Hi Tetsuo
Thank you. No problem at all. This is the bit I’d like to stay with:
Can you say with a big fat yes, it is clear what the illusion of a separate self is?
don’t think so, no.
Good. I don’t want to talk you into a “yes”. If it isn’t clear, it isn’t clear.
You also said:
self isn’t a ...

Hey Thomas
Welcome home!

It appears that the Gateless Gate has been crossed, but as you know there is no Gate, no one to cross it, and no end to the journey. It has been such a pleasure to walk beside you! Your openness and willingness to look were simply awesome and made guiding you a joy. Of ...

Hey Pete

It's been a while... Are we still doing this?!

Love
Rali

Hi Elle,
Much better! :) Wonderful looking! This time you're describing what is actually found, rather than trying to explain how it all works. You looked for a hearer, a feeler, a receiver, and found only hearing, sensations, and thoughts.
Now something caught my attention:
The thought I am aware ...

Hey Thomas,
Just one small thing to notice in your wording:
Decisions are made naturally
Choices are made naturally
Look again.
Is there actually a “decision” or “choice” happening as something separate?
Or are there simply thought as preference, and sensations as movement/action — and then ...

Hey Thomas
Beautiful. Let’s finish with the standard checkpoint questions. These questions are given everyone to see where they are at, and to see if we’ve missed anything in our inquiry.
Here are the questions. Please answer all questions in full, when you are ready. Please answer what's true for ...

Hi Tetsuo,
Beautiful. This is very clear. Especially these:
It is doubt, but it is not 'my doubt' or doubt about 'me'.
Nothing is missing from experience. Nothing could be.
there isn't a who that could go deeper into something.
Nothing is missing because nothing can ever be added or taken ...

Hey Thomas,
Good. This is very clear.
When you say:
What is it that could be awake?
Just THIS
What is it that awakening could happen TO?
Just THIS
I take you to mean simply whatever is happening . So let’s keep it that simple.
Does awakening actually happen to whatever is happening ?
Or is ...

Hi Lauren
I'm still wrestling the compulsion to answer "thoughtfully;" hopefully I've made a little progress.
Yes, there is some progress but there is still a lot of contemplation rather then simple reporting. I ask a question and instead of reporting what is observed you give me contra arguments ...

Hey Thomas,
Good. Let’s look directly at the doubt rather than trying to get rid of it or answer it.
I still feel stickiness around the awakening itself. For the awakening itself I can definitely feel that I am experiencing much of life, if not all, without the illusion of separate self. However ...

That's cool, Pete! Take your time! Thank you for letting me know :)

Love
Rali

Hi Elle,
Thank you for going through the questions again!
You've now given me lots of No answers, but that's not quite what I'm asking for either. Each question is an invitation to LOOK , not a question to answer. The important part is what you discover while looking. A simple No doesn't tell me ...

Hey Thomas,
There’s one more thing worth making really clear around responsibility. Be careful not to imagine that there was a “Thomas” before who was genuinely carrying responsibility, and now that Thomas has somehow disappeared and life has to continue without him. The self didn't die, it simply ...

Hi Elle,
Thank you for your thoughtful replies! :)
I notice something that may be contributing to the frustration you're experiencing. You seem to be spending quite a bit of time contemplating the questions and trying to make sense of them, rather than simply LOOKING at what is happening. For ...

Hi Pete
Wonderful!!
No, "an apple" can't be found in actual experience. Only the apparition of a thought rising that may or may not contain labels like "apple," "red," "sweet," descriptors, etc., and the senses tasting, feeling, seeing directly. Anything extra, anything packaging those things up ...