Negative Emotions: Deposits of the Past

Negative Emotions: Deposits of the Past

All life is an effort to attain freedom from self-created entanglement … Only in complete internal silence is Truth found. When the surface of the lake is still, it reflects the stars. When the mind is tranquil, it reflects the nature of the soul as it is. — Meher Baba

The expression of negative emotions is a volatile emotional energy leak that wastes some of our finest psychic energy that could be used as fuel toward a higher state of consciousness. This release of negativity supports the illusion that the strong “I” expressing it is real and unified, when in reality it is delusional and unrestrained, often triggered by an external stimulus that reveals and partners with our inner weaknesses.

We have gradually learned about negative emotions as children from the adults around us and grew up thinking they were a necessary part of interactions and needed to be expressed. Eventually we became accustomed to them and to secretly enjoy them. This training is expressed in a phrase that Meher Baba uses in his writings, “deposits of the past.”

“To attain freedom from self-created entanglements,” such as the negative emotion of anger, we can choose to resist the habit of outwardly expressing it and then inwardly observing what is evoked in us and how expressing it takes us away from presence. Like many people, my family knows my buttons and before I can catch myself, anger is ready to be expressed. I vividly remember my sister pushing one of my buttons and in this instance, I did not respond with the negativity she was expecting. I tried to be present instead and transformed the negativity by responding with kindness. This interaction created a higher state for me and seemed to evoke something higher in her, too.

To release negative emotions and let third eye appear, we must really want to. — The Teacher

There is no moral judgment against negative emotions and without an aim toward self-observation and consciousness, it does not matter if they are expressed, although not expressing them may make our lives more pleasant. But that is not the point when our aim is to objectively observe, know ourselves and awaken to higher states of consciousness.

The clashing conflict between the lower self – which is poised to express negativity – and the Higher Self – which is liberated by the Steward to resist expressing negativity – creates contrast to see the truth of our sleep. The resistance not only illuminates and magnifies our inner world, but the friction it creates – like regenerative breaking in an electric vehicle – harvests the energy for fueling higher states.

When working on the non-expression of negative emotions, we must be patient with ourselves and consoled and encouraged by the next moment of opportunity. “When the mind is tranquil, it reflects the nature of the soul as it is.”

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Oya's Betrayal, Harmonia Rosales, Cuban American, b. 1984