Too much joy

[Guest guest]

I want to emphasize something that Al Stone wrote in message 2211:

 

" The Heart suffers most easily from excessive joy. With this, the Qi

becomes too loose, slow and weak. Excessive Joy causes a sort of Heart

Qi deficiency. The Heart Qi is a bit like a belt. It needs to be a

little tight to do its job. When the Heart Qi is loosened because of

too much joy, it becomes unable to support the functions of housing

the

Shen, and governing the blood. I've seen this particularly in those

who

have an imbalanced approach to spirituality. Think of the glossy-eyed

Moonies that used to frequent American airports selling paper mache

roses for a donation to their church. That's loosened Heart Qi. In

this situation, the best taste to astringe the loosened Heart Qi is

Sour. Sour astringes, tightens, makes your mouth pucker up. "

 

There is such a thing as being too " blissed out " and being " lost in

space " . Being " lost in space " , a " space cadet " , " spacey " , etc. are

American slang terms for when a person is not fully " grounded " in

reality. No matter how bad conditions are - for the individual or for

others - conditions do not " register " with the person. The " joy " is

inappropriate. It's based on extreme denial. It also is a very

selfish kind of " joy " as it often is based on never seeing and

acknowledging that someone else is in pain or that it even matters

that anyone is in pain. This is an " I got mine so to hell with you "

kind of " bliss " . This often is a person who confuses feeling " good "

with being " good " .

 

There are times when feelings of anger, fear, sadness, etc. are not

only appropriate but healthy and normal. Years ago I lived in a

community near a military installation and did volunteer work in the

field of patients' rights concerning a for-profit psychiatric

hospital. Part of this time period took place during Operation Desert

Storm when the U.S. and allies invaded Iraq. During this time, one of

the employees of the hospital was interviewed by the local newspaper.

In the article he talked about how kids that used to be happy-go-

lucky now were going about sad and withdrawn. He made this sound

like it was abnormal and a sign that these kids needed psychiatric

help. " Help " that the for-profit psychiatric hospital and the

hospital alone could provide, paid for by U.S. taxpayers. Nevermind

the fact that the kids' parents and friends of their parents were in

a war zone and could be killed. How did he expect them to be

reacting under those conditions? Throwing a party?

 

This excessive " joy " thing is not only promoted by Moonies and

certain other religious fanantics. There are plenty of secular

examples as well - like the one in the previous paragraph.

Excessive " joy " can be a condition in which a person is in extreme

denial and no other emotions are experienced. Indeed, experiencing

these other emotions is made out to be a sign that the person is

psychologically sick or not " right " with some particular god or

somehow " broken " and in need of " fixing " .

 

The " blissed out " can be perfect robots for whatever authority

(secular or religious) that seeks to use them. They don't feel beyond

feeling " good " , and this lack of emotions includes feelings of

sympathy, empathy, and concern for others. No matter what the

authority does to others, it is of no concern to the " blissed out " .

They confuse their feeling " good " with their being " good " . In short,

the perfect robotic supportors of any dictator who will remove the

burden of having to think and feel from them.

 

These are " hollow " people. They are not " grounded " . In their denial

of other emotions - which translates to a denial of their

individualism and of life itself - they are willing vessels for

whatever strong outside authority figure that will come along and

give them a " cause " to become lost in. Any cause that can add

purpose to their lives instead of having to do the work of

discovering their own reason for being.

 

All too often, this is the model of psychological and emotional

health that gets pushed in the United States. I'm not talking about

all counselors, psychologists, and psychiatrists here. There are

some fine healers in these professions who help a lot of people. But

unfortunately, like so much of medicine in the U.S., these

professions have come to be dominated by their worst elements instead

of their best.

 

Good emotional health does NOT mean never feeling sad or angry or

anxious. Sometimes good emotional health and having a very

fulfilling life depend on feeling and acknowledging a wide range of

emotions. Negative emotions can be like signposts, telling us when

important changes need to be made in our lives, not only for our own

sakes but for the sakes of others. No social advancement has ever

taken place without someone first getting angry enough to demand and

then bring about changes for the better.

 

Victoria

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 07/06/2002 4:06:22 AM Pacific Daylight Time,

victoria_dragon writes:

 

<< Good emotional health does NOT mean never feeling sad or angry or

anxious. Sometimes good emotional health and having a very

fulfilling life depend on feeling and acknowledging a wide range of

emotions >>

 

I understand healthy emotions as allowing oneself to feel, whatever it is one

feels .... yet at the same time be able to resolve negativity (or joyful

mania) expeditiously. Come to grips with it ... find a solution ... let it

go. Accept what we have been handed and understand that it is our

responsibility to resolve it for ourselves .... by ourselves. Emotions

become dangerous and damaging to health when we blame others for causing

them. It is how we respond to life that matters. Naturally everything must

be viewed in perspective, as it will take one longer to resolve emotions of

grief from losing a loved one, as it will to resolve feeling angry at the

supermarket check out person who was rude. But either of these two examples

could be taken to the extreme.

 

Lynn