Yes, I guess you could say that I judge them as unskillful in the sense that I dont pay any heed to them, I try to treat it just like "sitting", "lifting" etc. I just focus on it, being aware and watching them arise and seize. I just try to let all emotions and mindstates pass away by just observing and doing the mental note or mantra of that emotion or mindstate. I just observe and stay mindful of the happy feeling when it arises (is it not just some chemicals in the brain?) and just let it pass. Same for anger, generosity, drowsiness, the bodily movements etc.daverupa wrote: Where have you picked up this instruction in the first place?
Maybe this phrase "judge an emotion" could be unpacked: do you judge negative emotions, say, as inherently sinful somehow, and feel you should not do that, or do you judge them as unskillful, and feel you should be passive upon their arising? Or something else?
From my understanding of mindfulness it is the awareness that arises through paying attention on purpose in the present moment and non-judgementally to the unfolding of experience (the 4 categories of experience). So this is not correct? Regarding the mental noting, I use it both as a crutch to keep my mind from drifting away from the present (an idle mind is often distracted), and as a way of giving the experience an objective label ("it is what it is", "nothing more, nothing less", basically).
The problem I have with this is of course the idea of unwholesome and wholesome emotions or thoughts. How do I combine my practice with this idea. From what I understand, the idea of judging unwholesome actions as bad or detrimental is counterproductive if we want to overcome them.
My understanding is very limited, I have just read the sattipattana sutta, and listened to some talks and videos about meditating so doubting seems like a good thing to me, as it would be shocking if I have full understanding of correct practice and no need to doubt if I am doing it correctly. I dont think it would be correct to try to overcome this doubting by just being mindful of it and not ask questions about correct understanding of the dhamma.