The evolution of emotion

[luka]

ralph smart, people like that. hello deep divers.

 

[luka]

i dont think i am depressed, would it even have any meaning if you could be depressed and not notice? maybe it would. i find it confusing and difficult.

 

[Clinamenic]

Do you want constantly strive for happiness, or would you rather aim for equanimity?

 

[Clinamenic]

I think much of depression derives from a dissatisfaction with ones self image, a dissatisfaction which may be so vague as to not even have a definition of an ideal self-image. But even with a defined ideal self-image, one is reaching for some satisfactory state that is out of reach and may always be out of reach, which would result in one being more or less permanently displaced from one's ideal self-image.

 

[luka]

i dont want to strive for happiness becasue i really dont have any very clear idea of what it is.

 

[luka]

most emotions i can think, ok, yes, im pretty sure i recognise that, i know what it is.

 

[Clinamenic]

One of the benefits of meditating I've found, either active or idle meditation, is that by distilling an equanimous state of mind, any non-equanimous states of mind seem mildly neurotic in comparison, as if mental activity period constitutes some degree of neurosis.

 

[Clinamenic]

And that what we normally call neurosis is just a more extreme or enflamed degree of mental activity, a sort of sustained cerebral frenzy which threatens to entrench itself as a complex. This I know quite well.

 

[luka]

i often think in terms of, and value, a clear connection with all the gunk washed away, and also space. so the brain not clenched and compacted.

 

[Clinamenic]

i dont want to strive for happiness becasue i really dont have any very clear idea of what it is.

You could just be overthinking it, which is a strange thing for me of all people to be telling anyone.

 

[Clinamenic]

i often think in terms of, and value, a clear connection with all the gunk washed away, and also space. so the brain not clenched and compacted.

Interesting that you use that visual metaphor, despite your claims of having difficulty visualizing things. Its a common staple of this popular mindfulness praxis, to visualize catharsis like this, as calm purgations of foul substances.

 

[luka]

you feel the dirt on the lens sometimes

 

[Clinamenic]

The hindu holy texts I've read frame desire as the root of all suffering, as the force that engenders karma in its wake, ebbs and flows of pain and joy - chains of reactions making it difficult for a calm neutrality to be reached.

 

[luka]

makes sense doesnt it

 

[Clinamenic]

And the ramifications span beyond one's own affective range, interfering and compounding with others and prompting more and more colorful and diverse webs of reactions and rapports.

It's beautiful in its own right, but I suspect I only say that thanks to my relatively detached perspective.

 

[Clinamenic]

The detachment also seems to be enabling a novel understanding of time as a simultaneous or maybe determined dimension of the universe, rather than one that can only be appreciated one moment at a time.

This is what fascinates me about the pursuit of enlightenment: its as if deeper functions of consciousness are being unlocked.

 

[Clinamenic]

And all of the technical jargon that I sift through is like material upon which such insight is to be applied, as if otherwise confounding and intractable problems give way to intuitive paths forward.

 

[thirdform]

Its good to be in love and the love you have for your kids is (mostly) great as well. Unconditional stuff, very different kind of emotion

We can all hide behind our lonely masks and sloganeer our turmoil but really a lot of us are just like turtles wanting someone to aimlessly meander with

At some point the youthful nihilism needs to subside or the latter years can become bleak

Dope smoking dad.

 

[thirdform]

I spent most of my early twenties (and late teens i guess) trying to run around with several girls at the same time and often failing miserably then getting caught, definitely disagree

Trying to juggle all your shit and keeping everything segregated was so fucking hard, especially up north. It is easier in London if you're okay with bombing around tube lines as its so big & more tribal to be honest

it was a lot of stress, especially when you're living with someone and trying to do it too. You have to be a bit of a social chameleon if you want to do it successfully, different scenes and vibes

Too many masks, too hectic. The sex is the only good thing about it

Still the *least interesting* bit of it. What on earth is up with you lot today?

 

[thirdform]

Well you'd have to be a bit special to believe in cosmic soulmates brought together by divine intervention surely

On the contrary, the reason why so many relationships end so acrimoniously today is people expect them to embody romance+economic security. This was historically not the case, relationships were seen as mostly a social and economic need. Today we want to be in love, yet also want our partner to be our supporting rock. The centre cannot hold if you want to do both of those simultaneously. Eventually you have to lessen one aspect. Either you are no longer in love and it is a kind of loving (as stan barstow put it) or it is a love which is blind to the universalisation of exchange, which ends up creating a lot of these ideas of I never imagined after 25 years he/she could be like this.