The Gate

Good morning

Please don't feel stupid. Lots of people have trouble doing this pointer. I added the word, "exactly," which seems to help most people.

Here is the example again:

Seeing a cup, simply= image/color
Smelling coffee, simply = smell
Feeling the warmth of the coffee cup, simply = sensation
Tasting the coffee, simply = taste
Hearing the spoon stirring the coffee, simply = sound
Thought about drinking the coffee, simply = thought

Reverse everything. I re-did one of yours to show you:

Snowflakes drifting simply = Seeing
Just nothing simply = Smelling
Warmth from the heating in my room simply = Feeling
Nothing = Tasting
Noise in my ears (tinnitus) simply = Hearing
Snow is drifting simply =Thought Arising


Dob you see the difference now? Try again, please.

Loving,

Reverse everything. I re-did one of yours to show you:

Snowflakes drifting simply = Seeing
Just nothing simply = Smelling
Warmth from the heating in my room simply = Feeling
Nothing = Tasting
Noise in my ears (tinnitus) simply = Hearing
Snow is drifting simply =Thought Arising

Do you see the difference now? Try again, please.

Dear Stacy,

It seems like I need some time for this. I try very hard to understand.

This war your first example

Seeing a cup, simply= image/color
Smelling coffee, simply = smell
Feeling the warmth of the coffee cup, simply = sensation
Tasting the coffee, simply = taste
Hearing the spoon stirring the coffee, simply = sound
Thought about drinking the coffee, simply = thought

and you asked me to do it EXACTLY - What I did.

This was mine:
Seeing the snowflakes drifting
smelling just nothing
feeling the warmth from the heating in my room
tasting nothing
Hearing nothing except the noise in my ears (tinnitus)
Thoughts about snow drifting

and I thought I did it right.

Then you redid this one and there is a difference now, because there is no:
Seeing
Hearing
Feeling (Sensation, not emotion. Emotion is Sensation plus made-up thoughts & labels)
Tasting
Smelling
Thoughts Arising (but not their content)

in the beginning, instead it is at the end. So what should it be exactly?

The first pointer let me see this and with the second it is just happening.

But I could not have told you, if I had not seen it. Like the coloured socks. What do I get wrong?

Don’t give up on me.

With love,
Ilse

I won't give up.

Yes. Reverse them. Write them like this & post again



Snowflakes drifting simply = Seeing
Just nothing simply = Smelling
Warmth from the heating in my room simply = Feeling
Nothing = Tasting
Noise in my ears (tinnitus) simply = Hearing
Snow is drifting simply =Thought Arising

Loving,

I won't give up.

Yes. Reverse them. Write them like this & post again

Snowflakes drifting simply = Seeing
Just nothing simply = Smelling
Warmth from the heating in my room simply = Feeling
Nothing = Tasting
Noise in my ears (tinnitus) simply = Hearing
Snow is drifting simply =Thought Arising

Dear Stacy,
I do as you wish and reverse what I did before.

The plate, white, round simply = seeing
cheese and garlic simply = smelling
Warmth from the plate and the food simply = sensation
Noodles simply = tasting
Fork scratching the plate simply = hearing
thought about eating noodles simply = thought

An orange colour Mandarin simply = seeing
Mandarin skin removed simply = hearing
Mandarin juice simply = smelling
mandarin flesh simply = tasting
eating a mandarin = simply thought

I try to follow your advice, but honestly, Stacy, it makes no sense to me why this should be different to what I did before. This is just thinking, trying to follow exactly your example but when I did it before, it was the present moment and the thinking came afterwards.
Please , please explain in a way that I may understand, what I am doing here and where your pointers are leading to.

With love,
Ilse

Yes. It is all content if thought. This pointer leads to distinguishing Thoughts Arising & Direct Experience from the made up content of thought. If you already know that, great.

Stay with it. This all become clear.


Mind Labeling Experience

Here is an exercise which examines the way in which the mind labels experience - it takes about 20 minutes and you will need a pen a paper.

This exercise is broken into 10 minute lots. For each 10 minute period pay attention to any bodily sensation i.e. is there any tightening, or any relaxing?

For the first ten minutes write down what you are experiencing right now using the word “I”.

For example:

I am sitting on a chair,
I am hearing a clock ticking,
I am looking at a computer screen,
I am feeling hungry.

Get right to the point, no past or future fantasy, just a plain description of your experience right here and now.

Then for the next ten minutes continue writing down what you are experiencing but this time without using the word “I”. Just describe the experience as it is happening using verbs.

For example:

Sitting on a chair,
typing,
breathing,
blinking,
hearing the clock.

(Again, watch what is happening in the body.)

At the end of the twenty minutes compare the two ways in which the experience was labelled and answer the following four questions:

1. Is one truer than the other, and If so, which one?

2. What is here without labels?

3. Do labels affect the experience or just describe it?

4. Did you notice any differences in the body?

One step at a time.

Loving

You may also wish to download Gateless Gatecrashers book from our Books, Resources here. It has many examples of conversations where people saw clearly that there is no separate self.

Also, here is a recent thread you can read as another example:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=9790&start=15

Loving,

You may also wish to download Gateless Gatecrashers book from our Books, Resources here. It has many examples of conversations where people saw clearly that there is no separate self.

Thank you, dear Stacy, for your reply.
this book you are mentioning above I downloaded already a few days ago. Remember, when I told you this:
Then I started to read the first story in the Gateless Gatecrashers. And ended up very frustrated and even hopeless
I felt so stupid compared to the two who had this communication. And had the desperate feeling that I would never understand what it is all about. But I have recovered and will continue reading with curiosity.

For the mind labeling exercise I will need more time and will write tomorrow again.

Thank you. Yes, I thought I remembered you might have downloaded Gateless Gatecrashers. I was answering you on my cell phone early in the morning and I didn't try to scroll back to check.

Answer when you're ready.

Thank you,

Mind Labeling Experience

Here is an exercise which examines the way in which the mind labels experience - it takes about 20 minutes and you will need a pen a paper.

Dear Stacy,
I did the exercise. Do you want me to post the whole writing – it is quite a lot. So I just do a few examples
1)
I am writing
I am sitting I my bed
I am drinking my coffee
I am tasting my coffee
I am watching the clock
I am feeling the paper
I am holding the pen
I am hearing the noise in my ear
I am thinking about what to write
I am smiling
I am seeing my clothes etc. (2 pages)
……….

There were no great physical sensations involved. It was fun doing it and went smooth and quickly.

2)
Writing
watching the clock
Feeling smoothness of the cover
looking at the books
Feeling heartbeat
looking at the pen
Feeling warmth
Thinking what to write
Head turning

This went much slower. And with a bit of tightening.

Answering the questions:
1)What is true? I do not know. Both is.

2) What is here the label? Is it the “I” or is it the verb? Both is labelled.

3) Labels just describe it.

4) I just noticed, that it needed more thinking to write without the “I”

Stacy, I know I am a slow thinker and need time to understand. That’s why I look forward to your correction.
---------
Here I come back to your first pointer:

Direct Experience - Labeling Daily Activities

I realize, that I have built it into my day and am trying to name what I am doing. For example climbing stairs.
Like:
the stair, grey simply = seeing
Footstep on the stair simpy = hearing
Sole of the foot simply = feeling
next step……… etc.

Do you think this is useful?

With gratidude,
Ilse

Ilse, you're doing fine. This isn't a race. Slow is fine.

Good answers. Good morning. I happened to be looking when you posted.

I'm surprised you felt tightening when omitting "I." Usually it is just the opposite. Without "I" is truer & usually there is relaxing. Maybe you were having some other untrue thoughts.

Take a few minutes to watch this, then see the pointer below it. If there's an ad, just skip it.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=n6RnrkOD7 ... uBphAoK764


Take your time. Here's the next one:

Here is how to distinguish truth from lies.


We often lie every day & don't realize it.

For example, the grocery clerk asks, "How are you?" You reply, "I'm fine." While, yes. there is a sense in which we are always fine, even in the middle of suffering, at that moment, you were grieving the death of your dog, you had a slight sore throat & you had a headache, but you didn't feel like sharing all of that with the grocery clerk, so you lied, "I'm fine."

Also, it matters none at all how "distant" the remembered lie is. Besides the fact that time itself is fictional, a kind if lie, as we recall the lie it becomes present in this moment, as if it were happening now. This brings the body Sensation that accompanies lying.

Lies can be intentional or unintentional, conscious or unconscious, even so automatic that we ourselves are fooled.

The story of a separate "self" is a lie.

This is the lie you came here to see through. Therefore, it is helpful to notice the body Sensation of lying as one of the tools for finding the truth of no self.

You want to be in touch with body Sensations & able to clearly express them in words. This will help.

Lies are usually felt in the heart or solar plexus as a contraction that we may label as tight, heavy or tense.

In contrast, truth is usually expansive. We may call it loose, light or relaxed.

First, can you remember a time when you lied to someone you loved?

Here we count anything, lies we think of as "big" or "small" that "matter" or don't "matter."

How are you? I'm fine. No, your knee hurts, but you don't feel like discussing it with the grocery clerk.

It's a lie. A seemingly "bigger" one will work better for this exercise.

Find the lie. I don't need the whole story, just a few key words to refer to it.

Then scan your body for any Sensation (DE or Direct Experience), particularly in the gut or maybe the heart. Check very closely.

What is found?

If you think the memory you used wasn't clear enough, find another one or lie to yourself right now, make something up.

1 + 1 = 14 is a lie.

I love eating worms is (probably) a lie.

Or call up a video of a lying politician & notice what Sensations arise as you listen.

I will give you a clue: it is not that peaceful Sensation you felt before when you omitted "I." (refers to an exercise I gave before this one)

Please report back with what body Sensations (not interpretations) you feel. Bodies can feel hot or cold, heavy or light, contraction or expansion, etc.

"Peaceful" is an interpretation of a body Sensation, not the Sensation itself, for example.

Do you see that?

Loving,

I'm surprised you felt tightening when omitting "I." Usually it is just the opposite. Without "I" is truer & usually there is relaxing. Maybe you were having some other untrue thoughts.

I think it has to do with being German and having to translate. When learning Englisch, the phrase: I am feeling this paper was common learning. Unusual was: to feel this paper. And feeling this paper is not common at all in German ; translated it would be: The sensation of the paper. So this might explain the effort.

with love,
Ilse

Here is how to distinguish truth from lies.
What is found?

Wow, that's a theme! At first I was looking (quiet relaxed) for a lie, excuses I have for not doing something or not participating in something and then all of a sudden it popped up that my whole life is a lie.

And I feel really bad about it. You must know that for as long as I can remember I've had the feeling that I'm from another planet, that I don't belong here. And it took me a long time to study people and learn how to behave and be here in order to survive. That's why I still have the feeling when I go out with people that I am fooling them, I am not myself, I am lying.

And I've already undergone therapy and looked for the reason why I'm so afraid of people. It was always just fear and the feeling that I had to hide myself. Now the tears are running.

Is that the reason? Can that be the answer? I deeply believe that I am made up of a single lie.
The feeling is so horrible, shameful, disturbing, I do not know anything else right now, have to take a break.

There is nothing I can do about it……….
Deep down in my gut, where all these desperate feelings are, I am looking for a spark of hope.
All this time I have been fooling people, my evironment and I have always been afraid of being caught of being put up against the wall for lying, because I don’t belong here. Now that I know this, now that this has come up, it seems to be even worse for me. How can I go outside and look someone in the eye, knowing, I am a liar.
I am so desperate. I want to hide forever.
Or is this just another lie I am telling myself???
But no. I don’t belong, this is the feeling that has accompanied me all my life and I have always pretended that I am no different from anyone else. Nobody must find out, because then I will be rejected.
Dear Stacy, what can I do. I try to stay in the moment and the moment is just running tears. What did I do to myself? Why this thoughts my whole life? Never really enjoying being with friends……

Thank you for listening to me,
Ilse

Hi Ilse,

We will come back to the truth/lie pointer after some work with your fests.

Please watch & practice these as much as you need to.

There is a Direct Looking process for fear.

https://youtu.be/jKX1llYtlKE?si=jHXuuyyVtp7c-1R2

And this one:

https://youtu.be/fSTT8nc8cvQ?si=Alcukpbi7SUlXpfi


Here is an anxiety exercise that focuses a person in the present, and in a part of the brain that cannot do anxiety. Basically, go through each sense and say (or think) "I see/ hear/ feel/ taste/ touch ______________." A minute or two of each and usually anxiety is gone.

I see the couch.
I see the keyboard.
I see the glass. Etc.

I hear the train.
I hear the keys clacking.
I hear my breath. Etc.

I feel the couch under my butt.
I feel my fingers on the keys.
I feel the cold air. Etc.

I taste a metallic taste in my mouth.
I taste the coffee.
I taste the food. Etc.

I smell the humidity in the air.
I smell my husband's shampoo.
I smell the soap. Etc.

As far as I can tell, the only time this doesn't work is when someone won't do it.

Write how these are working for you.

Loving

We will come back to the truth/lie pointer after some work with your fests.

Yes, thank you dear Stacy,

I did not understand this sentence as I could not find the word “fests”.

But I am working with my fear and will come back to you soon.


With love,
Ilse

You're right! That was a typo.

Fears...