The Gate

You're welcome.

Glad you're better.

Please review the last few posts & answer anything you haven't answered.

Loving,

Good morning Stacy!!!

This morning, studied direct experience and liberation unleashed exercises.

Sensations labeled 'Enjoyment' & 'Beginners Mind' & 'Awe' showed up this morning. Thoughts of content with 'fascination' and 'this is so cool' showing up.

Here is what you had assigned me:

Listen to https://dynamic.wakingup.com/moment/MOF ... =SCC1D6B37 (Sam Harris, Waking Up, Moment) - Anything noticed?

Thanks for sharing. My take away: Basically everything is just experience. Everything is just experience... Everything just shows up inside of consciousness, as experience, as seeing/hearing/feeling/tasting/smelling.

Focus on DIRECT EXPERIENCE

Direct or Actual Experience is

Seeing
Hearing
Feeling (Sensation, not emotion. Emotion is Sensation plus made-up thoughts & labels)
Tasting
Smelling
Thoughts Arising (but not their content)

Yes, working on this. Thoughts with content 'need to practice this more'. Thoughts with content 'need to set a timer, and do this every couple of hours'.

Butt/Chair Exercise

Yes, continued to practice this exercise. Here is what is showing up:

#1 - Seeing (Color/Image)
In the visual field, butt/chair is noticed as an image.

#2 - Feeling sensations
When syncing into the feeling/sensation field, butt/chair felt sense shows up as a blob sensation. Looking into the attributes of the blob sensation, heaviness, pressure, edges, intensity, and certain size show up.

#3 - Thoughts with Content
After #1 occurs, in the thought field, mental talk with content saying 'that is your butt there.'. After #2 is felt/noticed, mental talk with content saying 'felt sensations are different from visual color/image'.

Watch https://youtu.be/wyNwhK2Ur1c?si=TZwuFEst-7Hsadpu (LU - Look with Honesty) - Anything noticed?

The video was about cultivating desire and trust, to help see through the illusion of no self. It was motivating.

Watch https://youtu.be/fEv7UF8evQ4?si=0quQlOl6c4S5QvUU (Angelo Dilullo, Having Trouble With Self Inquiry? Try This) Anything noticed?

Video about self-inquiry. Talked about "Who am I", and ultimately when doing self inquiry, when any type of thoughts (with content) show up, that is not the answer. Good video. Sort of already practicing this way, but Angelo helped clarify more.

Stop paying attention to thoughts. See sig line of "Thought is a garbage can. If you look into the garbage can, all you will get is garbage.".

Yes, agreed.
Yes, working on letting go of thoughts.
Note: In responses to you, just sharing what thoughts (and content) are showing up, so you have full view of what is going on.

Here is an exercise that focuses a person in the present, and in a part of the brain that cannot do anxiety. Basically, go through each sense and say (or think) "I see/ hear/ feel/ taste/ touch ______________." A minute or two of each and usually anxiety is gone.

I see the couch.
I see the keyboard.
I see the glass. Etc.

I hear the train.
I hear the keys clacking.
I hear my breath. Etc.

I feel the couch under my butt.
I feel my fingers on the keys.
I feel the cold air. Etc.

I taste a metallic taste in my mouth.
I taste the coffee.
I taste the food. Etc.

I smell the humidity in the air.
I smell my husband's shampoo.
I smell the soap. Etc.

Yes, this was practiced at times. Need to do this, when anxious/stress sensations shows up.

Using only direct experience, describe this "small perceived change" you keep talking about. It sounds like it is a thought.

Yes, after inspection, you are correct, this is thought. The 'small perceived change' comment was related to studying time in the present moment. Essentially, if I just drop back and let things show up in awareness, there is something that is able to detect change occurring. Something is noticing that content is changing. That is what was being referred to. When dropping back and being direct experience, things just show up. There is no concept of things changing here, as this is just a subtle mind thought.

Great. Feels like we're caught up.

Good practicing..Be sure you stay relaxed.

Keep reporting.

I'm watching Dillulo now in the Pure Presence teleconference. About 4000 peeps enrolled, they said. There are 3 films. I seem to have lost the page.

It would like just be more thoughts right now.

Loving,

Happy Day Stacy!!!

Continued to practice throughout the day yesterday and this morning.

Practice - Thought Trigger into Direct Experience

Currently doing this trigger/pratice, throughout the day, when it shows itself, to help cancel thoughts then look into direct experience.

Whenever a thought comes up, this is the practice:
#1 - Look/recognize a thought came up in direct experience.
#2 - (Trigger #1) Mentally say 'Thought (with Content) XXX XXX XXX (or Bla Bla Bla) showing up.' When this mental rebuttal is said, this causes the mind to get confused/interrupted, and the thought then loses some of its power.
#3 - (Trigger #2) Recognize the thought came up/was interrupted/went away. Then immediately look into direct experience for something. Look & notice something in the visual, sensation, or auditory field. Ensure whats noticed is real direct experience and not in the mind. Look around in direct experience.
#4 - (Trigger #3) Even more .... Sometimes .... Recognize that something was noticed in direct experience, expand this, expand direct experience to all sensory fields. Sync in to everything / all sensory fields. Try to maintain recognization/looking in all sensory fields.

Any recommendations?

Pereception - Insight into Visual Mind Perception.

So I have a question for you. This came to me this morning. I was studying the visual field in direct experience, and trying to understand it more. The visual field still has a lot of boundaries, perceived duality. From practice, the other sensory fields are easier to work with.

When you talk about Perception, It seems what we are working towards is really understanding how Perception works. We are doing pratice to understand how the mind applies labels, depth, seperation, boundaries, names objects, "I", etc.

It seems that the work being done is to really understanding how perception works. Because if we can understand the mental process works, this can help reduce identification.

Specifically for the visual sensory field. We are trying to find that 20-50 ms of time that the mind is applying perception to colors/images (such as 3D, depth, boundaries, labeing, then object identification).

From my research, the challenge for a lot of people is that the visual sensory field is often the hardest to mind pereception (3D, depth, boundaries, labeing, objects). Which is what I'm working on.

Is this correct? Any followup?

First. why are you quoting your own writing?

It should be:

Question from pointer - *only*. Not all of the instructions, just the question you're about to answer. And only one question.

Your answer in plain black type.

Next question you're about to answer. Again, only one.

Your answer to this second question in plain black type.

That's all. This should be very simple.

Loving,

To answer your questions:

Any recommendations?

Yes. STOP analyzing. STOP trying to understand.
Just LOOK.

was studying the visual field in direct experience, and trying to understand it more.

STOP that.

It seems what we are working towards is really understanding how Perception works. We are doing pratice to understand how the mind applies labels, depth, seperation, boundaries, names objects, "I", etc.

Absolutely not. No. Don't do that.

Is this correct? Any followup?

No.. It's not. Don't do that.

Watch this:

https://youtu.be/wyNwhK2Ur1c?si=TZwuFEst-7Hsadpu

Read this:

https://www.liberationunleashed.com/res ... r-seeker/

Got it?

Loving,

Yes, did the following:

You asked, why do you put statements in questions?

Thought the context would be helpful for other people reading. From reading some other forum articles, it sometimes hard to follow questions. Didn’t understand it. Now understand it more. Will keep it simple.

Watched this:
https://youtu.be/wyNwhK2Ur1c?si=TZwuFEst-7Hsadpu

Read the following:
https://www.liberationunleashed.com/res ... ar-seeker/

Look at anything. Anywhere. Any time. What is seen? What is not?

Yes, will practice this.

Is looking this? When looking, able to see in experience and able to see what is tangible and real, which are things you can backup by looking in direct experience. Able to see thoughts come up in direct experience. However the content of thoughts cannot be proved or found in direct experience. Is this looking?

Practicing looking…

Yes. Here are the first instructions given:

This is how to LOOK for no self in the exercises - we call them "pointers' - that we will be doing here:

Colored Socks

There is a big difference between knowing that there is nothing to give up and seeing that there is nothing to give up.

Here is an example to illustrate the difference:

If I ask you what color socks you are wearing right now you have two ways to come up with an answer:

• You can think about it, you can think back to this morning and try to remember putting your socks on, and you can probably tell me what color you think they are.

• Alternatively, you can take a quick look at your socks and tell me what color they actually are!

Hopefully you would agree that you can only be 100% certain by looking.

For the purpose of seeing this "no self" idea, it is very important that you are clear about this difference.

Knowing is about knowledge which is all in the mind and we are not interested in that

We are only interested in looking at and seeing what is actually going on in your present moment-to-moment experience. We are only interested in your Direct Experience in the moment..

Direct or Actual Experience is

Seeing
Hearing
Feeling (Sensation, not emotion. Emotion is Sensation plus made-up thoughts & labels)
Tasting
Smelling
Thoughts Arising (but not their content)

Please let me know if you are clear about this or if you would like any further clarification.



Loving,

Please let me know if you are clear about this or if you would like any further clarification.

Yes, clear about this.

Yesterday, sensations showed up, labeled 'sadness', labeled 'remorse', for not doing the LU practice/exercises correctly and following instructions correctly. Thoughts 'I am doing this wrong' showed up. Thoughts 'I am frustrated' showed up. In awareness, was able to notice both of these sensory fields. The sensation of "I" showed up. Was able to see it. The thought "I" showed up. Was able to see it.

The sensations were definitely real. I could sense them in sensation field.

The thoughts (without content) showing up were real.

The thought content with 'I am doing this wrong', 'I am frustrated' were noticed. Mentally, I said to myself, these thought contents are not real. Mentally, thoughts with content 'you are just getting defensive' showed up.

I was able to detach a little bit from all of this and see what was happening. Because they feeling sensations were real, the feeling sensations still had to be felt.

Just unpacking this a little bit.

Any suggestions/reflections?

This morning, I continued to practice:
Butt/Chair Exercise
Praticed Delma's Just Look - I can definitely see real things and thought content as not real.

Another question. Can you share other exercises, I could practice with?

Here is what I have on my plate I can practice:
Butt/Chair
Apple Exercise
Delma's Just Look

Any other suggestions?

Thanks Stacy.

Okay....

sensations showed up, labeled 'sadness', labeled 'remorse'

We do not care at all about the labels or the content of thought. Please describe the actual sensation in terms of things a body can feel like weight and temperature.

The sensation of "I" showed up. Was able to see it

Precisely what did you feel in your body?
Precisely what did you see with your eyes?

I can definitely see real things and thought content as not real.

This may be progress. But describe the sensations exactly.

Loving,

Please describe the actual sensation in terms of things a body can feel like weight and temperature.

Tightness, heaviness, contracted, tingling.

The sensation of "I" showed up. Was able to see it.

Precisely what did you feel in your body?

The sensations above.

Precisely what did you see with your eyes?

I did not see anything with the eyes.

Yes. Now we are getting somewhere.

Tightness, heaviness, contracted, tingling.

Did we do this?

Here is how to distinguish truth from lies.

We often lie every day & don't realize it.

For example, the grocery clerk asks, "How are you?" You reply, "I'm fine." While, yes. there is a sense in which we are always fine, even in the middle of suffering, at that moment, you were grieving the death of your dog, you had a slight sore throat & you had a headache, but you didn't feel like sharing all of that with the grocery clerk, so you lied, "I'm fine."

Also, it matters none at all how "distant" the remembered lie is. Besides the fact that time itself is fictional, a kind if lie, as we recall the lie it becomes present in this moment, as if it were happening now. This brings the body Sensation that accompanies lying.

Lies can be intentional or unintentional, conscious or unconscious, even so automatic that we ourselves are fooled.

The story of a separate "self" is a lie.

This is the lie you came here to see through. Therefore, it is helpful to notice the body Sensation of lying as one of the tools for finding the truth of no self.

You want to be in touch with body Sensations & able to clearly express them in words. This will help.

Lies are usually felt in the heart or solar plexus as a contraction that we may label as tight, heavy or tense.

In contrast, truth is usually expansive. We may call it loose, light or relaxed.

First, can you remember a time when you lied to someone you loved?

Here we count anything, lies we think of as "big" or "small" that "matter" or don't "matter."

How are you? I'm fine. No, your knee hurts, but you don't feel like discussing it with the grocery clerk.

It's a lie. A seemingly "bigger" one will work better for this exercise.

Find the lie. I don't need the whole story, just a few key words to refer to it.

Then scan your body for any Sensation (DE or Direct Experience), particularly in the gut or maybe the heart. Check very closely.

What is found?

If you think the memory you used wasn't clear enough, find another one or lie to yourself right now, make something up.

1 + 1 = 14 is a lie.

I love eating worms is (probably) a lie.

Or call up a video of a lying politician & notice what Sensations arise as you listen.

I will give you a clue: it is not that peaceful Sensation you felt before when you omitted "I." (refers to an exercise I gave before this one)

Please report back with what body Sensations (not interpretations) you feel. Bodies can feel hot or cold, heavy or light, contraction or expansion, etc.

"Peaceful" is an interpretation of a body Sensation, not the Sensation itself, for example.

Do you see that?

Or Pernille's version:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=n6RnrkOD7 ... uBphAoK764


Loving,

Did we do this?

When you say we, what do you mean?

What is found?

Body Lie Sensations/ Body Yes/No
I have not done Body Lie Sensations or Body Yes/No before. Its new to me.

If you say a lie, and your body does not do anything, what does that mean? Do you say the lie with more power? Any suggestions?

Thanks

"We" you & me. Here in this forum.

If you say a lie, and your body does not do anything, what does that mean? Do you say the lie with more power? Any suggestions?

Usually it means you're out of touch with your body and stuck in your thoughts. Keep looking for Sensation.

Loving

Did we do this?

No. In direct experience, feeling sensations of 'tightness, heaviness, contracted, tingling' just showed up.

What is found? Do you see that?

Lie Exercise. About 30 lies were said.

No contraction (tightness, heaviness, tenseness) occurred. It was more the opposite (expansive, gentle ringing) arose. It felt similar to meditation.

In Direct Experience, here is what showed up:
Feeling Sensations: expansive, tingling, stillness.
Sounds: Gentle ringing arose.
Sounds/Colors: visual field got more precise.
Tasting: nothing
Smell: nothing
Thoughts: Silence. No thoughts or very minor/ocassional thoughts arose.

There is nothing (no self) to respond to any of the lies.

-------

Hand/Air & Butt/Chair exercise - Visual DE Field

Today, also practied the Hand/Air, Butt/Chair exercise.

Was practicing looking through the visual (color/image) field.

A question arose, why is it that in all the other DE fields (sensations, taste, sounds) they just appear in DE, but in the Visual field it feels like someone is looking out and seeing the visual field (at times).

Spent some time looking at this.

Looked into DE. Looked into the DE Feeling Sensation, and noticed that there was a small blob, circular point in the DE feeling/sensation field (behind the head).

The insight arose that the mind is stitching this DE Sensation (small circular blob) and the DE Visual (Color/Image) together to create this sense of a watcher/looker. However, in real DE, these are 2 seperate sensory events.

Wil practice more on this. I am going to practice on just letting things appear in the DE visual field and looking for other DE sensations.