Thanks for everything, Ilona. I'm looking forward to your message.

Brent

Hi Ilona,

Thanks for clearing up my confusion about the Outbox.

Here are my answers to the final questions:

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

No, there is nothing like that here, and there never was. It was a daydream ...

Hi Ilona,

I will post some answers later today. In the meantime, I need some technical advice. Lately when I have tried to send private messages they often get stuck in my Outbox. There is one stuck there right now that I tried to send yesterday. I'm not sure how to fix that, or who to ask about it ...

Ilona,

I am ready for the final questions.

Thanks,

Brent

Hi Ilona,

The open space, keep looking at it, resting in it.

I have been.


Have a look, what is that is making progress?

There is no one here to make progress now.


Is there I to make progress?

The “I” is clearly just a thought or label.


Where does this I come from?

It comes from ...

Ilona,

Things are still looking relatively clear, but I've been crazy busy this week and haven't had much time to write you. I hope to have some time tomorrow.

Brent

Here is bahyia sutra, look at all through this lens, spend time with it, see what it means in experience


So I reviewed the bahyia sutra a bunch of times and looked at experience through that lens some for a couple of days. It didn’t really do anything for me.

On the other hand, yesterday I ...

I can't determine from direct experience what is looking. I can only speculate that
the brain must be what is looking. It is what controls the body. But the brain is not a self. It is just responding to conditions that exist.

It is raining. The sound of the rain is appearing, but not to anyone ...

Hi Ilona,

Great! Now look at what is looking.


When I look at what is looking, I don’t see anything.


What is that seeing is happening to?

It is not happening to anything.


What happens when you ask these questions?


It reduces the degree to which I identify with the “me” that my ...

Ok I did the focus exercise.

Focus moves on its own with no direction from "me". It jumps from one thing to the next. With my eyes shut, the focus is drawn to sounds and thoughts that pop up. It just moves with no apparent cause other than the arising of a new stimulus.

Happy Easter back at you.

Hi Ilona,

So I have an apple in front of me. I am going to eat it and examine where the tasting and smelling experiences are happening…

It has barely any smell, so I am focusing on the taste and the feeling of eating. It is crisp, sour and juicy.

When I look closely, it is very clear that the ...

Ilona,

I already did the fruit exercise and reported the results in great detail in my 15 March post.

Brent

Hi Ilona,

Now take a look, where sounds happen? Close your eyes, so visual perception is minimised, listen to sounds for 15 minutes, don't think about science and biology, just hear what is being heard.


So I did this exercise.

There is no way to say where the sounds happen. They come from ...

Hi Ilona,

I can tell from experimenting that the seeing and hearing happen at my head.
interesting... if you hear a distant sound of plain or traffic, how big is your head?? how big is your head if you look up the sky and see stars?


I think you may have misunderstood me. I did not mean that ...

Hi Ilona,


There is also a sense that I exist in a definite physical location associated with the body. It seems to be in my head right behind my eyes.
it seems, yes, but what is actually true? look, are you inside the head? in experience, is there a place behind eyes or it's an idea that there ...