Working with Conceptual Mind
Perhaps the most effective means to put the teachings on working with emotions into action is to work with our thought process. When we have practiced meditation for a while, we become familiar with the process of labeling the thoughts that arise in our mind as “thoughts.” However, when we apply this approach of labeling mind’s contents to working with our emotions, the point is not only to identify a thought as a “thought” or an emotion as a particular kind of emotion. As beneficial and necessary as this is, the emphasis here is slightly different. We are watching not only for the presence of thoughts in our mind, but also to see how our thoughts and emotions interact, how they communicate and influence each other. In other words, we need to put extra attention on differentiating our labeling mind from the object being labeled; otherwise it becomes impossible to see their interrelationship.

For example, when we perceive an object—either a sense object, like a flower, or a mental object, like a thought of a flower—either way, our mind produces a label for that object. Usually what happens at this point is that the label “flower” and the object that is the basis for that label become one in our mind. We mix together the label and what is labeled; we regard them as the same, without noticing it. The instruction here is to clearly separate the conceptual label from the object that it labels. We need to see the clear distinction between the two.

At this stage of practice, it is important to begin by generating a positive state of mind. Then, just as in our regular sitting practice, we start by labeling thoughts as they arise. However, it is also important to keep our labeling to a minimum. Other than what is immediately useful and helps us maintain a sense of mindfulness and alertness, no other labels are needed. Then we can look directly at the various appearances of thoughts in our mind and see how they impute characteristics to their objects that do not belong to them. In fact, the characteristics imposed on an object when we label it have no basis beyond the thoughts themselves. Since we are generally not in the habit of looking so closely at our mental processes, we have little or no awareness of them. They just happen and we see only the result.

For example, we might meet someone and think to ourselves that he or she is “a good person.” That is our perception and our label, which arises in our mind as a conceptual thought. What occurs when we create that label is that we mix together the person and our idea of “good.” The distinction between the object and the idea become blurred for us, and we come to think of them as being the same thing. But really they are not the same. The label “good” is coming entirely from our own side. In the same way, when we call somebody “bad,” we are mixing two things up. In fact, the person we labeled “good” might turn out to be bad at times, and vice versa. When events contradict our expectations in this way, we get upset. We may even become overwhelmed and have difficulty handling the situation—all because our mixing of conceptual labels and the things we have labeled has not panned out.

Therefore, when working with the conceptual process of labeling our emotions, it is important to notice how they interrelate—in other words, just how the labeling takes place, and what it is based on.

Making Something out of Nothing 
We can apply the step of clear seeing to get a better understanding of the process of labeling. In this case, that means pulling back just enough from an immediate experience of emotion to gain a broader perspective and see a more complete picture of it. This allows us to see the full course of our experience of an emotion, from the time of its first arising to the time when we have attached our labels to it, making it a specific “thing.” When we look, we can ask ourselves questions, such as: When the emotion first arose, what was my experience of it? What did it feel like? Then, when I identified the emotion, what happened? Did labeling it change my experience of it? Did its qualities change—or did my perception change? Did it fade away, or was it replaced by yet another emotion?

By applying this kind of investigation we discover something about the original emotion. We see that when an emotion arises, it appears nakedly, without any label or reference point that tells us what it is—that says that it is “this” and not “that.” There are no signs attached to it that say, “I am anger,” or “I am passion,” or “I am something good.” Emotions are not imbued with any essence that tells us which concept belongs to them. The actual genuine experience of emotions is a fresh, unaltered experience of the dynamic energy of mind. However, once we label them, emotions subtly change and are no longer the original emotions we experienced. It is like the difference between drinking original Coke and Cherry Coke. Sure, they are both Coke, but they aren’t the same, and they don’t taste the same. To get Cherry Coke, the taste of original Coke has to be altered; it is no longer the genuine thing. We should always go for the real thing—the genuine emotion—not the Cherry Coke version.

When our emotions become infiltrated by labels, they become contrived. They are no longer spontaneous and natural. When they take on the qualities of our labels, they begin to feel artificial or manufactured; they become adulterated in some sense. The Buddha taught that emotions experienced by way of thought and concepts are an experience of confusion, delusion, and bewilderment. In particular, conceptualized emotions are taught to be bewilderment because our conceptual labels do not accord with what is really there or the way things really are.

“Emotions ~ From Theory To Practice: Putting the Teachings into Action”, by The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, is adapted from a series of lectures given at the 2006 Treasury of Knowledge Retreat sponsored by Rigpe Dorje Center in San Antonio, Texas. It is Part Three in a series of articles on working with emotions. © 2008 The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche.