Hi Neil,

I'll pm you. Thanks again!

Don

Hi Neil,

Thanks again for taking the time and energy to guide me. I'm forever grateful.

Don

hi don. Thanks for your answers. Mostly very clear. One small request, can you give some examples from your own experience for question 5. This just helps guides be able to confirm that you have seen clearly.

One example I can give is New Year's resolutions I've made, or any kind of desire to ...

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

No. There was/is the illusion of a seperate entity, a me/self/I, but that illusion can be seen for what it is, just an unquestioned belief.

2) Explain in detail what the illusion of self is ...

It was the labelling I was pointing at. As soon as we perceive something, a thought pops up labelling it "car" or "monitor" or whatever. And we take the label as being real. It may be pointing to something real, but is the label the actual thing?

The label is never the actual thing, just another ...

Hi Neil,

Take a look around the room, look at objects, hear sounds. Do you notice what happens when you do this? What is happening in the content of thought?

There is the perception / labeling of the object. From there I’m not sure what you mean when you ask what is happening in the content of ...

Hi Neil,

Your last post cleared up a lot of misunderstanding. I need some time to process all of this. Thanks.

Hi Neil,

so give me a bit of a rant about how things are for you now.

whats the same, if anything? whats different, if anything?

I am not sure how to describe the place that I'm in right now. I cannot tell whether this is all still conceptual or a direct experience / deep knowing. What feels ...

So is there a self, in any way, shape or form?

There is no self. When I first encountered the idea of no self, it was through Buddhism and anatta. I never really understood what no self meant until coming here. In the past there was confusion about how to realize no self in direct experience. The ...

Ok, keep up with the looking. It might help me give some more pointers if you describe how you are looking and what you are looking at? Remember also to take a look at the other senses.

Thoughts arise and mind instantly attaches to the content of the thoughts, then the thought to look at the ...

Lately I've been switching my attention from the content of thought to the thinking process and tracing thought back to see if there was/is an "I" that was/is doing the thinking. My expectations of what's supposed to happen during this process or how long this is supposed to take have relaxed, as I ...

Thanks for the alternative exercises.

Think about the story of your life. Now think about how someone else ( your parents, a friend, etc) would tell your story. Would they be the same story? Whose story would be the correct one?

They definitely would not be the same story! It's all just opinion ...

Hi Neil,

I didn't do the exercise as you and asked (e.g. rewrite the first paragraph). I just did the exercise twice, one using "I" and one without. It is a really good exercise showing how language is a key component of how the belief in a self is created. I noticed that with the first paragraph ...

Not exactly. Although non identification would be great, we really just want to LOOK at identification and see if there is an entity that is identifying. Who or what is identifying with awareness? If the true "I" is awareness, then how can it also identify with awareness? Its like you are saying ...

Hey. Seems like you are a bit stuck again. Can you tell me the sticking point?

The sticking point is that even though I know conceptually that there is no looker, when I look into direct experience the looking feels as if that is "me" looking. I'm not sure if I've read too many spiritual books ...