I really liked that! Is that aliveness separate from the senses? How is it experienced exactly?Without thought I cannot know what I am. However, the senses are active and there is aliveness here.
The aliveness seems to be the senses. The aliveness is just ON! I cannot find an experiencer separate from the aliveness. What does the one who is aware (or the experiencer) look like? I could not find anything separate from the aliveness that was experiencing the aliveness.I really liked that! Is that aliveness separate from the senses? How is it experienced exactly?
Let’s have a look at the idea of control, choice and decisions. Please explore the exercises below and report your findings! Remember that we’re looking for some kind of entity, a something, an ‘I’ which is doing the ‘choosing’. Sometimes we describe this sense of choosing as a ‘feeling’: It feels like ‘I’ did the ‘choosing’, but remember we are not interested in “seems like” and “feels like” entities, but ones that could be described.
Remember
Seems like/feels like = thought content
It’s not controlled. There is a “decision” from “somewhere” to choose which hand to begin turning over, and then to stop. But I cannot detect a controller.1. Hold a hand in front of you; palm turned down. Now turn the palm up. And down...and up and so on.
How is the movement controlled?
Definitely not…A thought can appear “move the hand”, nothing at all happens. When its ready the hand moves. A thought "I moved my hand" may appear but it doesn't move it. I don't know what moves it.Does a thought control it?
I watched “like a hawk” and I cannot detect any thought at all which moves the hand. I was watching the left hand and just waiting then the right hand moved which immediately attracted the attention. I wanted to find the actual moment of intention to move the hand but I couldn't.Can a ‘controller’ or and entity that is choosing be located?
How is the decision made to turn the hand over? Track any decision point when a thought MADE THE DECISION to turn the hand over.
No they were already known. They were just…can I say…made more conscious.2. Put two objects that you like in front of you (e.g. a cup of coffee and a glass of juice)
Step1. Look at drink A and at drink B. Think about their respective qualities, the things you like about them, compare and weigh the pros and cons of each. See if a preference is manifesting for one or the other.
Step2. Count to 5.
Step3. Choose one of the drinks. Pick it up and take a sip.
In step 1 when thinking about their respective qualities, did you ‘choose’ the qualities?
They just popped up and appeared.Or did they kind of appear by themselves? If some preferences manifested, did you ‘choose’ these preferences? Or did they just pop up by themselves?
The preferences and the qualities took a back seat whilst the counting was in progress.In step 2 when you counted to 5, if the preferences took the back seat while the numbers took the front seat, did you ‘choose’ this sequence of event?
I certainly did not choose that the preferences took a back seat. This was simply a result of counting.Did you ‘choose’ to shut down the preferences to give way to the counting? Did you directly experience an entity doing the ‘choosing’?
Ah yes, not a voice or even a thought exactly but…more a feeling in the head. When I looked directly into the feeling I could not find anything personal. There were just sensations and thoughts.In step 3 where you made a choice, did anything arise that announced, ‘I am the chooser’? If so, what does it look like?
I decided to keep our car on lease rather than buying one.3. Please take me through a biggish decision that you made recently - not something very personal so you are able to share more details about your decision making...
The end of lease contract just appeared.How did it come to be?
When looking at all the different conditions it was really surprising to see that only one small different condition and the outcome would have been very different.Consider all of the conditions that were necessary for it to happen. If any one of those conditions were different, would the outcome have been the same?
Lease ending - outside of my influenceHow many of these conditions were outside of your influence? What was in your control (according to thought)?
You are doing great! Wonderful seeing!Struggling a little here Rali.
Good! What is an intention in DE? The hand just moves, is there anything that intends to move it?I watched “like a hawk” and I cannot detect any thought at all which moves the hand. I was watching the left hand and just waiting then the right hand moved which immediately attracted the attention. I wanted to find the actual moment of intention to move the hand but I couldn't.
What is “feeling in the head” in DE? Remember “head” with eyes closed is a sensation labelled “head, right? With eyes open there are also colours. Does the head has a location? Is the “head” a container of some kind? Just because there are sensations present does that mean there is a choosing entity there? LOOK! What is there? What is the label “chooser” pointing to?Ah yes, not a voice or even a thought exactly but…more a feeling in the head. When I looked directly into the feeling I could not find anything personal. There were just sensations and thoughts.
When looking at all the different conditions it was really surprising to see that only one small different condition and the outcome would have been very different.
For example, if lease contract wasn’t at its end. The subsequent choices simply would not have come into existence.
If my wife hadn’t sold her house the deliberation around whether to buy the car or to renew the lease would not have arisen. The decisions arose due to conditions, then the conditions influenced the decisions.
I just wanted an example of a decision that you would normally consider that you’ve made. The point was to look entirely in thought content where cause and effect “live” and see that even there there’s no “you” making a decision. It was just one event leading to another, leading to another, with “actions” based on previous conditioning. The thought “decision is made” is layered on top of other thoughts/beliefs/descriptions of what has happened before. Why does the wind blow? It just blows. Yes we can say it happens as a result of previous events but there’s no entity “wind” that does the blowing. There is no wind that decides to blow. It’s just language. What is “moving of the hands” in DE? We’ve seen that it’s just a sensation, labelled “hands moving” + colour/shape labelled “hands moving”. So, what makes the sensations to appear? What makes seeing to appear? LOOK! Is there anything that causes anything to appear? Do cause and effect exist outside of thought content? Thought comes to describe that things are happening and why they are happening, but in DE things are just happening. Is the description/explanation/label needed for things to happen?I have attempted this one Rali but not sure I have quite grasped it the way you intended. I await your reply.
This is crazy Rali, nothing is moving the hand. What I am taking to be the controller is just a sensation. I just sat and the right thumb moved, and moved and moved, then stopped. Then the left thumb moved. There was no intention, at least I could not find a one. The closest I can get is not intention but an influence. The influence to move anything in the exercise came from reading your words.What is an intention in DE? The hand just moves, is there anything that intends to move it?
Ah yes, I sat quietly for a few moments and settled and yes in DE with eyes closed just sensations labelled “head”. No “lips”, no “nose” etc just sensations of different intensity and tone.What is “feeling in the head” in DE? Remember “head” with eyes closed is a sensation labelled “head, right?
YesWith eyes open there are also colours.
This was interesting. I could see (eyes closed) thought creating an image of the room and placing the “head” in the centre. But in DE there were just sensations.Does the head has a location?
NO, it is assumed that thought happens inside the head. But when listening to the sound of washing machine, thoughts and the sound, there wasn’t an inside or outside. There was just experiencing in the same “place.” I could not find a border between so called inside and outside.Is the “head” a container of some kind?
No, at first it was a little more tricky as thought claimed to be the chooser. Then I realised that was another thought just appearing. I couldn’t find a chooser. I asked, ok so what does the chooser look like.? Nothing…there was nowhere to go here.Just because there are sensations present does that mean there is a choosing entity there? LOOK!
Just sensations and thoughts…What is there?
Interesting, “chooser” points to nothing. Its just a thought. All that is left after the thought “chooser” disappears are sensations. A sensation cannot do anything. I asked the sensations, ok, now choose, and nothing!What is the label “chooser” pointing to?
No. The assumed identity when looked at is found to be sensation/thoughtSo experiencing happens through the senses + thought.
If there is experience, one or more of those are present. There are various sensations, but does that mean there is a an entity?
There are just sensations…I am going to play with this one until I hear back from you.To have a chooser it should exist besides the sensations, hearing, smelling, tasting and seeing. It's good to remember that we can only experience seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting, smelling and thinking. Anything not in the first five is thought. Please look and let me know how do you observe this chooser outside of thought content?!
Nothing outside the senses. Cannot go anywhere with this…checkmate!There is "aliveness" there which basically is a complex label pointing to all the senses and thinking. More such labels are “presence” or “am-ness”, “awareness”, etc. but these are nothing more than labels pointing to the senses. Is there anything here that is not the senses? How would they be experienced without the senses?
Goodness! Sensations, seeing etc are just ON!I just wanted an example of a decision that you would normally consider that you’ve made. The point was to look entirely in thought content where cause and effect “live” and see that even there there’s no “you” making a decision. It was just one event leading to another, leading to another, with “actions” based on previous conditioning. The thought “decision is made” is layered on top of other thoughts/beliefs/descriptions of what has happened before. Why does the wind blow? It just blows. Yes we can say it happens as a result of previous events but there’s no entity “wind” that does the blowing. There is no wind that decides to blow. It’s just language. What is “moving of the hands” in DE? We’ve seen that it’s just a sensation, labelled “hands moving” + colour/shape labelled “hands moving”. So, what makes the sensations to appear? What makes seeing to appear? LOOK! Is there anything that causes anything to appear?
If I try to do the opposite…stop being aware, stop seeing, feeling etc. I can’t. Nothing can be prevented to appear and to be as it is. I cannot find any cause and effect without thinking. It seems to simple and so direct!Do cause and effect exist outside of thought content?
Intention is just a thought. Things happen and thought says there is an intention – that there is an entity that wills things into happening. “Influence” on the other hand suggests cause and effect, which are also thoughts. Cause and effect also suggest a time line so let’s explore time…The closest I can get is not intention but an influence. The influence to move anything in the exercise came from reading your words.
No, there is just seeing, hearing, sensing etc + thoughts. Then thoughts produce image of past and future.Intention is just a thought. Things happen and thought says there is an intention – that there is an entity that wills things into happening. “Influence” on the other hand suggests cause and effect, which are also thoughts. Cause and effect also suggest a time line so let’s explore time…
There is a general assumption that there is linear time that started (if started at all) somewhere very far in the past and advances to the distant future. The present moment (now) is considered to be a very small fragment of time, or an event that is moving forward on a linear line, coming from the past and advancing to the future.
But is there an experience of the ’now’ moving along the line of time?
No gaps, no crossovers from one “moment” to the next. Just hearing seeing etc.Any experience of one ‘moment’ giving way to the next?
This I will have to play with al little more…thought is sliding the belief in that there is. It’s subtle…Is there any actual or direct experience of one event following another?
“Fast” is a thought, an idea.How fast is the ‘present moment’ actually moving?
It just is…no matter where I ‘look’ it just is.Just look at 'this moment', can you find a point where it began?
Goodness, anything that’s not ‘just this’ seems to be an idea/thought/imageHow long does the ‘now’ last?
Checkmate!Where does the ‘now’ start, and where does it end?
In thought only…memoryWhen does the ‘now’ exactly become the ‘past'?
Thought/image. The thought is real but the content isn’t.What is the ‘past’ in actual experience?
The actual experience is just one of seeing, hearing etc. I can see more clearly how thought is creating the illusion of time. Images of “past events”. Images of possible “future events.”So is there actual experience of ‘time’ or thoughts about ‘time’?
How would that be known if it is always the present? Where does one event ends and another start without the memory/ thought? What is an event in DE?Is there any actual or direct experience of one event following another?This I will have to play with al little more…thought is sliding the belief in that there is. It’s subtle…
How does that make you feel?Goodness, anything that’s not ‘just this’ seems to be an idea/thought/image
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