Take 2 new guide needed please

[CarefulDog88]

Hi Stacy,

This human, Stacy, can't do anything to be wealthier or healthier, for example. Is that correct?

Is that what you are looking for to be healthier and wealthier, these are just concepts in thought, you can make plans about being healthy and wealthy, does that mean that you are going to be healthier and wealthier? You can want something to be a certain way, does that mean it is going to be that way? Has anything that has ever appeared in thought turned out exactly as you thought it would?
Does Anything ever go the way that you think it should?
And if you don't think about events or people or past memories or future imagination, do things still happen?
Do you control anything to make it turn out the way you think it should. All you have to do is look and enquire.
You don't have to answer these questions in a reply to me, but just look and enquire into them.

Stacy, I don't have the answers to life's eternal questions, I can only point out for you that your thoughts are the creator of the illusion that you exist as a Character called Stacy, then you have to look and realize this.

When you have a thought, it arises and then passes away, there is a gap between those thoughts they are not continuous, they appear to be continuous but they are not. When you feel like you are looking at a thought as thou you are witnessing these thoughts like you are outside of them, this is also a thought. All this thinking creates the perception of a me, a Stacy,
add to that a sensation in the body, generally a contraction + thought, the belief that you exists as a persona is created. Attach a life time of this conditioning and the belief is perpetuated in an identity.

It only takes a letting go of this identification, this belief and you do that by looking/enquiring.

Not necessarily than what, just can we do anything to improve our situation. I don't think so. Can you please give me a straight answer? I don't understand the cryptic replies.

You ask can we do anything to improve our situation, what is actually wrong with your situation, anything that you come up with will be a thought. Sit in this situation and and ask yourself what can be better than this, wait for the answer, if a thought comes up ask the question again and wait, if another thought comes up ask yourself which thought created a better situation?

The sensations have been explored and we have seen the arising and passing of thought. Now you can see that there is only the five senses that life can be experienced with, be with the senses and see what comes up, is thought true to these sensations?

Are You the Thinker?- It may also help to sit and write out the answers with a pen and paper, feel free to relax and feel free to scribe what ever comes up.
Also investigate how the thinking process works. Sit quietly and take a few deep, slow breaths. Then allow the breath to flow on its own. Notice the thoughts as they arise and take about 5 min. for each question. You don’t have to do them all at once.
1.
Where do thoughts come from, where do they go to?
2.
Can you predict the next thought, and if you don’t like it, can you stop it from arising?
3.
Think of a number between 1 and 49. Did you know the number before it appeared?
4.
Is there a‘ thinker’?

If you found a thinker, where exactly is it located in the body?
Describe the thinker in detail, what does it look like?
How does it feel to touch the thinker?
Is the thinker speaking thoughts?
If so, does it have a high-pitched or a deep voice?
Does the thinker smell, maybe it’s a smoker?
Is there truly a thinker?

[Stacyg888]

Hi Paul,

Thank you for the insights.

It always comes back to the senses. Am I the hearing or the heard? What is seeing or what is seen? I spend time in the senses, dropping thoughts and just experientially experiencing what the senses offer up. It is pleasant and peaceful but I am just keeping "Stacy identification" thoughts at bay, they come back within seconds.

I can only point out for you that your thoughts are the creator of the illusion that you exist as a Character called Stacy, then you have to look and realize this.

I get that intellectually. There is a letting go, a slow change in perception happening, perhaps a crack in the dam, but ultimately Stacy identification is clinging on. I get that everything is just happening but I still feel stuck in this identification :(

When you have a thought, it arises and then passes away, there is a gap between those thoughts they are not continuous,

What is the significance of this gap? When I look at it, it seems to be a void, a huge expanse of nothing.

I want to say Happy Easter but a) I don't know if you celebrate and b) I am so confused about if Easter/Jesus/God is even a thing.

I hope you have been well.

[CarefulDog88]

Hi Stacy,
I reposted the thought exercise, I know you have done this a number of times, but the very first opening or shift comes when thought is seen for what it is not intellectually by experientially. Seeing thought for the illusory phenonium that it is, can open the gate to seeing the identification with it. This is why I keep pointing back to thought.

I get that everything is just happening but I still feel stuck in this identification :(

Is this stuck in identification anything other than a thought?

It always comes back to the senses. Am I the hearing or the heard? What is seeing or what is seen?

There is only hearing, look when you hear a sound, is there anything other than the sound, and then quickly a labelling of the sound happens. This is thought. A load motor bike roars down the street, the ear piercing sound happens, the body feels uncomfortable and then thought appears telling you that it was awful and that those bikes shouldn't be allowed on the road.
When you put your attention in the senses it slows everything down and thoughts are a little less intrusive and the thought can be experienced without falling into the trance of the thought stories. With practice this becomes more and more fluid.

Remember thought is not going away and it is not the enemy. The belief in thought and the identification with it is what is perpetuating the self.

What is the significance of this gap? When I look at it, it seems to be a void, a huge expanse of nothing.

The Gap shows that thought isn't continuous, and if it's not continuous how can it be anything other than concepts beliefs and identities that come and go with no substance or truth. Look into the void, the expanse of nothing and where is this Stacy, that keeps reaffirming itself every time thought about her arises? where is the self in this Gap?

I want to say Happy Easter but a) I don't know if you celebrate and b) I am so confused about if Easter/Jesus/God is even a thing.

Thank you for your wishes and happy Easter to you as well. Yes I spent time with family and friends for Easter and that was peaceful and happy, Jesus was the reason that this happened whether he existed or not, and if God exists then I am grateful for the experience that took 13.8 billion years of everything to have happened for my Easter Sunday with Family and friends to have occurred.

No need to be confused about Jesus or God or Easter, they are what they are.

[CarefulDog88]

Stacy,
Have another go at the thought exercise that I reposted and try to go a little deeper this time, relaxing is very important. When you find that Gap , sink into it and just relax deeply into the expansiveness of the void. Remember you a not looking for an outcome or a result. Just look for any idea or thought that may arise about the "I"' and look for the Stacy the controller the Self.

Once you have done this and not before you may like to watch this video Link :)
https://youtu.be/_6wwbT-Wkw4

[Stacyg888]

Hi Paul,

Sorry for my slow reply - I am away camping and practising keeping attention in the senses while I am in nature.

When you find that Gap , sink into it and just relax deeply into the expansiveness of the void. Remember you a not looking for an outcome or a result. Just look for any idea or thought that may arise about the "I"' and look for the Stacy the controller the Self.

I have been trying this too but perhaps I am not relaxing into it enough.

I will keep at it all and write again in the next few days.

[Stacyg888]

Hi Paul,

The gap and the void are alluding me at the moment. I am probably trying too hard.

I did watch the video though.

There is one thing Sarah says about feeling like everything is inside her - so the computer must be inside her, Ilona must be inside her, and so on. What does that mean? How can I experience that too? I get that sound happens in my ear, seeing happens on my eye, sensations happen on my body - but that doesn't feel like it's all happening inside me.

Thanks. I look forward to your insights.

[CarefulDog88]

Hi Stacy,
When are you?
where are you?
What evidence is there that you are?

There is one thing Sarah says about feeling like everything is inside her

If some describes an experience, it is an experience that comes and goes and it is what is being experienced by them, how would it be possible to have the same experience?

[Stacyg888]

Hi Paul,

Thank you for the questions

And the feedback about Sarah's experience. I didn't realise it is so individual.

I am rereading The Greatest Secret which is the book that opened me to this. There are some exercises for clearing negative emotions that I have done that were very helpful.

Does being human mean negative emotions will continue, even once I get the whole "we are One" thing?

Thanks.

[CarefulDog88]

Hi Stacy,

Does being human mean negative emotions will continue, even once I get the whole "we are One" thing?

I had a mentor once in an unrelated endeavor, and he would often say to me "No point thinking you are in Tahiti when you are actually in New York". I never truly understood what he was saying at the time. Essentially you can wish and hope and be trapped in all sorts of thinking about being somewhere that you are not. Accept where you are and be there.
This "we are One thing" you keep striving for, how do you know it is not just a concept or belief, a thought story, where is your evidence that it is true and how do you know you are not already one with everything. How does, something changing in mental state make everything "One Thing"?

What is an emotion made up of?

take a particular emotion, any one you can relate to and look for what makes it, what it is constituted from.

And Stacy you didn't answer the questions.

When are you?
where are you?
What evidence is there that you are?

[Stacyg888]

Hi Paul,

Oh, a misunderstanding. I thought you said questions weren't for answering to you but rather for me to sit with.

When are you?

Now - I understand there is only now even though past and future seem (by thought only!) to be real.

Where are you?

I am here - here moves around from place to place as I move around. I am travelling again at the moment - "where" comes with me.

What evidence is there that you are?

This sense of I goes everywhere - I open my eyes and the evidence of an I seeing is there, same with hearing, sensation too.

How does, something changing in mental state make everything "One Thing"?

I have this idea that dropping a belief will change my perception and suddenly "we are one thing" will make perfect sense. I understand an idea is like a belief but isn't the One Thing like that?

What is an emotion made up of?

I have learned that an emotion is energy in motion. My sense though is that a thought plus a feeling makes an emotion. And if I don't like what I am feeling, I can choose better thoughts. But by now I know there is no controller who can choose the next thought.

[CarefulDog88]

Hi Stacy,
Your last post contained a lot of thought derived answers.
When are you? when you are not in thought when is the you happening?
Where are you? when you are not in thought where is the you?
What evidence is there that a sense is equal to you, seeing is a sense are you the seeing, feeling is a sense are you the feeling, hearing is a sense are you the hearing, tasting and smelling is a sense are you these? The sense of I is a thought.
A feeling is felt in the body by thought. A sight is seen by thought, a smell is smelt by thought, a flavor is tasted by thought.

Seeing knows itself, no one there to see.
Hearing knows itself, no one there there to hear.
Feeling knows itself no one there to feel. etc

"We are one thing" is a thought.
Emotion equals a sensation in the body, a feeling and a thought story attached to it. When you get sad or angry look what is happening, there is some kind of feeling of sensation and then a story happens around it. then we cry or we yell.

Each emotion consists of body sensations and a label attached to it.
Feeling the body sensations of the emotion that's present, explore the sensations.
You can also do this when you experience physical pain. Please answer questions in blue.
1.
Where exactly are the sensations in the body that are called “happiness”, “irritation”, or “pain”?
2.
What kind of sensations are present? Describe the quality of the sensations, for example, tingling, pressure, warmth, constriction.
3.
How far do they extend?
4.
Let yourself sink into the sensations as you would into a warm bath. Being immersed in them, are they pleasant? Unpleasant? Neither?
5.
Do the sensations know anything about their descriptive label, for example, “sadness”, “excitement”, or “tension”?
6.
What happens when you finish the experiment and the labels are added again?
7.
Who owns the sensations and emotions, to whom do they belong? Where is the ‘me’ that is happy or irritated and knows about it? Really look.

[Stacyg888]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for the explanations and questions. The questions have been tough to answer as I haven't really had any happy/irritated/pain emotions recently so I am answering off generic emotions.

1.Where exactly are the sensations in the body that are called “happiness”, “irritation”, or “pain”?

They feel to be in the chest area.

2.What kind of sensations are present? Describe the quality of the sensations, for example, tingling, pressure, warmth, constriction.

Happiness feels light, anger feels dense.

3.How far do they extend?

When I look at them, they extend beyond the chest area, like an org around the body.

4.Let yourself sink into the sensations as you would into a warm bath. Being immersed in them, are they pleasant? Unpleasant? Neither?

When I sink into them, they become less intense, more neutral.

5.Do the sensations know anything about their descriptive label, for example, “sadness”, “excitement”, or “tension”?

No.

6.What happens when you finish the experiment and the labels are added again?

Awareness moves out of the body and back into the head.

7.Who owns the sensations and emotions, to whom do they belong? Where is the ‘me’ that is happy or irritated and knows about it? Really look.

There is no me, no ownership - the feelings arise and dissipate (like thoughts do though less quickly). The body is aware of the emotions and sensations, and the head doesn't need to label them in order for them to be fully experienced.

Thanks again for your help, Paul. Enjoy the weekend :)

[Stacyg888]

Hi Paul,

I think I had a little epiphany after the emotions exercise. Emotions are felt in the chest area which is also where the sense of self feels to be. There is a correlation there though I don't think I am an emotion.

I hope you are well. I thought we were supposed to post to each other daily or every other day but that doesn't seem to be happening. Are there things I can practice between posts?

Thanks,

Stacy

[CarefulDog88]

Hi Stacy'

I hope you are well. I thought we were supposed to post to each other daily or every other day but that doesn't seem to be happening. Are there things I can practice between posts?

When we start off in the dialogue it is beneficial to keep up the momentum to post daily. At this stage, I think close to a year in, it helps to do the work on the exercises and to have space in between posts for you to do this work. The exercises are designed to do over and over repeating them relentlessly or don't. Any exercise that you enjoyed doing in this dialogue is worth repeating and practicing, each time look a bit deeper and enquire into the "self". Where is this Self?

I think I had a little epiphany after the emotions exercise. Emotions are felt in the chest area which is also where the sense of self feels to be. There is a correlation there though I don't think I am an emotion.

That is a good place to enquire deeper.
Is this sensation an emotion or does the sensation require a thought for it to be an emotion?

Now, is this sense of self a sensation or does it require a thought to be a sense of self?.

4.Let yourself sink into the sensations as you would into a warm bath. Being immersed in them, are they pleasant? Unpleasant? Neither?

When I sink into them, they become less intense, more neutral.

Interestingly, the sensations themselves don’t have the quality of pleasant or unpleasant. Pleasant and unpleasant are subjective interpretations, Labels.

6.What happens when you finish the experiment and the labels are added again?

Awareness moves out of the body and back into the head.

is awareness an entity/ persona that moves around?

[Stacyg888]

Hi Paul,

Thanks for explaining. I wasn't aware that we might communicate less a year or so in. Either way, I'd still like to get on with this asap though I understand it will happen whenever it is going to happen regardless of the desires of an "I".

Whenever I look for a Self, I come up blank. Nothing. Nowhere. It has been like that since September 2023 yet still I have only a mental shift (and there has been a definite shift in my thinking amd how I view the world) but the experiential shift is still elusive.

I will reread our previous posts and redo the exercises. I can feel i have certain expectations about what is going to happen still which are possibly blocking any experience.

Is this sensation an emotion or does the sensation require a thought for it to be an emotion?

Oh my! There are just sensations, some good, some not so good - but without the head jumping in with labels and stories, it's just a sensation.

Now, is this sense of self a sensation or does it require a thought to be a sense of self?.

Sensations come and go, like thoughts do - no Self required for either. That is clearer now. Just the dance of life popping up here and there, flowing. Then still the question of how to drop the sense that it is happening to a Me?

Awareness moves out of the body and back into the head.
is awareness an entity/ persona that moves around?

I think I didn't understand the difference between awareness and attention, they were one and the same. It feels like attention moves around as focus, but awareness is always in the background, always everywhere, not moving around like an entity. Perhaps you can differentiate better for me?


Thanks Paul.