When To Be Positive When To Accept Negativeness? How To Deal With The Ego?

[khalifa]

In this video leo tells us to accept negative emotions as in to let them pass through instead of resisting them, Aren't we always supposed to stay positive and consistent with our habits and lives? I'm rather confused on how to deal with my ego wants/needs when i should serve or even act on life. The journey to enlightenment is also really confusing since nothing has value why should i bother with any of my actions? Why should i care about the Ego's greed or even work hard or even let him lazy. I just really feel lost after binging on these videos.. I feel like i'm rather losing my positiveness on life..

 

 

[Corte]

This is a tricky area that really separates the ego and higher consciousness. Most of us are taught from birth the difference and good and bad, positive and negative, right and wrong. Especially when it comes to thoughts, we're scolded if a "negative thought" slips out of our mouths freely, because we didn't know the difference.

The difference is that it feels easier to ignore a negative thought/feeling/emotion somewhat impulsively. Most think that covering it up or pushing it away to deal with at later date is the right way to "handle" it, or simply choosing not to think about it at all to avoid the emotional weight. The paradox is this just makes it more powerful and its negativity effects you until you can't stand it. 

The much better way takes patience, a more long term way of thinking, and a more opened mind. To accept the "bad", the "negative", the "wrong", remove all beliefs surrounding them, and allow yourself to experience them without judging them, at the same time not judging yourself (more importantly). You must end impulsive reactions and thinking; and really work hard to remove the entire belief you have of this subject. This allows all negativity to flow with your mind the same way pleasure or happiness does. 

Staying positive only means to focus on everything good, beautiful, perfect, which in turn evolves your perspective to find these in everything. This works the opposite way of course, which most people around you probably experience.

This does not remove negativity. It's still there. You just experience it in such a way where it isn't a problem like you were taught. 

Tonight I saw somewhere the quote "either nothing is a miracle or everything is a miracle, you choose which one you see" 

Edited May 13, 2016 by Corte

[JustinS]

I'd recommend watching his video called Freewill Vs. Determinism. 

[charlie2dogs]

6 hours ago, khalifa said:

In this video leo tells us to accept negative emotions as in to let them pass through instead of resisting them, Aren't we always supposed to stay positive and consistent with our habits and lives? I'm rather confused on how to deal with my ego wants/needs when i should serve or even act on life. The journey to enlightenment is also really confusing since nothing has value why should i bother with any of my actions? Why should i care about the Ego's greed or even work hard or even let him lazy. I just really feel lost after binging on these videos.. I feel like i'm rather losing my positiveness on life..

 

 

if you are the observer and not the identity victim, there will be things that arise before you, that you can ignore, because it is of no value to you, and there will be things that arise that as observer you may see the reality of it and you may need to embrace it and learn from it, resolve the issue within yourself and move on with life, then you are freed from the quantum memory  or a cleansing of the consciousness takes place regarding this issue,  this cant be fully understood by the identity and ego spend some time with it.

[Sleepwalker]

Recently I've been thinking much about this topic and it has been a big question for me, too. I'm not a psychologist and I can't claim that my opinion is "the right one" but anyways I'm going to share it with you. Perhaps you can find some value in it.

I think that you should embrace your negative thoughts as well as the positive ones. The majority of people labels the negativity as "bad" and tries to avoid it by any means. By doing this, you neglect your negative thoughts and they literally crave your attention more and more. Therefore, they have to be acknowledged and accepted as well.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that you should let every negative thought automatically pull you into its mood. Actually, I've been working on positive thinking for the last few days because it simply allows me to perform better in my day to day life. I always try to stay positive and cheerful, especially when I go out and socialize. I noticed that being positive is actually crucial in social situations and that I cannot allow myself to be negative around other people anymore.

I leave the negative thoughts and emotions on the side until I have some alone time in my day. Then I set aside 30 mins to feel those emotions, to dedicate my attention to them and do what Leo actually suggested in this video. I also meditate every day and use the do nothing technique. Those are the times in my day when I allow my monkey mind to go absolutely crazy without judging it. This way I manage to embrace both, positive and negative thoughts.

I hope that this is a good approach for living life and a good way to "blend" those contradictions of positive and negative thinking. Hope that this was helpful  

 

[Mal]

@khalifa @Sleepwalker Hi to you both!

Sleepwalker - you have given really great advice, so much so that you beat me to the post here and said everything that has been on my mind since first trying think of how to respond to khalifa's post. Thank you for this!

khalifa - I would like to add to sleepwalkers advice to you and suggest that you don't take every single word Leo says literally and concretely.  Play with the ideas. See if they fit. If they don't fit, leave them for a time when you're ready for them. 

Think about the concepts as just concepts that might be useful to you, instead of making a religion out of them - concrete and absolute instructions to live by. 

You mention nothing has value. Obviously I don't know what you mean by this, but I would also advise you to take that statement with a pinch of salt and just contemplate it rather than take it seriously for the moment. 

The way we feel distorts how we learn. It's always a good rule of thumb to be in a positive state when trying to learn something new so that we avoid tainting the teaching with our own lens. 

Your emotional body needs to be taken seriously and treated with loving kindness because it contains all your disappointments from the past that need to be acknowledged for healing. 

Another good reason to remain "positive" about our negative emotional body states is because this emotional body also contains great positivity too.  There is gold in the shadow that can only be integrated by giving your negative expressions loving kindness. 

Practice meta meditation on your negative aspects as often as you can, either in private or only around people you trust.  

I dedicate one day a week to reflective "me time". I fast and cut myself off from all distractions and social media. I turn off my phone and I travel to a remote spot to soak up nature, practice karma yoga and give myself space to " regulate " and process what needs to be processed from the week and the past. 

For a deeper clens I book myself into a solitary retreat. 

Treat your ego well, don't fight it, don't try to get rid of it. Give it the respect it deserves and needs and it will work in your favour. This attitude is not at odds with enlightenment work, in fact it aids it!

-Mal