Which comes first? It is a very common to ask, "Which comes first, thoughts or emotions?" The answer is, "both!" By understanding the law and process of Karma, this is easy to see.

• When the Deep Impressions or Samskaras are triggered or awakened, they align with the primary Emotion of Desire itself.
• The emotional process then leads to a thought process that is typically only partially conscious.
• This leads to the surface mental awareness of the thoughts and the ensuing actions and speech.

Desire as it's own entity: Kama is desire itself (a different word than Karma, which means actions stemming from desire), and is one of the two primary emotions (along with ahamkara). Kama is the mother of all other desires. It gives rise to both the desire to satisfy the senses, and the beneficial desire to help others selflessly.

Desire is a single process: Regardless of the particular object being desired, the process of Desire itself is the same. The same wanting, wishing, or longing, etc., are there. Think of examples in your own life and you will see this clearly, that there is a fundamental wave of Desire, which then associates with particular objects.

Kama, not Karma: Note the the word for desire is kama (without the letter "r"), and that the word for actions is karma (with the letter "r"), which are two different words and concepts.

Think of your favorite desires: Whether the desire is for your favorite food, the comfort of family life, success on your job, money in the bank, or a new car, the desire itself is the same. With some reflection, it becomes easy to see the way in which the prime desire allies itself with the particular objects. This is not bad, and is not to suggest that one should suddenly attempt to abandon all desires in the world. Rather, it means being aware of how the unconscious process of karma works so that those desires do not make you a slave to their intensity.

Kama is the prime desire: Kama is the prime desire, and from this impelling force arise all of the other, specific desires. It is this prime force of kama which motivates a person to do anything and everything. Kama is blind desire that has not yet been related with any particular objects or thoughts. It is the nature of kama that it has no sense of discrimination, judgment or understanding. Kama then associates itself with deep impressions (Samskaras), and that combination then motivates one to do something simply to fulfill that desire—solely because it exists. 

Desire pulls one outward: All of these desires draw one outward, into the domains of mind and the physical world, so as to seek to fulfill the desires, either in Dreaming or Waking states. The fulfilling of these desires is Karma, stimulated by kama. 

One desire stands alone: There is one desire that stands alone as different. That is, the desire for Truth, Reality, Self, or God, and this desire alone draws the attention inward, past all of the other desires, conditionings of Samskaras, Karma, and Primitive Fountains. (See the paper on the koshas.)

Association of Desire and objects is key: By seeing the way this uniform process of Desire associates with numerous objects, we come to see a universal need to gain some degree of mastery over the process of Desire itself. If we can do that, even to a small degree, we can start to regulate our actions and speech, which alters our consequences in beneficial ways. This changes the Deep Impressions or Samskaras in the basement of the mind. 

Desire combines with Samskaras: In the previous section on the Emotion of Desire itself (Kama), desire is seen to be its own motivating force. It is a coloring, so to speak, which then associates with the latent impressions (Samskaras) in the bed of the lake of the mind. There is one essence of desire and many objects to which it might associate. Thus, there may countless possibilities of "desired objects," while there remains only one coloring of desire itself.

Desire works in 1 of 2 ways: Once there is a particular desire (or aversion, which is also a desire of sorts), there are only two possibilities: 

1. You do get what you want.
2. You do not get what you want.

Either way, Ego may increase: Whether desires are fulfilled or not fulfilled, Ego can increase.

If desires are fulfilled, Ego can increase because of the pride and other emotions associated with attaining ones goals. Ego even further takes on the identities related to those objects of desire.

If desires are not fulfilled, Ego can increase because of the frustration and other emotions associated with not attaining ones goals. Ego seeks to defend its stance, and thus increases.

Either way, one can end up facing the challenge of an increased sense of Ego.

Ego and desire are two primary emotions: Egoism, or ahamkara, is one of the two primary emotions (along with the prime desire, kama). Notice carefully how this works.

Two meanings of "Ego" It is extremely important to understand that the word Ego is used in two different ways. One is the psychological use of the word and the other is according to Yoga. Both are equally valid and the terms can properly be used in both ways. However, it is necessary to know the two concepts so that it is easy to discern which way the word is being used in a given sentence.

See the section on Two Egos in the Four Functions of Mind article.

Ego gives individuality and separation: Because of ahamkara, we are individuals, but then ahamkara also separates us from the whole. This “I” refers to ourselves as separate from others, and becomes the center of our lives.

Four functions of mind: To understand the origin of ahamkara (the "I"), it is very important to understand the Four Functions of Mind. We are like a wheel, which needs both spokes and a hub to rotate. The hub is the still Center of Consciousness and the four spokes are the four functions of mind, one of which is ahamkara. The Four Functions of Mind are:

• Ahamkara, the ego or "I-maker"

• Manas, the sensory-motor mind that directs the ten senses or indriyas

• Buddhi, which knows, decides, judges, and discriminates

• Chitta, the storehouse of all of these, along with the countless deep impressions).

Emotion is stronger than intelligence: Intelligence has no power before bhava, the power of emotion. But intelligence, if properly handled, can channel emotional power so that we can use it positively. Learning to use bhava properly is essential to successful living and working with Karma. If one can use that emotional power, the highest state of ecstasy can be attained in a second’s time.

Spiritual bliss is not an emotion: It is important to note that the emotions of personality that interact with mental process are at a different level of reality or consciousness than the bliss, or ananda that is deeper in our being. This is explained in  an article on the Koshas (sheaths), paying particular attention to the descriptions of manamaya kosha and anandamaya kosha.