The importance of being earnest

[fatfox50]

Could someone guide me again. I went for awhile and ran out of gas.
Since then I've learned more about DE and non-duality. We've discovered
Nisargadatta, Ruper Spira and others. Anyway I feel closer or thru the gate.
thanks,
Laurence

[EmptySet00]

Hello Laurence,

I'll be happy to guide you if you'd like.

Before we start, please confirm that you have read the disclaimer:

http://liberationunleashed.com/disclaimer-2/

and the "What this is not" section of the FAQ:

http://liberationunleashed.com/faqs/lib ... ed-is-not/

If you have read these and still want to go on, please tell me more about why you are here. Why did you leave earlier, and why are you back?

What do you expect from this return visit?

ES

[fatfox50]

Hello Emptyset,
Thank you for your response and your time.

If you have read these and still want to go on, please tell me more about why you are here. Why did you leave earlier, and why are you back?

I would like to give this whole process another try, the last time became a combination of feeling frustrated, being under the impression to have to repeat myself more often than I care to, and a slew of personal things going on at the same time, moving, etc. that made the whole process difficult to follow on schedule, one post a day. I have since read quite a bit about DE and have integrated this in my way of "being", looking at things as an observer, images arising and disappearing, just passing through. Questioning all body based sensations, influences, reactions, etc.

What do you expect from this return visit?

I would like to finish what I started and put all doubts and questions about the "I" to rest and move on to shed more and more learned behavioral burdens.
thanks,
Laurence

[EmptySet00]

Sounds good.

One request- Please put away any other spiritual teachings during this inquiry. No books, no videos, no talks, etc. If you have a regular meditation practice, you can continue it. This isn't about concepts, and taking in more concepts could lead to confusion.

First question: What do you think of as yourself? When you refer to yourself, use the words "I" or "me", what does that mean?

[fatfox50]

First question: What do you think of as yourself? When you refer to yourself, use the words "I" or "me", what does that mean?

That's a pretty hard answer to give you, I still have some leftover senses of Body and being a compilation of past experiences, physical or emotional, But having started LU and read about DE, what I feel most now is awareness and what is really happening now. Thus, what is me right now is awareness without a mind or body. Being aware of the thoughts from the mind and letting them go by.

[EmptySet00]

I still have some leftover senses of Body and being a compilation of past experiences, physical or emotional, But having started LU and read about DE, what I feel most now is awareness and what is really happening now. Thus, what is me right now is awareness without a mind or body.

We'll look at all of these things, body, mind, and awareness, to make sure we've covered everything thoroughly.

First, the body:

Do you feel like you are the body, or are in the body? Does your sense of self have a location? If it does have a location, does that stay consistent or change?

When you close your eyes, can you find an inside and an outside? Can you tell the shape of your body with your eyes closed?

Do you control your bodily functions such as heartbeat and digestion?

[fatfox50]

I can say that I have a Body, I look at parts of it with detachment, it give me various feelings, so I am in the Body looking and Being aware - there is no location.

When I close my eyes, there is no sense of inside or outside, no shape -

No I do not control my Bodily functions.

[EmptySet00]

When you feel bodily sensations, is there a perceiver of the sensations, or just the sensations?

Also, walk around a little. Do you think about every step and how to move every little muscle, or does it just happen?

[fatfox50]

When I feel bodily sensations at first most of the time there is a perceiver but then I catch myself and ask, who is feeling the tooth ache? Then just focus on the sensation and let it go.
Walking around, I do not think of every muscle and nerve that makes every movement work, it just happens

[EmptySet00]

Is there a perceiver, or are you just assuming there is a perceiver if you're not really paying attention? Focus on whatever sensations are happening now. Is there something or someone perceiving them?

Think to yourself, "I feel this (hot, cold, pressure, texture, pain, whatever)"

Then just think the word describing the sensation.

Where is the "I"?

[Billy3xs]

Hi {},
This is Bill Lawrence's husband . I went through Lu awhile back and l'm happy you have volunteered to guide Larry. I just wanted to say that was a really cool catch on perceiver and a great exercise, I can feel it too. It would be fun to know if you are a mathematician or software developer, what time zone you're in, male or female. We are retired living in Puerto Rico for the surf, I'm a long-time surfer and Larry is learning how to surf! By your interaction with Larry it seems like you really got it!

Don't believe everything you think.

[fatfox50]

No there is no perceiver in truth, just sensations passing thru, just being noted, watching a hand touch an ice cube, feeling the cold, wet. Watching a foot in the sand and feeling the heat. There is no "I", just awareness of the sensations, watching things happening.

[EmptySet00]

Let's do the decision making exercise with a focus on what moves the body.

Take two objects and put them in front of you. Then pick up one or the other. Try to see exactly when the decision happened. Was there a thought first or a movement first? Where did the thought or movement come from?

Do you experience something controlling the decisions or the movements?

[EmptySet00]

I'll PM you later Bill :)

[fatfox50]

There is really no thought just an instantaneous decision coupled with the movement, -in a non exercise environment, the decision comes from the situation itself - I do not experience anything controlling the movements or decisions, if the situation calls for a knife, it gets grabbed, by the time I look down it's in hand.