Direct pointing

[Roberto]

Hi Sandra,

I want to thank you for your patience and guidance throughout this process.
I’ve been concerned that I might be wasting your time, especially with the possibility that I don’t yet have the capacity to fully trust what is seen directly.
I’ve also noticed that I’ve been relying a lot on mental description of direct experience rather than just noticing what is actually here.
Today there was a clear seeing that tasting simply happens, and that anything said about it is a description created by the mind, not the experience itself. The tasting was very clear in this.
I am also seeing that seeing itself has no owner, this is seen when looked at closely.
The sense of seeking also seems to have dropped away quite a lot!!

Yes, sure. But where can you go to see what you are looking for? Where would this somewhere be? Where could you resolve this?

From direct experience, there is nowhere to go.
“Somewhere else” only appears as a thought about the future. In actual experience, there is just what is here now—seeing, hearing, sensations, thoughts.
The idea of “resolving this somewhere” can’t be found in experience. It’s only thinking.
So there is no place outside this moment, and no one found going anywhere—just experience appearing now.

There is this story going on about you, what you want, what you hope to reach, the seeking, etc. Can the story take you away from this moment, can the story make this present experience unclear?

Looking at this directly, the story can’t take me away from this moment. Thoughts about “me,” seeking, or wanting are just appearing now as thoughts, alongside seeing, hearing, and sensation.
There is still just this happening, and the story is part of it rather than something separate that can pull me elsewhere.

What happens if you look?
Just look. Where else could a self be than here?

I notice I’ve often been relying on mental descriptions rather than really looking directly, and that I need to actually notice what is here rather than think about it.
When I do look, looking for an owner of this seems clearer than trying to figure it out conceptually.
I’ve also had a sense that I might be being lazy with this, but I’m seeing that the confusion itself seems to be creating that feeling of resistance.

When you look where is the story? Can you find it? Where is the seeker? Can you find it?

When I look, I can’t find the story as anything other than thoughts appearing now, and I can’t find a seeker as a separate entity.
Since seeing that the “seeking” was more a reaction of resistance to confusion and just thoughts and sensations, the sense of seeking has dropped off considerably.

Can you see that, when you're not thinking, the view is always clear?

When I’m not thinking and I look closely at looking, it is mostly clear. I’m trying to apply the same to sensations and hearing. The tasting was noticed quite clearly without needing to “look at it.”

Thanks S
Rob

[Canfora]

Hi Rob,

I want to thank you for your patience and guidance throughout this process.
I’ve been concerned that I might be wasting your time

Nooooo, you're very welcome! I also had that concern when I was being guided but don't worry about me and take your time! Seriously. I'm enjoying this conversation.

I loaned the below suggestion of inquiry from here https://www.headless.org/experiments/closed-eyes.htm. Being a Headless way inquiry it focus mainly in what you are instead of in the non existance of a separate self but I don't think that's an issue. Richard Lang points to what I would like you to see in a very skilled way, so have a go at it and let me know what you find.

"Explore what it is to be First Person singular, present tense, with eyes closed. Practically speaking, probably the best way to do this would be to read a question, then close your eyes and investigate your experience. Then open your eyes, read another question, and so on…

With EYES CLOSED … consider the following:

Going by your own, present experience, not by memory, hearsay or imagination, how big are you?

What shape are you?

Could you be any size or shape?

Do you have boundaries?

Is there a place where you stop and the world begins? Or is there nothing dividing you from the world?

You can probably hear a range of sounds, from distant to near ones. Do you hear any sound right where you are? Don't sounds come and go in silence where you are?

You experience sensations such as warmth, discomfort, pleasure, breathing and so on. Do these make you into 'something' at centre, solid and limited – a thing separate from the world around you? Is there anything solid and unchanging at your centre? Or do these sensations come and go in aware no-thingness?

Isn’t this aware no-thingness like a TV screen in the sense that events happen on the screen but leave the screen itself unaffected and undefined? Don’t sounds and sensations come and go but leave awareness unmarked?

Whatever has happened in your past, are you not now empty and clear - capacity for whatever is happening now? The past does not solidify you at centre.

How big is a sensation? Does it define or limit you?

Attend to your right foot. Think of what it looks like. Isn’t the image a memory, since you cannot see your foot at the moment?

But what about the actual sensation of your foot, your experience of it in this present moment, putting aside memory? What colour is that sensation, what shape, what size?

How far away is it? (From where?)

Where exactly are its boundaries – does it have a clear edge?

Is this sensation where your being stops? Are you limited to it, somehow imprisoned inside it?

Isn’t that sensation happening in boundless awareness?

Are you not this awareness, this edgeless being, in which this rather-hard-to-describe, hard-to-pin-down changing sensation is happening?

Just as when you have your eyes open it is face there to space here, isn’t it now, with eyes closed, sensation there to space here? Your being has no boundaries. You are the edgeless space in which body sensations happen.

Pay attention to mental activity – to your thoughts and feelings.

Where are they?

Are they inside something? Or are they inside awareness?

Are they central to you, or are they peripheral?

Do they leave any trace when they have gone? Don’t they come and go on the screen of awareness, just as sounds and sensations come and go, leaving no trace?

We identify with our minds, believing we are our thoughts and feelings. Is your mind contained within anything? Are you contained within anything?

Think of the name of a city.

Did you know what that name was going to be before you thought it? Where did it come from? Where did it happen? Where did it go?

Think of a planet. A friend. A country. Are these thoughts happening inside any kind of container, or are they happening in the boundless space of awareness?

I find no origin, no container, no destination. For me they emerge out of nowhere – out of my undefinable being – without preview, without effort, and they dissolve back into this ‘nothingness’, leaving no mark on this ‘nothingness’.

Imagine the colour blue. Now the colour orange. Now the shape of a triangle. How do you do that?

I have no idea how I do it. These things appear as if by magic.

How creative this no-thingness is, this no-mind as some Zen Buddhists call it. Without effort thoughts and images emerge from nowhere, without preview, without my knowing how I do it.

Be aware of what you are feeling.

Remember how you were feeling earlier in the day. Or yesterday. The flow of feeling is changing all the time.

Are your feelings central to you? Do your feelings leave any marks on awareness? Do difficult experiences traumatise space?

Not in my experience. Where are my feelings? I find no container here. My mind is at large in the universe.

Commentary by Richard Lang"

Take care,
S

[Roberto]

Hi Sandra,

I wanted to be honest about where I’m at right now. I really appreciate your guidance and the time you’ve put into working with me—it’s been clear, patient, and supportive throughout.

Lately, I’ve been noticing that I’m struggling to engage with the inquiry in a direct way. Instead of looking at experience, I tend to get caught in overthinking, rumination, and a lot of mental noise. I also have some ongoing family conflict at the moment that’s affecting me and making it harder to stay grounded in immediate experience.

That said, I recently watched a video from Christian Shadlock that perfectly expressed what you’ve been pointing me toward, and it really clicked on an intuitive level. The understanding of no-self resonates with me quite deeply, even if I’m not fully realising it in direct experience right now.

Because of where I’m at mentally, it feels like I’m turning the inquiry into more thinking and “seeking,” rather than actually seeing.

I’m wondering if it might be better for me to take a step back for now and focus on stabilising my attention and mental well-being, and then return to this inquiry when I’m in a clearer place to engage with it properly. I do intend to come back to this in one way or another, as it feels genuinely important to me.

I want to emphasise that this isn’t a reflection on your guidance at all—it’s more about recognising my current limitations and being realistic about what I can genuinely work with right now.

I’d really appreciate your thoughts on this.

Thank you again for your support.

Rob

[Canfora]

Dear Rob, I think you should trust what you feel and do what you feel you should do. If taking a break feels the way to go next, go for it without feeling any guilt. I understand and I hope everything turns up well for you and yours. LU will be here when you feel it's time to go further. Let me know what you decide to do. Take care, S

[Canfora]

Dear Rob, I think you should trust what you feel and do what you feel you should do. If taking a break feels the way to go next, go for it without feeling any guilt. I understand and I hope everything turns up well for you and yours. LU will be here when you feel it's time to go further. Let me know what you decide to do. Take care, S

[Roberto]

Dear Sandra,

Thank you for your kind and understanding reply—I really appreciate it.

After reflecting a bit more, I feel that taking a step back from the inquiry for a while is the right thing for me at the moment. I’ve noticed that I’ve been trying to engage with it in a kind of “brute force” way, and instead of leading to clarity, it’s been creating more pressure and mental noise.

Right now, it feels more important to focus on getting my attention and overall mental state into a more grounded and stable place. I can see that without that foundation, the inquiry tends to turn into overthinking rather than direct seeing.

This still feels important to me, and I do intend to return to it when I’m in a better place to engage with it more simply and directly.

Thank you again for your patience and support throughout—I’m really grateful for it.

Take care,

Rob

[Canfora]

Thank you Rob. Take care, S