Smoke and mirrors

[Anastacia42]

Excellent. "Self" is just like green. Only a label.

Here's another aspect.

Palm Flipping Exercise

1. Hold a hand in front of you; palm turned down.

2. Now turn the palm up. And down...and up and so on.

Watch like a hawk.

Don't go to thoughts – examine your direct experience.

Do this as many times as you like, and each time inquire:

How is the movement controlled?

Does a thought control it?

Can a ‘controller’ of any description be located?

How is the decision made to turn the hand over? Track any decision point when a thought MADE THE DECISION to turn the hand over and the hand turns over immediately.

Who or what chose which hand - the left or right hand for the exercise?

Can you find a separate individual or anything that is choosing when to turn the palm up or down?

Loving,

[Eileen]

I loved this exercise!

How is the movement controlled?

I don't know. There are sensations felt while the hand moves and the movement can be seen but there is nothing I can find that control the movement.

Does a thought control it?

No. Sometimes there are no thought observed with the movement, sometimes there is a thought "turn" but it happens sometimes at the same time, sometimes long before and sometimes after. From this I conclude it is not necessary to the movement and doesn't determine when it happens.

Can a ‘controller’ of any description be located?

No controller can be found at all.

How is the decision made to turn the hand over? Track any decision point when a thought MADE THE DECISION to turn the hand over and the hand turns over immediately.

There is no such decision point that I can see. Thoughts seem irrelevant to the hand turning. There can be no thought "turn" and the hand still turns, or there can be lots of thoughts "turn" and the hand doesn't turn.

Who or what chose which hand - the left or right hand for the exercise?

I don't know. One hand turned, no thought about which hand would turn was perceived as much as I can remember. If I try it again, thoughts "left" and "right" appear but same as the "turn" thoughts they don't seem to determine which hand turns at all.
There is no visible decision process, so as far as I can experience no one and nothing chose.
It still seems quite incredible.


Love,

[Anastacia42]

Incredible as it may be, it is the truth.

We will do this next one for a while.

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 of this thinking is useless. Truly.

Loving

[Eileen]

It does seem simple.

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, only the sensation with no clear division. I can't tell where one ends and the other begins.

Now I am quite eager to know how I can keep writing to you about this for a while!

With love,

[Anastacia42]

Just keep looking until there's a shift in perception.

https://youtu.be/wyNwhK2Ur1c?si=TZwuFEst-7Hsadpu

From an email from Ilona

Nothing dramatic happened.

There were no fireworks.
No permanent bliss states.
No sudden personality changes.

And yet, something shifted.


Here are a few things people said afterwards:

“I’m not fighting my experience anymore. There’s more space around everything.”

“I expected something big to happen. Instead, life feels simpler and I trust myself more.”

“There’s less urgency. The seeking has softened.”


This is the kind of shift this work supports.

Ilona Cuinate


Loving,

[Eileen]

There hasn't been a shift yet. Sometimes it feels like there is a shift, or there is a slight vertigo sensation but it is just a temporary sensation.

Why should I write to you while we keep doing this exercise? Should I write what I notice when doing it?

I'll put it there in case it is what I should keep writing:
Sensations become more obvious when looking for a dividing line: tingling, warmth, pressure, contraction, relaxation. At times there's a sensation of expansion that seems to be into the chair.

With love,

[Anastacia42]

Why should I write to you while we keep doing this exercise? Should I write what I notice when doing it?

To keep up momentum.

Yes.

Expansion is a shift in.perception. From the lie of a "seld" to truth that there is none.

Loving,

[Eileen]

Sorry I didn't mean to write "Why should I write to you while we keep doing this exercise?" but "What should I write to you while we keep doing this exercise?"!

I only managed a little bit of practice today.
Similar tingling sensation when looking for the divide between body and chair, still accompanied by warmth (or cold) and pressure. The sense of expansion is experienced too, but it retracts when thoughts appear. There is a sense of spaciousness experienced through vision sometimes but it is hard to describe. When I re-read this it doesn’t make sense at all!

I also keep looking at movements and how there is no one initiating the movement (please let me know if I shouldn’t be doing that). It becomes easier to see while I go about my tasks and there is a sense of detachment.

Love,

[Anastacia42]

The sense of expansion is experienced too, but it retracts when thoughts appear.

That makes perfect sense. Thoughts are lies we add to our Actual sensory Experience.

We're looking for a shift in perception. This expansion may be that. How does it feel,

Loving,

[Eileen]

We're looking for a shift in perception. This expansion may be that. How does it feel,

There's a focus on finding the division line between the body and the chair, sensations are experienced and focused on and at some point the sense of division dissolves and that's where the sense of expansion comes in. It feels like the seat of the chair is part of the body and the body is part of the chair. It doesn't last very long and it doesn't happen every time.

With love,

[Anastacia42]

Good. All true. Keep focusing there.

Loving,

[Eileen]

Nothing new was experienced today through this exercise, except maybe a tiny bit of frustration! I'll keep working on it.

With love,

[Anastacia42]

Good. Stay relaxed.

Rather than write "nothing new, " which is what was not experienced, please write what *was* experienced.

Thank you.

Loving

[Eileen]

Sure!

Today I had a few more tries.

During the last one, I felt pressure, a pulsating sensation, tingling, thoughts about the day arose, then more pronounced tingling, thoughts about making dinner. After that the tingling felt was more subtle, then the sense of division dissolved where the tingling was, some more tingling and pulsating was felt, some warmth. Thoughts about piano arose, a thought "is this really what I’m supposed to be feeling", a feeling of disorientation, like a difficulty placing my body in space, a slight dizziness. Thoughts about whether this will lead to anything. Thoughts about making dinner. Lots of thoughts. Thought "the sense of division is back", more tingling.

Thank you for everything you're doing!

Love,

[Anastacia42]

Your welcome. Good noticing.

Remember, you're asked to notice whether you find any division.

Loving