Where am I?

[graceabounds]

Yes and no. No in the sense that while I was doing the exercise I had not the experience of “I am sensing …”. Yes because I noticed that there was some kind of perspective; that sometimes (not always, in retrospect) the sensations seemed to be felt as if perceived from the head area…

Great, the sense of being centered in the head often stays until work on F6 and later. (As long as the centeredness in the head doesn’t have the association of being where ‘I’ as controller resides?)

Dissolvings:
- When hunger was felt without the label “uncomfortable” the feeling became quite interesting and then faded into the background.
- When pain was felt without the label “potential health problem” it first became interesting and then dissolved.

Yes, a lot of the body’s communication simply wants to be witnessed. When ‘seen’ without interpreting it often moves or transmutes or dissolves.

Shift: At some point, when the sensations were not “controlled” or “jailed” by the normal limiting label “body” it felt as if there was a wavy up-and-down-movement, like riding on waves, that was much more pronounced than the physical movement of the body caused by the breath.

Beautiful. Nice noticing.

Sit quietly and relax, take your time just looking at what is in front of you for awhile. Observe how the mind is dividing and labelling every thing into objects and is embellishing them with stories about what they are.
Give it some time.
Then, stop watching the objects as labelled objects. Just look at the seeing itself. Observe the pure process of seeing. This is direct experience (DE).

Here's an exercise that I would like you to try as many times throughout the day as you can. Label daily activities simply colour/image, sound, smell, taste, sensation, thought. So for example, when having breakfast, become aware of:-
Seeing a cup, simply= image/colour
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
Just write down a few daily activities into these categories (which are all actual/direct experience) and report back how you go.

-Becca

[You]

Great, the sense of being centered in the head often stays until work on F6 and later. (As long as the centeredness in the head doesn’t have the association of being where ‘I’ as controller resides?)

Interesting! Thanks for contextualizing this again, a sense of an “I” as controller was not there during the exercise. I assume that it is there often in normal daily activities, but I would have to look out for that… Not sure if it is so…

Sit quietly and relax, take your time just looking at what is in front of you for awhile. Observe how the mind is dividing and labelling every thing into objects and is embellishing them with stories about what they are.
Give it some time.
Then, stop watching the objects as labelled objects. Just look at the seeing itself. Observe the pure process of seeing. This is direct experience (DE).

I did this. Should I report back on it, too?

Now, the labelling exercise:

Washing dishes:
Seeing spoon in one hand, sponge in the other hand, simply = image/colour
Hearing water flow, simply = sound
Feeling water, spoon and sponge in my hands, simply = sensation
Thinking: is there a smell?, simply = thought
Smelling soap, simply = smell

Waking up from a nap:
Hearing husband’s voice, simply = sound
Feeling sofa under the body, simply = sensation
Opening eyes and seeing wall, pictures, stuffed animal, lamp, …, simply = image/colour
Thinking: which of all these objects should I report later? None of them sticks out more than the others, simply = thought
Seeing the entire coloured visual field as a whole, simply = colour

Writing right now on iPad:
Seeing the screen and my hands, simply = image / colour
Hearing fingers tap on the screen, simply = sound
Feeling fingers tap on the screen, simply = sensation
Thinking: Is a smell present?, simply = thought

Drinking coffee while watching a series:
Feeling the warm cup in my hand, simply = sensation
Tasting the coffee, simply = taste
Feeling the warmth in the mouth, simply = sensation
Seeing the television and what’s happening on the screen, simply = image/colour
Smelling the coffee, simply = smell
Hearing the audio of the television, simply = sound
Thinking about the main character in the series, simply = thought

Warm regards

[graceabounds]

So, in this same way….
if you were to LOOK for the separate self, in direct experience, right now, what do you find?

[You]

No sound, no colour/image, no smell, no taste.
Regarding sensation: After reading the question and then while looking in direct experience, this heart pounding that had also been present during the exercise with the sentence “There is no separate self…” appeared again, immediately. + heightened attention; similarly to stage fever. Something is reacting to this question.
Regarding thoughts: Ideas about “separate self” are there, but they are not the separate self; in the same as a thought about an apple is not an apple.

[You]

Correction of my english 😬 I meant: stage freight (not stage fever). And later: “in the same way as…”

[graceabounds]

Stay with that pounding heart. Stay with the heightened attention.

No need to name it, explain it, or analyze it. Just feel it fully.

Does it need to be resisted?

Drop even the idea that “something is reacting.”
Is there anything wrong with what is happening right now?

Without the story, what is left?

[You]

Stay with that pounding heart. Stay with the heightened attention.

No need to name it, explain it, or analyze it. Just feel it fully.

Does it need to be resisted?

No.

Drop even the idea that “something is reacting.”
Is there anything wrong with what is happening right now?

No. Without a story: no.

Without the story, what is left?

Heart pounding. Strong sensation of the pulse in belly, legs, toes, hands. Sounds. Visual field. Presence. Sensation of the breath. Attention.

[graceabounds]

Beautiful. From this place, look:
Is there I?

[You]

Of all that is present in direct experience, nothing can be recognized as “I”.

[graceabounds]

Yes. And yet, there’s still experience happening. Seeing, hearing, sensing—without an “I” to own it.

So was there ever an “I” in the first place, or was it always just a label stuck onto this raw flow of experience?

What happens if you stop looking for an “I” altogether? What’s left?

[You]

So was there ever an “I” in the first place, or was it always just a label stuck onto this raw flow of experience?

It must have been always just a label, even if it wasn’t obvious at the time.

What happens if you stop looking for an “I” altogether? What’s left?

Sensations. Sounds. Visual field. Presence. Almost no thoughts, just alertness. This moment.

[graceabounds]

beautiful.
From here, is doubt to be found?

[You]

No. Nothing to doubt when looking like that in direct experience.
Doubt can creep up in other moments, but is quickly exposed as “just as thought”.

[You]

Correction: “just a thought”.

[graceabounds]

Yes, that’s it. Doubt is just another thought—no different from a passing sound or a flickering shadow. It only has weight if it’s believed.

Is it possible to just marinate in this… the direct experience?
To see through and release the illusion of figuring out/interpreting/doubting?
To ‘go direct’ in this moment?
What emerges?