Dear itstopshere, Thanks again for your time and care. I really do appreciate your excellent guidance during this process!

I will definitely continue to participate in the other subforums. I'd like to continue to break this down as you said.

It's been a pleasure to work with you also. :)

Thanks so much, itstopshere. I appreciate you making sure that there is no confusion. :)

Please let me know what your fellow guides say. I'll be happy to answer any additional questions. Hope you have a nice day also!

Thanks for the note, itstopshere! I didn't mean that an Eliz appeared again as a separate self. :) I just meant that the ego represents a group of thoughts that are focused on the concept of a separate self.

So I agree with you... it's just a set of thoughts. I only used the concept as a ...

Thanks, itstopshere. That's a good question of course. :)

I know that the ego has been specifically defined in psychology and Buddhism in specific ways. But here I will just tell you what I mean when I say it... instead of some other definition that is commonly used. :)

During this experience ...

Thanks for the response. Yes, let's definitely do a last check to make sure. :)


1) Is there a separate entity 'self', 'me' 'I', at all, anywhere, in any way, shape or form? Was there ever?


There is not separate self - and there never was. It was an illusion that I have been carrying around for ...

It feels very calm actually... I feel a bit detached (but not in a negative way). It also feels as though I've always known this but I forgot it somehow along the way.

Thank you so very much for taking the time to show me where to look! You picked up on where I was stuck almost immediately. Before ...

Thanks, itstopshere!


Thank you for that reply Eliz, and sorry for the confusion.
With 'others' I was indeed referring to 'other people.'

Thanks for the clarification. :) Sorry I misunderstood. I don't believe that I can say how it would "logically" be for others. The river is just itself for ...

Thanks for the response, itstopshere. :)


So, if this body-mind does not truly choose anything, do you think it would be reasonable to liken it to a flowing river? The river does not choose. It flows downstream, left to right, around a rock, hitting a fallen tree, it flows on. Does that sound like ...

Can you "try" to think? :-)


Haha. Good point! ;-)


So, tell me, having seen all of this now, what is Eliz? Is there even an Eliz left? Does the label Eliz still make sense outside of just practical convention?


I would say that Eliz is simply a label. It is a label that the physical world ...

Thanks for the note, itstopshere. :)

Yes, I agree with all three of those statements. I don't have any hesitation about that. When I stop trying to "think," those statements are very clear.

xxxx


Thanks, itstopshere. I spent some time trying to observe what happens in different situations when I bring up your questions. Here's what I found... First, I think I needed to step away because my ego was fighting to answer. I had to step away and sneak up on the ego when it was relaxed ...

Thanks for the response. :) I'm going to step away and look for a bit at the points you made. I'll be back tomorrow with an update.

This is great! I'm glad that you have identified the problem ... and where I am getting stuck. :)

These questions are helping me to look at this from a different perspective. Here's what I see when I look at them (rather than thinking about them):


Can you find the process of thinking , or are ...

Yes, I completely agree that this is a possibility. When you say it this way, it makes a lot of sense to me. :)

That's hard for me to answer (so it must be important, right?) :) I think I know there is no Eliz because I can see how others animals and humans are intimately connected with their environment. In other words, I can see how everything that I perceive is linked together and part of one whole. BUT ...