Hi Tanya,

I will PM you :) Thanks a lot for your guiding, positivity and patience :)


James

Hi Tanya :)

1. Do speech and thoughts have the capacity to introduce an I to life? Please explain.

No. "I" is used in speech as divider to different "persons" (it was not "you" who is writing this, it is "I") as well as an easy way to express things ("I ate a banana" instead of "This mouth opened ...

Hi Tanya :)

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

No. There is just the experience.

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 ...

Hi Tanya!

Sorry for late reply, I got mixed of the days. Yes, I can say now that there is no self. So if you got questions, I am ready :)


James

Hi Tanya :)

In the spirit of sharing' I went through the gate and would not believe it for several months. Beliefs/conditioning/self-thoughts kept suggesting I hadn't seen really seen it. This was absolutely NOT it! It was so ordinary!? Was this what I'd spent years searching for? What a joke ...

Hi Tanya,

Well said, James! DE IS real, isn't it? When focused awareness begins observing and attaching to thought, the expereince becomes something else; a representation of an experience. Same as actually eating dinner, and thinking about it. Which one makes you full? :)

Yes, DE is real and ...

Hi Tanya :)

I will be away for the weekend. I'll get back to you on Monday :)

Enjoy your weekend!

James

Hi Tanya :)

OK, so you are saying that 'I' comes and goes? If something comes and goes, it cannot be real or permanent, right? Life is permanent. You are always here, even when you are deep in thought. You know you exist.

You can put it so well that it sounds obvious :) But yes, life is ...

Hi Tanya,

I don't know why (is there ever answer to that question?), but for some reason "concentrating" has been really hard for couple of days. Maybe it's because of real life stuff, but that's speculation. In any case, here is something to work with:

OK, when you are unconscious is the self ...

Hi Tanya,

In fact you are right, I'll take a bit more time to see what can I find. See you tomorrow :)


James

Hi Tanya,

Today observing the presence has been difficult, lots of thoughts and unconciousness. I'll continue, but here is what I got now:

Great, and do you find self in there anywhere ?

Still looking.

What do you mean by theory? What is this automatic'ness exactly? Is 'self' in there?

I ...

Hi Tanya :)

See if you can just observe talking/reading/thinking - same as when you watch TV. Just observe. What do you find?

Well, I don't watch much TV and when I do I blank out :) But; didn't have much chance to talk today. It was hard to read and at the same time observe. While thinking it ...

Ohh, I forgot to tell about eating.

I went with my food plate to sit. Just whe I was sitting down, there was a guy who came to sit at the same table. He said something, I don't speak the language of country where I live, so I didn't understand. Thought came that there was a free table, thought came ...

Hi Tanya :)

See if you can try this exercise with some experiences throughout your day and write what you find.

Well, today has been thought-filled day but anyway, I went to a walk. At moments it is easy to "stay" in the presence but talking/reading/thinking gets in the way. Am I supposed to ...

Hi Tanya!

You kinda answered it! :) When there is thought, 'I' claims it by suggesting it is in control, right? Just like you said,
'It's just sometimes when there is a thought that there is control about things.' That's exactly right! When there is a thought that says it's in control - is it ...