Hi Lisa,
Nice LOOKING :)
So could either a head or an ""I be found in the sensation labelled as head?
No. This took a while to get the hang of. Driving, my head would bump the back of the head rest, immediately the idea of a head and what it looks like came to mind, but I had to remind me self it's just sensation and and image of a head. Similar with eyes and forehead.
Excellent...well done! So the suggestion, via thought and images, that it is a head that is touching a something else, will always appear. That is not going to go away. There is no one in control of what thoughts appear and when, so they will continue to appear. That is why you have to diligently LOOK each time that suggestion appears, so that eventually the ‘corrective thought’ will appear directly after those thoughts and images and tell you what is actually appearing ie AE of sensation and thoughts & images ABOUT a head and whatever it is ‘touching’.
When carefully looking...are there specific locations to where sensation labelled as head, forehead and eyes are supposedly found? In other words, does experience have a location?
No. If there is no head, eyes and forehead, then experience does not have a location.
Terrific! So, it is seen that there is no head, eyes or forehead. Again, the suggestion of these being ‘things’ that belong to a ‘you’ and ‘your body’ will continue to appear…just LOOK to see what is actually appearing.
So can an “I” reside anywhere in those ‘places’? And do thoughts and mental images actually appear in a head, or in a specific location?
Okay….going back to the hand exercise to see if there is any control, decision or choices.
So let’s have a look at the idea of control, choice and decisions.
1. Hold a hand in front of you; palm turned down.
2. Now turn the palm up. And down...and up and so on.
Watch like a hawk.
Don't go to thoughts, examine the actual experience. Do this as many times as you like, and each time inquire…
How is the movement controlled?
Does a thought control it?
Can a ‘controller’ of any description be located?
How is the decision made to turn the hand over? Track any decision point when a thought MADE THE DECISION to turn the hand over and the hand turns over immediately.
Can you find a separate individual or anything that is choosing when to turn the palm up or down?
Does a thought control it?
I don't notice any thoughts as it happens. Or at least there is nothing that says "turn over now" or "don't turn over".
So I would like you to deliberately say “turn the hand” and see if the hand actually turns? I want you to really see if a thought is needed for the hand to turn or not turn.
Can you find a separate individual or anything that is choosing when to turn the palm up or down?
No. I had always assumed you "make up your mind" or "decide" to do something but I'm not finding a mind or an individual doing that.
Assumptions are just another appearing about something else…so thoughts about thought ie story!
The aim of the following exercise is to discover whether the function of choice can really be found or confirmed in actual experience. The idea of making ‘choices‘ is a very clear example of a function that we wrongly identify as the basis of our identity.
You need to get any two different drinks you like for this exercise, ie coffee, tea, milk, water, juices, smoothies, beer, wine, etc. One will be drink A the other will be drink B
Sit for a few moments, take a few relaxed breaths and let the dust settle. When you feel ready:
1. Look at drink A and at drink B. Think about their respective qualities, the things you like about them, compare and weigh the pros and cons of each. See if a preference is manifesting for one or the other.
2. Count to 5.
3. Choose one of the drinks. Pick it up and take a sip.
Questions:
Remember that we’re looking for some kind of function, a something, an ‘I’ which is doing the ‘choosing’.
In step 1 when thinking about their respective qualities, did you ‘choose’ the qualities? Or did they kind of appear by themselves? If some preferences manifested, did you ‘choose’ these preferences? Or did they just pop up by themselves?
In step 2 when you counted to 5, if the preferences took the back seat while the numbers took the front seat, did you ‘choose’ this sequence of event? Did you ‘choose’ to shut down the preferences to give way to the counting? Did you directly experience a mental function or faculty doing the ‘choosing’? Have you seen this function in action?
In step 3 where you made a choice, did you actually witness or directly experience a mental function or faculty doing the ‘choosing’? Did anything arise that announced, ‘I am the chooser’? If so, what does this function look like?
Sometimes we describe this sense of choosing as a ‘feeling’: It feels like ‘I’ did the ‘choosing’. But the question is, can a feeling ‘choose’? Is it in the nature of a feeling to ‘choose’?
With delight,
Kay
Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists.
