Spinoza on freeing ourselves from emotional bondage
In his Ethics, Baruch Spinoza explains that we are inextricably tied to our emotions. He teaches that we must learn to accommodate our bondage to our emotions in service of the good. We can overcome the emotions which assail us from the outside with the power of the emotions that come from our essence, the part of ourselves which seeks the good. If we do not understand what is good, we will be ruled by the less-powerful emotions that do not serve the good.
Spinoza believes that there is only one substance, and that this substance is God. Since we are all a part of that substance (God), we cannot act in our own best interest without considering the best interest of what we truly are: a vast and connected whole. We overcome our emotional bondage by doing what is within our own power to advance the pursuit of the good.
Understanding Emotions
Emotions are stronger according to how many external causes arouse them in us at the same time. The more we are personally affected by something, the more powerful our emotions about it will be. An emotion that can be attributed to many different causes is less potentially powerful than an emotion attributed to a single cause.
Emotions are only bad as far as they interfere with our ability to think. We are only ruled by our emotions as far as they interfere with our ability to use reason to determine what is good, and to work towards that good. Clearing this noise from our minds is how we attain freedom. Our emotions can only have power over us when we don’t understand them and their causes.
Good and Evil
We call things “good” or “evil” based on how they affect us positively or negatively emotionally. Emotions that we consciously cause in ourselves are stronger than emotions that are caused by external factors. We are more affected by things in the present, the recent past or the near future than things that have long ago passed or that are in the distant future. Emotions that we believe are necessary are more powerful than emotions that we think are unnecessary.
Emotions are also more powerful when they exist in relation to a thing that we believe is possible (while not currently existing), than when they are in relation to things that are subject to chance. Our emotions are more powerful when we believe we have the power to change something.
The power of our passions, as well as their persistence in existence, are determined by the measure of our own power against the power of external causes. Passionate emotions can best be overcome with contrary emotions. We can even more easily control our desires when they are concerned with what is contingent rather than what is present. Emotions that arise from pleasure are also stronger than emotions that arise from pain.
The carrot in front of us is a stronger motivator than the stick behind us. We are more powerful when we concern ourselves with seeking good than when we concern ourselves with escaping evil.
Using Reason
Reason should guide us towards acting in the best interest of all people, and this is the only way we can truly act in our own self-interest. An individual who is truly doing what’s best for themselves is someone who is doing what’s best for humanity. We can use reason to understand and to subsequently change our emotions. When we are guided by reason, our emotions can exist in service of the good. Reason allows us to organize ourselves in such a way that we will not be easily affected by evil emotions.
Reason leads to the understanding which allows us to identify the good, and our emotions will align with this understanding. We can use reason as a pathway to modify the mental world, which will in turn modify the physical world. The mind has power over emotions to the degree that it understands that all things are necessary. It’s not that “everything happens for a reason,” but rather that “everything happens.” Truly understanding this is the path to freedom from our emotional bondage.
Emotions as a Path to Blessedness
Our emotions are tools which are meant to steer us towards the good (what is useful) and away from evil (what interferes with finding what is useful). Emotions are “good” when they serve the good, and “evil” when they serve what is evil. One cannot truly act in self-interest while acting against the interests of others, because we and others are part of the same divine substance.
We rightly seek our own best interest, but we are only doing so skillfully when our own interests are aligned with the interests of others. To truly do what is best for you is to do what is best for the world at large. Real selfishness is, in fact, selflessness– since to be truly selfish is to act in the best interest of others, who are no different from us, in essence.
God is without passions– it does not love or hate. No one can hate God, because God is perfection, and we are God. If we want freedom, the love of God must occupy our consciousness. To love God is to love ourselves. To love ourselves is to love God. The love of God can never be turned into hate. It is not contingent upon receiving the love of God in return. It cannot be stained by envy or jealousy. By freeing ourselves from emotions that run contrary to our nature, we may be free to sculpt our universal body to match our universal mind. The physical world will come to reflect the mental world.
We cannot change what we cannot understand. The more we understand ourselves, the closer we get to God. Understanding ourselves is the key to understanding the world and to attaining freedom. Blessedness occurs when we are driven by a love for God, which is also love for ourselves, a love for others, and love for all things.
Originally published on medium.com on August 12th, 2021.
Esoteric Epistemology 