What arises first - feeling of object or visual representation of object?

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I do not think it is appropriate to answer this at the level of personal experience as it is not appropriate to reveal personal insights so let me give a theoretical answer.

When a object arises in the mind the following happens:

  • you get conscious about the object to which you experience a reflexive reaction which intens manifests as sensation of pain, pleasure or neutral depending on if the reaction what a positive, negative or neutral reaction. See: consciousness and feeling / sensation
  • together with the reaction, the sensation that follow and other qualities of the object you build a perception of the object. See: perception

In summary it is consciousness and reactive / reflexive sensation that arises 1st followed by (visual) clarity of the object by filling in the details when you perceive or cognise it.

In addition see: five aggregates

Upvote:0

I personally think this happens. Contact arises first "seeing or thinking", followed by apprehension of the Sign (ie "A cup"), apperhension of Characteristics (ie Ugly) and so on with liking/disliking, wanting/aversion etc

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It is said in the scriptures that the order is this: contact - feeling - perception - thought formation - consciousness.

Indeed one should find out for oneself that this is true and not believe it without examining.

My suggestion to your experiment would be to vary the object you call to mind to be unpleasent, pleasent since the hardest feeling to detect is the neutral one.

Upvote:1

The optic nerve first goes to the amygdala where emotion resides and then to a large processing area to the back of the head where the image is formed.

So indeed feeling is first but still this knowledge must be realized for oneself by oneself through meditative attention or else it is just intellectual knowlegde.

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