Emotions cannot be permanent. That's why they are called "emotions" , the word comes from "motion", movement. They move; hence, they are "emotions". From one to another you continually change. This moment you are sad, that moment you are happy; this moment you are angry, that moment you are compassionate. This moment you are loving, another moment full of hatred; the morning was beautiful, the evening is ugly. And this goes on. This cannot be your nature, because all these changes something is needed like a thread that holds all of them together.

In a garland you see flowers, but you don't see the thread. These emotions are like the flowers of a garland. Sometimes anger flowers, sometimes sadness flowers, sometimes happiness, sometimes pain, sometimes anguish. These are the flowers , and your whole life is the garland. There must be a thread; otherwise you would have fallen apart long ago. You continue as an entity, so what is the thread, the plestar? . What is permanent in you?.

First Things First

The Mechanics of the Mind

Your emotions, your sentiments, your thoughts, the whole paraphernalia of the mind, are manipulated by the outside. Scientifically, it has become more clear now, but even without scientific investigation the mystics have been saying exactly the same thing for thouusands of years, that all these things your mind is filled with are not yours; yu are beyond them. You get identified with them, and that's the only problem.

For example, somebody insults you and you become angry. You think you are becoming angry, but scientifically speaking the other person's insult is only functioning as a remote control. The person who has insulted you is managing your behavior. Your anger is in his hands; you are behaving like a puppet.

Now scientists are able to put electrodes in the brain at certain centers, and it is almost unelievable. The mystics have been talking about it for htousands of years, but only recently has science discovered that there are hundreds of centers in the rain controlling all your behaviours. An electrode can be put at a particular center, for example, the center for anger. Nobody insults you , nobody humiliates you , nobody says anything to you; you are sitting silently, happily, and somebody pushes a buttom on a remote control and you become angry!. It is a very strange feeling because you cannot seee the reason anywhere, why you are becoming angry. Perhaps you will rationalize it somehow. You see a man passing by in the hallway and you remeber that he insulted you, you will find some rationalization just to console yourself that you are not going mad. Sitting silently... and suddenly feeling so angry without any provocation?.

An the same remote controller can work to make you happy. Sitting in your chair you start giggling, and you look all around, if somebody is wathing you he will think you are going crazy!. Nobody has said anything, nothing has happened, nobody has slipped on a banana peel, so why are you giggling?. You will rationalize it, you will try to find some rationa grounds for giggling. And the strangest thing is that the next time the same buttom is pushed and you giggle, you will again come up with the same rationale, the same consolation, the same explanation, not even the rationalization is yours!. It is almost like a gramophone record.

Copyright © Osho. Emotional Wellness: Transforming Fear, Anger, and Jealousy into Creative Energy . Book excerpt. Page 2 of 4.

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