The X ray emission from the Sun arises primarily from the gas trapped in the bipolar magnetic fields of both small and large active regions. It appears that the trapped gas is heated by the intermittent dissipation of magnetic energy (nanoflares) at the current sheets that arise spontaneously in any magnetic field subject to continuous deformation. The solar wind issues from regions of weak field pushed open by the expanding corona. Most of the heat input is close to the Sun, in the first 1--2 RS, raising the gas slowly out through the gravitational field and gradually accelerating it through the speed of sound at a distance of perhaps 3--5 RS. The waves generated by photospheric convection dissipate only at distances of 5 RS and beyond, where their heat input and momentum accelerate the wind to the high velocities of 600--800 km/s sometimes observed. The only source for the principle heat input close to the Sun appears to be the network activity, as suggested by Martin, Porter, and Moore. Thus the mass loss and the formation of the heliosphere are primarily a consequence of the smallest-scale activity supplemented by occasional flares and coronal mass ejections. The X ray emission is largely a consequence of the smallest flares, the nanoflares, supplemented by occasional X ray bursts from large flares. It is presumed that the mass loss and associated circumstellar spheres and the X ray emission from most other stars arise in the same manner, although there is no possibility for detailed observation, of course. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1992