When we begin to study our emotional function, we come across a basic attitude that makes it particularly difficult to observe emotions. Their very emergence overwhelms us. They seem so justified: “I love this,” or “I don’t agree with this,” or “I can’t take it anymore, it’s too much” (or “it’s too little”), etc. We are blind to the possibility that we could react in any other way: our feelings and our beliefs first and foremost. This abandonment of the sense of “I” in the face of our emotions in the Work is called identification, and this is where our study can begin.
In order to create a wedge between our immature reactive emotions and our nascent ability to observe, we must consider that on the one hand there is our habitual emotional reaction of disappointment, shame and embarrassment, and on the other, the awareness that we have deliberately brought it upon ourselves because we want to know ourselves and overcome the illusory state that keeps us prisoners of a dream.
Our emotional function is by nature underdeveloped. It distorts our perception of the world by always placing us at the center of events. Everything is about us, everyone ignores us or conspires against us, everyone should think of us and take our needs into consideration. Misled by these pressing prejudices, we take everything personally and feel about situations that do not need to stimulate any feeling, similar to emotional ruminants.
Every form of offense, resentment, unjustified reaction arises from the infantile demand for our need for attention. The pressing expectation that our emotional needs be satisfied generates constant competition, struggle, and projective control.
The undeveloped emotional function is the true prison of the sentient Soul. The Work offers a practical solution to this impossibility.
“We are irresistibly attracted to those who will create the problems we need for our personal evolution.”
Alejandro Jodorowsky
