How do you avoid the amplification of other people's emotions as they pass by at close proximity?
Today for the first time I had an experience where someone random walked past me, their emotion flooded my mind and got amplified until something happened. Since I haven't experienced it this way before, I did not try to resist, I let it flow and tried hard to remain just an observer.
It was a kid, angry at his mother. After the emotion reached a certain level, the intensity suddenly dropped and he started crying.
The intensity of the emotion grew incredibly strong and the way it stopped, reminded me of an operation amplifier in positive feedback loop configuration or a short-circuit until a fuse blows. It wasn't my fuse and I'm somewhat worried about the kid. Already for me the intensity was very strong.
A note: My mind-state was forceful but not angry. Forceful as in facing all the hardships and pushing my way through without whining.
From memory, several years ago when I encountered other people's emotions, my state of mind was so much more stable that other emotions could not flood it. Thus, there was no amplification.
The unreal hath no being; there is no non-being of the Real; ~Krishna
A stable-minded person will neither hug nor hate the world, he will take things as they come.
An alternative interpretation of the event.
According to prior experience with an angry sister, for as long as I remain in an observer position without redirecting the energy anywhere, I'm vamping it off (draining it from her). So, it should not have been dangerous to the kid. This also fits with a random encounter following the event. As I stepped out of the shopping mall, someone across the street honked the horn, made a peace symbol with his hand and shouted: "Good job!"
The unreal hath no being; there is no non-being of the Real; ~Krishna
A stable-minded person will neither hug nor hate the world, he will take things as they come.
Ah forget my signature, I have nothing smart to say...in a few months I will change my opinion probably :~p
Hmm .. yeah.
The unreal hath no being; there is no non-being of the Real; ~Krishna
A stable-minded person will neither hug nor hate the world, he will take things as they come.
It's all fun and games until you lose an eye; then it's all fun and games in the dark.
Ah forget my signature, I have nothing smart to say...in a few months I will change my opinion probably :~p
Another approach is to find the space/emptiness within yourself, so that you have the openness to hold whatever phenomena you experience. Holding experience means not suppressing it, or acting out because of it. It means not protecting oneself, nor building oneself up. As a strong physical & emotional empath, opening to the space within me is the only thing that has worked ultimately. Resistance has always caused more problems for me later.
Every realized person I can think of; from Buddha, to Jesus, had enough space within to hold the pain of the world, while at the same time embodying extreme joy. Within each of us, is a vast unborn emptiness, which is covered over by a fearful ego. That emptiness isn't really empty though, but is pregnant with warmth.
Unguarded intimacy, is the natural state of human beings. Babies are completely open to the world, & if you go back to pre-agriculture; this is how human tribes of people were with one another & the environment. I think that an open heart is the key; compassion for oneself, followed by compassion for others:)