We discussed the spiritual basis of emotion, placing emotion and the heart as the foundation of spirituality. Then explored a variety of nuances behind it. What is your way of understanding and dealing with emotion? Hawaiian culture has always taken emotion more seriously than the west, unless I’m mistaken.

Taken it as all natural, not as something to exclude from experience. What is the meaning of emotion for you?

It is to respond physically, emotionally and with spirit. Appropriately, as given the circumstances. There is no shame. True. I guess people need that to be established very clearly, that emotion isn’t shameful. To the contrary, it’s more real than the ideas people have about reality.

We are very comfortable with ourselves as emoting beings, no shame. Emotion is medicine.

Why do we get embarrassed when people are emotional? We get embarrassed because we are out of touch with them, and suspect that this isn’t the attitude we should have.

Most do not have permission to be emotional, hence have not learned to be in its presence with any skill or understanding.

There is that phrase “What we have here, is a failure to communicate”, but the failure is not on the part of the emotional person. In fact, what do infants communicate to us beyond emotion to begin with. Is the infant insane?

The recipient has the problem. Well, the emoter too, often. True. They often let themselves have only a portion of the emotion.

I made the observation earlier that all the great spiritual traditions have for their bottom line the line of thinking “What is emotion? Why do we have it and what should we do with it?”

The infant is shaping its world. Learning through its basics whether it is being responded to well or not. It’s usually quickly twisted with judgement/blame of another. It’s been shown letting an infant cry for more than so many minutes unattended, sets very negative reactions in place. Emotion is a teacher. My parents were of the “Just let him cry” school, until I hit a certain age then it became, “Don’t let him act like that.” The action being cry.

Mom always said “Don’t cry”, I think because she felt bad which is understandable. But I learned to not show myself crying so I wouldn’t have to explain it to fix it. How people react to the cries says it all too. She said don’t cry because she could not fix her own unfinished emotional business well enough to respond to you comfortably and appropriately. She is emotionally retentive.

How your Mom reacts says it all about her, she learned this. Which is what I described as the one source of emotional derangement.

The retentive is like a powder keg, ready to blow, too. Slightest triggering can set it off. True. The energy will do what it does if you manage it well or not.

The concept of mana is linked to emotion is it not? Very much so. Mana is all encompassing. It is about energy. Which direction will we take it? The energy footprint or impact anything has, but it is more. Not only the footprint, but an origin of footprints too for the mana is not separated. If in good connection, emotions are like channels. Includes the connectivity between things, yes. I define emotion as our connections. Both how we are affected by everything and how we affect others as well.

Is mana experienced as emotion? It can be. Mana is also a state of being; spiritually, physically, lokahi. The harmony of it all. And relates to every aspect of reality.

(Much thanks to my Hawaiian friend for her contribution in this series on emotion and her other valuable insights.)

Your thoughts are welcome. Be well friends.

Travis Saunders
Dragon Intuitive
~science,mysticism,spirituality~