Hi JW,


So, please allow me to go away for a bit and reconnect if and when the time allows me the energy. OK?

That's fine. Take all the time you need. I know that it's not always easy to find the time around work and family responsibilities.

I so appreciate your help and kindness. My ...

Hi JW,

I do have a request/question. I think I work best with simple, singular exercises. Maybe, if that’s ok with you, we can do this one step at a time? In other words, one exercise, one set of questions. It’s easier for me to go into more depth rather than trying to answer everything you raise ...

Hi JW,

For example, I am walking on the beach and a flood of thoughts stream in (and out). Before I know it, I am actively involved in a debate with someone. The ‘contents’ of the thoughts seem to rule the day, so to speak.

Yes, that's what thoughts often do, they show up, whether we want them ...

Hi JW,

Importantly, what is there before we even label anything? Regardless of there being a self/no-self, ‘it’ is happening, right? Listening is happening, feeling, thinking, etc., is happening.

Yes, exactly! Without the thoughts “I am breathing,” breathing still happens. Without the thought “I ...

Hi JW,

Will write a full reply a bit later today. I apologize for the delay. Family and work required more time than usual in past days.

Best wishes,

Gerhard

Hi JW,

I appreciate your honesty.

I am angry

That's fine.

To ask to find a self in and of itself may be the wrong question. It’s like asking to show you an empty space or air.

Maybe. if we use air as an analogy then you are right that even though we might have little direct experience we ...

Great, thanks for letting me know :-)

Best wishes,

Gerhard

Hi JW,

Somehow when I need to navigate a car or plane, there is this belief (and, I agree that that is what it is) that a person/entity, some amalgam of bones, feelings, learned behavior, etc., is 'in control'. Who else is managing the controls?

OK, lets have a closer look at this. If there is a ...

Hi JW,

Good to hear form you. Some excellent looking going on :-)

Then I am navigating 'JW' as a separate entity who has to do, think, listen.

Please look at the following and report back:

- Where is this navigator exactly? Can you find him? Where is it's location?
- What is it?
- How do you ...

Hi JW,

I also feel I need to share that, at times, I feel like a bit of an 'imposter' (i.e., liar) in that I say or claim things that seem so tentative and certainly not quite 'established'. For example, to claim I noticed that thoughts were not my own is quite a leap in that it certainly doesn't ...

Hi JW,

Just wanted to check in with you. I know that you said you might be traveling. If that's the case, that's OK. I just wanted to check whether your still with me as I have not had a post from you since Thursday.

Best wishes,

Gerhard

Hi JW,

Whenever I inserted an 'I' after a thought, I became aware of it, tried to not 'take it on', but observe it just an another thought. In that manner, I noticed that whatever 'fills' awareness is not really mine, in the old sense of ownership. Lots of questions show up when I write this but I ...

Hi JW,

You're really doing some excellent looking! I've had a busier than usual work day, and have not been able to write a full reply yet. I'll write a detailed reply as soon as I can (tonight some time).

Best Wishes

Gerhard

Some good 'looking' here.

There did seem to be a bit of a distance, if you will, between having the thoughts and ‘me’. Almost like they were not ‘my’ thoughts. However, since there was no way of knowing whose thoughts they were, I concluded they were mine, for now. Or, more accurately, I was aware ...

Hi JW,

You post seems to be there, so don't worry. We do sometimes recommend that you first write your post in word or some other program, and then copy and paste it onto the forum. It has happened in the past that people have lost their replies because of some technical difficulty with the forum ...