UnbornTao

'The background that shapes the foreground' is a good starting metaphor for defining context.

Nevar.

Hey, you can laugh - just allow yourself to feel emotions, or anything else for that matter. Possibly "deluded" in that you take your view of the struggle as an unquestionable fact or condition. A good story doesn't feel made up, nor does it look like a story but as "the way things are." Why would emptiness and nothingness be negative, or resisted? They're likely misunderstood as well. Even if you mean them differently, we already live as if we were empty at our core. It's a consequence of confusing Being with self (we take the latter to be our nature.) The overly-simplified version is this: the self is already empty by its nature. Recognized for what it is, this is neither negative nor positive - just the case. It is seen as a natural and universally-shared condition. You need to become increasingly clear on what's what in your experience. How the mind is used determines and influences your experience - state, focus, level of satisfaction, the ability to feel anything and how it is felt, the likelihood of getting depressed and enthusiastic, and so on. For example, with enough work, I could make myself suffer a similar way by concocting, in my mind, a similar "condition" as yours - and by taking it seriously (assuming there isn't a physiological issue going on.) Nothing objective would have changed. My body would be just fine - the difference being what I do with my mind. We can see, then, that this is far from being a simplistic and superficial matter. The moment you assess some experience as negative, the possibility of a "positive" experience arises with it. It's not that you experience both negative and positive things at the same time - necessarily. The distinction "negative" exists thanks to "positive," and vice versa. It's an existential point. It might seem like you are describing your experience, but how can we get even clearer on what's experienced and what's conceptualized? Heck, even the sense of self may be conceptual, even though we regard it as a 'sense,' and yet, it seems solid and real, does it not? If even the sense of self was conceptual from the beginning, suffering its dissolution, partial or otherwise, was also based on figments of mind! You, and your experience, have always been complete in themselves. The task is learning to use the mind in a functional and healthy way - which usually includes shutting it off and being grounded in one's body. So, enough minding for you.

It would probably be funnier if you knew German.

@Carl-Richard https://tonymayo.com/never-say-its-just-semantics/

OK, @Sugarcoat is writing her response.

Haha, not at all. I might occasionally come off as blunt or cold in the way I write. There's no reason to punish or blame oneself. It can be tricky to hear such things - just focus on making it real for you. For example, you might imagine that some guys on an internet forum are mad at you because of your perceived failure to grasp their communications. As a result, you may feel guilty. If that's what's happened, try to catch the thought/s that gave rise to this process possibly leading to the feeling of guilt. You can also come up with your own examples. Pay attention to your reactions and emotional states throughout the day, pick a couple of them, and notice your experience just before the reactive feelings arise. Oh, another exercise I like: What emotion are you not feeling right now? Whether it is positive or negative, ask yourself, "How come I'm not feeling it?" Then work on creating it. Enthusiasm is a good one - you can work on it. Be enthusiastic at will. See if you can play with this principle by applying it to small things as well - like a trivial or petty annoyance you might feel. Catch yourself in the act and simply stop generating such activity, as if by magic. Also, you could try @Ulax's technique above. It is effective.

What belief is.

@Sugarcoat Again, this sounds like a largely conceptually-generated dilemma. You think it's a fact that must be endured against your will. According to the doctors and other professionals, do you have an underlying physical condition that might be causing or contributing to this struggle? What's their diagnosis? Seriously, the way one uses their own mind can be very powerful and convincing - but that doesn't automatically make it true or functional. Ever heard the phrase “No self, no problem”? It translates to: no aspect of self, no suffering tied to that aspect. By your own account, your sense of self is being partially dissolved - so shouldn't you be suffering from an excess of happiness? Transcending the self is freeing. Consider that what you're going through might be something else entirely. Revisit the basics - exercise, meditation, healthy eating, etc. It may turn out you actually don't know, and the cause could be neurochemical imbalances or something similar. Just drop the dissolution BS. Again - be in your body. Also, don't confuse becoming aware with being inwardly focused. The former is sensitive and inclusive while the latter tends to isolate, contract attentiveness, and be exclusive in nature. It might be the case that you're full of yourself. Apathy itself is a feeling orientation that may involve suppressing emotions, both positive and negative. "Negative" and "positive" arise at the same time, in the same way you can't have "down" without having created "up."

"aye aye captain!"

Sounds good, thanks. Assumption could be left for another time, though. The nature of context is still up for grabs!

The "stressors" may stimulate certain knee-jerk responses in you, yet the stress itself isn't found in them. By labeling them that way, you may be reinforcing the notion that your emotional state is externally imposed. Do other people feel differently under similar circumstances? If so, this suggests that the circumstances themselves aren't the deciding factor, but rather how one relates to them. It's a bit like professional soccer players - how come they're not disturbed by thousands of people shouting and insulting them? They focus on the game. They've trained their minds to stay grounded and focused on what matters: what's happening on the pitch, their own bodies, the ball, other players, and so on. You can also change your environment - or take actions to positively influence your state within it. This might mean learning to focus on what you're doing, going for a run, avoiding caffeinated drinks, meditating, and so forth. Oh, and communicating (for example, by conveying your experience, feelings, and concerns) with the individuals you're living and interacting with is always a key consideration.

And satsangs on Thursdays.

Great, keep working on it. Chances are, the recognition is just intellectual. This is a necessary first step but you have yet to become aware of it as a reality operating in your experience right now. Actually grasping that fact would instantly release you from the unnecessary suffering you're creating and enduring, at least in that domain. Rarely do we experience a state of true emotional or feeling neutrality. You may simply be insensitive to - or not paying enough attention to - your experience, or you might be feeling apathy, despair, or something of that sort. Very subtle feelings are always in the background, even when they're hard to name. Consider that positive and negative arise together. Get clear/er about what you experience. Refer to my post above. Even if there's an objective underlying physical condition, you can still use your mind in a way that helps you feel freer and lighter. You'd be surprised how much lightening up a bit, grounding yourself in the body, and taking yourself less seriously can go a long way toward creating a functional, healthy experience of life in the present.

It might be true that self is fundamentally already non-existing for everyone. How come I'm not suffering from that? If that's the case then what is it that you've been suffering as "partially being dissolved"? Consider: if no physiological malfunction is going on, where do you find your dilemma? It's possible it's just a story you're believing and suffering from. It's fucking conceptual! Stop feeding it. Be free from the story. Heal!

An interesting practice is to temporarily see one's parents as persons rather than as "mother" or "father." It takes some work and provides a different perspective.

I think you stubbornly cling to that story of self-dissolution. What happens when you stop believing in it? Set aside all the spiritual stuff you've heard about self this and self that. Also, "the future" is being conceptualized by you now, is it not? So there's no reason why you couldn't imagine a positive, hopeful one - or simply live in the present. Barring some physiological malfunction perhaps, depression can't possibility exist in relation to what's present now. So you see, just as you generate negative thoughts and feeling states, you can produce healthy and enjoyable ones.

Actually, it is easier done than said. What's needed is just learning to recognize that you are resisting your present experience, and to allow yourself to experience whatever you're going through - stress and anxiety in this case. Let them be there. From there you can become aware of what they are and how you are doing them. Getting out of one's mind is freeing and relaxing usually. It is a more present, objective, real experience. Good luck!

Start by embracing the present moment exactly as it is - do this. And stop imagining a future where something bad or unwanted might happen. Be grounded in your body, breathe from the center - this should help, too.

It's all about context:

Haha, what made you ask such a question in the first place? What makes you live happily and joyfully now?

Hope she/he is doing okay.

Wouldn't 'system' be a more accurate term for that? We could also stay grounded, since it's tempting (and easy) to extrapolate. In any case, if we agree that what you said above might be better described as a system, with the mind as its context, what exactly are you saying when you claim that the mind is a context? The space where thoughts occur? Is that how you see context? Or perhaps as the possibility for the existence of thought (since we're using 'mind' as an example of context here.)