Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche is one of the finest Tibetan Buddhist teachers in America, in my humble opinion. Funnier than most comedians and sharper than most scholars, I would encourage you to check him out. Somebody buy this man a cup of Starbucks coffee (which he loves). Here he talks about recognizing emotions.
“When we recognize an emotion, such as strong passion accompanied by jealousy, we are actually breaking down the speed of that emotion. The total sense of recognition is important in both Sutra and Tantra. In Sutra, it is mindfulness. In Tantra, if we see that nature and look at it nakedly, we will see the nature of that wisdom. You don’t need to logically apply any reasoning. You don’t need to conceptually meditate on anything. Just simply recognize and observe it….We will have the experience of that wisdom by simply being with it without conception. Therefore, recognition is quite important.
“The first step is just simply to observe it. Simply recognize the
emotion and then watch it as it grows or as it continues. Just simply
watch it. In the beginning, just to have an idea that [the emotion] is
coming is very important and effective. In the Vajrayana
[Tantric] sense, the way to watch these emotions is without stopping
them. If we recognize the emotion and say, “Yes, it is passion,” and
then try to stop it, that’s a problem. Rejection our emotions is a
problem in Vajrayana.
-Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche
Penetrating Wisdom
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