Talk summary: In this podcast, Guy Finley talks about the difference between true feelings born of real relationship, and imaginary feelings that carry us away from the present moment.

Talk notes: We don’t know much about real feelings, and in order to learn more about them, we must first discover what are not real feelings. When a thought suddenly comes to you, such as the thought of eating your favorite food, and your mind begins to go through all of the details associated with that thought, the desire for that food is strengthened by the image that the mind has produced. And also strengthened is the sensation you have of wanting to acquire what was imagined. All of this takes place in one’s head. That sensation is not a real feeling at all. It is a sensation that is generated by imagination and identification. It is a lower order of “feeling” in that it only comes into existence because of the nature of thought and imagination. The imagined feeling cannot sustain itself apart from the pursuit of the objects it requires to come into existence.

A real feeling doesn’t start with the mind at all. In fact, a real feeling has nothing whatsoever to do with anything the mind can ever invent. A true feeling is the momentary expression of an authentic relationship that is established between the seer and the seen. Learn to distinguish between imagined feelings and real feelings. See for yourself how imagined feelings always betray you, carrying you with them wherever they want to go so that they can stay alive, along with the imagined self that is identified with them.