I know it but don’t yet see it.

[Shoji]

Hi Josh,

All that remains is a single thing: a physical tension.

Take a look at what ist happening here. The thought process acts as if there were an assembly line of events: first a sensation, then a thought, then another thought, then a sense perception, and so on. Thought Process reconstructs everything retrospectively as a timeline.

And supposedly, someone sits right in the middle of this assembly line, experiencing it all in sequence. [

It is this that gives rise to the very feeling of a "tension waiting for something" or an "expectation that remains unfulfilled."
These are all concepts of time.
…
When exactly does the past end—and when exactly does the future begin?

Try drawing this dividing line based on pure experience:
…
Can you find a boundary anywhere in your raw sensory data—or is there, without exception, only this single, boundless Now?

You are exactly right. Each sensation is here for an instant. The timeline is assembled by concepts/processing.

Even a single breath spans many “instants”… and the mind assembles it after the fact (or imagines it before the fact) to be “one whole breath”.

Even the word “even” can’t be heard as one sound perception. It is constructed after the fact or predicted/preemptively completed as “one word” by processing.

Regarding the "I":

Is the "I" that currently feels the tension (or anything else) exactly the same "I" that thinks a thought a second later—or is that merely a mental assertion made after the fact?

Can you find any fixed, continuous "I" in the pure sensory data that travels from one moment to the next?

Or does the feeling of an "I" simply appear as an isolated moment—passes away—and in the next moment something entirely new emerges?

Where is the wanderer in time—except as an idea in the mind?

Answer me based only on what is perceptible in the current fraction of a second.

Yes, the same exact “I” doesn’t survive from instant to instant, but changes from instant to instant.

Sorry to jump into an analogy but it’s like the saying “you never walk through the same river twice.”

The “river” isn’t a fixed thing, and neither are “you”!!! The saying is typically pictured as a person coming back to the same river years later… but even a millisecond will suffice to change everything!!

I’ll play more with the experience of this.

Warm regards,
Josh

[Daniel777]

Hi Josh,
Nice, but It's not about you agreeing with me. :)

Don't read the questions as a thought experiment, but rather as a guideline for your attention.

Engage your senses (touch, hearing, sight...) and observe immediately.

Don't answer with "why" or "how," but simply provide brief feedback on what your senses detect at this moment.

Happy Looking :)
Kind Regards
Daniel

[Shoji]

Hi Daniel

Yes, this is understood! Will look at this.

It’s just good to know the looking is in the right “place”.

Warm Regards,
Josh

[Daniel777]

Hi Josh,

I completely understand that. It is perfectly natural to seek reassurance and want to know whether you are on the "right track."

A crucial point: What the thought says, what it explains, what it analyzes, or how clever it sounds—none of that matters at all.

Kind Regards
Daniel

[Shoji]

Hi Daniel,

A crucial point: What the thought says, what it explains, what it analyzes, or how clever it sounds—none of that matters at all.

I’ve been watching the experience of time… or, rather, the lack of firsthand experience of time via the senses alone.

I’m not sure what to say about it without using concepts, though. 😂. “I see it” is about all I can say. 🤷‍♂️😅

Thanks!

Warm Regards
Daniel

[Daniel777]

Hi Josh,

I’ve been watching the experience of time… or, rather, the lack of firsthand experience of time via the senses alone.

Good. So Time exists only as a concept in the thought process.

Can you find any fixed, continuous "I" in the pure sensory data that travels from one moment to the next?

Or does the feeling of an "I" simply appear as an isolated moment—passes away—and in the next moment something entirely new emerges?

What about that? Is an entity watching all this or is there only the process of watching?

Kind Regards
Daniel

[Shoji]

Hi Daniel,

Can you find any fixed, continuous "I" in the pure sensory data that travels from one moment to the next?

Or does the feeling of an "I" simply appear as an isolated moment—passes away—and in the next moment something entirely new emerges?

What about that? Is an entity watching all this or is there only the process of watching?

There is only seeing the scene and watching the situation. No watcher can be detected which persists from moment to moment. But there is still a feeling of wanting to feel clever in the responses written here. 😜🤷‍♂️

Warm Regards,
Josh

[Daniel777]

Hi Josh,

Great. There is no observer to be perceived.
Is this "feeling smart" anything more than a brief physical sensation (perhaps a slight sense of expansion in the chest or a smile) plus a passing thought?

Tell me, is anything still unclear? How are you doing at the moment?

Kind Regards
Daniel

[Shoji]

Hi Daniel,

Great. There is no observer to be perceived.
Is this "feeling smart" anything more than a brief physical sensation (perhaps a slight sense of expansion in the chest or a smile) plus a passing thought?

Yes, it is a momentary feeling.

Tell me, is anything still unclear? How are you doing at the moment?

I’m not sure anything is clear 🤣 … certainly not some kind of sudden and pervasive clarity. I am feeling reasonably calm and able to be equanimous in the face of stressful stimuli, to feel the moment but then let it pass… but I can’t say that’s “new” after looking at my firsthand experience as we’ve been talking. I do still get the feeling that body that I see in the mirror isn’t the one I experience (or rather I can find the lack of feeling in the other direction)… but aside from those moments I don’t detect a pervasive clarity abut my lack of self. 🤷‍♂️

Warm Regards
Josh

[Daniel777]

Hi Josh,
sorry for the late reply. I was actually somewhere without internet access. :)

aber abgesehen von diesen Momenten nehme ich keine allumfassende Klarheit über meinen Mangel an Selbst wahr. 🤷‍♂️

Let’s tackle that very sentence of yours right at the root—not conceptually, but in your immediate experience in this very moment.

1. Where exactly can "apart from these moments" be felt?

Is there anything in your direct experience right now other than this single, exact moment? Or is the idea of ​​"other moments" merely a mental memory or concept arising now?

2. What *is* this demanded "all-encompassing clarity" as raw data?

If you search for it now within the body or mind: Are you looking for a physical sensation, for an emotion—or is it simply the thought, "But it ought to feel more spectacular"?

3. What is it, exactly, that is lacking clarity here?

Look closely at the place from which the sentence "I perceive nothing" arises: Is there really an observer who lacks clarity—or is there merely the thought "I lack clarity," appearing in the space and owned by no one?

Don't think. Don't analyze. Just look and respond based on what is present in the senses right now.

Kind Regards
Daniel

[Shoji]

Hi Daniel,

Apologies for the delay, I’ll reply in the morning.

Cheers!
Josh

[Daniel777]

It's all good—take your time, go at your own pace. I'm here until there are no doubts left. :)

Kind Regards
Daniel