The Gate

Thanks Hashim,

Please pardon my pickiness, but I don't want to miss anything.
You say "it's not possible to control emotions completely"
Is it possible to control them at all?

Thanks,
Kevin

Hi Kevin,

You say "it's not possible to control emotions completely"
Is it possible to control them at all?

You're right it's not possible to control them. I wrote it that way because, for example if I feel angry, I can suppress it to a certain extent. But that's not really being able to control the emotion from arising. And the anger is still there even though it is suppressed, so again it is not possible to totally control the emotion. I hope that makes sense.

Hashim,

Excellent observations.
Bravo!

I just want to drop back a bit and do some housecleaning if I can.
On June 20, you said:

"The physical body is not a thought. It feels to me that the "I"
is housed in this body."

Where in the body is the I housed?

Thanks,
Kevin

Hi Kevin,

Where in the body is the I housed?

When I am immersed in a thought or emotion, it feels like the I is housed wherever the strongest sensation is felt. If I'm worried about something and if I have a heavy heart, that's where I would feel the I to be. If I am immersed in thought, I will feel like that's where the I is.

But if I take a step back, I can say that the I is not housed anywhere.
The sensations are just being felt by the body. The thoughts feel like they are going on in the head, but I now know that they arise from nowhere and disappear with time.
Many advaita teachers say that the thoughts don't reside in one place, but I have always felt them to be going on in the head area. Does that matter?

Hi Hashim,

Once again, great work.

But if I take a step back, I can say that the I is not housed anywhere.
The sensations are just being felt by the body. The thoughts feel like they are going on in the head, but I now know that they arise from nowhere and disappear with time

Perfect.
This is a great witnessing. Nice work.

Many advaita teachers say that the thoughts don't reside in one place, but I have always felt them to be going on in the head area. Does that matter?

As they say, you are your own Satguru. Other teachers may help point,and can be a source of fascination of their perception, but in the end, it's all how you determine what is real.
That's what we're doing here. You are determining all of these findings.


I think we were pretty clean on the choosing when we first walked through this subject, but with an abundance of thoroughness, let's do it again.

Take two objects/possibilities, of which you might ordinarily choose either e.g. coffee or tea, blue pen or black pen, salt and pepper, then sit and see if you can find the choice-point where you could go either way. Describe how choosing happens.

Once again, nice work.
However this works out for you, I think you should get a marathon finishers shirt ;)

Best,

Kevin

Hi Kevin,

Take two objects/possibilities, of which you might ordinarily choose either e.g. coffee or tea, blue pen or black pen, salt and pepper, then sit and see if you can find the choice-point where you could go either way. Describe how choosing happens.

I tried this when choosing a TV program to watch or what type of exercise to do in the morning, or what food I want to eat. Initially it seems that I am making the choice, since I am choosing what will bring me more pleasure or gain. If I look into it deeper, the criteria for choices is made up of past experiences, inputs from society, and thoughts. Though it may seem on the surface that I'm making the choice, there is no other choice I could have made, since it was based on the the past experiences, inputs from society, and thoughts that have been accumulated.

Hi Hashim,

This is great.
Dynamite answers, they really ring as heartfelt.

Let's do a little recap here.
Please answer the following as honestly and clearly as you can.
As always, from direct experience.


With 'you' revealed as a thought story, what remains?

What experiences?

What thinks?

What does?

What is aware? 

Thanks, Hashim,

Kevin


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Oh, and What is Aware?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Ignore the above post, with the repeat question.
It didn't show up on my mobile device.

Hi Kevin,

With 'you' revealed as a thought story, what remains?

There is a body, there are thoughts that come and go. That seems all that is left. There is just pure existence of everything.

What experiences?

There is no one experiencing. There is just experiencing happening.

What thinks?

There is no one thinking. Thoughts come and go. Most thoughts seem to be judgements towards what is being experienced.
I'm still trying to figure out how identification to thought happens, and why each person has different thoughts towards things...If there is no I, then there is no one to attach to the thoughts. But I still find myself thinking and having thoughts...

What does?

There is no one doing. Doing is just happening.

What is aware?

There is no "one" that is aware. There is just awareness.

It feels strange that I'm able to write a lot of these answers with clarity, but yet I don't feel very different. I'm not making more money, and my life itself hasn't changed. I don't feel that much more peaceful, but I am able to let things be, knowing that everything is just happening on its own. There is still a yearning to "improve my life." Going from what I wrote above, I guess change happens on its own without really trying?
Have you seen that to be true in your life? If changes need to be made, are they made self-evident?
Thank you.

You’re doing really great here, Hashim.
Just a few housekeeping items.


Can you tell me what you mean by “thoughts seem to be judgments towards what is being experienced?”

If there is no I, then there is no one to attach to the thoughts. But I still find myself thinking and having thoughts…

You state in the first sentence there is no one (no I) to attach to thoughts.

Given that, how is it possible that there is an I thinking and having thoughts as noted in your second sentence?

It feels strange that I'm able to write a lot of these answers with clarity, but yet I don't feel very different.

You are answering with abundant clarity. It’s amazing.

I’m not making more money, and my life itself hasn't changed. I don't feel that much more peaceful, but I am able to let things be, knowing that everything is just happening on its own.

I think we talked at length (possibly twice) about expectations.
There are no guarantees of what might come (or not come) at the finish of this process.

There is still a yearning to "improve my life." Going from what I wrote above, I guess change happens on its own without really trying?

No matter how this works out, you’ll still have to put some effort into improving your life. It’s a “chop-wood-carry-water” thing.

Have you seen that to be true in your life? If changes need to be made, are they made self-evident?

The yearning to improve this life has grown exponentially. And it takes work.
I won’t get much more into my experience for fear it will just create expectations.

Give the questions in bold above some deep consideration in direct experience.

Get back to me as soon as you can.
Frequency in responses seems to be paying off.

Best,

Kevin

Hi Kevin,

Can you tell me what you mean by “thoughts seem to be judgments towards what is being experienced?”

I was trying to figure out on my own what thoughts are. When I looked into it, most thoughts seem to be some form of judgement.

Given that, how is it possible that there is an I thinking and having thoughts as noted in your second sentence?

So there is no I having thoughts, this I understand. But there are still thoughts happening. If there is no I, then it would seem that I shouldn't be having all these thoughts? Or does it take time for the thoughts to happen more infrequently?

Great stuff, Hashim, thanks for the speedy reply.
Let's not lose the pace, you're doing great.

If there is no I, then it would seem that I shouldn't be having all these thoughts? Or does it take time for the thoughts to happen more infrequently?

Thoughts will continue, unless the brain stops, and I don't think we want that.
Can you say unequivocally there is no I having thoughts, creating them, changing them, or affeciing in any way?

Thanks,

Kevin

Hi kevin,

Yes that's true if the brain stops there will not be thoughts. But doesn't that mean that thoughts arise in the brain?

I can see that there is no I having thoughts. I know that doing things like affirmations doesn't always work in changing thoughts. However there are times that it does. If I say something repeatedly sometimes I do feel better. So I'm not sure I can say that it never works.

Thanks for your honesty and deep searching.
This is awesome. We're really getting to look at some stuff.

But doesn't that mean that thoughts arise in the brain?

Just as data does not originate in a computer CPU, the brain processes the input it is given. (This is a summary of what you have already seen).
Does this resonate as true to you?

However there are times that it does. If I say something repeatedly sometimes I do feel better. So I'm not sure I can say that it never works.

For an exercise, make an affirmation (have a cheque arrive in the mail or something like having the boss give you a raise). It has to happen in the next half an hour.
If affirmations work, they must be able to meet a timeline.
Try as many times as you like, but change the affirmation so it's not something that would have happened anyway.
Report back
Thanks again for the swift reply.

kd