In addition to the movement of thought, and not so separate from it, is another dimension of the ego: emotion. Of course, not every thought or emotion belongs to the ego. They become ego only when we identify with them to the point of allowing them to completely supplant us; that is, when they become the “I”.
The physical organism, our body, has its own intelligence, and so does all other forms of life. That intelligence reacts to what the mind says, to our thoughts. It is clear that the intelligence of the body is an inseparable part of the universal intelligence, one of its countless manifestations. It provides temporary cohesion to the atoms and molecules that make up the organism. It is the organizing principle of all the functioning of the organs of the body, of the conversion of oxygen and food into energy, of the heartbeat and blood circulation, of the functioning of the immune system in charge of protecting the body from invaders. , from the translation of sensory information into nerve impulses that reach the brain where they are decoded and reassembled to create a coherent picture of external reality. This intelligence perfectly coordinates all those functions, plus thousands of others that occur simultaneously. It is not we who manage our body. It is done by intelligence, which is also in charge of our body's reactions to its environment.
That is so for all forms of life. It is the same intelligence that gave the plant its physical form and that manifests itself in the flower that opens its petals to receive the rays of the morning sun and then closes them at night. It is the same intelligence that manifests itself as a Guide, that complex living being that is our planet Earth.
This intelligence gives rise to instinctive reactions when the organism is threatened or challenged. In animals it produces reactions similar to human emotions: anger, fear, pleasure. It could be said that these instinctive reactions are primordial emotions. In some situations, human beings experience instinctive reactions in the same way as animals. In the face of danger, when the survival of the organism is threatened, the heart beats faster, the muscles contract and the breathing becomes faster, in preparation for fight or flight. It is the primal fear. When the body feels cornered, there is a sudden surge of energy that gives it a strength it didn't have before. It is primal anger. Although these instinctive reactions seem similar to emotions, they are not in the true sense of the word. The fundamental difference between an instinctive reaction and an emotion is that the first is a direct reaction of the body to an external situation, while emotion is the body's response to a thought.
Indirectly, an emotion can also be a reaction to a real situation or event, but seen through the filter of mental interpretation, the filter of thought, that is, through the mental concepts of good and bad, like and dislike. , me and mine. For example, we may not feel any emotion when we learn that someone's car has been stolen, whereas if it is our car, we will feel very upset. It's amazing how much emotion a mental concept as small as "mine" can generate.
Although the body is very intelligent, it is unable to distinguish between a real situation and a thought. React to all thoughts as if they were reality. He does not know that it is just a thought. To the body, a worrying or threatening thought means, "I am in danger," leading it to react accordingly, even if the person is resting in bed at night. Your heart races, your muscles contract, your breathing quickens, and energy builds. But since the danger is only a fiction of the mind, that energy has nowhere to vent. Some of it returns to the mind and generates more distressing thoughts. The rest of the energy becomes toxic and interferes with the harmonious functioning of the body.
(A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle)