The Second Reality :
The cause of suffering, which is to be eliminated
Sense of Self & Emotion
If suffering was the sense of self produced by personalization of the impersonal emotional reaction together with the cognitive process of perception, the blind emotions that personalize the impersonal processes are the cause of suffering.
Therefore it becomes easy to recognize that the root of suffering is the emotion. This emotion is the cause of suffering pointed out by the Buddha. The common translation of the Pali term tanhā as craving does not convey this meaning. This is why we translate tanhā as emotion.
Emotion is the reaction of the organism to feelings that are pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral. It is when the environment stimulates the senses that these feelings arise. The data received through the five senses are carried to the brain where thinking occurs, resulting in the interpretation of circumstances. This interpretation results in the arousal of emotions. The emotions aroused depend on the interpretation. This interpretation creates a subjective “self” and an objective “other,” and an emotional relationship occurs between the “self” and the “other.” This emotional relationship creates an emotional bond of existence in relationship. This starts the struggle to keep on existing forever, quite ignorant of the futility and painfulness of the struggle. This blind desire for existence clashes with the reality of non-existence, resulting in suffering.