Dear Fred,
May I extend my heartfelt thanks. To my utter surprise this has taken me to a new place.
It was not just more little insights. With your help, I have been able to clarify the main issue.
I am quietly happy.

6) Anything to add?

Not yet.

Any further questions?

5) Describe decision, intention, free will, choice and control. What makes things happen? How does it work? What are you responsible for? Give examples from experience.


Decision.
A feeling arises. Unpleasant. Intention to get up. Picture of getting up and going to the table to get cashew nuts ...

I will give some time and attention to question 5 now. Back soon.

4) What was the last bit that pushed you over, made you look?


I think it was the point at which I saw the craving for an eternal entity.
I saw the terrible sense of personal inadequacy and the fear of losing my mother to death.
I saw the sense of powerlessness and the desire to cling to ...

3) How does it feel to see this? What is the difference from before you started this dialogue? Please report from the past few days.


It feels quiet. Whatever goes through the mind - however silly or dramatic or serious - it just dies. There is a quietness.
There is a certainty but not one which ...

What is ‘consciousness’ in direct experience? Can you point to a ‘thing’ we would call consciousness? Does it come and go? Does consciousness think? Does it have control over thought? Or does thought just come and go, not controlled by anything or anyone?


By consciousness I mean the apparent ...

I am now considering the third question. Back soon.

2) Explain in detail what the illusion of separate self is, when it starts and how it works from your own experience. Describe it fully as you see it now.


There is raw sense data. Visual image. Feeling. Perception of the feeling as pleasant or unpleasant. A desire to act out in someway arises ...

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

There is no separate entity 'self', 'me', 'I', at all, anywhere, in any way, shape or form and it never did!

I am really going to consider the second question for a while.

Why don't you ask the questions and we'll see what emerges.

OK, try this question: When you say ‘I’, ‘me’, ‘self’, what are you referring to, these days? What is ‘I’?

Upon investigation - the sound of the fridge - "Is that me?" - "No" - felling in the body - "Is THIS me" (note use of this not that) - "Yes".
The mind categorises things into me and not me ...

Is there an entity choosing? Can a 'chooser' be experienced, or is there just picking of an option happening? Say a hand reaches out for coffee, what are the factors that come into play?


I have been watching all day. There is no choosing entity. Choice happens. Sometimes it seems to be ...

If it did re-emerge, would it be a problem? Who or what would label it as a problem, if it is seen as illusory?

It is possible that it would just be noted as a thought form and treated as equal to other thought forms - we'll see.

So far with decision making. I have noted throughout waking up ...

1)
Original Face wrote:
A sense of something missing - but in a good way.

Would you like to describe this sense, seen from direct experience? Is it a sensation?
As you read these words on the screen, smell the air, feel the various sensations around what we call the body. What is missing?


I ...