Keeping It Simple

[Bluejay]

Here are the final questions. Try to avoid too much logic/thinking and focus on direct experience.

Let me know if you have any questions.

1) Is there a separate entity 'self', 'me' 'I', at all, anywhere, in any way, shape or form? Was there ever?

2) Explain in detail what the illusion of separate self is, when it starts and how it works from your own experience. Describe it fully as you see it now.

3) How does it feel to see this? What is the difference from before you started this dialogue? Please report from the past few days.

4) What was the last bit that pushed you over, made you look?

5) Describe how decisions are made & give examples from experience.

Describe intention & give examples from experience.

Describe free will & give examples from experience.

Describe choice & give examples from experience.

Describe control & give examples from experience.

What makes things happen? How does it work?

What are you responsible for? Give examples from experience.

6) Anything to add?

[gbeene]

1) Is there a separate entity 'self', 'me' 'I', at all, anywhere, in any way, shape or form? Was there ever?

No, never was, never will be.

2) Explain in detail what the illusion of separate self is, when it starts and how it works from your own experience. Describe it fully as you see it now.

The separate self is a persistent thought that appears to claim other forms of experience as belonging to "it". It starts when you are young, "why" it starts I'm not 100% on, but at some point thoughts start saying that there is a "you" separate from objects outside of your mind/body, and that "you" ARE or OWN your mind/body.

3) How does it feel to see this? What is the difference from before you started this dialogue? Please report from the past few days.

Feels kind of silly, to be honest. Before I started LU, it felt like "I" needed to have an experience of awakening or enlightenment to do... something. Feel better. Be valid. That it would be some kind of special experience that would make "me" more special as a result.

Over the last few days, it is clearer that there's no merit badge to be earned to make me special. There's no me to be special, and there's no quality of specialness required for anything. There are processes occurring that generate what appears to be reality, and they also generate a "me" that reality seems to be appearing to, it makes me feel curious and excited to continue to understand this process.

4) What was the last bit that pushed you over, made you look?

It's funny, I think it was actually wayyyy earlier in this process, playing with permutations of thoughts to generate a reaction, like "I am going to awaken." "I'm not sad that I will never awaken." It's what made me see that if everything in direct experience is exactly where it is, there's nothing to get awakened, nothing to do the awakening, no awakening apart from anything else, no anything else apart from awakening. It's like the entire present is a perfect crystalline structure of the entire present and nothing can be added or taken from it.

5) Describe how decisions are made & give examples from experience.

Decisions aren't really made, as there's nothing to make a decision and nothing outside of thought/experience for a decision to be made in. It's a thought. I just cleared my throat, but I didn't have a thought deciding to do that. I just had a thought deciding to become an astronaut, but I am not an astronaut. It's irrelevant.

Describe intention & give examples from experience.

Intention is also a thought, same as decisions. I don't see them as being very different. Intention is a thought more about possible decisions that could be made, rather than a specific decision being made, but in direct experience it's the same type of content as "I want a lasagna."

Describe free will & give examples from experience.

Free will is a thought as well. It's a thought saying there is a "me" that is "free" to make decisions/choices based on its own volition, intention, desires, etc. Free will says I could choose to do "anything" I wanted, but I can't choose to become an astronaut, and I cannot manifest a lasagna, so it is a mistaken assumption.

Describe choice & give examples from experience.

Choice is a thought that gets tacked onto past or future actions that says "I made this happen." It feels like I chose to make jokes about lasagna, but I would have had to have an infinite shopping list of alternate thoughts to have that existed out of time, that "I" was able to shop for and choose the lasagna thought from.

Describe control & give examples from experience.

Control is a thought/concept. In this exact moment, there is no control, as nothing can control anything else. Everything is arising as it is, exactly as it is. It cannot act or be acted upon.

What makes things happen? How does it work?

I don't know, in direct experience. Things are just happening.

What are you responsible for? Give examples from experience.

There's no "me" to be responsible, and "responsibility" is a thought generated out of past memories around social/cultural conditioning, legality, expectations, and so on.

If I accept operation on a mundane level for a minute, there's responsibility there, primarily to not cause harm, but nothing corroborates that in present direct experience.

6) Anything to add?

Thank you for the endless patience. It's funny that I think my first real "glimpse" of "getting it" was on page 9 and then there were 12 more pages of me tossing and turning.

[Bluejay]

Thanks Geoff!

I'll share these with other guides to see if they have any questions or comments.

Stay tuned :)

[Bluejay]

No one had any questions, so you're already very clear on this. Now it's just about further clarifying the conditioning that comes up, and noticing that this process is happening by itself, like everything.

And feel free to reach out to me on the forum here or via my website if you ever feel that I can help or if you feel lost.

You can also post in this thread if you have any questions.

An admin will be in touch to invite you to the LU FB group.

Below are some excellent resources for further exploration. It is not meant for you to explore all of these. Simply notice what resonates and go with that.

Simply Awake app - Free app for your phone that contains dozens of meditations that will help you keep looking deeper.
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... roid.awake
Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/simply-awake/id1544382796

https://www.simplytheseen.com/explore-each-fetter.html - Great resource if you want to explore the next layer of selfing. In your case it would be fetters 4 & 5.

https://perfectlyokay.org/ - A free community that has an excellent 10 fetters group that meets up almost every week. They also have recordings from previous meetings that are excellent. Instructions on how to join are on the homepage.

Oscillation group - PerfectlyOkay.org also has an oscillation group for if you feel like you are going in and out of seeing. You can find information on it if you go to perfectlyokay.org -> Weekly Meetups -> scroll down half-way to Tuesdays and it should be there. You can also do a search on the page for 'oscillation' in the browser. The time right now says 10am PT on Tuesdays but please confirm this as it may change.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3X_Xpd10pV0 - A great video from Angelo Dilullo on this process and how it deepens on its own, if not resisted.

https://www.youtube.com/@TheAwakeningCurriculum/videos - Excellent channel from Pernille. Check out the playlists. These are great to watch here and there to help you see if anything else needs to be inquired into.

Byron Katie's The Work - If you want to look at and untangle beliefs, you can search for byron katie on YouTube or Google and find a lot of resources for free.

It's been a pleasure guiding you, Geoff. I've learned a lot by getting to watch your process unfold :)

[gbeene]

Just wanted to say thanks again Henri. You put a lot of effort forth for a stranger from across the world and have been a major guide and milestone on my return to the path (which, as it turns out, I was never too far from in the first place). I really valued our exchanges and am feeling a ton of gratitude. Thanks again, and best wishes on your own journey.

See you on the far shore :)


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[Bluejay]

I really valued our exchanges and am feeling a ton of gratitude. Thanks again, and best wishes on your own journey.

Wish you all the best on your journey :)