1). How did the thoughts, feelings, and emotions evolve over time?
Feeling: Imagine a single celled organism called Amoeba at the beginning of evolution. The single celled organism has only two responses to external stimuli – like and dislike (raga, dvesha). If it is food, feeling called like (raga) will be generated. On the other hand, if there is a threat a feeling called dislike (dvesha) will be generated. This is the basic evolutionary instinct in life. Over a period of time many “like” feelings amoeba like organisms grouped together as “amoeba community”. They developed a basic nervous system that consisted of “amoeba cells” specialized in communication. The basic nervous system converted feeling of like and dislike ( raga, dvesha) of the group into communication response and instinct for action – food, sex and sleep for the community. This is how the reptilian brain – spinal cord developed. The reptilian brain takes care of primary instincts of survival.
Feelings form the first level of response to the environment – like-dislike (raga, dvesha)
Emotions: Gradually as the group organisms developed with the spinal cord, they need to form communities like a community of snake, lizards. Now the next level organization took place where emotions came into the picture. The limbic brain developed – which is a quick emotional response to the environment. Thus survival instincts further developed. From like-dislike feeling – fight-flight response gradually developed into the emotional brain or limbic brain providing fear, jealousy, hatred, anger all basic emotions related to dislike (dvesha) and love, peace, empathy .. all basic emotions related to like (raga). Emotions means energy in motion. Quick response for situations on hand – for example, a deer sees a tiger. Fear is an immediate reaction from the limbic brain (emotional brain). Immediate response is to increase blood pressure, heartbeat to prepare deer to run. The response from the limbic brain creates a feeling of unpleasantness at the cellular level ( body). While seeing another deer, creates an emotion of love, feeling of like (raga) in the cellular level leading to bonding as a community.
Thinking: As evolution progressed, thinking brain developed (Neocortex). Thinking is based on knowledge gained. Thinking is based on data gathered during the experience. Say a deer encounters a tiger. Immediate response is fear as an emotion, unpleasant feeling in the body, and flight from the scene. However, this experience is recorded in memory for the future. Thinking is the processing of data in memory and addresses future scenarios as and when it arises. For example, deer may avoid a certain route where the tiger is passing through.
Basic force of evolution: – Like and Dislike (raga, dvesha) are the basic forces of evolution.
2). Shri Ramana Maharshi says there is no free will. What does it mean in the context of thinking, feeling, and emotions.
We human beings are driven by the basic instinct of like-dislike (attraction-repulsion). The human body is an organization of billions of cells each having the primitive instinct of raga-dvesha
This is the fundamental mechanism of nature. Nature operates like a machine based on raga-dvesha translated into feelings-emotions-thoughts-actions-experience. Our ability to analyze, think is all directed to satisfy this basic instinct. In reality, our free will is subservient to the basic instinct of life – raga, dvesha. Genuine freedom can come only when we come out of the basic instinct of raga-dvesha.
We are like machines working for nature. Male-female relationship, society, country … all organizations are fulfilling this basic instinct of life. The individual nervous system has developed into a complex global nervous system of the Internet and communication for this very purpose. It is like a rats race. Survival of the fittest. In a rats race whether you win or lose, still, you are a rat.
3). What is enlightenment?
Understanding the basic forces of nature and coming out of the forces of nature (raga-dvesha) is real freedom – liberation. At the level of thinking, all our actions are defined by self-identity stored in memory. The “ego” thought is the basis for the organization of our memory for thinking. By inquiring “who am I ? ” we can transcend the thinking ability to be established in consciousness.
Prabhuji – 28th August