Great, thank you!

Hi Bella,

Answers below.

1) Is there a separate entity 'self', 'me' 'I', at all, anywhere, in any way, shape or form?
Was there ever?
The separate self does not exist now and it never has. What may or may not exist are thoughts that may or may not identify as a self, but do not hold any weight ...

Hi Bella,

Within the same two or three day span of having that realization last week, I also had a series of earth-shattering breakthroughs in other areas of my life, the result of which is that I generally feel less fear, more stability, and like so many things that were problems I couldn't ...

Hi Bella,

Thanks for your reply, yes that makes sense about experience and I can definitely agree.

I think my only questions are where are we in the process that we began at the start of this thread? And what's next?

Thanks :)

Eric

Hi Bella,

Right - I don't think my questions have concrete answers, it's sort of like they're doubts that will go away with time, but it's hard to put in words.

Without a doer, how does brushing teeth happen?
I would say that one can have a perspective of there being a doer/a decider, it doesn't ...

Hi Bella,

How is it to realise that?
It's... interesting. My first thought is, is that it? Am I done (with this step)? A lot of questions come up and have been coming up about how things will look going forward - if I have thoughts of a self am I doing this wrong? Am I not allowed to have "I ...

Hi Bella,

I had a pretty big realization yesterday regarding what came up in my previous post. I was walking around and I thought about gravity - our bodies, and all other things, obey the law of gravity naturally, it just happens. If someone were to ask me what is deciding that gravity happens ...

Hi Bella,

Thanks, back at it!

Can you describe these sensations? How is it known this is a fabrication?
It's similar to previous exercises where I could observe myself making a thinker. I know it's a fabrication because I can see it, just like any other thought/sensation, and if I look for it I ...

Hi Bella,

Thank you. If it's alright with you I'd like to take one more day to complete the exercise below - I have been too busy to focus much today and in addition to wanting to give proper time to the exercises you presented, several comments/questions came up after posting yesterday that I'd ...

Hi Bella,

Thank you. I have to admit today was a bit stressful and I found it harder to look, some frustration came up around doing the exercise, some desire for it to make sense. I am aware these are thoughts though there is some identification with them :)

What is it exactly that is choosing ...

Hi Bella,

What is it exactly that you do or don’t see/notice? LOOK! Don’t think.
I see thoughts, and I do not see a thinker. I get a feeling like there is a thinker but when I look that is another thought.

Can you see this clearly?
Yes this is crystal clear.

Can you see this clearly?
Yes ...

Hi Bella,

Thank you.

Where is it exactly that the thoughts are already? Look: what do you see? Don't guess.
The thoughts are in awareness. Actually - I don't see them "in" anything in the conventional sense of it having limits or any describable qualities. I'm aware of them but I can't find a ...

Hi Bella,

Where do thoughts come from?
My attention will go to a place - the present, past, future, etc. and it's like the thoughts are already there.

Where are they going?
They don't go anywhere. It's like they're just gone (do they even exist?) or another thought replaces them.

Can ‘you ...

Hi Bella,

Replies below.

tell me how it went.

During the first part I did feel a kind of restless tension in my body. I felt impatient doing the exercise. I also felt a kind of mental tension feeling like I was making a self that was doing this.

In the second part I felt less restlessness, and ...

Hi Bella,

What do you see?
Different cream and brown colors, a curve, some object that has height and is occupying space. To describe it any other way (and maybe even in that way) would be impossible without thought.

What do you feel?
I feel sensations on my hands - warmth, heaviness ...