Thuesday is rulled by Mars which also governs the Solar Plexus chakra or Manipura. Mani means jewel because emotions are what makes us human. Only humans can laugh and cry. It is said that Jesus (or Isa ibn Maryam) never laughed because being a highly evolved Being, on a scale of 1 to 7 (as taught by George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff) of the possibility of evolution for a man where 1,2,3 types are the man oriented on swabhav (one's own nature) the action type, the feeling type, the thinking type which are not really different but just different propensities of Prakriti and karmic influences, and man number 7 is the enlightened man, Jesus just like Buddha is type 8. Also animals live in the first two chakras muladhara and svadhisthana.
The feeling type is one of the main types think kids who are growing up, most women with only rare exceptions and also men as thinking type is only about 2% of the general population. To know if one belongs to a type one needs to see the opposite to which one moves easily: no-action, no-feeling, no-thought that is indicative of type. Another is the action or reaction, where it starts. For the feeling type feeling is first. The decision is in the moment than the reasoning follows, the syllogism of logic is just the reverse: the conclusion comes first, then the process. That of course was good in an era where one needs to quickly identify who is the friend and who not because survival might depend on it. But it's also prone to bias because afflictions arise from inappropriate attention which in turn arises from self-grasping ignorance. Inappropriate attention is the cause of why people jump to conclusions and not only about ‘other people' but about themselves as well, through guilt, shame, self-deprecation, pefectionism with an obssesive drive for self-improvement (remember that there is no self as it appears that grasping of an independent self is to be dropped). Cry, laugh, express yourself, don't repress yourself. There are techniques for catharsis like Tibetan Sacred Dances with masks which allow one to tune in and express emotionally, journaling. With the reasoning type the conclusion is never first. First the process, then he concludes in the end. With the action type action is first, then feeling and in the end he creates reasons.
Humanity is a door to pass through not an end in itself but not to be bypassed either by suppression or repression. There are many people including spiritual teachers that speak of emotions as negative or positive because they themselves didn't knew emotions themselves and don't know how to deal with them, they just want to keep people who express their afflictive emotions behind the screen or with a book or jurnal in their hands and not around or asking questions to AI tools. AI alone which is a byproduct of objective science (Tantra is a subjective science) is the proof that the whole Western world is emotionally repressed and doesn't know how to value feelings.
The work to transform the emotions from the gross to the subtle is the whole work of Tantra. Out of the three root afflictions: of attachment which is involuntary pull, aversion which is involuntary push and ignorance which is neutral feelings, the way to love is by changing the cognitive processes from ignorance to wisdom which in turn changes the affective mind as well. That doesn't happen by itself but is a long, arduous process that is driven by intent and it involves listening, reflection, meditation with correct, systematic and complete information delivered at the proper time that is conducive for meditation: young age, vitality, peaceful surroundings, leisure and opportunity and spiritual masters and friends on the path.
Here is from Gampopa's “Jewel Ornament of Liberation” a classification of spiritual masters:
the ordinary spiritual masters
the bodhisattva spiritual master who has attained certain bhumis
the Nirmanakaya spiritual master, and
the Sambhogakaya spiritual master
also Gampopa writes:
“Of these four, who is the greatest benefactor ? When we are in the obscuring darkness of the karma of afflictive emotions we have nobopportunity to even see the face of a superior spiritual master, so how could we attend one ? By meeting ordinary spiritual masters, receiving the light of their teachings and shining it on the paths, one will gain the opportunity to see the superior spiritual masters. So therefore, the greatest benefactor for us is the ordinary spiritual master.”
and also Gampopa writes about the three types of Ordinary Spiritual Masters:
“There are three types of ordinary spiritual masters: those who possess eight qualities, those who possess four qualities, and those who possess two qualities.
…
The third is portrayed in Engaging in the Conduct of Bodhisattvas:
A spiritual master is always
Expert in the Mahayana teachings
He will not abandon the bodhisattva's vow
Even at the risk of his own life.
In other words, a spiritual master is learned in the Mahayana vehicle and holds the bodhisattva’s vow.”
Regarding friends on the path. Usually we innately distinguish who are friends as friends bring to the surface our good qualities, including joy, happiness, truthfulness and those who are difficult usually tend to bring out afflictive emotions and bring us to points where we question our sanity. This is how one can distinguish betweem loving relationships and karmic relationships. We don't form connections with all the people we meet. In order for a connection to form the karma of causes and the karma of conditions need to be aligned - that, in Zen, is called innen and is considered extremely important.
Here are a few other ways to look at emotions from a broader perspective instead of just negative and positive:
The atlas of emotions by Dalai Lama and Paul Ekman:
https://atlasofemotions.org
The emotional guidance scale from Esther and Jerry Hicks:
https://abraham-hicks.com/emotional-guidance-scale
Emotional vocabluary page by Karla McLaren:
https://karlamclaren.com/emotional-vocabulary-page
How afflictive emotions are dealt with in a secular context in western world varies but is mainly centered around therapy and positive psychology.
In the longterm it doesn't work. Buddhist psychology on the other hand gives practical advices in order to progress on the path by dealing with reactivity in order to help one progress on accomplishing Śamatha (which it is said takes about 4 to 6 months to accomplish for 4 hours a day)
Here is an excerpt from Nalanda Masters Course course book:
“Lankavatara [Sutra] says:
My tradition of teaching is two fold;
That of advice [tib: tenpa] and ‘Siddhanta’ [tib: druptha].
For ordinary people, I speak advice;
For yogis, I teach tenets.
A person is classified into two: those not affected by tenets and those affected by tenets. The former is one who is not exposed to the study of philosophical treatises, seeks the mere mundane happiness of this life through spontaneous and ordinary thoughts that do not engage in analysis and enquiry. The latter, through training in the philosophical treatises, expounds the concept of the bases, path and the result by means of reasons and scriptures, which are established by her / his own mind.”
For example anger … In a secular context anger is seen as ‘negative' when expressed. But looking at anger in a different way we can learn to see it differently. Anger is a sign of inner fire and vitality. It's flip coin is sadness which is internalized anger. In kids bursts of anger might be indicative of intelligence. People who have learned to deal with their anger are often people who set strong boundaries like having a technological wall between them and the people who are reactive and sipping the life of millions through social networks and AI and keeps people of different dispositions (like action oriented ) in a world without boundaries on content which eventually means there is no freedom for the people who engage it indiscriminately eventually waisting their precious human life.
One exemple of a conscious outburst of anger or divine rage is when Jesus flips the tables of the money changers in the temple, by reestablishing order and driving away the people who were making their love transactional.
