Hi PB,
It's not an easy thing to say. I came in unsure if I had. There are obviously many levels of "getting it". There is intellectually getting it and then levels of experiential getting it. Through my life I've had some pretty good glimpses I think. I definitely don't need persuading that there ...

Hi PB,

Thanks for the question. I feel a lot of ease when I'm feeling more spacious.

I was wondering what you see the purpose of LU to be? It seems to me that its purpose is to help see no-self. This is something I have seen before. Do you think LU can help dig deeper, in a better way than ...

I must admit this experience of a separate self is very tenuous. It feels very light quite like a cloud or a soft sheet. When I try to approach it it just evaporates. But then it reconstitutes behind me. At times like this I'm not so identified with it. It's just a tool to navigate manifested ...

A perceiver. Yes. Something seems to be conscious of perceptions.

So I come first to my felt sense. There are sensations when I notice me sitting on the chair. The hedge looks like its outside the window from where I sit. This perceiving locus of control seems to be something I would call "I"I feel a bi tired, sleepy. I'm thinking about cooking dinner. There is ...

Yes. direct experience. It's easy to slip into performance mode.

I can't find a conductor. The thought streams that seem to be "me" are multiple, yet there feels like a central momentum. Wanting this or that, thinking I should do this or that, etc, I feel identified with those desires and aversions ...

Although intellectually I can't I still assume that these body sensations and other sense perceptions are from an inherent self. That's the habit that's hard to break. As I scan through my experiences with mindfulness it starts to break down now. After insight meditations its easier to see through ...

Hi, sorry. Too many projects in lockdown.

What did you find when doing this exercise?
Is the commentary on the soccer game a necessity for the play to happen?

The commentary isn't necessary for the play obviously, but for the watcher to get excited about it, take it seriously, it helps a lot. It ...

Right.
Now look at it and describe what you see. Give yourself a bit of time with it. Just look, nothing else.

It's a jug, bulbous in the middle, narrowing and widening again. reddish brown with a fairly glossy glaze.
Though in the 2d I actually see it's not a jug but a shape..

Now describe the ...

So, to be clear, I intellectually believe, and have experience of not having a separate self.
The challenge is living by this and knowing it at all times. I'm not sure what that would entail.
My impression is that I just need to keep practicing these great exercises you offer until weight of ...

It's hard to pinpoint.
Will, people relate to me as if there is a self. and I automatically react as if I have a self and they have a self. but as I say that it doesn't seem that necessary to assume that I will they have a separate self. Intellectually it's all very clear to me. It's just in ...

Bring up a thought about a character labelled "friend".
Then bring up a thought about a character labelled "stranger".

Compare these thoughts.
Is there a difference in these thoughts?
Is there a true difference or is it just different content?

hmmm, well, the images that come to mind are ...

Hi PB,
Glad you're well, and had a good retreat.
In reference to thinking knowing my thoughts all refer back to me Was it a surprise to find that?
I've heard it said many times, but haven't looked closely in a few years, so it was good to do it again.

In terms of the practice and questions:

1 ...

Hi, I'm fine thanks. I've managed to move all my counselling and mindfulness groups online but the collective anxiety seems to cloud my mindfulness sometimes. I think that's what makes it so hard to reply to this as quickly as I@d like. But I intend to get back to everyday replies from now on, as ...

This is taking some more sustained attention, which I find harder to access at the moment.
But here we go. Various experiences there.
Did you do anything to make a particular thought or thoughts appear?

Thoughts seem to arise based on old thought habits. A certain momentum. So they are not ...