suttas on emotion

[alan...]

i know of a few, for example the vitakkasanthana sutta. that's the only one i know by name, the others are vague memories without sutta numbers or titles attached to them.

i'm looking for ones that present antidotes to negative emotion, especially in daily life. something that would explain how to ward off sadness or something.

for example i had to work at 4 am today and every time i work this shift i am depressed for the first hour. i do not suffer from depression, my mind and body just do not like getting up at such an odd time and i've read that this is normal, the human body is meant to be asleep then, humans like the sun and sure enough as it rises so does my mood. anyway, i can see it as not self and be mindful, but the emotion sticks around. i'm sure there are techniques to more efficiently deal with such things in the suttas. anyone know?

[Cittasanto]

Vitakka = thought not emotion.
it seams you are grudging the situation instead of accepting it with patience.
Try thinking of the reasons you should be grateful for the opportunity to be up so early, or why are you so different to others who also have to do that shift.
Reading lots of suttas maybe useful but you need to be able to put them into practice. start by really reading the one you know.

[alan...]

Vitakka = thought not emotion.
it seams you are grudging the situation instead of accepting it with patience.
Try thinking of the reasons you should be grateful for the opportunity to be up so early, or why are you so different to others who also have to do that shift.
Reading lots of suttas maybe useful but you need to be able to put them into practice. start by really reading the one you know.

most people i work with agree about this. it makes you feel crappy. especially if every other shift is something like 1pm to 10 pm and then once a week you work 4am to 3 pm. your body will say "wtf???"

so emotion in general though, how to deal with it? i've been practicing for over ten years, the dhamma has fixed or given functional remedy to nearly every issue i have but patience has still not fixed this. how should this work?

[Cittasanto]

Vitakka = thought not emotion.
it seams you are grudging the situation instead of accepting it with patience.
Try thinking of the reasons you should be grateful for the opportunity to be up so early, or why are you so different to others who also have to do that shift.
Reading lots of suttas maybe useful but you need to be able to put them into practice. start by really reading the one you know.

most people i work with agree about this. it makes you feel crappy. especially if every other shift is something like 1pm to 10 pm and then once a week you work 4am to 3 pm. your body will say "wtf???"

so emotion in general though, how to deal with it? i've been practicing for over ten years, the dhamma has fixed or given functional remedy to nearly every issue i have but patience has still not fixed this. how should this work?

I don't think you need several threads on the same thing.

[cooran]

Hello alan, all,

Here are a few.

Mahasatipatthana Sutta
II. Vedananupassana (Contemplation on Feelings)
http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/mahasati08.htm
MN 59 Bahuvedaniya Sutta: The Many Kinds of Feeling
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .nypo.html
SN 36.6 Sallatha Sutta: The Arrow
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html
MN 59 Bahuvedaniya Sutta: Many Things to be Experienced
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html

with metta
Chris

[alan...]

Vitakka = thought not emotion.
it seams you are grudging the situation instead of accepting it with patience.
Try thinking of the reasons you should be grateful for the opportunity to be up so early, or why are you so different to others who also have to do that shift.
Reading lots of suttas maybe useful but you need to be able to put them into practice. start by really reading the one you know.

most people i work with agree about this. it makes you feel crappy. especially if every other shift is something like 1pm to 10 pm and then once a week you work 4am to 3 pm. your body will say "wtf???"

so emotion in general though, how to deal with it? i've been practicing for over ten years, the dhamma has fixed or given functional remedy to nearly every issue i have but patience has still not fixed this. how should this work?

I don't think you need several threads on the same thing.

one thread is about whether or not my logic is sound and it talks about a certain method of practice that happens to be about emotion, the other is asking for sutta numbers about emotion in general for research. they happen to be in the same vein but they are not by any means the same exact thing. "several" meaning more than two? i think it's just the two isn't it?

suttas on emotion

this one is asking for sutta numbers in the classical theravada forum.

generating joy in daily life to counter negative emotion

this one is a request for advice on a personal methodology and practice method that i have come up with that involves emotion.

if i had posted these months apart you wouldn't have even noticed as they're very different. however if i posted the exact same thread months apart that would stand out, as it is, they are different. especially as if i had posted the one asking for sutta numbers first and the other a few weeks later it would be clear that the first gave way to the second: i researched emotion and came up with a practical idea based around it.

really most posts are similar on this forum as they're all about dhamma! if no posts can be similar then we would have gigantic run on thread topics that are thousands of words long. even just grouping every single thread from one user that in any way involves mindfulness would make one monster thread. or every one that involves meditation, and so on. i myself and i'm sure all users have multiple threads that fall into the same category and could easily have been a single thread but like i said this would make long threads no one would want to read. i considered making one thread but decided against it for these reasons.

however maybe you're right and i made a serious mistake here. if so then a thousand apologies to all around.

[Cittasanto]

instead of speculating on what "if's" and whether I would of noticed or not, which you do not know definitively (and people do notice). however, this would show something different to posting them at the same time. For one example, that you are relating experience with the texts and finding context....

Wouldn't it be better to put into practice what you already have, then you can focus your efforts rather than disperse them over a wide field. i.e. chasing the next thing. stop for a while with what you have.

[alan...]

instead of speculating on what "if's" and whether I would of noticed or not, which you do not know definitively (and people do notice). however, this would show something different to posting them at the same time. For one example, that you are relating experience with the texts and finding context....

Wouldn't it be better to put into practice what you already have, then you can focus your efforts rather than disperse them over a wide field. i.e. chasing the next thing. stop for a while with what you have.

indeed. that's my problem, i have no teacher to check my progress and tell me what's really working and when i'm wasting my time by spreading myself thin.

currently i'm practicing morality, satipatthana and jhana in conjunction with reading about these things and studying the suttas. but since i'm learning as i go i never know when i should stop or whether i'm stepping out of the domain of my immediate practice. i have a guide to the visuddhimagga coming in the mail, perhaps that will give me a more solid grounding.

[Cittasanto]

when practicing alone, it is best not to push or dwell ruminating too much, remember the Buddha's advise

Do not follow the past, nor expect anything from the future;
The past is behind us, and the future has not yet come.
whoever sees mental phenomena when present, sees them clearly right their where it is;
As this develop wisdom in the wise, who are unshaken & unmoved.
Dedicat yourself to doing what should be done today, as who knows, tomorrow one may die;
For no bargain can be struck with the mighty army of death.
Dedicated in this way you should abided, unrelenting both day and night;
A peaceful sage declares, indeed, this is spending ones time well.