What is the correct way to use Dharma practice to work with emotions?

If you have emotions, but because you are supposed to be Dharma practitioner, you do not show or express these emotions, because you are embarrassed to express them, because you are supposed to be a Dharma practitioner, but you have not actually worked on them, so you keep on having them. So then people react by trying to suppress this, thinking “I am Dharma practitioner, I should not be angry, I should not be like this”. Instead of using methods to work on these emotions, the practitioner tries to pretend that these emotions do not exist. That is unnecessary – that is not the right way to practice.

That does not mean that you should give yourself free reign to express all emotions that come up. Then you become totally out of control. But we need to work on our emotions, slowly, step by step, work on the emotions and learn how to control them.

I think that we should have some kind of a dialogue with our negative emotions. We should relate to them, we should identify them, understand them, because we do not recognize our own emotions.

His Holiness, 17^th Gyalwang Karmapa

Ogyen Trinley Dorje

Mahamudra Teaching, Nurburing, Germany