Understanding Our Thoughts, Emotions, Feelings and Perceptions

Rupert Spira

9 Sept 202208:20

Summary

TLDRThe transcript explores the distinction between thoughts, feelings, and sensations. Sensations are the internal bodily experiences, such as hunger or pain, while perceptions are external experiences like sight and sound. Feelings are a blend of sensations and thoughts, often accompanied by a narrative. The speaker emphasizes that emotions like anger have both a physical and a cognitive component. They also discuss the existential feelings of lack and resistance, which define the 'separate self' and act as a barrier to experiencing pure awareness. The text suggests that recognizing these feelings as temporary can lead to a deeper understanding of one's true nature.

Takeaways

🧠 Feelings are a mixture of sensations and thoughts, forming an amalgam that we experience as emotions.
👁️ Sensations are the internal felt sense of the body, such as hunger, thirst, pain, or pleasure, distinct from external perceptions like sight and sound.
🌐 Perceptions are the ways we experience the world externally through seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling.
😠 Emotions, specifically afflictive ones, are not just sensations but are accompanied by a story or reason, unlike basic sensations like a headache.
💡 The nature of consciousness includes innate states of peace, happiness, and love, which are not considered emotions but the true nature of awareness.
🤔 Afflictive emotions arise when the innate peace and happiness of consciousness are veiled, leading to feelings generated by a sense of lack or resistance.
🕊️ The feeling of lack and resistance are core qualities defining the separate self, often mistaken for the self but are actually activities of seeking and resisting.
🌌 The separate self is not an entity but an activity, with pure awareness being the only true entity, lying beyond the veil of emotions.
🛑 The existential sense of lack and fear acts as a screensaver, a constant background that remains when other activities cease, pulling us away from our true nature.
🔍 Recognizing the sense of lack and fear as a temporary appearance, like mist, reveals the all-pervasive awareness that is the true nature behind it.
💡 Deep experiences such as deep sleep, fulfillment of a desire, or tremendous grief can occasionally bring one back to the true nature, bypassing the sense of lack and fear.

Q & A

What is the difference between thoughts, feelings, and sensations according to the transcript?
-Thoughts are cognitive processes, sensations are the internal bodily experiences like hunger or pain, and feelings are a mixture of sensations and thoughts, often associated with a story or context.
How does the speaker define a sensation?
-A sensation is described as the felt sense of the body from the inside, such as the feeling of hunger, thirst, pain, or the temperature of the air on the skin.
What is the distinction made between perception and sensation?
-Perception is the way we experience the world through seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling, whereas sensation is the way we feel the body from the inside.
How is a feeling different from a sensation?
-A feeling is an amalgam of sensations and thoughts, often involving an emotional response with a narrative or story, unlike a sensation which is a pure bodily experience without the cognitive aspect.
What is considered an emotion in the context of this transcript?
-In this context, emotions refer to afflictive emotions, which are feelings generated when the nature of awareness is veiled, and are different from innate states of happiness, peace, and love.
What are the two underlying emotions that define the separate self according to the speaker?
-The two underlying emotions that define the separate self are the feeling of lack and the feeling of resistance or fear.
How does the feeling of lack relate to the ego?
-The feeling of lack is considered the core of the ego, representing an existential sense of incompleteness and the need for something, without a specific object in mind.
What is the role of the existential sense of lack and resistance in a person's life?
-The existential sense of lack and resistance acts like a screensaver that remains even when other activities cease, often propelling individuals to seek fulfillment outside themselves instead of returning to their true nature.
Can the feeling of lack and fear be felt as all pervasive?
-Yes, the feeling of lack and fear can be felt as all pervasive, especially when it is not clearly seen or understood, much like mist filling the sky and obscuring the view.
How does the speaker describe the true nature of a person?
-The true nature of a person is described as pure awareness, which is often veiled by afflictive emotions and the existential sense of lack and resistance.
What is the significance of the misty morning analogy in explaining the sense of lack?
-The misty morning analogy is used to illustrate that the sense of lack, like mist, is a temporary and limited appearance that seems to fill the sky (awareness) but is not the true nature of it.

Outlines

00:00

🧠 Understanding Feelings, Thoughts, and Sensations

The speaker begins by discussing the differentiation between thoughts, feelings, and sensations. They define a sensation as the internal felt sense of the body, such as hunger or pain, and distinguish it from perception, which is the external experience of the world through senses like sight and hearing. Feelings are described as a combination of sensations and thoughts, using the example of anger, which is felt in the body but also has an accompanying narrative. The speaker also introduces the concept of afflictive emotions, which are different from the inherent qualities of consciousness like happiness and love. They emphasize the importance of distinguishing between these to understand the nature of one's experience.

05:03

🌫 The Illusion of Lack and Resistance in the Ego

In the second paragraph, the speaker delves into the nature of the ego, describing it not as an entity but as an activity characterized by seeking and resisting. They explain that the ego is often associated with an existential sense of lack and fear, which acts as a barrier to experiencing one's true nature. This sense of lack and resistance is likened to a screensaver that remains when other activities cease, but it is not the true bottom line of one's being. The speaker suggests that people are often propelled to seek fulfillment in external objects, substances, or activities to alleviate the discomfort of these feelings, rather than exploring the deeper layer of their true nature. The paragraph concludes with the idea that the sense of lack and fear can seem all pervasive, much like mist filling the sky, but it is actually a temporary appearance that can be transcended with clear awareness.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Thoughts

Thoughts are the cognitive processes that involve the mind's ability to reason, reflect, and create mental images. In the video, thoughts are differentiated from feelings and sensations. They are not the focus of emotions but rather the mental constructs that can accompany or trigger them. For example, when discussing anger, the script mentions that there is always a 'story' that accompanies the sensation of anger, which refers to the thought process behind the emotion.

💡Feelings

Feelings are described as a mixture of sensations and thoughts, creating an emotional experience. The script emphasizes that feelings are not just physical sensations but are intertwined with the cognitive aspect, forming a complete emotional response. For instance, anger is not merely a bodily sensation but is felt in the body with an accompanying narrative or 'story,' which constitutes the feeling.

💡Sensations

Sensations are the physical and internal experiences of the body, such as hunger, thirst, pain, or pleasure. The script explains that sensations are distinct from perceptions and are felt from the inside of the body. An example given is the feeling of a headache, which is a pure sensation without the cognitive or emotional overlay.

💡Perceptions

Perceptions are the external experiences through the senses, such as seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling. The script differentiates perceptions from sensations by stating that perceptions are how we experience the world externally, while sensations are the internal bodily experiences. The sound of birds is given as an example of a perception in the script.

💡Emotion

Emotion, in the context of the script, refers specifically to afflictive emotions that arise from a combination of sensations and thoughts. The speaker clarifies that emotions like happiness, peace, and love are not considered afflictive emotions but are rather the nature of consciousness. Emotions, in this case, are the feelings that emerge when there is a veil over these innate qualities of awareness.

💡Consciousness

Consciousness is presented as the fundamental nature of awareness that underlies all experience. The script suggests that true emotions such as happiness and peace are the nature of consciousness, unobstructed by the veils that give rise to afflictive emotions. Consciousness is depicted as the 'true nature' behind the layers of sensation, thought, and emotion.

💡Existential Sense of Lack

The existential sense of lack is described as a chronic, underlying feeling that is not tied to a specific object or desire but rather a pervasive sense of incompleteness. The script relates this feeling to the core of the ego, suggesting that it is a barrier to experiencing one's true nature. This sense of lack is experienced as a constant, subtle presence, especially when attention is not occupied by external stimuli.

💡Resistance

Resistance, or fear, is another core quality that defines the separate self, according to the script. It is the activity of seeking and resisting that characterizes the ego, rather than an entity. Resistance is the feeling of opposition or aversion to experiences, which, along with the sense of lack, propels individuals to seek fulfillment outside of themselves.

💡Ego

The ego is not an entity but an activity, as per the script. It is the activity of seeking to fulfill the existential sense of lack and resisting experiences that are perceived as undesirable. The ego is depicted as a barrier that prevents individuals from returning to their true nature, which is pure awareness.

💡Awareness

Awareness is the pure, unobstructed state of consciousness that is the true nature of individuals, beyond the veils of sensation, thought, and emotion. The script suggests that most people stop short of reaching this state, instead settling on the existential sense of lack and resistance, which act as a 'screensaver' obscuring the transparent screen of pure awareness.

💡Mist喻

The script uses the metaphor of mist on a morning to illustrate the illusion of the existential sense of lack and resistance. Just as mist seems to fill the sky and give the impression of being all pervasive, the sense of lack can seem to permeate all of experience. However, the script clarifies that, like the mist, this sense of lack is temporary and limited, obscuring the true, all-pervasive nature of awareness.

Highlights

Differentiation between thoughts, feelings, and sensations is discussed.

Sensation is defined as the felt sense of the body, distinct from perception.

Perception includes seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling as ways of experiencing the world.

Feeling is described as a mixture of sensations and thoughts.

Headache is an example of a sensation, not an emotion.

Anger is an emotion with both a bodily sensation and a story or reason behind it.

Emotion is associated with afflictive emotions, distinguishing them from the nature of consciousness.

Happiness, peace, and love are considered the nature of consciousness, not emotions.

Emotions are what remain when the innate peace and happiness of awareness is veiled.

The feeling of lack and resistance define the separate self, not an entity but an activity.

The separate self is characterized by the activity of seeking and resisting, not an entity.

Pure awareness is the only 'entity' if it can be called so, beyond the veil of emotions.

Existential sense of lack and fear is like a screensaver, a barrier to accessing true nature.

People often mistake the chronic sense of lack and fear for their bottom line, but there is a deeper layer.

The sense of lack and fear can be felt as all pervasive, but it is actually a temporary appearance.

Clear seeing of the sense of lack and fear reveals it as a cloud in the all-pervasive awareness.