Looking for a Guide

[Elad]

Wrote this to a client who is just on the verge, and thought it might be helpful for you as well:


We have all the time you want, no hurry 🤍 The way it seems here it's always possible to doubt when attention is lost in the content of thoughts and feelings, kinda like you can have all kinds of dreams at night. The point is to get very clear that every time you pay full attention to what is real now, rather then being lost in the contents of thoughts and feelings, it's seen that the self and all its concerns, is just a mental activity, like a dream, without any real self without independent free will in it. Please check this many times . Worry to lose awakening is inherently a state of being lost in identification with thought content. No guarantee it won't happen for me or you, in fact it's very normal it does, our work here is not to guarantee against it, but that you gain very clear direct experience that in the same moment when you are NOT lost in the content of thoughts and feelings, but rather are attentive and letting everything be, you see that whatever content was believed to be self was only like a dream in thought, without independent free will or an independent separate self.

[DebbieGinnie]

when you are NOT lost in the content of thoughts and feelings, but rather are attentive and letting everything be, you see that whatever content was believed to be self was only like a dream in thought, without independent free will or an independent separate self.

Beautiful. Thank you. 🕊️

[DebbieGinnie]

I noticed that I failed to complete this exercise, which was assigned prior to the deep-body exercise.

Nature Exercise

Go out into nature and spend some time watching the movement of the whole. See how clouds move, trees swing, leaves wiggle, grass moves, insects, birds - all move all the time.

Then move focus to sensations and see how they too are in constant motion, thoughts come and go, sounds, colours, sensations come and go.

Notice that everything is part of one movement.

Then close your eyes and see if there is a line between you and out there, between you and life itself. If yes, where is the boundary?

There is no boundary between me and life.

Is there an inside and an outside of Life?

No, it's all just Life.

Is there something which is not included in the movement of the whole?

Everything is included in the movement of the whole.

Is there a witness that is watching life happening from a distance? Is witnessing part of the one movement too?

There is just looking sometimes. There is a sense of a watcher at other times. It's all part of the one movement.

Is there anything which is not just happening?

Everything is just happening. Even so-called negative thoughts, judgmental thoughts, and being lost in thought.

[DebbieGinnie]

Deeper Body Investigation

Here is an even deeper investigation of the body. Please follow each step, don't leave out any. Take your time. Don't move to the next step until the previous one is clearly seen. Repeat the exercise several times.

Stand in front of a bigger mirror.

(1) First, close the eyes and feel the sensations labelled ‘body’.

(2) Then open the eyes and look into the mirror while still paying attention to the sensations.
Is there any connection between the felt sensations and the image in the mirror? Or just thoughts (and/or mental images) suggest that there is?

There is no connection between the felt sensations and the image in the mirror without thought.

(3) While still paying attention to the sensations move one hand and observe the movement from the mirror.
Is there any connection between the felt sensations (labelled ‘hand’) and image of movement in the mirror?

There are the sensations of tingling in the hand and the different sensations when I wiggle the fingers. Without accessing thoughts, I can see a parallel action in the mirror, but sensations are not felt there.
I am going to return to this tomorrow. I keep getting stuck here.

[Elad]

when you are NOT lost in the content of thoughts and feelings, but rather are attentive and letting everything be, you see that whatever content was believed to be self was only like a dream in thought, without independent free will or an independent separate self.

Beautiful. Thank you. 🕊️

😊🙏

[Elad]

"There are the sensations of tingling in the hand and the different sensations when I wiggle the fingers. Without accessing thoughts, I can see a parallel action in the mirror, but sensations are not felt there."

You can also leave this one, not crucial for this investigation.

What is the sense now of access to clarity about no separate self/doer or lack thereof ? How does it feel?

[DebbieGinnie]

What is the sense now of access to clarity about no separate self/doer or lack thereof? How does it feel?

When I look, I can see no separate self can be found.

There are moments of absolute clarity.

Habitual thoughts such as how I am lacking tend to obscure the clarity. As you mentioned, I can stop and look whenever I want—or remember to.

Feeling into bodily sensations while internally repeating “there is no separate self”:

There are sensations that I could label as anxiety but are closer to a sense of energy in the chest or a tightening in the gut. These sensations keep moving and changing. Truthfully, I do not feel into the body often so these moving and changing sensations might be there all the time and I just overlook them.

[Elad]

What is the sense now of access to clarity about no separate self/doer or lack thereof? How does it feel?

When I look, I can see no separate self can be found.

There are moments of absolute clarity.

Habitual thoughts such as how I am lacking tend to obscure the clarity. As you mentioned, I can stop and look whenever I want—or remember to.

Feeling into bodily sensations while internally repeating “there is no separate self”:

There are sensations that I could label as anxiety but are closer to a sense of energy in the chest or a tightening in the gut. These sensations keep moving and changing. Truthfully, I do not feel into the body often so these moving and changing sensations might be there all the time and I just overlook them.

Lovely, seeing is happening. The key is to really look into what is there moment to moment, as opposed to thoughts. Anything you want my help to see before we move to final question? Any doubts at this point?

There are standard final questions I will give you when you are ready. After you answer those, I and 3 other guides will review and ask questions if we can help clarify something further. After that process lands you "graduate LU" and can join our unleashed Facebook community. There you can explore further with peers. I will also greet you there and we can be friends on Facebook and stay in touch (you can always ask me questions or share) and I can tell you about more free options for support and further exploration.

Take all the time that feels good here, no hurry.

[Elad]

The key is to really look into what is there moment to moment, as opposed to *being lost in content of* thoughts

[Elad]

Oh and it's great you are beginning to see that sensations do not inherently express a particular emotion (like anxiety) just like they don't inherently express a separate self. Those illusions only are created by the combination of sensation and belief. We don't have to see that all the tme, sometimes we can just enjoy the "relative level of experience" where it seems as if there is self and particular emotions, but when we are troubled, we can inquire and find peace in seeing the self-less and essence-less nature of these apperances. Explore that in your direct experience and let me know what is seen, if you feel like it :)

[DebbieGinnie]

The key is to really look into what is there moment to moment, as opposed to *being lost in content of* thoughts

Agreed.

I am ready to answer the final questions, although it is time to get ready for work now. I will check back here after the workday is done.

[Elad]

The key is to really look into what is there moment to moment, as opposed to *being lost in content of* thoughts

Agreed.

I am ready to answer the final questions, although it is time to get ready for work now. I will check back here after the workday is done.

That's great. Please check if you can confirm my sharing about sensation and emotion in direct experience. That could be very valuable. Let's attend to that and move to final questions after.

[DebbieGinnie]

sensations do not inherently express a particular emotion (like anxiety) just like they don't inherently express a separate self. Those illusions only are created by the combination of sensation and belief. We don't have to see that all the time, sometimes we can just enjoy the "relative level of experience" where it seems as if there is self and particular emotions, but when we are troubled, we can inquire and find peace in seeing the self-less and essence-less nature of these appearances. Explore that in your direct experience and let me know what is seen

The following may not be what you are looking for since it doesn't address an emotion exactly, but it is a sensation that is here now:

There’s a sensation above the right lateral knee just now. As I feel into it, it continues to change in character and intensity. It might be described as burning but then morphs into something that might be described as pressure. In any case, these words are just labels that don’t really do justice to the ever-changing sensation.

It would be an additional layer of narrative beyond the description if I were to think, “Oh, I have knee pain.” At that point, I have covered over the richness of the actual sensation with a label that not only pushes away the direct experience but also implies there’s now a person who has a problem that needs fixing.

[Elad]

sensations do not inherently express a particular emotion (like anxiety) just like they don't inherently express a separate self. Those illusions only are created by the combination of sensation and belief. We don't have to see that all the time, sometimes we can just enjoy the "relative level of experience" where it seems as if there is self and particular emotions, but when we are troubled, we can inquire and find peace in seeing the self-less and essence-less nature of these appearances. Explore that in your direct experience and let me know what is seen

The following may not be what you are looking for since it doesn't address an emotion exactly, but it is a sensation that is here now:

There’s a sensation above the right lateral knee just now. As I feel into it, it continues to change in character and intensity. It might be described as burning but then morphs into something that might be described as pressure. In any case, these words are just labels that don’t really do justice to the ever-changing sensation.

It would be an additional layer of narrative beyond the description if I were to think, “Oh, I have knee pain.” At that point, I have covered over the richness of the actual sensation with a label that not only pushes away the direct experience but also implies there’s now a person who has a problem that needs fixing.

You are right on track! This is the same point pertaining to pain label vs sensation. Next time you have an emotional reaction investigate similarly and tell me what you see.

The formulation "what you are looking for"... It's important that this process be about the truth you discover and not something I look for, except that I look to help you look... So just checking in: do you feel safe with me that this is all about your truth, you can disagree with me, and my only job is to support your looking for yourself? If it feels different in any way let's do our best to fix it !

[DebbieGinnie]

It's important that this process be about the truth you discover and not something I look for, except that I look to help you look... So just checking in: do you feel safe with me that this is all about your truth, you can disagree with me, and my only job is to support your looking for yourself? If it feels different in any way let's do our best to fix it!

Argh. I am ambivalent about opening this can of worms, but I may as well say it here since you seem to be encouraging it. I have had the uneasy feeling on more than one occasion that I don't actually see things the way that I am supposed to but that I can see what is the “right” answer is by the way the question is structured.

There is a lot of conditioning to get good grades and to try to please the teacher which seems ridiculous at the age of 60 but old habits die hard, they say.

At least here arises an opportunity to look at what I might label “fear” or “dread” as I think about awaiting your response to this post. Looking into the sensations, I feel “butterflies in my stomach.” Still feeling into it, I notice a spreading tingling in the diaphragm area. There is a sense of a “catch” or gripping in my throat area. The sensations continue to morph and move. Now my stomach feels a bit turbulent. And now I pop out of body/sensation and back into the head/thought train.

I should probably try to sleep again. Maybe some of this angst is because I am sleep-deprived. I am guessing we are in different time zones. It's 3 am here.