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Dan Ehrenkrantz's avatar

There’s an emotional theory with some traction in the psychology world that there are six basic emotions: sadness, happiness, fear, anger, surprise and disgust. It’s interesting how those do and don’t track onto the Rasas. If I’m reading both theories correctly (I’m not confident I am) in the “six basic emotions” theory, love, peace and awe don’t make the cut (meaning that they’re considered secondary rather than one of the basic building blocks). The Rasas seem to imagine that our spiritual sensibilities and emotional connection are fundamental to us. This feels more true to me. Thanks for sharing your learning with us!!

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Deborah Payne's avatar

Great explanation of the Rasas, Paulette. The art analogy is teasing my brain, which wants to draw a connection to the triad of Knowledge. The knower, the known and the act of knowing. Am I stretching (or confusing myself) to think that part of act of knowing is the rasas which flavor our experience - whether we are the artist or the viewer of the art. And that each time we create/view/read/listen etc., we may likely experience a different emotion or more or less of a particular emotion.

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