Hi Bartek. Good to hear from you.
Yeah, the sole purpose of being on LU is to see no-self,
Pleased about this. Just to clarify, there is no seeing of
a no-self, just simply seeing that there is no self. A subtle but important difference.
but ('but' is one of my favourite words) I've got many thoughts in my mind and I'm driven by them,
and this is why there's a lot of offtopic in my posts :) My thoughts are tripping to a lot of places in my mind.
Ok, then we need to address this as we do not want to get off topic. Notice that thoughts come and go and that they can be watched as they 'pass'. The content of every thought is imaginary but the thought is real.
So
if the content of thought is imaginary and you are real, something imaginary has no way of affecting something that is real.
But if you are not real, and only
thought to be real, or just another thought construct or self image that comes and goes from time to time, then thought can influence you. But fortunately you are neither imaginary nor real as you do not exist. You can only be thought about and cannot really be located anywhere. You are entirely imaginary.
Do you notice how you, or the thought of you is not there all the time. For example when you are really engrossed in something, the thought that you are doing this, or you did this, only comes at intervals, ie 'you' are nothing more than another thought, or thought construct (self image) that arises and dissolves from time to time. Do 'you' see this?
Thought wants to be the awareness, if you know what I mean.
The entirely imaginary content of thought wants and does not want all sorts of things; all entirely in imagination. The content is all stories, imaginary.
My ego liked that signature very much... ok, done :)
Thank you. Note that 'ego' is another word for 'self', 'me', 'I', the thought-to-be self. And it is only thought to be.
When you think about yourself, the content of that thought is entirely imaginary. The thought that you are "an accumulation of thoughts and experiences" is another thought, again entirely imaginary. The content of all thought is entirely imaginary. Do you see this?
Yes, I see that when I aim my awareness on that fact,
'You' do not aim or own anything, let alone awareness. There is an experience; the 'I' labels it 'mine'; thoughts arise that create a story of what the experience means. Experience has no inherent meaning; all meaning is created by thought stories.
The imaginary character Bartek is writing 'his' stories. Once you begin to see this it is difficult to get sucked in to the current story.
but most of the time I'm living in my thoughts
If you
think you are living, you are living
entirely in 'your' thoughts.
I suppose, one of the points of meditation is to be aware of the fact that thoughts are imaginary.
But you
know that the content of
all thought is
entirely imaginary, don't you?
You know the difference between an imaginary horse and a real one don't you? You know that a unicorn and batman are thought constructs, entirely imaginary, don't you?
As long as there is thought to be a me, an ego, a self, the thought of control or lack of control will arise, but there is no self, so no personal control.
ok, I get it
Very good.
You are trying to define what you are. And all trying is in thought. Thought cannot define what you are as there is no self.
Yes, I get it, but my concentration, my consciousness is
in that thought, in the realm od thoughts.
Consciousness is not
in thought. Consciousness is
aware of thought as thought arises moment to moment.
It's feels hard to see/feel the thought as a thought, it's because thoughts have no location, I cannot grasp them.
They simpy are, but I don't know where.
A thought is right where it is being thought. The 'I' that is trying to grasp thought is another thought, and thought cannot do anything as it is imaginary. Do 'you' see this?
Best wishes,
Graham