Anyone raising a child is fully acquainted with the consequences of unbridled emotion, and this is self-experienced from infancy onward by each human being who fully understand it is extremes of emotion that can make life at times quite unbearable because it is a discomfort that often will outrank physical pain in the self-harm it causes and will be avoided even more avidly by many who have lived in anguish in the grip of their emotional negativity to suffer greatly on a chronic basis. This can clearly be depleting and even lead to early death because of the consequences of stress induced by such massive unhappiness that people would rather be dead than alive. The essence of our messages for you in the art of living comes back again and again to the idea of balance. This is not necessarily "moderation in all things" although there can well be much wisdom in that, but why would you wish to moderate joy? Why would you wish to limit love to only go so far, be only so deep, only so ravishing, and only so pleasurable?
So there is a spectrum of possibilities in the range of emotional experiences from the positive to the negative, so there is a need for both to be fully in touch with life experience in all its forms and dimensions. You are here to learn and you are in the most challenging of environments that exist—the physical realm where everything is heavy and dense and slow and encumbered and constrained and quite difficult, as well as being fragile and having many external adjuncts and requirements that must somehow be acquired through physical effort under the most difficult of circumstances at times, when one is in competition with others for resources, or maybe in a place where needed materials are scarce and the acquisition of even food and water puts life at risk because of the local environmental circumstances.
So we know your question here to be more one of allowability and its consequences, so there are many obligations people have and many expectations from others about deportment, the personal conduct expected to fit into society in ways that will be acceptable, that demand certain traits and the demonstration of certain behaviors to be respectful and accommodating of others—having good manners and an attitude of sharing, allowance, tolerance, and consideration, in addition to which it is often customary to be outgoing, generous, and exhibit a willingness to make gestures of loving kindness, if only as a courtesy. All of these attributes are emotional in nature and call upon feelings for a sincere demonstration and sharing of what one is thinking and experiencing in the presence of another or in a social gathering. Those who are boorish, who are heavy‑handed, excessively loud, boisterous, or intrusive in not being sensitive to maintaining respectful distancing to not be overly intrusive, touching and grabbing people, especially members of the opposite sex, talking too loudly, being too domineering as in wanting to be the center of attention, and so on, there are many ways in which emotions can get the best of a person and through their conduct cause a backlash.
Social niceties are a relatively minor concern; what is of utmost importance is to live within an emotional range that is consistent with health and wellbeing, because excesses of emotion can not only be draining but destructive to the system through triggering a physiological stress response that is actually destructive to cell function and longevity. People simply cannot live in extreme states of emotion for long if they are of a negative sort. Positive emotions will also be draining eventually and exhaust a person. Everyone needs to stand down and recharge and to have a rest period where they disengage and get a restful sleep, so these are also automatic built-in ways to balance one’s energy. Eventually, people will burn out and be forced to sleep for a time, but there are many stages and levels of emotion in between, that ideally are under some control of the person so they can protect themselves, moderate their behavior by keeping their emotions somewhat in check to avoid a social faux pas or creating a misunderstanding, or worse, an injury to someone that might lead to bad blood and long-term adverse consequences.
The control of emotions is not simply the turning of a dial, a physiological kind of regulation that is self-balancing via normal homeostatic control mechanisms via hormones and neurotransmitters and such. There is an inner drive that is a soul characteristic wanting to come forth, and there will be many interior motivations—the need for survival, the desires to have friendships and love partners, to be successful, to be financially secure, to gain an advantage so one can feel safe and a part of things and have a place amongst a human community. There may be high levels of emotions that arise while people are sorting out how to make these things happen, and some will struggle mightily, in part because of having some limitations in their talents for interacting with others, but mostly through prior karmic history where they will have had lives where things went wrong and they suffered greatly and had a terrible emotional life as a consequence. The Law of Karma will bring back to each person similar dilemmas to be worked on yet again in a new incarnation, so the ability to govern emotions is an aspect of what is involved in survival and in the process of healing oneself to repair the past and set the stage to be on a higher plane of attainment so one’s future has greater possibilities for improvement.
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