Spiritual concepts

Emotion

It may be helpful here to refer to the Model of the Mind

Emotions are feelings and the function of Emotion produces Emotions – feelings.

Analogously this is again ‘software’, but we have little idea how that ‘software’ works, and if you were to ask a programmer to write a program for ‘envy’, for example, he obviously wouldn’t have a clue, but functions they are.

We all behave in a similar way when we experience these emotions thus there is likely to be a standard set of functions governing all emotion.

All emotions are based on the concept of Contrast. For any one emotion such as love, there is a contrasting emotion - thus hate.

It is not quite this simple, however, there are not just two functions but a graded scale of emotion based on Intensity.

In reality, two contrasting emotions are all part of the same function with different levels of Intensity determining the degree of emotion and hence our name for the emotion being experienced.

Extremely high level of emotion

High level of emotion

Moderately high level of emotion

No emotion

Moderately high level of contrasting emotion

High level of contrasting emotion

Extremely high level of contrasting emotion

You can look at the following sub-sections for some examples of the degrees of intensity and their names.

Emotion examples

Commonality

Emotion functions are common to all humans, but we will certainly find that they are common to many other species as well – it is just that the expression of these emotions physically differs between species.

Emotions feed the biological systems we have and can cause physical changes. Anger may cause my face to redden, sadness causes tears to flow. If I am happy I may smile or laugh. Again these are not conscious Will based functions.

My little dog can experience fear, anger, sadness and happiness, just as we can, but he tends to bark uncontrollably when afraid. He grins and wags his tail when he is happy.

The package

It is important to emphasise the fact that we have every emotion – every emotion both positive and negative. Our Personalities may differ but we all get every emotional function that is applicable to us as humans – both ‘positive’ [no one or thing gets hurt] and ‘negative’ [someone or something gets hurt].

But, although we all get the same package of emotions, some of them may lie latent and unused. However, it only takes one trigger, and an emotion can emerge from the archive and work perfectly. This is why some people find hidden depths of courage they had no idea they had or of kindness or of generosity or compassion or anger or jealousy or lust or passion. It just needs a trigger.

Emotion and the Will

As you can see from the model, I do not think that the function of emotion is entirely controllable by the Will, I think emotion is driven by Perceptions [Threats and Opportunities] and by the Memories produced by Memory recall – extracts from our database of Memory. The Will may control the extraction process, but from then on emotion takes over and it can proceed on Perceptions alone if it wants to.

It is partly related to our Goals and objectives, but it needs the Will to give it this information. And because Spiritual input is recorded as a Perception, then spiritual input also drives emotion.

Behaviour – the role of learnt function

The function of emotion certainly plays a large part in determining the course that the Will takes. The responses the Will can make are very often behavioural ones – Learnt function [behaviour] that attempts to control the more destructive of emotions.

But I think we have here a function that is largely autonomous - perhaps its only driver is our Personality [I have not shown that on the model].

So emotions are not consciously controlled.

Observations

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WHAT AND WHERE IS HEAVEN?

VISIONS AND HALLUCINATIONS

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