How to Feel (Better)
The relationship between the first and second noble truths—craving causes suffering—is about how we relate to our emotions. The Dhamma describes the natural reactions we have to life, in which some things are pleasant, some painful, and many neutral, and how those natural reactions habitually, but not inevitably, lead to unpleasant complex emotional experience. Things are painful, we fear them and get angry at them. Things are pleasant, we want more, and do whatever we can to keep what we have. Things are boring, and we desperately fill ourselves with stimulation and entertainment.
In modern versions of the Buddha's prescription, we can wrestle with the dissonance between the Stoic-seeming meditative practice (notice feeling without reactivity) and our impulse for the healing that comes with embracing and processing strong emotion. How do we make sense of this difference?
