Two Sides of the Coin

  There seem to be two aspects of vexations: one emotional and one related to thinking. If I only focus on thinking, I ignore the emotive aspects of the situations I encounter. I find that part of the interesting thing about meditation is that it tackles the emotional aspects of vexation, which in turn allows thoughts to be seen more clearly.
  According to some kinds of therapy like Albert Ellis's REBT, thoughts are the causes of the suffering we have from emotions. For example, I might suffer a bad setback which upsets me and prevents me from attaining a goal, but then I make it worse through certain kinds of thoughts, such as "I am so terrible for not achieving this goal". Quite often, the thoughts of a self or an ego will get in the way of just processing day to day pain. But one of the problems is that we quite often don't identify the thought in the heat of the moment, when there is strong emotions. That's why it seems more practical to abide in the emotion for a while until the mind fully settles, and then examine the thoughts as they arise.
   If I am operating from the assumption that certain emotions are 'good' and others 'bad' (or unpleasant) then I often subconsciously operate to reject the emotions I dislike, rather than seeing that those emotions are just parts of the mind. By not liking the emotions, I eventually start to see them as intruders, that are separate from the mind. Alternately, if I learn to relax with those emotions and work with those energies, almost befriending them, then I can start to see the thoughts that are behind those emotions and even sound out those thoughts.
   I have a sense, actually, that thoughts are only ways of narrating mental states. There can be multiple narratives describing the mental states, not just one thought. This is what makes thought so slippery. I wonder if it's better to think of 'thinking' as a kind of art, similar to taking paints and coloring a canvas. It's not that one thought 'covers' one emotion but more that we can apply different kinds of thoughts to understanding the emotions at any given time. But only if one is really relaxed enough to abide in emotions can they start to apply the different thoughts to their moods rather than being governed by one mood ore emotional state.