Mark Forstater's Blog

From My Old Journals – Getting Rid Of Old Emotions

May 6, 2009 at 3:57 pm Leave a comment

A few items from a journal that I’ve been keeping since 2001

Nov 16 2001- Every book that I write gives me the chance not only to learn more but also to practise more. The systems of Stoicism, Tao and Yoga may seem very different, but what they all share is the need to reduce desire in order to gain a new view of life, one that is larger than just our limited ego,  and that can extend into the cosmic realm.

Nov 26- As we progress in yoga, as the process of yoga works on us, we find that the old and tired emotions that clog up our bodies’ energy- the pain, bitterness, disappointment, sorrow, grief, worry- all the feelings that discourage us and get us down, that stop us from being who we truly are- these old and dead emotions can be removed, can be breathed out, sweated out, shat out, shouted out, to allow the good and strong emotions  that we inherently have and are made of to start to express themselves again, so that our thoughts, speech and actions can become the expression of our essence, the self – expression of who we are, a oneness without any second, a unique and whole organism, self-directed and self-reliant, able to live without fear, with courage secure in the knowledge of who we really are.

What do we fear? Krishnamurti says that we fear the past and the future. So time is our fear, and time is Qi, the movement of chi. The fear of the future is the fear of dying, of loss in the future, of the unknown. But this fear can only be embodied in us by the past, by fears that we have experienced and remember. This is the conditioning of fear that haunts us in the present.

Entry filed under: My Old Journals. Tags: fear, yoga.