Energy Patterns of Emotions

There is great security in knowing that all things come from God — even lousy attitudes, depressions, and negative emotions. Everything is of God. – John-Roger

This article by John-Roger was originally published in the Movement Newspaper in April of 1977.

There is great security in knowing that all things come from God — even lousy attitudes, depressions, and negative emotions. Everything is of God. God is multidimensional. God is everywhere, in all levels of consciousness. The things we term “negative emotions” (such as anger, lust, revenge, greed, etc.) are experiences for you to go through. If you learn what they are all about, you won’t have to repeat those experiences. If you don’t learn, you will probably find yourself going through them all again. Either way is okay. This level is built for success — everybody makes it eventually.

The emotional make-up of the human consciousness is, once again, an aspect of energy patterns. When the energies are lifting, you’re probably feeling okay. When they’re dropping, you’re probably feeling low. These energy patterns do flow in cycles. There are some days when you feel more “up” emotionally than others. Whether you are “up” or “down,” don’t judge yourself. When the energies are up, use them to get a lot accomplished. When they’re down, use them to rest, contemplate, relax. Whatever you are feeling emotionally can be used as a tool of your consciousness.

If you experience a little jealousy, that’s fantastic; make it work for you. Learn what it is. Experience it fully, and you will free yourself from that pattern. But you may really have to go into it all the way, until you see all its aspects, all its illusions. A lady came to me for a counseling one day, and she said, “I feel so bad. I’m really slipping back in my spiritual progression.” I said, “How on earth do you know something like that?” If she had really known enough to know she was slipping back, then she would have known she was not slipping back. If you think you’re slipping back or feel you’re slipping back, you’re not perceiving clearly — so why judge yourself because of an error in perception?

But she was really feeling low, which she thought was an indication of slipping back. There’s nothing wrong with feeling low or feeling “down.” It’s normal. It happens. And when it happens, it’s a great opportunity to look at those things within your life expression that are apparently not working for you. I asked this lady what the problem seemed to be, and she said, “I’m so lonely. Nobody loves me.” I said, “Well, if you think I’m going to love you when nobody else does, forget it. Maybe they know something I don’t.” She laughed. I said, “But I will work with you to get you through this.”

When you feel that no one loves you, it is usually because you are not feeling love for yourself or for that other person, and you have separated yourself from that center of Light within you. When you love yourself, then it’s easy to love other people and to have other people love you; that energy of Light and love is flowing freely. I’m not talking about lust or desire — or sexual expression. Those are different than love. I am referring to love as a universal flow of spiritual energy. You are loved just because you are; a special show of affection by another individual is really not necessary. To be loved you don’t have to do anything except be. That is absolutely enough. That’s the way life is — because you are, you’re enough.

The energy of love is the energy of Light. It’s everywhere. All you have to do is attune yourself to it. After talking about these ideas to the lady who was feeling sorry for herself, she said, “But my husband doesn’t love me. He doesn’t spend time with me. And I get so damn jealous.” I said, “Really? That’s neat.” She said, “Neat!? It’s tearing me apart inside, and you say it’s neat?” I said, “Yes, use that jealousy to bring yourself back into line and back into your husband’s good graces. Maybe you’ve been taking him for granted. Maybe you’ve been riding on your assets and not working to maintain the love and the romance in your marriage. Maybe you’re falling apart and becoming a liability.” She said, “Yeah, maybe.” I said, “So use your jealousy as the motivator to bring all the things that were out of line back into balance.” She said, “By damn, I think I will.”

She went to work on herself, did the things that brought her self-esteem back, and got her husband’s affection back. Some time later, however, they decided to divorce. And some of the old, negative emotions came up, and with that came some vindictiveness — she was going to “take him” for everything. I happened to see her and asked, “What do you want to do here, hurt him or just get free?” She said, “I just want to get free.” I said, “Then don’t hurt him. It’s not necessary.” She said, “Okay.” She had lost track of the freedom she was moving towards and of the love that was present.

There is no reason to negate the universal love that exists between all human consciousnesses, regardless of individual personality expressions. We are all one in Spirit. When you separate yourself and place yourself against another consciousness, you have separated yourself from and denied the God within that person. And since that is the same God as is within you, you are separating yourself from your own God; you are denying God. The result will be pain. There’s no way around it.

You don’t have to spend a lot of time with everyone to prove you love them. You don’t even have to feel a close rapport with everyone’s personality. You don’t have to live, or sleep, or go bowling with everyone. But to recognize that everyone is an extension of God, that is important. And it is important that you do not set out purposefully to harm or hurt other people. Through Spirit we are one, and divine law says that what you create returns to you. Be smart. Create harmony and peace and joy and love. Then, when it’s returned to you, it can only lift you higher.

Many times it’s been said that you can know the presence of the Spirit by the presence of joy in a person’s consciousness. Does that mean that the person is telling jokes and laughing all the time? No. Great uproarious laughter can mean great disturbance. One of the artists I know was drawing a picture of the laughing Christ. She showed it to me one night and asked, “What do you think?” I said, “I like it.” She said, “Does it make you happy?” “Sure,” I said. “But,” she said, “you’re not smiling.” I said, “It doesn’t make me smile; it makes me happy.” Happy can be a lot of things; it can be calm, quiet, contented, loving, free. You can be watching a good movie and be happy. You can be watching a lousy movie and be happy. You can be surfing on a perfect day and be happy. You can be changing a tire on the freeway in the rain and be happy. Happiness is an inner state of “rightness”; it may have little or nothing to do with outside circumstances. Happiness comes from the joyful recognition and the knowledge that you are of God and that all your experiences are for your learning, growth, and spiritual evolvement.

Emotions are only a tool for your learning. You always get to choose, with every situation, what your attitude will be. You can choose to cry and bemoan your fate, or you can choose to do the best you can with what you’ve got, keeping yourself as balanced as you can. Have you ever felt really bad physically or emotionally, but underneath the hurt had a warm feeling that the pain would pass away and everything would be okay again? Some people call this kind of attitude “Pollyanna.” But I’d rather live there than in the other choice. People ask, “Well, what happens if you come to the end, and your Pollyanna consciousness hasn’t worked?” I suppose that time will be good enough to find out — in the meantime I’ve had a very pleasant journey.

This life is for the living, but it is not so much of an outward living of life as it is an inward living of life. Much of the reality is in your attitude, your approach to life. And the things you place out are reflections of where you are inside. It is that inner attitude that is all important. If you are coming from truth and honesty inside of you, you won’t go too far wrong. We have a saying in MSIA: dishonesty forfeits divine aid. It means that if you approach things in a dishonest way (from any level — physical, emotional, mental, spiritual), you’re on your own. You’ll get to handle the consequences on your own. If your approach is an honest one, that energy of the Light will help you out if you get in trouble.

If you make a mistake, you can go back and clear it. If you’ve stepped on someone’s toes, you can go back and say, “I’m sorry. I really love you. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Sometimes it can be hard from the personality level, to say, “I was wrong.” But the Soul doesn’t care if you have to say that, because that’s honest. You’ve admitted an area where you’re lacking, an area where you can grow. That makes the Soul’s job easy because you’re not blocking the Light from getting in there and helping. It’s only when you try to hide your lacks or cover them up that things become difficult.

Many times I’ve said that it takes great courage to see the face of God. I’m not necessarily talking about the invisible God that resides deep within your own beingness. I’m talking about the God of opinion, the God of “What will the neighbors think?,” the God of, “Do I dare look you straight in the eye and honestly admit I love you without placing out any demands on you?” To face these “gods” takes great courage. But if you can’t approach life honestly then there are areas within you that aren’t quite right. There are areas that need to be looked at. They may be physical, emotional, or mental areas. These are the levels of karma. It’s not easy to keep them all clear and honest and open, but that’s the goal. And it can be realized.

Baruch Bashan

WATCH A MOMENT OF PEACE WITH JOHN-ROGER