Hello,
1) Is there a 'me' or 'you' or 'I' , at all, anywhere, in any way, shape or form?
Was there ever?
Can there ever be?
There is seeing, hearing, sensing, smelling, … or in short just a stream of experiencing. “Me”, “You” or “I” is a false assumption about something that is conscious of that stream of experiencing but somehow not part of it. That is impossible. There is only consciousness conscious of itself. There is no “I” in any form or shape. There is nothing personal. There never was and can’t be.
Yes, there are things that we label a body of Milan (for example) or a chair, a tree, a mountain but those are all images in consciousness as consciousness. There is no person Milan that is separate from any other person.
1.5) When you say "I", what in Experience are you referring to?
Right now for communication purposes “I” refers to that image that we call body Milan. But Milan as a person or individual doesn’t exist. I don’t know if consciousness can have a form or how do images/experiences exist at all, but I would say that “I” could also refer to that presence that makes everything possible, that consciousness that is conscious of itself, which of course is completely impersonal and has nothing to do with an “I” that is usually referred to.
2) Explain in detail what the illusion of separate self is, when it starts and how it works.
The illusion is a repeating thought “I” that frequently accompanies other thoughts and experiencing. This leads to a false conclusion that there must be some kind of an individual that is separate from everything else.
For example there is seeing and soon a thought comes “I see this or that” and maybe some other thoughts like “I like this” or “I don’t like this” or “I wish something was different” or anything else. So this “I” thought attaches to most that is experienced.
It is actually quite amazing and funny how that works. I also find it interesting that when just seeing is happening it is mostly ignored. But when that “I” thought attaches itself to that experience it can often become a drama and a magnet to even more “I” thoughts.
I would also add that words/thoughts by themselves don’t mean anything. They are just sounds. But somehow they act as pointers to images that are being seen. And since most images have their associated sounds/words/thoughts it is falsely assumed that word/sound/thought “I” points to a real object. So this sound/word/thought “I” forms an image of something that doesn’t exist in reality.
3) How does it FEEL to See? describe in detail.
From the perspective of functioning of the body in the world there isn’t any difference. The body is still doing things the way it did before. The senses of doership and observer still do pop-up quite often but that doesn’t last so long and doesn’t mean anything. There is knowing that it is just that, only a sense/an experience belonging to no-one.
The same goes for thinking. That is going on as well as it used to, and that too is perceived as just another experience belonging to no-one.
I am noticing a slight change in behavior but I believe it is a bit too soon to draw any conclusions about that. There is this new sense of curiosity and possibilities. I guess it would be best to wait for a while and see.
I would say that the biggest change is in perspective. There is this knowing and that’s about it. But as I already mentioned I can imagine some really exciting new possibilities.
4) How would you describe it to somebody who has never heard about this illusion but is curious about it.
I really liked an analogy of the Santa Clause that I read in Gateless Gatecrashers book. Santa Clause being a fictitious character that doesn’t exist in reality is a great comparison to an idea of some separate “I”.
So I would probably use that to describe what “I” is, that it is just a fictitious character that doesn’t exist in reality.
But it really depends on the person. I would probably use some questions to first inquire about their current point of view and work from there. Also I would probably mention that we were born without this “I” belief and that it is only a learned behavior.
5) What was the last bit that pushed you over, made you look? was there a specific moment when seeing happened or was it gradual? explain the transformation/recognition.
6) describe the difference before seeing, at the moment of seeing, and after seeing? describe the key differences.
I guess it was gradual but there was a very specific aha moment when everything clicked into place. I was on a walk determined to see. Halfway I was getting quite frustrated because whatever “I” tried, there was still observer. I had my Kindle with me so I re-read all your blog articles and all your recent suggestions and decision was made to simply observe experiencing, in other words to take absolutely everything as an experience.
This happening for a while became really obvious that there is no observer, no watcher, no doer, no nothing. Just seamless ever-changing experience/seeing. I can recall exact spot on the path when that became obvious.
Before there was this pair seer/seen and afterward just seeing.
The key difference was that the sense that someone/something is looking/seeing disappeared. There was only an image. I don’t know a better way to describe this but the image was just morphing/changing and aware of itself. There was nothing outside of that image. No observer, just image.
7) in what ways has Seeing changed 'your' life? what impact will this have on your life?
The most apparent change was the need to protect an “I” and all the worrying and projecting about it seems kind of funny right now. The same goes for wanting to control and desire for approval both seem such a waste of time. At the moment there is just curiosity about all the possibilities. The impact may be profound or nothing special at all. There is just space in which anything may or may not happen. Either way it is okay.
7.5) now that you see that 'you', the first person character at the core of life, isn't, what do you see when you see 'others'? explain in your own words from your direct experience.
Looking at apparent “others” I don’t see any difference. Yes, there is appearance of bodies and different “personalities” but in essence there is no difference.
I would say there is a new kind of understanding and compassion and gratitude for the whole show. Just looking at the whole world is a miracle. I don’t know how all this is possible but all I can say is just wow.
So “others” don’t really exist.
8) what if i told you LU was a persuasion cult and we have just got you to believe that "there is no self". How would you respond?
Good one. :) (laughing)
9) do you have any comments about my guiding, what you feel was effective/ineffective, and something that you would have liked to have seen in it?
After reading and studying way too many books of non-duality authors and teachers I have to say that your three super short blog posts are straight to the point and were in fact much more helpful that anything I’ve read before – and that means thousands of pages of various books.
Same goes about your suggestions. They were short and straight to the point, without adding any unnecessary concepts and ideas. Just simplicity.
There is much gratitude for all your help and suggestions and doing what you’re doing.
Thank you so much.
Milan