, act very irrationally. Another extreme is to “control” your emotions, blocking them out and not feeling them at all, repressing them. The middle way for this is to experience the emotions, whatever they are, and let them dissipate without acting on them. Repressing emotions is a Very Bad Idea, and they will come back and get you, usually in a really weird, inappropriate way :blink:

This concept is not new by any means, but is very useful in everyday life, with emotions and with many other things. There is a reaction, which is largely unhelpful. There is repression, which causes problems, and there is acceptance. Mindfulness. Acceptance is not passivity in this sense, as action could and should be taken in many situations. It’s acceptance to begin with, followed by choice of actions rather than pure reactions.

I have been having acupuncture at the Complimentary Medicine Clinic at Lincoln University.  I am terrified of needles, but was determined to get over it.  It was initially for stress and sleep problems (mandatory while doing a degree…).  It hurt at first, and had little effect.  The second time I went, I went into “needle shock”, which sucked.

However, the third time, the acupuncturist changed the points that she used, and it was AMAZING.  The feeling I get from good acupuncture is beyond my ability to explain it.  The experience just doesn’t fit in with the rest of life.  My limbs light up like they are electric, the points all feel connected and it makes the acupuncturist jolt when she hits a particularly strong meridian.

If this wasn’t good enough, at my last session I was all needled up and she started manipulating the needles to balance it all out.  I suddenly got a lump in my throat, felt emotional and started crying.  When I asked her what was going on, she told me that she was visualising love and compassion while manipulating the needle.  As a trainee scientist, I would like to be able to explain that,  but I can’t.  This kind of experience falls outside of Western empricism, and awaits our further understandings. :blink:

Rummaging through my Paperwork Mountain™ I found a journal article that I printed ages ago. Walsh & Shapiro (2006) discuss the meeting of eastern meditation techniques and western 20th century psychology. Rather than fighting each other, the authors describe how the two can compliment each other. Having meditated for several years and being just about to start my 3rd year of a psychology degree, I am excited by this article. It appears that meditation may increase mental capacities, attention and memory, and decrease stress.

Walsh, R. and Shapiro, S. (2006). The Meeting of Meditative Disciplines and Western Psychology: A Mutually Enriching Dialogue. American Psychologist 61 (3) p. 227-239.

I had that strange phenomenon when I started to read, where I fiddle around with my environment as a way of putting off reading. I know i’m doing it, but it still happens! Willpower prevailed, and the article got read. Procrastination is a problem.