1) Is there a separate entity 'self', 'me' 'I', at all, anywhere, in any way, shape or form? Was there ever?
2) Explain in detail what the illusion of separate self is, when it starts and how it works from your own experience. Describe it fully as you see it now.
3) How does it feel to see this? What is the difference from before you started this dialogue? Please report from the past few days.
4) What was the last bit that pushed you over, made you look?
5) Describe decision, intention, free will, choice and control. What makes things happen? How does it work? What are you responsible for? Give examples from experience.
6) Anything to add?
If you answer please take your time and answer as fully as possible, that really helps. You can answer them any way that suits you, one at a time, in pairs, or all at once, whatever is best for you.
1) Is there a separate entity 'self', 'me' 'I', at all, anywhere, in any way, shape or form? Was there ever?
I know know that there’s no me, I, or self, anywhere in any shape or form. It doesn’t exist inside my body or mind. It doesn’t exist outside either. It’s all thoughts that I identified with and took for real. As I write these words, I’m aware of writing, but I don’t see a controller telling me what to say.
2) Explain in detail what the illusion of separate self is, when it starts and how it works from your own experience. Describe it fully as you see it now.
The illusion, as I see it, starts when you stop looking, stop being aware. It starts with thoughts. Then I start seeking and wanting to change through thoughts the reality of the moment. That the illusion and there always a sensation of contraction in the body or conversely feeling elated from fantasizing. But I always see that my Ming gets foggy, lost, not present. As I see myself separated from all, I then seek to fix, change, defend my self, and reject(a lot).
I see it also like a film projected on a screen. The actual experience is always there (the screen), and then there’s the movie (or dream) that the separate self adds on to the actual experience to justify or reject or grasp… There’s a dream-like sensation of fogginess, of feeling lost in thoughts when the illusion kicks in. This experience can be pleasant or stressful or restlessness that accompanies the illusion and the separation from actual experience.
3) How does it feel to see this? What is the difference from before you started this dialogue? Please report from the past few days.
It feels quite humbling, to tell the truth. And yet, I’m amazed that direct experience is so simple and yet so easy to cover up. You really need to stay attentive to your mind’s movement, observe and check the thoughts. I feel good about this process.
4) What was the last bit that pushed you over, made you look?
It’s an ongoing process, however, the following post opened my eyes:
« Is there really a you in charge of these? or they are simply there?
do you move the blood and make heart beat?
do you need to manage bodily functions?
when you open eyes and see colours and shapes, do you need to do anything in order to see the view?
do you need to do anything to hear sounds?
how about brain, are you in charge of what neurons fire and what new connections are made?
Are you really the doer of thinking, sensing, experiencing?
If now, this moment you stop believing you are a self, do you think these will stop?
That stopped me in my tracks and for the first time I saw that reality is always happening no matter what the internal dialogue is saying about it. For the first time I really heard sounds, felt sensations and so on.
Also, deconstructing my actions such as sight, taste and thought, sound and thoughts, etc, helped me observe direct experience and let it all arise of itself.
5) Describe decision, intention, free will, choice and control. What makes things happen? How does it work? What are you responsible for? Give examples from experience.
The jury is still out on this one. I look and see that decisions, intention, choice and control happens from habitual patterns of reaction, conditioning and circumstances. I’m responsible for my actions, that doesn’t change, but there’s no separate self that orchestrates it all. For example, when I’m hungry, thoughts of lunch pop in my mind and eventually I’ll get up and eat something. Or if I’m thinking about what to eat, different taste memory pop in my mind or I see a dish that I like in the cafeteria and a decision is taken. If I’m dieting, then a whole different set of thoughts pop up and choices are made depending on many factors. I’m not super confident about this one yet 😊
6) Anything to add? Not for the time being.