Ready

[Freedom777]

Hi Stacy,

I hope you are doing well and enjoying summer.

What about the content of thoughts, what they describe?

The content of thoughts is in constant flux, unstable. Thoughts “describe” by using previously gathered information that it associates with “apple”. The thoughts have no real connection with the actual experience.

Is there really an ‘apple’ here, or only color and a thought ABOUT ‘apple’?

There is only color, form, smell and thought etc. Apple is an idea. In direct experience there is no “apple” to be found. Apple is just label. I can fill a bottle with gasoline and label it wine, but it will still be gasoline.

Can ‘apple’ be found in actual experience?

No.

However, is an apple actually known?

No. The experience of color, form, thought etc can not be “captured” by words, labels, concepts. It just is.

Have fun and let me know what you find out.

It is like there is a crack between the mind and its conceptualising, labeling, associating and the present experience, direct reality.
This is very interesting and revolutionary. It means that the world “I” am living in is not at all what I took it to be. Like the glue is starting to melt. If this is so, then “I” am just another label. What does this mean?

Have you seen "The Matrix?"

Yes, but it was a long time ago. The clip really sparked my will to check it out again.
This will be my homework. :)

Peace,

James

[Anastacia42]

Beautiful!

This is very interesting and revolutionary. It means that the world “I” am living in is not at all what I took it to be. Like the glue is starting to melt. If this is so, then “I” am just another label. What does this mean?

Mean? That's just more thinking, isn't it?

"Thus you should see that
indeed there is no thing here;
this, Bahiya, is how you should train yourself.
Since, Bahiya, there is for you
in the seen, only the seen,
in the heard, only the heard,
in the sensed, only the sensed,
in the cognized, only the cognized,
and you see that there is no thing here,
you will therefore see that
indeed there is no thing there.
As you see that there is no thing there,
you will see that
you are therefore located neither in the world of this,
nor in the world of that,
nor in any place
betwixt the two.
This alone is the end of suffering."

See? 😉

Okay, now LOOK. can you find any separate "self? "

Loving,

[Freedom777]

Hi Stacy,

I am currently travelling and will post again when I have arrived at my destination. This will probably be tonight.

Have a great day!

James

[Freedom777]

Hi Stacy,

Now I have relocated and will be online more frequently.

Mean? That's just more thinking, isn't it?

Haha yes!

Okay, now LOOK. Can you find any separate "self? "

No, not really.

I can still feel the contracted field in my chest and the thought “I” in various forms in the mind. There is an awareness of this being thoughts, sensations etc though. This awareness seems to come and go and I “forget” most of the time. When driving through fields in the countryside this afternoon I had the notion of the road and the landscape ahead of the car passing through me into nothingness. There were also fewer thoughts and the ones that showed up seemed to linger in the background and they didn´t really distract me.
Yesterday on the other hand, i went through some disagreement and stress with my girlfriend and the perspective was more contracted.
But I guess all the above is just more thoughts as well.

Everything is as it normally is and still there are glimpses of something else, a different perspective.

Take care/

James

[Anastacia42]

Right. Just more thoughts.

And what did you learn that a contraction is?

Loving

[Freedom777]

Hi,

And what did you learn that a contraction is?

A centre of more dense energy. The contraction in my chest that I associate with the “I” seems to get more intense under stressful circumstances. This contracted feeling that I have labeled unpleasant since I was around 12-13 years old, has been the motivation for the entire search I guess. I have built a personality (character) around getting rid of this feeling of unease. It has led me through alcohol abuse, addictions, yoga, zen, vipassana, uncountable selfhelp books, therapy, treatment and so on and so forth.

Maybe contraction is misinterpreted as separation?

/James

[Anastacia42]

It seems I haven't shared that, yet.

Here is how to distinguish truth from lies.

All contractions indicate lies.

We often lie every day & don't realize it.

For example, the grocery clerk asks, "How are you?" You reply, "I'm fine." While, yes. there is a sense in which we are always fine, even in the middle of suffering, at that moment, you were grieving the death of your dog, you had a slight sore throat & you had a headache, but you didn't feel like sharing all of that with the grocery clerk, so you lied, "I'm fine."

Also, it matters none at all how "distant" the remembered lie is. Besides the fact that time itself is fictional, a kind if lie, as we recall the lie it becomes present in this moment, as if it were happening now. This brings the body Sensation that accompanies lying.

Lies can be intentional or unintentional, conscious or unconscious, even so automatic that we ourselves are fooled.

The story of a separate "self" is a lie.

This is the lie you came here to see through. Therefore, it is helpful to notice the body Sensation of lying as one of the tools for finding the truth of no self.

You want to be in touch with body Sensations & able to clearly express them in words. This will help.

Lies are usually felt in the heart or solar plexus as a contraction that we may label as tight, heavy or tense.

In contrast, truth is usually expansive. We may call it loose, light or relaxed.

First, can you remember a time when you lied to someone you loved?

Here we count anything, lies we think of as "big" or "small" that "matter" or don't "matter."

How are you? I'm fine. No, your knee hurts, but you don't feel like discussing it with the grocery clerk.

It's a lie. A seemingly "bigger" one will work better for this exercise.

Find the lie. I don't need the whole story, just a few key words to refer to it.

Then scan your body for any Sensation (DE or Direct Experience), particularly in the gut or maybe the heart. Check very closely.

What is found?

If you think the memory you used wasn't clear enough, find another one or lie to yourself right now, make something up.

1 + 1 = 14 is a lie.

I love eating worms is (probably) a lie.

Or call up a video of a lying politician & notice what Sensations arise as you listen.

I will give you a clue: it is not that peaceful Sensation you felt before when you omitted "I." (refers to an exercise I gave before this one)

Please report back with what body Sensations (not interpretations) you feel. Bodies can feel hot or cold, heavy or light, contraction or expansion, etc.

"Peaceful" is an interpretation of a body Sensation, not the Sensation itself, for example.

Do you see that?

Loving,

[Freedom777]

Hi Stacy,

Here are the answers.

What is found?

When thinking of a certain lie in a close relationship (no biggie but a lie nonetheless) I feel a contracted sensation in my chest (around the heart and solar plexus). My pulse goes up a bit and my mind starts producing thoughts at a slightly higher intensity.
This contraction is identical to the contracted sensation in the chest that I associate with the feeling of separation, “I”.

Do you see that?

Yes.

I ´ve experienced some emotional distress today and that produces similar sensations in the chest actually. No lies were involved.

This contracted feeling is very central in my experience.

/James

[Anastacia42]

Okay, good. At least you can find the contraction in the solar plexus.

I´ve experienced some emotional distress today and that produces similar sensations in the chest actually. No lies were involved.

I guarantee you that lies were involved. You may not have recognized them, yet.

Remember that emotions are only Sensation plus a story and/or a label, such as "distress." That is a story, a label.

This contracted feeling is very central in my experience.

Yes, it is will be with many people who still believe there is an "I." All sentences or thoughts that include I, me or mine are lies. They have to be. There is no "I."

So, here is a pointer that is very good for forcing you to look, not think:

ButtChair

Please LOOK for any place where your butt ends & the chair begins.

Is there any clear dividing line between them? Or only the Sensation with no clear division?


It is simple direct & nonverbal. Just LOOK.

Then write what is true.

I did only this and nothing else for 3 months and then saw. It crept up on me while I was sitting at a stoplight. Seeing often happens when we are simply relaxed and looking. I should say, it ONLY happens when we are relaxed and LOOKING. All thinking is useless. Truly.

Loving,

[Freedom777]

Ok here we go.

Please LOOK for any place where your butt ends & the chair begins.
Is there any clear dividing line between them? Or only the Sensation with no clear division?

There is no clear dividing line in direct experience. Only sensation.

/James

[Anastacia42]

Excellent.

Remember, this is not about right answers. It is meditation.

Please continue to LOOK in this way whenever you can.

Report here, even if it is just to say the same thing.

Remember, too, that I did this for 3 months. Then one day, I was sitting at a stop sign, gazing out the window at some grass moving in the wind and everything shifted. The world just glowed. Your experience will be different. But it can sneak up on you when you least expect it. LOOKING just prepares us.

"Enlightenment is an accident. Meditation makes us accident prone."

~ Sunryu Suzuki

Loving,

[Freedom777]

Hi Stacy,

I still can not find any dividing line between my body and the chair I am sitting on. There is (in DE) just a field of sensation. It feels like some pressure and also a subtle vibration and tingle.

/James

[Anastacia42]

Good. and you never will!

Thanks for posting.

[Freedom777]

Hi Stacy,

When looking for the dividing line between the chair and this body, I noticed that I cannot find any such line in other parts of the body either. I can feel the difference in temperature between my skin and the surrounding air, but no dividing line. Only sensation.
The I-thought is present on and off and seems to be located in the back of my throat. Approximately where a spoken word starts to take shape when I am about to speak. I still sense the contracted energy in my heart area.

Something is seeing/experiencing all this though. As soon as I try to answer the question "who is seeing all this" the answer "I am" comes up and I immediately realize that I will have to ask the same question again and on it goes in a meaningless loop.

Still I feel like a separate individual.

Take care/

James

[Anastacia42]

I still sense the contracted energy in my heart area.

Any contraction is the lie/no feeling. Check.

Something is seeing/experiencing all this though

No. There's awareness, but no "who."

Loving,