The emotional feelings we experience are neuro-chemical responses. The cause of those responses is what we perceive in our experience. For most when they are insulted they can feel angry, upset or even violent. After the event or insult that is held to be the cause of any feelings the victim of the perceived insult may spend a considerable period of time contributing to a growing narrative that seeks to rationalise and justify what is felt. This stimulus response to an insult is a chemical feeling. Our perception acts like a prescription. The pharmacy of our brain responds by dispensing the neurochemicals (feeling) prescribed by our perception.
For a long time one of those feelings has been generically defined as ‘stress’. Stress, nerves and anxiety are the terms used by qualified medical professionals to describe our brain’s neurochemical reactions. In biological terms, stress and anxiety are also known as neurochemical responses. In psychological terms they are generically referred to as ‘feelings’. Using the English language we can define ‘feelings’ as neurochemical reactions that are felt within the body. For many years a common remedy for unwanted feelings was the prescription of pharmaceutical products that create different chemical reactions to change or mask our awareness of the feelings that are the ‘exclusive’ and inevitable (quid pro quo) response to ‘our own perception’. Nerves, stress and anxiety are the terms used in the doctor/patient dialogue to describe this dynamic.
The prescription of a ‘pharmaceutical product’ for the diagnosis of a psychological condition deals only with the ‘chemical effect’. It does this by changing those effect. This is demonstrated by an anaesthetic. An anaesthetic changes our awareness of our body’s discomfort. In traditional medicine the cure seems to be the prescription of a pharmaceutical product that alters the effect of the chemistry our body produces or inhibits physical and emotional feelings. In contrast to an insult someone may give us a compliment about our appearance, professionalism, talent, parenting skills or we may receive awards and accolades for our contribution or performance.
When receiving a compliment we may feel happy, positive emotions and feel pleased or delighted. We are unlikely to go the doctor if we wake up one morning feeling a chemical effect that we define as ‘great’ or ‘happy’. Now this may be difficult to accept but we are not the victim of our bad feelings. We are the creator of them. Unless born ill, violently attacked or the victim of sickness or an accident we cannot feel bad unless we choose to feel bad. More precisely, unless born ill, violently attacked or the victim of accident or illness we are choosing to feel bad.
Feeling bad and getting angry is a pre-arranged, rehearsed behaviour. I may compliment someone and they feel good and then I insult them and they feel bad. Before they can feel good or bad they must discern the insult from the compliment. So the mind must use its own judgement of what it is experiencing before it can respond in chemical terms. The mind is the most powerful pharmacy there is. It is far wiser and more effective than any product manufactured in a pharmaceutical plant. In order to create a specific chemical response the mind requires a metaphorical prescription.
The brain is the pharmacy that naturally dispenses neurochemical. Our perception which is our own judgement is the prescription.. Our judgement is our perception. Our perception is our judgement. Matthew 7:1-3 (KJV) “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?” Perception is not based upon our experiences but upon what we believe about our experiences. For example two people may go to a party together. One may really enjoy the party, love the music and enjoy the conversation. The other person may enjoy the music but feel uncomfortable because their cheating ex-wife is there with a new partner. The stimulus will be the perception of the ex-wife and the response will be what is felt by her ex-husband.
The cause of our contrasting feelings which are defined in emotional terms is our perception of the experience but not the experience. It is our perception that is creating the chemical responses defined by medical professionals in emotional terms. Now this leads to the question ‘If I change my perception of my experiences will my chemical reactions change?’ Will I stop feeling depressed? The answer is yes. In order to change how we perceive what we define to be reality we must understand how what the doctor defines to be ‘stress’ works. Stress is a ‘stimulus response’.
What is described as a stress response or emotion is really a chemical response. So if stress is a stimulus induced chemical response then it is not possible to feel ‘stress’ unless the mind is exposed to or thinks about the ‘stimulus’. For example I may get bitten by a dog and feel anxious when I see a dog and feel fear when I am close to a dog. The cause of my future feelings is not the dog but what I believe about ‘dogs’. For the stimulus response to be sustained I must have an explicit or implied belief regarding all dogs. My beliefs sustain my perception of the stimulus.
So the cause of my response is not the dog but my perception of dogs. What sustains my perception and reaction to the stimulus is what I believe about the stimulus. In order to ensure that I do not forget what I have judged the stimulus to be my mind creates chemical reactions experienced as ‘fear’ and ‘thoughts’ to generate self-talk intended to ensure that my original judgement has dominion over what I think and feel when I am exposed to the stimulus. Stress and anxiety is evidence of the most powerful pharmacy in existence and our power over it. The mind is the pharmacy.
Alchemy does not refer to silver or gold but to joy and happiness. Alchemy can transform what is perceived as hell into paradise. If I went to heaven how would I know I was there? I would know by what I felt. The cause of many perceiving the world as a place of fear, worry, stress and sadness is what they believe. What is the source of this faith in our beliefs? The source of our judgement is the source of our beliefs. What we believe is influenced by education, industry, government, legislation and religion. The media appears to be the universal medium used for that influence.
If we want peace of ‘mind and body’ then we must stop judging our experiences using our perception. It is only beliefs that can prejudice our perception. Perception is not vision it is the projection of the beliefs that we individually use to define our experiences. ‘We can only believe what we do not know’. In Matthew 7:1-3 it was said, “Judge not, that ye be not judged, for with what judgment ye judge, you shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” Our perception is that judgement.
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