Where are emotions occurring?

[Mixcoatl]

Today I went to eat tacos for lunch and these guys at the restaurant played a very melancholic emotional song on the speakers that I instantly felt the emotion. I started to feel kind of sad, so I tried to find out where this emotion was occurring. Since I was at University I was very skeptical of the reductionist explanation of all qualia that happens to humans, therefore, the explanation of science that says that emotions are chemistry inside of the brain is related but not convincing for me at all. 

Going back to the experiment at the restaurant, I noticed that the feeling was the song as if they both were stick together but at the same time, the feeling was "in the air". This is just a small insight I had. I wanna know if you have had a similar insights regarding emotions and how I can do a good enquiry to realize the nature of emotions.

[Someone here]

Do you mean the emotion was felt out there exactly where it was occurring instead of inside your brain in the head ?

That’s not correct either . A sensation can be pinpointed as being in the hands or the head etc but an emotion can’t be pinpointed to in the body or outside the body and yet it is experienced and it is real .

 

[Mixcoatl]

1 minute ago, Someone here said:

Do you mean the emotion was felt out there exactly where it was occurring instead of inside your brain in the head ?

That’s not correct either . A sensation can be pinpointed as being in the hands or the head etc but an emotion can’t be pinpointed to in the body or outside the body and yet it is experienced and it is real .

 

I certainly felt emotional due to the song. But I couldn't find where this emotion was occurring. It didn't feel in the brain, nor in my body. It was more like the emotion was just occurring. I tried to find where it was happening and my first insight was that the music and the emotion were stick together. I felt that more real than feeling it in my brain.

[Someone here]

4 minutes ago, Mixcoatl said:

It didn't feel in the brain, nor in my body. It was more like the emotion was just occurring. 

Yes I agree . Emotions are ethereal ..abstract and unlocalized . Unlike sensations and perceptions . 

Edited Sunday at 07:58 PM by Someone here

[Mixcoatl]

2 minutes ago, Someone here said:

Yes I agree . Emotions are ethereal ..abstract and unlocalized . Unlike sensations and perceptions . 

I think there must be a sentient being around for the emotion to be raised but yes, it was not localized. 

I kind of believe that the emotion is just when a music-sentient-being system appears, emotions arise. Maybe all these things are mixed up in one homogeneous experience

[Osaid]

You can't find it because it's what you are

[Mixcoatl]

15 minutes ago, Osaid said:

You can't find it because it's what you are

But why I can find a chair?

[UnbornTao]

I'm liking this! 

'Where' might not be the best question to ask. 'What' is better, more open. What is an emotion?

What occurs in your experience? What is melancholy? What do you "do" prior to feeling that way? 

You might think that hearing something made you feel a certain way - as if your state were dictated by an external factor - a melancholic song, in this case. 

Say the song was playing, but you were deaf. Now what? What does this suggest? Obviously, you first have to perceive something. 

Can the emotion be produced without the external stimulus - at will? If so, what does this possibility suggest relative to the source of emotion? 

This half-assed line of questioning can hopefully open some doors.

Edited Sunday at 10:40 PM by UnbornTao

[gettoefl]

13 hours ago, Mixcoatl said:

But why I can find a chair?

No chair, no you. Perception of chair arises. There is only ever perception, sensation, emotion, thought. No separation, no controller.

Edited Monday at 10:56 AM by gettoefl

[Mixcoatl]

2 hours ago, gettoefl said:

No chair, no you. Perception of chair arises. There is only ever perception, sensation, emotion, thought. No separation, no controller.

I mean, yes. I agree. But that is not precisely the answer I'm looking for. We all agree that every form appears without subject or without owner. I wanna know why when a song occurs, there's also a feeling and where it occurs. Is it the same as the song? Is it in the air? Is it in a body?

[Mixcoatl]

15 hours ago, UnbornTao said:

I'm liking this! 

'Where' might not be the best question to ask. 'What' is better, more open. What is an emotion?

What occurs in your experience? What is melancholy? What do you "do" prior to feeling that way? 

You might think that hearing something made you feel a certain way - as if your state were dictated by an external factor - a melancholic song, in this case. 

Say the song was playing, but you were deaf. Now what? What does this suggest? Obviously, you first have to perceive something. 

Can the emotion be produced without the external stimulus - at will? If so, what does this possibility suggest relative to the source of emotion? 

This half-assed line of questioning can hopefully open some doors.

Yes, definitely there must be a brain and some ears and some music in the game for the emotion to arise. 

Many will say "it is not located, perceptions occur without owner...". But that is not convincing. The damn song and my ears appear located. This is not happening to my cousin in Atlanta. 

[UnbornTao]

23 hours ago, Mixcoatl said:

Yes, definitely there must be a brain and some ears and some music in the game for the emotion to arise. 

Many will say "it is not located, perceptions occur without owner...". But that is not convincing. The damn song and my ears appear located. This is not happening to my cousin in Atlanta. 

The problem with 'where' is that it presupposes that the thing is already known, even if only to a degree. The experience of what something is is taken for granted. 'What' opens up our inquiry and helps clear out assumptions. Maybe it isn't physical or objective and so there's no location to it, even though a psychophysical process might well accompany the emotion.

For example, did the melancholy start at the same time the song occurred? Did it stop when the song ended? This might suggest the song was not really the source, but perhaps a trigger.

Can you recreate the same melancholy without the song playing? What if you listen to the song a hundred times? Does the feeling continue to come up?

Just throwing some questions around.

Edited 21 hours ago by UnbornTao

[gettoefl]

5 hours ago, Mixcoatl said:

I mean, yes. I agree. But that is not precisely the answer I'm looking for. We all agree that every form appears without subject or without owner. I wanna know why when a song occurs, there's also a feeling and where it occurs. Is it the same as the song? Is it in the air? Is it in a body?

Thoughts and emotions go hand in hand just like perceptions and sensations. Thoughts are the set of possible things that can happen. Emotions are how each thought feels. Perceptions and sensations are locatable in the universe. Thoughts and emotions do not have to be. They are what could happen and so are in God's mind but not necessarily in our universe. A song is thoughts and some emotions go with it. If you feel an emotion, it is in you mind which is part of God's mind. But that's not in the universe.

Edited Monday at 07:16 PM by gettoefl

[Osaid]

On 4/12/2026 at 3:38 PM, Mixcoatl said:

But why I can find a chair?

Because you've defined yourself as separate from the chair. Without you there's no chair, as @gettoefl said.

Emotion is very obviously not separate, though. You will never find it because it's already wherever you are.

Edited Monday at 11:28 PM by Osaid

[Breakingthewall]

Emotions are occuring in the reality, or better, the reality is taking the form of emotions. 

[Mixcoatl]

On 4/13/2026 at 5:26 PM, Osaid said:

Emotion is very obviously not separate, though. You will never find it because it's already wherever you are.

Oh, I see!! This phrase you just have thrown makes me feel closer to the answer. The emotion is just arising in me, not precisely in my brain or body. Maybe that's why I can't locate it.

On 4/13/2026 at 0:56 PM, UnbornTao said:

Can you recreate the same melancholy without the song playing? What if you listen to the song a hundred times? Does the feeling continue to come up?

Just throwing some questions around.

I think you nailed it. The emotion is not necessarily stick together to the song as I could think. It is just appearing in The Field. 

 

7 hours ago, Breakingthewall said:

Emotions are occuring in the reality, or better, the reality is taking the form of emotions. 

I have a certainty: The emotion is happening, and that's already too much!!

[Lyubov]

They unfold within your body, they are created from your beliefs and perspectives. You felt sad because behind the emotion you hold some belief/perspective about life/yourself on why this song is sad and what you believe about something. Just honestly ask yourself, I feel sad in this moment because I believe ________. Finish the sentence. Keep asking. You’ll get your answer.