Hi,
Would you still like to have a conversation to explore what self is and is not? What we point to here just needs you to look with honesty, openness and simplicity at what is right now. It is not a re-experiencing of any passing state that you have experienced in the past. It's not about ...

Look

Hi Alec,

No problem. Whatever feels right for you at the moment.
If the world's a hectic place and, presumably, there isn't a fire to get this done, then that is how it is right now.

Nice that you have Ilona's book. i am sure you appreciate that this investigation hinges not in reading about it ...

Hi Alec,
How are things settling?
Is there anything you'd like to share?

Ray

Thanks Alec,

Taking time to let it sink in sounds just fine.
Please write what comes up. I'll be here to ask more question as appropriate.

All the best
Ray

Hi Alec,

Some really good observations in your last post. I can offer you no better guidance that to suggest re-reading what you wrote and look more closely into what was written.
Yesterday, everything felt very clear. There was just an acceptance of everything being as it is. Far less ...

Hi Alec,
I guess I am expect something that'll make me go "ohhhh, okay. I get it now". Even that is a thought though, and not one which is permanently underlying all experience. Clarity (for lack of a better word) doesn't feel very stable at the moment. It fluctuates a lot. And there's still this ...

Hi Alec,
Does it matter that thoughts occur with descriptions and stories that are unrelated to what is right now?

No, it doesn't matter at all.
That sounds like a lovely relaxation.
'I' is always just a thought. Thinking about your opinions or your beliefs, things you have done or want to do ...

Doing, along with thoughts and feelings just happen. There's a sense of commitments and practical obligations, but they're just thoughts too. Not based on what is right now.

Cool.

Does it matter that thoughts occur with descriptions and stories that are unrelated to what is right now? If these ...

how can I improve my thoughts? how can I improve my feelings?'.

Is there anything to be done?

Ray

Hi Alec,
It's wishing things to be different than how they are. Having this fantasy or expectation that doesn't align with what actually is. It's making that comparison that creates suffering. Also, realizing that you don't really know or own what you're feeling. It's just passing through.
So ...

Hi Alec,
I'm back, hopefully with fewer typos!

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by that. A container of the content? No. Content is just constantly arising and is largely influenced by other 'content'. I was referring to "content and container" as a metaphor. From what you wrote you do not see ...

Hi Alec,
I just got back home after being away. I'll reply tomorrow

Ray

Hi Alec,

Seeing that this to fades in and out is quite normal.

"It's all content". That's a good observation. Is there a container as well as the content?

Is there an actual character that struggles? What is a belief and what is real in a that?

All the best
Ray

Hi Alec,

An interesting turn-around in your last sentence "I'm trying to control the experience."
I assume you noticed that "I" and "control" jumped back in there.

Please continue to be a student of yourself, as it were, to observe when a sense of self and control is here, and when that falls away ...