Hello Rali!

I tried really hard to stick with direct experience. I think I might understand now.

Close your eyes and listen to a sound.
What is actually present?
Hearing is happening. I don’t hear a source and I don’t hear a hearer. Only sound. Thought identifies sounds: the heater, traffic ...

Hi Rali,

I tried to post earlier, but the site was down. Thank you for your questions. I'm still wrestling the compulsion to answer "thoughtfully;" hopefully I've made a little progress.

For example, when you say there is no controller, what was actually experienced when you looked for one? Was ...

Hi Rali,

Some clarifications.

And when the thought "I am experiencing this" appears, is that thought evidence of an experiencer, or simply another part of whatever is happening?
It sounds like evidence of an experiencer, but I can’t find an experiencer.

What I’m trying to say is that when I ...

Hello Rali,

Please be blunt! I understand directness much more easily than gentlesness--not that you can't be both direct and gentle, but anyway. Thanks for your assessment of my 'thoughtful' response. I have a habit of overthinking despite whether it's efficient or effective. Or healthy.

So here ...

Hi Rali,

Thanks for your questioning! This set of questions was the most challenging so far. There is some resistance and some frustration. I'm finding it especially difficult to translate my experiences into accurate language, while sticking to the direct experience.

Is there an unstable one? A ...

Hi Rali,

Does knowing HOW something happens change WHAT is actually happening? Do you need to understand how breathing happens for breathing to happen?

No. I don’t understand the physics around how airplanes work, but I still use them to visit other cities. I don’t know a conscious thought to ...

Hi Rali,

I appreciate the time you take with my responses. It feels like I might be moving closer to a change of perspective. I wonder if it will feel like learning how to draw felt for me: like I learned a whole new way to see. Nothing really changed, but the world looks a lot different.

Do the ...

Hello Rali!

Thank you for your words! I think I really struggle to let go of thinking about everything. I try to feel into direct experience and the mind stands back and yells, "But what about..." and "That doesn't make sense!" I'm working to cultivate patience with the process. I appreciate your ...

Hi Rali,

Thanks for your questions! These were hard for me.

So what about the body? Is a body actually experienced, or is "body" another label for a collection of experiences?

The body receives and interprets all kinds of sensory input and reacts. It is visible. It is touchable. It lives. Isn’t ...

Hi Rali,

Nice to hear from you! Thank you for your patience while I learn to work through this!

There is an assumption that there must be someone directing attention, someone doing the looking, someone who needs to figure out how to see. But is that actually true?

I’m wrestling with this.

It ...

Hi Rali--

Thank you for your reply! I have apples at home, so I used a real apple.

However, is 'an apple' actually known? (Or is it just a label?) Is there really an ‘apple’ here, or only colour and a thought ABOUT ‘apple’? Can ‘apple’ be found in actual experience?

I used a real apple and ...

Dear, Rali,

Thank you for taking your time with me, I really appreciate it. I'm struggling in thoughts/concepts, trying to see what is--I know I'm literally already there, but I am not yet seeing.

If you look for the I, what is there? If I say there’s no doer, thinker, experiencer, decision ...

Rali!

Thank you for your message! I have answered your questions below and look forward to hearing back from you.

Love,
Elle

1. What will be different when you realize there’s no separate self?
I think I will have a more accurate perspective on reality, unconfused by thought. I imagine the ...

Hi Rali--

You can call me elle; I'm in US Pacific timezone. I read everything and I'm ready to begin! I can post every day, or let you know that I need more time. What time zone are you writing from? Will I get emailed alerts when you've replied to posts?
Nice to hear from you, and I look forward ...

LU is focused guiding for seeing there is no real, inherent 'self' - what do you understand by this?
this concept of a separate, unique self is a concept that is not borne out by direct experience.

What are you looking for at LU?
a path to understanding the lack of a self, an experiencer, a ...