Hi there dear Nils,
I really appreciate you doing this.
Its really my pleasure, Nils, and gratitude abounds here, too.
Yes, I can see memories only exist in the mind, in thoughts, mostly mental images, also lots of beliefs. Not even very accurate most of the time either. In lots of cases I remember the memory and not even the actual event!
He he! I love the sense of humour! Good insight here.
About the seeker: I'd say there never was a seeker, and the belief in the seeker and believing the seeking separate from the seeker was the one thing keeping the seeking alive. I have heard this phrase sooooo many times before, nodding in agreement, but only now do I really see the truth of it!
"You are already that", another one of those non-duality clichés, but absolutely true! Nothing changes in reality. It is so simple, "right in front of you". Something from the Enlightening quotes comes up: you cannot see what is not there, you cannot see a banana that is NOT on the table. So it's really easy to overlook that experiencing life is all there is. Everything else is a story in the mind and therefore not real.
I always wondered why these "gurus" always speak in such platitudes, but there really is no other way to talk about this. It makes sense if you see it, and it doesn't if you don't.
Oh happy insight! Actually, you can see a banana that is not on the table. You can see entire worlds that do not exist. You probably do it nightly ;-) And on occaision during the waking dream (image-ination) ;-) Some of us lucid dream a lot of the time (complete awareness to the fact of dreaming). So, stay open-minded re the banana on the table idea....
Secondly, stay open to the DE that you have had that experiencing what you call "life"
is all there is. There is a reason that some, if not most, of the "deep seeing" masters (and everyday folks) like myself refer to "life" as a dream, as maya, as an hallucination....A thought or belief tells you "this life experience is all there is". Your DE has informed you clearly that experience and experiencer are not separated at all...and that life is lifing along without an individual you OR individual others. And you have already seen clearly that there neither you nor anone or thing else arising in perception is the doer or controller. This is already a marvellous insight. But, please, its really important that you continue to stay really "open-minded", dear Nils.
Im going to give you one statement, now. And here it is, "there is nothing so blinding as perception of form" (which would include the entire universe you perceive). I'm not asking you to do anything with this statement. Its a little gift. The results of your DE for disproving that there are boundaries of so called separate objects (which I will quote next) are already pointing you to this statement...Here it is:
If I really focus on the touching area between my arm and the table, I notice it is not possible to even tell the difference between my arm and the table. There is only a sensation of pressure and temperature difference. Same with the air above my arm by the way. I also notice that my mind tries to make a mental image of the arm and the tables to separate the two, and if I don't look closely, that mental image is quite convincing!It's easy to 'feel' the arm touching the table, but it is only in thought, not in reality.
See...nothing so blinding as perception of form, huh?
First reaction was, "others" are also part of experiencing life and experiencing happens through them as well, so there are no "others" at all.
But I also think of other people as not having seen it yet, still believing in their "self", trying, struggling, to make it better, or to change life, which is futile.
OK, sweetie, I really understand where you are coming from. And its important that we look more deeply into this.
You wrote me that you know viscerllay and deeply now, through DE, that you are NOT the body. Do you believe that the others who are not out there ARE bodies??? No, of course not. And it is this that will help you live compassionately
as if you are in the world, whilst knowing you are NOT. This is the key, the SEEing that will lead to knowing what to do when you are interacting with people, animals, indeed so-called inanimate objects, too!
If this SEEing has lead to a feeling of futility or even despair, there is nothing I can "do", then our friend the non-existant ego has stepped in sublty.
This is a moment for the greatest joy, Nils, this SEEing. You perceive that "others" are suffering because they believe in their
mortality essentially. Health issues, financial issues, struggles, relationship issues, the whole tragic deal, if you will. Born to die...
So, what you
do, is - with the enormous empathy and compassion this SEEing engenders - is, you REMEMBER that "they" are not what they believe they are. You silently REMEMBER, that "they" are eternal, changeless, timeless, formless, inseparable, indivisable perfect, wholly encompassing Love, too!! This is what we sometimes refer to as True Forgiveness. Forgiving "others" for what they have never done.
And on the level of form (in the world), you can not but treat (in your heart) both murderer and victim with the same compassionate and understanding view. They are both equally caught in the same nightmare, and both have equally the same need to "wake up" from the nightmare of mortality and separation. This view extends to every aspect of the rising and disappearing world (which is why we call it Maya - nothing Real can be threatened, nothing unreal exists...except in a nightmare/ dream).
I also have an urge to tell other people about this SEEING and "direct experience", like my wife when she says she has a lot on her mind. I tell her that those thoughts are not hers, they just pass by like clouds in the sky. But I notice people really have to be ready for this, otherwise it only creates resistance and irritation. As if I don't take their problems seriously.
Generally, you cant go wrong with kindness. None of us can judge where "someone else" is on the pathless path to awakening. If you hold True Forgiveness, as described above, peace, gentleness and compassion will be what emanates from the "body-character Nils". You can listen to your wife's upsets and worries without making them REAL in your mind. This is one of the kindest things you can do. Its the peace, the gentleness, the kindness, the compassion that your wife will see, will recognise. And it is exactly this which gives enormous comfort to someone in distress or anger or fear. Unshakable peace and compassion....no matter WHAT "they" are doing...
On a practical level of everday worldly functioning...the body-mind Nils will simply continue to function as it always has. But now you KNOW that "you" are not doing it. In the True Forgiveness way of being, what the body-character Nils does will always be the right thing for all seeimingly distressed others involved.
If speaking about what you have learned through DE happens, it will happen, and its not you thats doing that...If it does not, it does not...
So, to re-cap: 1) First, you remember that there is no one "out there", that "they" are always the eternal...This remembering is your joy, too...
2) the rest I mentioned above :-)
A nuclear bomb would create other experiences than a spitball, more I dare to say. Less nice experiences, but that is a label. If the nuclear bomb would go off in the vicinity of this body, there would be no more experiencing with the senses of this body, but life would go on and experiencing life as well. So the answer is, no difference in effect on what I am.
:-)
And with that the second question is actually answered as well. Only the part about the "hallucination", do you mean it is a hallucination that there are persons and individuals existing in the world. Or that the world is an illusion?
Nils, dear, this last bit is not part of the LU guiding process, which only leads to SEEing through the illsuion of "I".
Not only have you already SEEn through the illusion of "I", but you have SEEn through the illusion of separation, too.
If you would like to, there is a closed invitation only group (not LU affiliated, but all members came through LU) which looks extremely deeply into questions such as this. We will be glad to have you there, if you want to...But, I may not go into it here (I know I have with you already, a wee bit ;-)). So...your question here will be what points you to the answer for "yourself". There is no rush - no linear time, remember? ;-)
NIls, in closing, I have shared a lot with you here. It is not intended as a teaching. It has appeared to be shared...and that is all. Its for you to DE around with...to see if it is "true" for you in your DE...or not xxxx
Nils, now would be a really good time to ask me, or tell me, better said, where you still may have doubts or fears or questions about the SEEing process you have engaged in. We like to address them, should there be any, before we give you the final questions to answer.
The MOST important thing is that YOU are sure that you have SEEn through the illusion of "I". Thats what we are here for :-)
Much love,
Shell