3 I completely agree with your point here. Ego is just another phenomenon in the fascinating field of consciousness. It's beautiful the description of the emergence of the ego in this book by researcher Francisco Varela:
https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=896
And I understand your reasoning when you say that my emotions depends on my thoughts which I could be able to control, so I can't blame others for what I feel.
I feel though that things are a little more complicated. Leaving aside for now the question of freewill, we can see that these emotions can change deeply when we are in presence of another human beings and me trying to counteract this movement of the heart is again imposing my will on reality and, essentially, a movement of the ego. Again our parents partly molded our view of the world and I feel deeply that I embody their wishes, fears and good qualities too. I'm not an individual but a living form emerging from a certain human lineage.
Again, these deep emotions, passed from generation to generations, are embodied in my flesh and part of my doing is guided by these structures. And the same with the conditioning operated by regime's media and private companies, which acts more on the repetitive exposure to desired emotions than with thoughts. Can I really be impermeable to those emotions just controlling my thoughts?
At certain times emotions can come before or after thoughts but can we see the interdependence between them and just be aware of the process? Can we understand our conditioning towards submission, authority, violence etc. and be free from that?
Can we be free from Sisyphus frustration and stop pushing the rock?
Best Wishes Raymond,
Andrea
RE: Buying Influence