Admitting Negative feelings in spiritual quest

We have to learn to admit that negative feelings are a common experience , no matter how good we are trying to be or what spiritual practice we have engaged in . Jealousy , anger , annoyance ,irritation , pettiness – they all visit with unfortunate regularity .But the trick is not to take them personally or so be shocked by them .And then they have no power over you .The thought of jealousy that arises and fades in a dew moments is not a problem .The jealous thought that is denied and suppressed or is twisted into some kind of justification due to one’s own discomfort with it can often turn into unkind words and actions directed at the object of one’s jealous .In these ways ,the refusal to admit to negative thoughts can create all kinds of problems as we so often see in spiritual leaders and masters who insinuate or even say that they are enlightened but whose behavior belies petty and desperate motivations involving sex , money or power .I prefer to hang out with what Alan Watts called “divine rascals” .Those who know both their divinity and their rascality .

Catherine Ingram
Author of “Passionate Presence – Empowering the Seven Qualities of Awakened Awareness “