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In the Darma, in the core teachings known as the Paticea Samupata, the Buddha noted that before we have thought,

before we have impulses or instincts, the very first appearance that arises, that influences all of our choices and behaviors are what he called

Vaidana and what we call feelings.

Feelings, the Buddha said in the Mullah Suta are where everything takes its shape and determines everything.

Now we like to believe of course that we are logical people and the idea that actually pretty much the bulk of our, if not all of our choices,

our thoughts, our behaviors, our or emotions everything stems from gut feelings

which were given primacy in the Buddha's teachings.

This idea sort of not only undermines the idea of human beings as logical or schematic or rational

and posited an entirely different way of considering how the mind goes about in its most fundamental operations.

So of course, for a long time when the Buddhist teachings were translated, when they were taught, these fundamental insights were as often as possible,

reduced, obscured, were not given prominence.

But then about a hundred years ago,

Western clinical psychology, first in the great work of William James,

started... great work of William James started to, in experiments and in clinical research, started to note that in fact it was observable that before people have behaviors or actions there are

essentially the appearance of what we could call feelings or gut feelings

essentially physiological changes that influence how we act, think, and decide.

...