[Rqvtwlfk]

Hi all,

Aloka-D gave me the link to a talk by Bhante Vimalaramsi a few days back which I found very interesting. It was about ‘letting go’ of the thoughts that arise when we experience a feeling. He said the more you think about the feeling the bigger the feeling becomes - which is so true. He also said we try to tell ourselves a story about ‘why’ its there instead of just accepting it and recognizing it as just a feeling. He stressed feelings and thoughts are not the same thing.

I woke up this morning feeling a bit depressed, which is quite a common thing for me in the early hours when I first awake for some reason, and instead of trying to push the feeling away or let my mind start attaching reasons as to why that feeling was there - which was my first impulse - I suddenly remembered the talk that I’d listened to.

I’m not sure I completely understand what we are supposed to do in this instance when unpleasant feelings arise. I’m thinking about the 5th Ethical precept about ‘mindfulness’. I read in relation to this that unless we are aware on a moment-to-moment basis of our thoughts and moods, and the feelings and motivations that drive them, we will have very little conscious control over the direction of our lives. Doesn’t that mean we need to think about ‘why’ we are feeling a certain way i.e. depressed or unhappy, in order to consider whether we need to change our life in some way? Sometimes circumstances or being around certain people can cause you to feel very unhappy and unless you think about it and plan to make positive changes then your unhappiness will continue.

Its also this puzzle about what comes first - the thought or the feeling. Does a feeling just arise and then we add thoughts onto it which makes it become bigger and feel worse, or do we have unhappy thoughts about something which then leads to our feeling unhappy and sad about it. Was Bhante Vimalaramsi only speaking in the context of when we are meditating and unpleasant feelings arise - and this is when we should try and just let them go instead of getting hooked in and attaching stories and reasons as to why they are there?

There is probably quite a straightforward answer to this I suspect, that I‘m just not getting - but being a newcomer to Buddhism and this very different way of thinking (and it is very different and its also really hard to put into practice!!) it does appear quite complicated at first reading and also a bit of a contradiction. Can anyone shed some light on this for me?

Best Wishes