Am I ready for the aftercare group?

I can no longer legitimately claim that I'm not awake. :-) Except when I'm not awake. :-D

But seriously, I believe we have accomplished our objective here. There were a couple of tipping points: 1) sharpening the distinction between the actual and the imaginary, and 2) seeing that the sense of self ...

Do you see in the above that the difference between 'it all coming together with perfect clarity' and 'coming along in small parcels which make up realisation', is again simply the difference between one thought and another?
Yes all thoughts of whatever form and content just appearing here, known ...

Thanks again for your comprehensive reply, Mike. I'll have a full response by Wednesday morning, hopefully tomorrow.

Hiya John,

You clearly 'looked' and saw a great deal even before arriving here, it's quite evident in your clarity and eloquence - either that or perhaps you're an English Language Professor :-)

Thanks Mike, I'll take that as a compliment :-). I do string words together for a living -- as a ...

Oops - likely won't have a full response today. Taking a close look at choice/free will/control as I engage with the day's activities.

Thanks Mike, just a quick reply here to say that I'll have the full response by tomorrow.

Hi again John and thanks for your patience,

A couple of guides have taken a look and have suggested we continue here in order to gain clarity on the area of Choice/Volition/Freewill. If you're happy to do so, perhaps we can look a little deeper into this as clearing up any grey areas can have a ...

Hi Mike,

OK I've been wrestling with these questions and it's time to spit it all out. :-)


1) Is there a separate entity 'self', 'me' 'I', at all, anywhere, in any way shape or form? Was there ever?

The separate self exists only in imagination, in thought. And even though thinking undoubtedly ...

Hi Mike, still working on the answers. Will report by tomorrow. Thanks!

Hi Mike, thanks for checking in - it's been a full week, and I've been alternately seeing and grappling with doubts. I hope to have a full response by tomorrow morning.

Hi Mike,

Thanks once again for your beautifully detailed responses and helpful pointers. I'll answer the questions later - perhaps a few days' time.

John

Hi Mike,

Thanks for letting me take a pause to observe this recognition as it appears in daily life. Some observations:

Noticing the claims "I" and "me" appearing in thought often occasions a brief pause to consider, and see that they do not refer to an actual thing, but are references arising out ...

One last thing which you may find useful, is to re-visit the book by Elena and Illona. Even if it's just for a few sections - reading it when on 'the other side' feels like a very different experience.

You mean Gateless Gatecrashers ? Thanks for the suggestion. I've been missing my nightly ...

If when you look, you see that there's no separate self to be found - then does that mean when you're not looking the self is somehow present? Or is it that the mind continues to play tricks and create a dialogue as though nothing's changed? Has anything ACTUALLY changed?
Good catch, Mike ...