Which Comes First: Thought or Feeling?

Does thought precede feeling or the other way around?  Or perhaps sometimes thought occurs first and other times feeling occurs first?
And does any of this questioning even matter?

Re: Which Comes First: Thought or Feeling?

Lahn,

He (Ernest) showed us by example that thinking and feeling create wise or unwise
results in one's current life experience.  In my way of thinking and feeling I rarely notice any difference between the two. And when I do, it's undifferentiated.
So it depends on your conception of matter.

Re: Which Comes First: Thought or Feeling?

Lahn,


Ernest Holmes definitely gave most of his contemplation to the effect of our thoughts.  When I look in his textbook The Science of Mind - A Philosophy, A Faith, A Way of Life in the Index, I find NO entries for Feelings but many on Thoughts.  I will share a few of those with you and we will see if his words will answer your question.  

In my own practice, I have found that thought is the mold, feeling is the energy.  And what I “feel”, is what I would feel, if my thought were manifesting this very minute.  I will use an example that reflects many people's current worry about their financial situation.

Let's say, I am feeling restriction in, my ability to pursue interests that require, financial supply.  I would first write out thoughts that reflect what my state would be, if my financial needs were abundantly supplied.  For example, “I have everything that I need as I need it.  God supplies my needs abundantly.”  These are the “thoughts” or “meta” portion.

Now to add the “physics” or “feeling” portion.  In my mind, I would seek a memory of a time when my finances were abundant, and if there is no memory of how I have felt, because I have never been abundantly supplied, I would instead seek even an idealized feeling, I might have as the “feeling”.  

I would feel confident.  I would feel no concern for my financial status.  I would walk into a store, see something I wanted and walk out with it, never having to consider whether or not I had enough to pay for it.  Nor would I need to consider whether some more important need would be shortchanged, by my having bought the item.  I would write checks to pay all my bills in a timely fashion because there were plenty of funds to do so.

It is something like what I do to elevate my vibration in the morning.  I may sit out on my back porch and seek a memory of some time in my life when I was very happy.  Perhaps that 14th birthday, when I came home from school and I was already in a good mood because it was the last day of school for that year, and when I got home, there was that new 3-speed bicycle I had wanted so badly.  My world was so perfect and all my needs were fulfilled and my happiness had no bounds.  I was ecstatic.

When I have time, I will look through Ernest Holmes' writing to find examples of his thoughts about your question.

Deb.