1). What is thought?
The thought is the language of the mind.
We need to have a mental model of the world to make our living. You can imagine the mental model as a road map. While the road map is not the actual road, a map is not a territory, the representation of the physical world in our mind is important for us to lead our life. Thought can be based on physical contact of the mind with the world in the form of perception or mental contact with past experience in the form of memory.
Physical Contact
Any physical object in the world can be represented in the form of “name (nama), form (rupa), and function (Karya). This is stored in memory. For example, a fan (name), has a form (rupa) with three and a function (Karya) of blowing air. In other words, objects in the physical world are represented as name (nama) + form (rupa) + function (Karya) in memory. When we see an object, we recognize it from memory based on these attributes – such recognition is called thought.
Similarly, we need to make a decision based on the inputs – say we are going on the road – should I take a right turn or left turn. Again based on memory we take a decision -in the form of thought.
Mental Contact
We often go to memory to remember a certain past experience in the form of thought. Let us say going to a happy experience of going to the picnic. The place is stored in memory in the form of name+form+function. Happy experience is again stored as name (happiness) + form (joyful state of me) + function (an activity which led to that). The recollection of this is called thought. Imagining a future scenario say “what happens if I miss the train ?” based on past memory is also called thought.
Thoughts need not be just based on experience. It can be based on instincts. For example, what will happen if I jump from a building? Answer for this in the form of thought is not based on experience but based on instinct!
In other words, thoughts are based on learning from experience internalized. A newborn baby has no thoughts since there is no experience. As we grow up experience and hence develop the ability to think.
2). Feeling
The feeling is the language of the body.
The feeling is the experience based on sensory inputs – touch (sparsha), taste (rasa), form (rupa), touch (sparsha), and smell (gandha). Feelings are developed based on stimulus from the external world. The feeling is about like and dislike (raga dvesha).
A newborn baby has only feelings and no thoughts. As the baby gains, experience baby develops the ability to think. Thinking is the ability to handle the external world based on the experiences acquired through sense inputs (feelings)
Good feeling, bad feeling, I like, I dislike … these are labeling done by the mind based on experience. In other words, labeling of feeling is thought.
Thought can create feelings! A repeated recollection of an event – pleasant/unpleasant can create a feeling in the body. Constant brooding over the past incident or imagining future possibilities can create depression getting into a thinking-feeling-thinking cycle that is totally disconnected from physical reality.
We need to break this habit pattern by living, in reality, using meditation/mindfulness practices.
3). Emotions
Emotions stand for energy in motion.
Emotions are prior to thinking. Emotions developed as part of evolution. For example, imagine our ancestors walking in a forest and suddenly a tiger jumps in front of him. Senses perceive the tiger. A feeling develops. The immediate reaction is needed by the ancestor. There is no time to think. Immediately fear arises as emotion. Fear causes bodily reactions like an increase in a heart beat, sweating preparing him to run, or hide or fight. Thus emotions are firs reactions based on the feeling. Thinking comes later.
Following is the sequence for emotion.
1). External Situation ( eg. Tiger appearing) >> 2). Input through sense organs ( feeling) >> 3). Immediate reaction as emotion (Fear) >> 4). changes in the body like a heartbeat, sweating to fight, or hide for purpose of survival >> 5). run for survival >> Think what has happened and learn from the situation.
External stimuli leads to a feeling which leads to thinking for a possible response/reaction. A response can be in the form of action. The reaction is in the form of emotion. Emotions can be anger, hatred, jealousy, love, hate, sadness… Emotion is a reaction arising out of thinking/feeling. Emotions result in changes in the bodily states like increasing blood pressure, sweating… which in turn leads to feelings.
We can cultivate the habit of positive feelings like Love, Peace, and reduce emotional reactions using meditation practices.
Prabhuji August 28th
Blog-site : https://wordpress.com/post/lightoftheself.net/561
Charana pranama Gurudeva ….ಪ್ರಜ್ಞೆ ಮತ್ತು ಅರಿವು . ಹಾಗು ಯೋಚನೆಗಳು,
ಭಾವನೆಗಳು ಮತ್ತು ಭಾವನಾತ್ಮಕ ಸ್ವರೂಪ ……ಎಲ್ಲದರ ನಿರೂಪಣೆ ಅತ್ಯಂತ ಸತ್ಯ ಸುಂದರ
ಪ್ರಜ್ಞೆ ಗೆ ಅರಿವೇ ಅತ್ತರ, ,ಅರಿವಿಗೆ ಪ್ರಜ್ಞೆ ಯೇ ಉತ್ತರ ….ಪ್ರಜ್ಞೆ ಯೇ ಜೀವಾತ್ಮ….ಜೀವನಿಗೆ
ಮನ ,ಚಿತ್ತ, ಅಹಂ, ಅತಃಕರಣ…..ಭಾವನಾತ್ಮಕ ಮನದ ಪ್ರತಿಕ್ರಿಯೆ……ಫಲ…
ಯಾವುದು ಸರಿಯಾಗಲೇ !? ಯಾವುದಕ್ಕೆ ಸಾಧನೆ ?!! ಯಾವುದು ಒಳ್ಳೆಯದು ಕೆಟ್ಟದ್ದು !?
ಏನೂ ಅರಿಯೆ, ಸುಮ್ಮನಿರಲಾರೆ , ಸುಮ್ಮನೆ ಆಗಲಾರೆ …..ಸತ್ಯ ಮುಕುತಿಗಳ ಸ್ಥಿತಿ ಯ
ಬಿಡಲಾರೆ ..ನಿಮ್ಮ ಪಾದ ಸ್ಮರಣೆಯೊಂದೇ ಸಾಕು .??..ಧನ್ಯವಾದಗಳು ಗುರುದೇವ
ತುಂಬಾ ಸಮಾಧಾನ ಈಗ.