Hi Sandra,
Names are useful in a social context! Is identification with a name "you"?
No. Identification with a name is not me. The name Dianne is not me. I could change my name tomorrow and still be the same.
When conversations happen look at the story of you from the eyes of the one you're talking to, your best friend, your husband, your daughter, a stranger on the street. Is it the same story? How does it change depending on a point of view? How does it change depending on your mood? Is there a true story or is it all fiction?
With everyone I am talking to it is always a different story of me. With someone who loves me there is a very different story than there would be with someone who didn't like me. A shop assistant who serves me knows only that I'm a lady making a purchase. That is not a very long story but accurate from her point of view. The story of me can change from my perspective depending on my mood. So these are all stories of Dianne and all different. They can't all be true so that means they're all fiction. My husband and children have a different Dianne story than the story I have.
Remember looking at babies? As babies we are not separate from our world. There is no place where baby begins or ends. Then the story of a separate self is begun by our parents and family who tell us who “we” are. By around three years old, the story of separation is complete, and we add our own bits to it as we grow up. But is the story really happening in experience?
Everything is now for babies. Crying, smiling, rolling, laughing, eating, staring, sleeping. Labels are added around 3 years old where these things belong to someone and become I'm crying, I'm smiling, all learned labels from others. The toddler now has someone who owns all of this and can add his own labels like my toys, my pain, my mum or I'm hungry.
Where's the “separation” people call Dianne? Can you see this “separation” in life, happening?
The separation people call Dianne would be different depending on who was having a conversation with her. Dianne is different things for different people. So Dianne is fiction. She is made up of labels and assumptions. Even the labels and assumptions she has are made up. Thinking turns the sensations into a person. Without thinking no separate person exists.
Can you please describe this feeling that's someone here? In experience what is this feeling made of?
I can't describe this feeling. Could be just thoughts.
Bye for now
Dianne
