Emotional Genius and the repression inherent in "joy only" meditation practices
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Posted by: quirky ® 03/19/2005, 16:09:22 Author Profile Edit Alert Moderators

I found this quote from an interview that I found to be very insightful and relevant to discussions of M and his teachings Karla McClaren has an audio book about Emotional Genius that looks interesting. From an interview of Karla McClaren on soundstrue.com : ST: Many spiritual traditions talk about cultivating inner calm or joy through meditation or prayer. What is your perspective?  KM: Calm and joy are lovely states, but they’re only two states among dozens. I understand the reasons why so many traditions rely on calm and joy ­ because so few people know how to manage their emotions. But these cultivations worry me. If we see the emotions as a complete and vital realm of responses, then we want access to all of them. In Taoism, which is one of the few emotion-honoring ancient practices, joy is considered to be the most dangerous emotion ­ not in and of itself, but because of the way we behave in relation to it. We tend to repress every other emotion, and focus only on joy. I find that this focus creates stagnation in the psyche, and eventually, a complete lack of richness in the personality. In my experience, joy-only practices rely almost exclusively on repressive techniques ­ and repression is unacceptable to me.

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Original message ---   ( Sun, Mar 20, 2005, 07:41:08 ) ( bytes ) +1 Re: Ah, horsecock - is that good or bad, Gerry? (nt) (no text) --- cq ( Sun, Mar 20, 2005, 07:41:08 ) ( 0 bytes ) Original message ---   ( Sun, Mar 20, 2005, 13:07:23 ) ( bytes ) +3 Re: I guess I could flesh that out a bit, Chris.. --- quirky ( Sun, Mar 20, 2005, 13:07:23 ) ( 852 bytes ) +1 Re: I guess I could flesh that out a bit, Chris.. --- elo ( Sun, Mar 20, 2005, 19:27:05 ) ( 109 bytes ) +2 elo elo --- Harry ( Mon, Mar 21, 2005, 02:16:08 ) ( 223 bytes ) +1 Harry, why are you such a sweetheart? --- Joe ( Mon, Mar 21, 2005, 11:35:34 ) ( 70 bytes ) +1 Re: Harry, why are you such a sweetheart? --- Harry ( Tue, Mar 22, 2005, 01:20:46 ) ( 54 bytes ) +1 Ooops, I apologize Harry, I misinterpreted your post..... --- Joe ( Tue, Mar 22, 2005, 10:23:17 ) ( 123 bytes ) +1 YO#ou are forgiven my son provided you --- Harry ( Tue, Mar 22, 2005, 10:37:04 ) ( 80 bytes ) +1 But why all that tomato juice? (no text) --- Joe ( Tue, Mar 22, 2005, 12:16:21 ) ( 0 bytes ) +1 It was meant to be a take on Hail Marys NT (no text) --- HArry ( Tue, Mar 22, 2005, 13:47:19 ) ( 0 bytes ) What "trust" means --- Joe ( Mon, Mar 21, 2005, 11:34:22 ) ( 1109 bytes ) +1 Re: What "trust" means --- paddy ( Mon, Mar 21, 2005, 15:32:10 ) ( 580 bytes ) +1 "Trusting" that you got what was promised --- Joe ( Mon, Mar 21, 2005, 16:39:38 ) ( 711 bytes ) +1 Re: "Trusting" that you got what was promised --- paddy ( Mon, Mar 21, 2005, 21:53:45 ) ( 1086 bytes ) +2 Like the two classic theatrical masks, comedy and tragedy --- Jim ( Mon, Mar 21, 2005, 22:18:41 ) ( 1387 bytes ) +1 Re: Like the two classic theatrical masks, comedy and tragedy --- paddy ( Mon, Mar 21, 2005, 23:00:01 ) ( 766 bytes ) +1 Were Dracula's victims happy? --- Jim ( Mon, Mar 21, 2005, 23:13:42 ) ( 282 bytes ) +1 Re: It's not as if he's a lawyer --- paddy ( Mon, Mar 21, 2005, 23:34:42 ) ( 496 bytes ) +1 If this were a debate, I'd say you just shot yourself in the foot --- Jim ( Tue, Mar 22, 2005, 10:36:20 ) ( 584 bytes ) +2 well said, Jim --- lesley ( Tue, Mar 22, 2005, 15:25:10 ) ( 534 bytes ) +1 Re: Not much longer on the merry-go-round --- paddy ( Tue, Mar 22, 2005, 16:57:39 ) ( 390 bytes ) +1 one foot nailed to the floor --- lesley ( Wed, Mar 23, 2005, 15:55:52 ) ( 1259 bytes ) +1 Re: one foot nailed to the floor --- paddy ( Wed, Mar 23, 2005, 17:12:45 ) ( 495 bytes ) +1 Something extra to be gained in life --- JHB ( Thu, Mar 24, 2005, 01:02:20 ) ( 1190 bytes ) +2 Good one, John --- Jim ( Thu, Mar 24, 2005, 01:22:59 ) ( 982 bytes ) Re: Something extra to be gained in life --- paddy ( Thu, Mar 24, 2005, 16:26:12 ) ( 1379 bytes ) +2 Re: Something extra to be gained in life --- Cynthia ( Fri, Mar 25, 2005, 07:07:06 ) ( 3153 bytes ) out of the frying pan and into the fire --- lesley ( Fri, Mar 25, 2005, 14:32:48 ) ( 966 bytes ) Re: If this were a debate, I'd say you just shot yourself in the foot --- paddy ( Tue, Mar 22, 2005, 17:05:03 ) ( 1021 bytes ) +1 It's not ad hominem if there's a relevant interest --- Jim ( Tue, Mar 22, 2005, 17:43:48 ) ( 754 bytes ) +1 Re: It's not ad hominem if there's a relevant interest --- paddy ( Tue, Mar 22, 2005, 19:39:02 ) ( 825 bytes ) +1 Involvement is based on deception... --- Cynthia ( Wed, Mar 23, 2005, 06:45:19 ) ( 2263 bytes ) +1 Re: Involvement is based on deception... --- paddy ( Wed, Mar 23, 2005, 15:09:52 ) ( 826 bytes ) +1 Re: Involvement is based on deception... --- Cynthia ( Thu, Mar 24, 2005, 06:26:25 ) ( 2846 bytes ) But the question is enjoying in comparison to WHAT? --- Joe ( Tue, Mar 22, 2005, 18:09:00 ) ( 2932 bytes ) +1 Re: But the question is enjoying in comparison to WHAT? --- paddy ( Tue, Mar 22, 2005, 19:52:15 ) ( 1089 bytes ) +1 Re: But the question is enjoying in comparison to WHAT? --- Joe ( Wed, Mar 23, 2005, 13:04:30 ) ( 1240 bytes ) +1 Re: But the question is enjoying in comparison to WHAT? --- paddy ( Wed, Mar 23, 2005, 15:20:59 ) ( 1203 bytes ) Re: I guess I could flesh that out a bit, Chris.. --- cq ( Mon, Mar 21, 2005, 11:30:29 ) ( 588 bytes ) Re: I guess I could flesh that out a bit, Chris.. --- Candy ( Tue, Mar 22, 2005, 02:03:07 ) ( 206 bytes ) Original message ---   ( Mon, Mar 21, 2005, 16:36:04 ) ( bytes ) +1 Re: Happy little premies all in a row... --- paddy ( Mon, Mar 21, 2005, 16:36:04 ) ( 834 bytes )