Emotional Roller Coasters

 Tonight, during the group sitting, we talked about the notion of emotional roller coasters. After watching Master Sheng Yen's video about emotions in Buddhism, one participant had asked the question: would the view that one 'should' cultivate equanimity lead to a boring view? Aren't emotional roller coasters somewhat exciting in life, and why would anyone want to embrace a 'flat line' emotional life when they can have roller coasters all the time?
    This question interests me mainly because I really never did love roller coasters, even as a child. Somehow, the idea of being plunked into a semi-secure metal (or sometimes wooden) partition and then flung up into the air was never my idea of 'fun'. Now I do know others out there who crave the excitement and stimulation of a roller coaster, which leads me to suspect that a lot of one's reactions to roller coasters may be due to previous affinities or karma. Somehow, I have learned to prefer stability of mind, even though there were times when my mind was far from stable, especially when young.
   To go back to the Chan attitude: in fact, Chan is meant to help a person develop equanimity in the face of all situations, whether they are roller coasters or straight lines. It is not designed to flatten emotions, but it is meant to see emotions as impermanent manifestations. If I feel angry, I can feel that way without thinking that the anger is inseparable from me. The same goes with other emotions as well. If I am really knowing that the emotions are parts of a dream, then I am neither moved by them nor rejecting them. I simply see the emotion as part of the mind that is just arising then and there. But this doesn't mean that I crave stillness, because stillness is just the natural way of mind. It isn't something that needs to be actively cultivated separately from one's experiences. In this way, it's possible to live a roller coaster life, but not feel that one's mind is a roller coaster. This has a lot to do with not attaching to the roller coaster itself: neither seeking it nor rejecting it. This means that I can rejoice in another's interests, but always know in the back of my mind that opportunities to indulge the interest or hobbies don't last: they too will pass. This way I learn to ride the roller coaster but always with this awareness that I will get off it soon enough.