Clarity

[Plant31]

The Apple is only known through thought/sensations etc. All experience is arising within. So although the taste, smell, touch and colour of the apple are experienced and can be quantified with someone else all experience is arising within, even the experience of someone else. The Apple only exists in our experience. The Apple is being seen and touch, tasting and smelling the apple feel very real compared to an imagine apple, but still the apple is experienced within.


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[Seamist]

Can you actually find "apple" in your direct experience?

[Plant31]

Yes, in my direct experience there is an object we know as apple which seems very real.


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[Seamist]

ok
Let’s do some observing now to further explore the difference between mental construction and direct experience.
Try this to help you into into direct experience of looking: Choose an ordinary object in the room. Maybe a vase of flowers or something that has interesting and varied visual qualities
1. Close your eyes and picture it in your mind for a minute or two.
2. Open your eyes and observe it directly for a while.
Describe both experiences. The first one of what was happening directly in the mind sense and then the second one of what you experienced in the visual sense.
Also tell me the difference between these two experiences.

x

[Plant31]

The difference was very different.
1. In the mind sense, it was less clear, flat, no colour, blurry edges, I couldn’t grasp the detail of it, it was pulled from memory.
2. In DE it was vivid, colourful, detailed, beautiful, 3D, seemed much more real, no memory required.



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[Seamist]

Hi Becca
That's great, nice and clear.

next..
Let’s go through the other senses in the same way. Try now to stick to only adjectives and no other words at all when describing the sounds or the imaginations etc. You can use other words when describing the difference.
Hearing.
a) Imagine first the sound of a meditation gong (or something similar). Describe exactly how you imagined that. What were the qualities?
b) Then sound the gong and listen with your whole being. Describe that also as fully as you can.
c) Tell me the difference.

xx

[Plant31]

A)imagined - empty, quiet, a word that represented the sound was spoken in my mind, memorised
B)actual - different to the memory, louder, changing, no word was spoken, a sound was heard
C)difference - both very different. Much louder, more real in DE. The sound could change when it was made in DE. In imagined it was just one sound as remembered.


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[Seamist]

Great!
Similarly:
Taste, smell and touch.
Imagine an orange or a similarly strong tasting fruit. Go through the same 3 steps and describe these 3 senses fully also.

xx

[Plant31]

Hi, I haven’t had chance to do this one yet. I may need a little longer. Thanks


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[Seamist]

No problem.
Thanks for letting me know.
X

[Plant31]

Taste
Imagined - flavourless
Reality - fresh, vibrant, real
Difference - very different imagined was based on memory and not actual experience, it was hard to imagine a flavour

Smell
Imagined - faint
Reality - fresh, strong, impacts all senses
Difference - very different, much harder to imagine smell than DE

Touch
Imagined - air, nothing solid, formless
Reality - solid, real, shapely, 3D
Difference - very different. Much more real as DE


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[Seamist]

Hi Becca
That's lovely noticing just what was required. Did you find it interesting to notice?
Would you agree that the difference between the imagined and the real in these exercises seems to be that the imagined is based on previous memories of the “thing”, whereas the real is this individual, particular “thing”? Also the real sense experience is more vivid and immediate. Do you discover new aspects of the things you investigate in this way? Give an example.
xx

[Plant31]

Yes it was interesting. It was exactly as you said. All based on memory and some quite hard to recapture the specifics or recreate the same thing in my mind.
In the direct experience it was much more clearer, seemed very real, smells were vivid.
I did notice more details than usual in terms of texture and the reflections on the object.


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[Seamist]

Yes, good!
Most nouns are labels for objects and we learn to name things early on which leads to mental construction and interpretation. So I’m asking you to stay with qualities and textures not using nouns as far as possible - mainly adjectives like warm, soft, cold, pointed, sharp, round, hard - anything that the senses can recognise in the way a young baby would before it learns to label and speak. We need labels to navigate practically in life but they limit our actual experience also.

Imagine lying down on the floor and tell me what sensations come up in your mind and report back. Remember not to mention body parts like ‘heel’ for instance just the sensations in themselves.
Then lie down, feel the pressure/weight/sensations of contact with the floor and report back as fully as possible

xx

[Plant31]

Sorry for my delaying in responding, I was away this weekend and didn’t get chance to do this. Although I was thinking about it and imagining lying on the floor. It’s hard to describe the imagined version without using labels.

Imagination - cold, light, warm, scratchy
Direct experience - soft, heavy, gross sensations, light, tingling, fizzy, cold, warm, breezy

This was much the same as the other experiences in that the imagined description is taken from memory and is distorted with a number of different memories, while the direct experience is what was felt in the moment.
Thank you x



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