Dear Vivien,

Thank you for generously guiding me through this process. I truly appreciate.

Best wishes,
Ben

Dear Vivien,

Could you please tell the exact point in the conversation when the shift happened?
First, when I realized that there is no self making decisions (in reference to making tea), and then when I realized that there is no self in the form of awareness.

What it is that's looking at the ...

Dear Vivien,

What is it that is wearing the imagined self as if it were an old pullover?
The I we are using here for conversation. The I that seemingly exists but does not.

Did you experience any shift in perspective, even if it didn’t last?
If yes, could you please write a bit about it?
A ...

Dear Vivien,

1) Is there a separate entity 'self', 'me' 'I', at all, anywhere, in any way, shape or form?
Was there ever?
No. There is none and there has never been such an entity.

2) Explain in detail what the illusion of separate self is, when it starts and how it works from your own ...

Dear Vivien,

I’m not 100% convinced by your replies. Since you say: ‘not really’, and not just simply ‘no’.
:) words...

Is there a little bit of hesitation or doubt with ‘really’?
Can you say NO with 100% EXPERIENTIAL certainty to those questions?
Yes. By "not really" I mean "not in reality ...

Dear Vivien

Is there a you?
Not really
Has there ever been a you?
Never really

Is there an experiencER?
No, but there's experience/ing.
Is there anything having the experience of whatever is happening?
No
Is there anything what the experience is happening TO?
No. There is but experience ...

Dear Vivien,
I'm looking through your questions slowly and will be posting answers when done.
Ben

Dear Vivien,

V: Can a thought be separated from the knowing or awareness of it?
B: There is thought. When there is also a label "thought" that's another thought, not the awareness of it.
V: With the previous question, it seems that you can see it clearly that the thought and the knowing of the ...

Dear Vivien,

Nouns imply agencies, or entities.
But can such thing be found as an independently existing awareness?
Awareness cannot be found as such.

Can a thought be separated from the knowing or awareness of it?
There is thought. When there is also a label "thought" that's another thought ...

Dear Vivien,

A ‘negative’ thought is not unpleasant by itself. It’s just a thought. Just words. And thoughts/words cannot be felt. Only the accompanying sensations gives the impression of the pleasantness or unpleasantness of the verbal or visual thought or even a situation. Can you see this ...

Dear Vivien

I experienced it just as you described:

So, could you see that all the negative emotions felt very similar, contracted and unpleasant?
And only the labels make them seemingly different?

Yes, the sensations feel the same, indistinct.

So, could you see that all the positive emotions ...

Dear Vivien,

Does the pure sensation suggest in any way that this is ‘sad’, ‘happy’, ‘peaceful’, ‘uncomfortable’, ‘bad’ or ‘good’?
Or ‘happy’, ‘sad’, ‘good’ or ‘bad’, ‘uncomfortable’, are just mental labels on the pure sensation?
Indeed, these are just mental labels.

Does the pure sensation ...

Dear Vivien,
This will take me a little longer to verify. I'll write again soon.
Ben

Dear Vivien,

What do you find?
There is no hand sensation, leg sensation, and so on, but just pure sensation. A hand has no fingers, and a hand is not a hand. Same for color. Visual and other thoughts do the body thing. There is no body.

And yes, color and sensation are independent, separate ...

Dear Vivien,

Is it totally clear that there is no such thing a chooser?
Yes
Is it totally clear that there is no such thing as choice or free will?
Yes

***

With eyes closed, put one of the hands on a desk or a table. Pay attention only to the pure sensation.
Does the pure sensation itself ...