What Is Emotion? Psychology, Neuroscience, and the Nondual PerspectiveBy Tchiki Davis, M.A., Ph.D.
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This article explores traditional psychological theories of emotion, insights from neuroscience, and finally a radical nondual view suggesting that emotions are not intrinsic realities but mental categorizations imposed on raw, neutral experience.
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✓ Learn about the four stages between awakening & enlightenment ✓ Get exercises to progress Sign up below to get our FREE eBook. The Challenge of Defining EmotionDespite centuries of study, scientists, philosophers, and psychologists have not reached a consensus on what emotion actually is. Some define emotion as a set of hardwired, universal responses to survival-related stimuli. Others see it as a cultural or linguistic construct, created by labeling and interpreting bodily sensations.
Even in everyday life, the word “emotion” can mean many things: a subjective feeling (“I feel sad”), a physiological reaction (racing heart, sweating), a behavioral tendency (crying, withdrawing), or a social label (“he was hangry”). The complexity of emotion makes it notoriously difficult to define in a way that satisfies all fields of study. Two Major Theories of EmotionDiscrete Emotion Theory
One dominant camp, discrete emotion theory, argues that emotions are biologically hardwired and universal across cultures. According to this view, humans are born with a small set of basic emotions—often listed as happiness, sadness, anger, fear, disgust, and surprise. These emotions supposedly have distinct physiological signatures and evolutionary purposes. For example, fear may activate the fight-or-flight response, anger may prepare the body for confrontation, and sadness may elicit social support. Psychologist Paul Ekman famously supported this approach by showing that facial expressions for these basic emotions appear to be recognized universally. Theory of Constructed Emotion In contrast, the theory of constructed emotion, pioneered by psychologist Lisa Feldman Barrett, suggests that emotions are not biologically hardwired but constructed by the brain. According to this theory, the brain interprets bodily sensations and predicts what they mean in the current context, drawing on cultural and linguistic concepts. For example, a pounding heart, sweaty palms, and shallow breathing could be interpreted as fear, excitement, or anger depending on the situation. Rather than discovering a pre-existing emotion, the brain constructs the emotion by labeling these bodily signals. Neuroscience and the Search for Emotional SignaturesNeuroscience has attempted to settle the debate by searching for clear neural markers of specific emotions. But so far, research has not found consistent, discrete brain regions for particular emotions. Instead, the same brain areas are involved in many different emotional experiences.
For instance, the amygdala is often associated with fear, but it also activates during positive experiences, attention, and novelty. Similarly, the insula and prefrontal cortex participate in a wide variety of states, making it impossible to map emotions one-to-one with brain regions. Physiologically, the problem is the same: heart rate, skin conductance, breathing patterns, and hormonal changes cannot uniquely identify an emotion. A racing heart could mean joy, anxiety, anger, or simply physical exertion. This scientific uncertainty supports the constructed emotion view—and aligns intriguingly with nondual perspectives that challenge the very existence of emotions as independent realities. The Nondual Perspective: Are Emotions Real?From a nondual perspective, especially within traditions of radical nonduality, the very idea of “emotion” is questioned. The claim is not simply that emotions are constructed by the brain but that they do not inherently exist at all.
Raw sensory experience—fluctuations in bodily energy, physical sensations, or mental activity—arises without inherent meaning. It is only when the mind applies a label like “sadness” or “anger” that an “emotion” seems to exist. Before labeling, there is simply an undifferentiated flow of sensation. In this view, emotions are not real things but concepts imposed upon reality. Just as we carve up the color spectrum into categories like “blue” and “green,” we carve up bodily experience into “fear,” “joy,” or “frustration.” Without the conceptual framework, emotions dissolve back into neutral sensations. Everything Is Neutral Until LabeledA central idea in radical nonduality is that nothing is inherently good or bad. Everything is neutral until the mind categorizes it. This applies equally to emotions.
Take the example of tears. Physiologically, tears may flow due to grief, laughter, joy, or irritation in the eye. The act of crying has no fixed meaning. Only when the mind interprets the surrounding context—“I lost my job” or “I heard a joke”—does the experience become labeled as “sadness” or “happiness.” This perspective undermines the belief that emotions are objective inner realities. Instead, it suggests that mental labeling creates the illusion of discrete emotions.
Living Without Emotional LabelsWhat happens if we stop labeling our experiences as emotions?
From a nondual perspective, dropping the labels reveals the raw texture of life. Sensations arise and pass without the extra story of “me" or of "feeling a certain emotion.” What we usually call “emotion” is simply an appearance in consciousness—neither good nor bad, neither personal nor impersonal, neither meaningful nor non-meaningful. This does not mean life becomes cold or detached. On the contrary, without labeling, there may be a richer intimacy with experience. A racing heart, a tight chest, or warmth in the belly can be felt directly, without the mental filter of interpretation. Bridging Psychology and NondualityPsychology and nonduality may seem worlds apart, but they converge in interesting ways. Constructed emotion theory already emphasizes that the brain creates emotions through labeling. Nonduality takes this further, suggesting that constructs (such as emotions) don't really exist—they are only words applied to neutral sensations.
For those interested in personal growth or awakening, this perspective can be liberating. Instead of being caught in cycles of “negative” and “positive” emotions, one can recognize that these distinctions are mental projections. What remains is a more direct encounter with life, free from constant categorization. A Paradox: We HaVe To Feel Emotions Fully to Realize Their EmptinessParadoxically, recognizing that emotions are neutral sensations does not come from suppressing or ignoring them—it comes from feeling them fully. The nondual perspective is often misunderstood as a denial of emotion, but it is actually a deep invitation to presence and accepting emotion. Only by allowing ourselves to experience a sensation without judgment or mental commentary can we see through the illusion of emotional identity.
When we feel a surge of anger, sadness, or excitement, we might initially interpret it as a “real” emotion that defines who we are or what we're experiencing. But if we pause and bring awareness to the bodily and mental experience itself, we notice something remarkable: the raw sensations—tightness, heat, tension, or vibration—are not inherently good or bad. They are neutral phenomena that our mind has temporarily labeled. In other words, fully feeling an emotion paradoxically dissolves its apparent reality. Resistance, denial, or over-intellectualizing only reinforces the belief that emotions are solid entities. By sitting with them, letting them move through the body and mind, we experience firsthand that what we call “anger” or “fear” is simply a transient pattern of sensations, fleeting and neutral until categorized. This practice can be liberating. It allows us to respond to life more freely, without being hijacked by the story of the emotion. Experiencing emotions fully, rather than pushing them away, is the gateway to seeing their essential neutrality—and the deeper freedom that nonduality offers. A Practical ReflectionWhile the nondual view might feel abstract, it can be explored practically. The next time you notice an emotion, pause and ask:
By examining emotions this way, one can see how fluid and indeterminate they truly are. What was “anger” a moment ago may become “excitement” in a different context—or may dissolve into mere bodily sensation with no name at all. Final Thoughts: Emotion as Label, Not RealitySo what is emotion? From one angle, it is a universal set of hardwired biological programs. From another, it is a flexible brain-based construction built through language and culture. But from a nondual perspective, the most radical of all, emotions do not exist in themselves. They arise only when the mind labels raw, neutral experience.
Neuroscience’s inability to find distinct physiological or neural signatures for emotions supports this view. Instead of being objective realities, emotions appear to be convenient stories we tell ourselves. Ultimately, recognizing the neutrality of all experience dissolves the illusion of positive and negative emotions. Life is not divided into happiness and sadness, joy and grief—it is simply what is, unfolding without labels until the mind steps in. |
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