I’m not sure

[Aussie]

Dear Cheryl

is there a spoon here, in real life?

No definitely no spoon in real life.

So how did you see that there is no spoon?

By opening the eyes and seeing what is real.

What happened to the spoon?

Nothing.

Did it disappear or did it never exist?

The spoon never existed because it was nothing more than a thought/imagined.

Kind regards Aussie

[CherylVT]

Dear Aussie,

Here is another exercise:

Close your eyes and imagine you are in the kitchen. Just visualize and look around, notice where things are put. Notice the space, the feel of it.
This is an image, it can trigger feelings and contractions - expansions, thought stories and feelings attached to them.

Open eyes and see how an image can be created and explored in the mind.

Go to the kitchen and look at the same things that you saw in the image.
How does imagining and experiencing the same things differ?
Is the image of the kitchen and experience of the kitchen the same?


If I was to tell you that Santa is real, would you see it in the room right now?
Can you see the difference between real and imagined?

Self is imagined. You can look for the real self, but can the self be found?
Look in each sense- can you find the self? ( is there a self in touch, smelling, tasting, seeing and hearing? Test with each sense.)

Focus on the image of me, the separate individual entity.
Is it an image or an actual entity?
.......

Love,
Cheryl

Is the controller/manager in a head? if so, how does a self give commands to the body?

[Aussie]

Dear Cheryl

How does imagining and experiencing the same things differ?
Is the image of the kitchen and experience of the kitchen the same?

Slight tension and somewhat blurry images of the kitchen in thought. It’s definitely not the same experience of real kitchen.

If I was to tell you that Santa is real, would you see it in the room right now?
Can you see the difference between real and imagined?

Yes this is clear.

can the self be found?
Look in each sense- can you find the self? ( is there a self in touch, smelling, tasting, seeing and hearing? Test with each sense.)

I still struggle abit with this because it feels like self is touch, smell, taste, seeing and hearing.

Is it an image or an actual entity?

I still lean towards a separate entity. But i see glimpses of it just being image.

Kind regards Aussie

[CherylVT]

Dear Aussie,

it feels like self is touch, smell, taste, seeing and hearing.

Look again. Look carefully into each sense individually.

Is self in physical touch? Where?
Is self in smell?
Is self in taste?
Is self in hearing? Where?

Seeing is the most difficult sense door because it's the most over-powering. We'll leave that sense door for the next time.

Love,
Cheryl

[Aussie]

Dear Cheryl

Is self in physical touch? Where?
Is self in smell?
Is self in taste?
Is self in hearing? Where?

I guess when you look close enough smell is just smelling by itself, taste is tasting by itself etc, there is no self needed for this to be.

Kind regards Aussie

[CherylVT]

Dear Aussie,

Yes!

when you look close enough

The "secret" is in looking closely. Those pesky assumptions we made when we were two years old turn out not to be true. But it takes looking closely to unearth those assumptions.

there is no self needed

for touching to touch, for smelling to smell, for tasting to taste, for hearing to hear.

Now let's look at seeing.

Is self in seeing? Where?


You might want to take a look at this pdf by Goran Backlund.
https://www.scribd.com/document/3186152 ... d-Sketches
Let me know if this URL doesn't work for you.

Love,
Cheryl

[Aussie]

Dear Cheryl

Is self in seeing? Where?

No there is no self in seeing, there is only vision/seeing but i do get a sense of self if i look at the reflection of a mirror.

You might want to take a look at this pdf by Goran Backlund.
https://www.scribd.com/document/3186152 ... d-Sketches
Let me know if this URL doesn't work for you.

Yes this worked for me thankyou but it didn’t make much sense to me sorry, i may need to read it a fair few times to grasp it.

Kind regards Aussie

[CherylVT]

Dear Aussie,

Ah, yes. The mirror.

Let's stick to your first answer:

there is no self in seeing, there is only vision/seeing

This is a big step. Take some time to allow this to sink in.

Meanwhile, the next time you look at a mirror, can you catch any thoughts? "That's me!" "Gee, i look like my dad." "I don't like the way i look." etcetera

The "me" in the mirror is a concept.
Gazing at the me in the mirror, where is the self? Not over there in the mirror. Where is the self felt--in the body?

Love,
Cheryl

[Aussie]

Dear Cheryl

The "me" in the mirror is a concept.
Gazing at the me in the mirror,

where is the self?

Not over there in the mirror.

Where is the self felt--in the body?

I know you’re the one asking the questions but what is there if there is no self?

Kind regards Aussie

[CherylVT]

Dear Aussie,

Very good.

For the next exercise I want you to sit somewhere quiet and observe thoughts.

A thought appears. In that moment is there anyone or anything which recognises the thought or is aware of it?
Can you see anything that is separate from the thought and does the thinking?
Where do thoughts appear from?
Do they appear randomly or in a structured way?
Is there anything that is responsible for the thoughts like a traffic cop saying which one to go and which one to stay?
Can the flow of thoughts be changed? Watch like a hawk.

Write down a sequence of 5 thoughts in the order that they appear. Now check:
Could you predict the order of their appearance?
Did you know which will be the second or the fourth?
Can you stop them midway? How long does that last? Test it for the fun of exploration.
Are they 100% true?
What are you, when you don't think about what you are?

Love
Cheryl

[Aussie]

Dear Cheryl

is there anyone or anything which recognises the thought or is aware of it?

There must be something recognising otherwise we wouldn’t be chatting about this.

Can you see anything that is separate from the thought and does the thinking?

No I cannot see anything seperate.

Where do thoughts appear from?

Actions of the brain.

Do they appear randomly or in a structured way?

Seems to be random but if I need to problem solve something at work it can feel like maybe there’s structure.

Is there anything that is responsible for the thoughts like a traffic cop saying which one to go and which one to stay?

No there isn’t.

Can the flow of thoughts be changed?

No this cannot be changed.

Could you predict the order of their appearance?
Did you know which will be the second or the fourth?

No absolutely not.

Can you stop them midway?

Yes if I’m fully aware of it but soon after another thought takes over.

Are they 100% true?

No not always.

What are you, when you don't think about what you are?

Pure awareness.

Kind regards Aussie

[CherylVT]

Dear Aussie,

There must be something recognising

Is there a you or a self in that recognising?


Thoughts

Seems to be random but if I need to problem solve something at work it can feel like maybe there’s structure.

So, are you controlling your thoughts?

I asked Can you stop them midway?
And you replied

Yes if I’m fully aware of it but soon after another thought takes over.

Who is the I who is aware?
Can you control or stop your thoughts?
Who is the you who is stopping a thought?

I asked: What are you, when you don't think about what you are?
You replied:

Pure awareness.

Are you pure awareness?
Is pure awareness a "higher self"?
What is this awareness?

Love,
Cheryl

[Aussie]

Dear Cheryl

Is there a you or a self in that recognising?

no, i think it just is

Who is the I who is aware?

I’m not to sure

Can you control or stop your thoughts?

no you can’t control or stop thoughts

Who is the you who is stopping a thought?

not sure but seems if you are aware of thought midstream it disappears almost like you’ve caught it in a sense

Are you pure awareness?
Is pure awareness a "higher self"?
What is this awareness?

I can’t really explain any of this i think it’s just ‘being’

Kind regards Aussie

[CherylVT]

Dear Aussie,

i think it just is

Yes. There's a thought.

it’s just ‘being’

Yes. Just a verb, a process unfolding. Be-ing.

Here is another exercise to watch your thoughts (if you have done this one tell me and I will send a different one):

Sit quietly for about 30 minutes and notice the arising thoughts.
Just let them appear as they appear. Try your best to COMPLETELY ignore what they are
saying and just notice how they appear without you doing anything at all.

Where are they coming from and going to?
Did you do anything to make a particular thought or thoughts appear?
Could you have done anything to make a different thought appear at that exact moment
instead?
Can you predict your next thought?
Can you select from a range of thoughts to have only pleasant thoughts?
Can you choose not to have painful, negative or fearful thoughts?
Can you pick and choose any kind of thought?
Is it possible to prevent a thought from appearing?

Love,
Cheryl

[Aussie]

Dear Cheryl

Where are they coming from and going to?
Did you do anything to make a particular thought or thoughts appear?
Could you have done anything to make a different thought appear at that exact moment
instead?
Can you predict your next thought?
Can you select from a range of thoughts to have only pleasant thoughts?
Can you choose not to have painful, negative or fearful thoughts?
Can you pick and choose any kind of thought?
Is it possible to prevent a thought from appearing?

Thoughts seem to come from and disappear into thin air, sometimes action can influence the type of thoughts popping up but you cannot choose which thoughts happen or prevent a thought from arising, most of the time it’s just random noise.

Kind regards Aussie