HappyOne's Thread

[forgetmenot]

Hello Sarah,

Where exactly is this me that is experiencing sensations surrounding it?

This is needing to be worked out (through experience) from beginning to end because it's not yet at the point where it it is innate. So, here is goes!
Eyes are closed and there are sensations, sounds, smells, colors, and thoughts. Eyes are open and there are more colors, sensations, sounds and smells and thoughts arising and passing. All arise and pass. The story that makes up this 'me', and all that surrounds this 'me', seems to hold weight, to be actual, until the thought passes.

So, to answer your question, there is no me, except for the story. And, there is nothing surrounding it, except for stories.

Lovely. You can break ‘things’ down and LOOK this way as well.

Does the label “I/me/my” know anything about an “I/me/my”?
Does colour know anything about “I/me/my”?
Does sensation know anything about “I/me/my”?
Does sound know anything about “I/me/my”?
Does smell know anything about “I/me/my”?
Does taste know anything about “I/me/my”?
Do thoughts about “I/me/my” know anything about “I/me/my”?
Can an “I” be found anywhere in or behind thoughts/labels, colour, sound, smell, taste, sensation?

No? Then where is this “I”? It is no where…it does not exist.

Does the body experience sensations? If not, then what exactly is it that is experiencing sensations? Can you find anyone or anything?

The sensations are not being experienced, they just are. In writing this, it is realized that nothing is experienced then. Something can only be 'experienced' with a thought story of 'I'. An 'experience' is had by someone, again a thought story. However, there is no I, there is no someone, so there can be no experience. Just the same, sensations are sensed by a someone. If there is no someone, and so no one to sense, then what?
I am not sure where else to go with this.

So there is awareness/knowing of what is known ie the sensation. In other words there is knowing and the known. But, if you LOOK carefully, can you find a dividing line between the knowning and known? Is there an AND?

Where does the sensation end and the knowing of it begin? Where do you end and the sensation begin? Or are they one and the same? Since there is no Sarah, as Sarah is a thought story (about colour, sensation, sound etc) and there is no one/no thing experiencing sensation….then could it be that the knowing and known are one and the same….the knowingknown? That experience and appearance AS/OF the sensation are one and the same?

Other than this thought, how else is it known that the ‘body’ was born on that specific date? Or is thought the only link?

Well, the body seems to age, but this idea is only because of thought. Without thought of past, there is only now. A birthdate is only a thought, just as age is only a thought.

Yes. Where is the evidence that you were once a baby? Thought says, but there are pictures of me as a baby and as a child. The pictures are AE of colour and not AE of a baby/child, and the thoughts about being a baby/child are appearing now about a past.

Can time be experienced?

No, it can not be 'experienced'. The dictionary defines time as, "The indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present, and future regarded as a whole." But, experience is only in the moment. Anything other, such as past or future, is a thought story. This definition only supports the thought story of time. And thus, since 'time' is only a thought story, it can not be experienced.

And experience never changes. It may appear as many things, but it never becomes those things.

Gold can appear in many forms. It can appear as a ring, necklace, bracelet, nugget, coin etc, but the gold itself never changes, it always remains as gold, no matter what it appears as.

So experience may seem to appear as a ‘person’ but it never becomes a person, just as gold never becomes a ring.

Love, Kay

[HappyOne]

Hello Kay,

Does the label “I/me/my” know anything about an “I/me/my”?
Does colour know anything about “I/me/my”?
Does sensation know anything about “I/me/my”?
Does sound know anything about “I/me/my”?
Does smell know anything about “I/me/my”?
Does taste know anything about “I/me/my”?
Do thoughts about “I/me/my” know anything about “I/me/my”?
Can an “I” be found anywhere in or behind thoughts/labels, colour, sound, smell, taste, sensation?

No? Then where is this “I”? It is no where…it does not exist.

No, none of the above asked know anything about "I/me/my". I truly do not exist.

So there is awareness/knowing of what is known ie the sensation. In other words there is knowing and the known. But, if you LOOK carefully, can you find a dividing line between the knowning and known? Is there an AND?

No, there is no dividing line. There is no AND, there just IS. The awareness of the sensation is the sensation. It is one and the same.

Where does the sensation end and the knowing of it begin? Where do you end and the sensation begin? Or are they one and the same? Since there is no Sarah, as Sarah is a thought story (about colour, sensation, sound etc) and there is no one/no thing experiencing sensation….then could it be that the knowing and known are one and the same….the knowingknown? That experience and appearance AS/OF the sensation are one and the same?

The knowing of the sensation is the sensation. There is no line dividing Sarah and sensation. It is the same, or since Sarah is a story, there is only sensation.
Yes, the knowing/known are the same. The experience and the sensation are one.

So experience may seem to appear as a ‘person’ but it never becomes a person, just as gold never becomes a ring.

Yes! I see this clearly.

Thank you so much, Kay. More, please :)

Lovingly,
Sarah

[forgetmenot]

Hello Sarah,

No, none of the above asked know anything about "I/me/my". I truly do not exist.

Yes, the “I” that points to a person called Sarah, does not exist, but You do exist, otherwise you would not be ‘aware’ of anything! :)

Where does the sensation end and the knowing of it begin? Where do you end and the sensation begin? Or are they one and the same? Since there is no Sarah, as Sarah is a thought story (about colour, sensation, sound etc) and there is no one/no thing experiencing sensation….then could it be that the knowing and known are one and the same….the knowingknown? That experience and appearance AS/OF the sensation are one and the same?

The knowing of the sensation is the sensation. There is no line dividing Sarah and sensation. It is the same, or since Sarah is a story, there is only sensation.
Yes, the knowing/known are the same. The experience and the sensation are one.

Yes, and experience itself is aware of its appearance as sensation, but doesn’t know itself as sensation, it only knows itself as itself. A mirror is a great analogy. No matter what experience appears as it only sees itself, no matter what the mirror is ‘reflecting’. There is no mirror AND its reflections. There is no "knowing" AND its "known", there is just knowingknown ie THIS .

Experience/THIS is not aware of itself as lots of little pieces knowing themselves.
Thoughsmellsensationcolourtastesound = experience/THIS, just wholeness/seamlessness.

A map shows how a country is seemingly divided into states and territories. Is the map made of those divisions? Or are those divisions simply the map being the map? The divisions are the map, but the map is not a division. Can you see this?

Love, Kay

[HappyOne]

Hello Kay,

A map shows how a country is seemingly divided into states and territories. Is the map made of those divisions? Or are those divisions simply the map being the map? The divisions are the map, but the map is not a division. Can you see this?

No, the map is not made of those divisions, this is just the map being a map. I see this.

A couple of conversations ago you had mentioned...

So experience may seem to appear as a ‘person’ but it never becomes a person, just as gold never becomes a ring.

It reminded me of a talk that I once heard by Rupert Spira using a similar analogy with a television screen and a movie. He mentioned that we are like the screen that plays a movie. The screen can play many different movies but it is entirely unaffected by each. It is just a screen. This interests me greatly because so many identify with the movie, but the truth is that we are not the movie at all. So interesting.

Thank you, Kay!

Lovingly,
Sarah

[forgetmenot]

Hey Sarah,

It reminded me of a talk that I once heard by Rupert Spira using a similar analogy with a television screen and a movie. He mentioned that we are like the screen that plays a movie. The screen can play many different movies but it is entirely unaffected by each. It is just a screen. This interests me greatly because so many identify with the movie, but the truth is that we are not the movie at all. So interesting.

Do you remember doing the exercise on how labels don’t have a one-to-one correspondence with reality? To me it also points to the screen/movie analogy. No matter what thought says, experience itself (screen) is never affected.

When you look at the word label‘GREEN’, what is the actual experience?
If the label‘GREEN’ is replaced with the label‘GOOD’ or ‘BAD’, is the redness affected in any way as the labels suggests?
Does redness become ‘good’ or ‘bad’, or do the labels have no effect whatsoever on ‘reality’?



Okay…moving onto looking at the concept of 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 this linear time, coming from the past and advancing to the future.

But is there an experience that the ’now’ is moving along the line of time?
Any experience of one ‘moment’ giving way to the next?
Any actual experience of one event following another?

How fast is the ‘present moment’ actually moving?

Just look at 'this moment', can you find a point where it began?

How long does the ‘now’ last?

Where does the ‘now’ start, and where does it end?

When does the ‘now’ exactly become the 'past'?

What is the ‘past’ in actual experience?

So is there actual experience of ‘time’ or thoughts about ‘time’?

Love, Kay

[HappyOne]

Hello Kay,

When you look at the word label‘GREEN’, what is the actual experience?

The experience is of the colour red.

If the label‘GREEN’ is replaced with the label‘GOOD’ or ‘BAD’, is the redness affected in any way as the labels suggests?

No, the redness is not affected in any way. The experience is still of the colour red.

Does redness become ‘good’ or ‘bad’, or do the labels have no effect whatsoever on ‘reality’?

No, the labels have no effect on reality. The experience is still only of the colour red.

But is there an experience that the ’now’ is moving along the line of time?
Any experience of one ‘moment’ giving way to the next?
Any actual experience of one event following another?

No, there is just the moment. There is no passing of one moment onto another, just the experience of now.

How fast is the ‘present moment’ actually moving?

Just look at 'this moment', can you find a point where it began?

No, there is no point at which a moment begins. All that is experienced is the Now.

How long does the ‘now’ last?

The 'now' cannot be measured because it is continuous, it is present. Only if there was a beginning and an end to it could it be measured.

Where does the ‘now’ start, and where does it end?

There is no beginning and no ending, just continual presence.

When does the ‘now’ exactly become the 'past'?

Only when it becomes a thought does it become the 'past'.

What is the ‘past’ in actual experience?

The past is an actual thought experience. It does not exist as anything else.

So is there actual experience of ‘time’ or thoughts about ‘time’?

There are only thoughts about time. Nothing else.

Thank you, Kay.

Lovingly,
Sarah

[forgetmenot]

Hi Sarah,

But is there an experience that the ’now’ is moving along the line of time?
Any experience of one ‘moment’ giving way to the next?
Any actual experience of one event following another?

No, there is just the moment. There is no passing of one moment onto another, just the experience of now.

Yes, there is only THIS/experience, exactly as it is.

When does the ‘now’ exactly become the 'past'?

Only when it becomes a thought does it become the 'past'.

How does the ‘now’ become a thought?


Almost everybody believes that a memory thought is referring to something that has happened.
That a memory thought is a different thought than a non-memory thought.

What is memory exactly? – please don’t go to thought explanation, but just let a memory be there, and look at it…

What is the memory ‘made of’?
WHEN does the memory appear?

What is the exact difference between a ‘general’ thought and a ‘memory’ thought?

How is it known EXACTLY that a ‘memory’ thought refers to something that has happened?

Then, look at a thought about the future.
What is the future thought ‘made of’?

WHEN does the future thought appear?

What is the exact difference between a ‘general’ thought and a ‘future’ thought?
How is it known EXACTLY that a ‘future’ thought refers to something that will happen?

Then let’s compare a thought about past and a thought about the future.
What is the EXACT difference between the thoughts about past and future?
If there is difference, how that difference is known exactly?

Look at what is actually going on and not what thoughts say… but what actually is.

Love, Kay

[HappyOne]

Hello Kay,

How does the ‘now’ become a thought?

So, this has been the hardest of the bunch for me to answer.
As I have experienced, there is no point at which this moment begins. Just the same, there is no point at which this moment ends. It is continuous. If experience is a continuous 'now', it can not become something else...because it is ALWAYS now. So, the 'now' cannot become a thought. Correct?

Almost everybody believes that a memory thought is referring to something that has happened.

So, if it is true that the 'now' cannot become a thought, i.e. a memory of past, and there is only 'now', then these thoughts that arise which include the idea of past are simply stories.
I would go further to say that ALL that I "see" in front of me includes labels, includes stories, stories which include the idea of past... EVERYTHING! From a picture by of myself from past, to a 100 year old tree, these are all stories of past. But, they are just stories.

That a memory thought is a different thought than a non-memory thought.

A memory is just a thought that includes the information 'past'. It is no different than a thought that includes the information 'hot', or 'red', etc. The content may be different but it does not change the fact that it is a thought.

What is the memory ‘made of’?
WHEN does the memory appear?

Well, what I experience is a thought arising (visual, cognitive and/or auditory) which includes the 'knowing' of an event that 'happened before'. It appears when triggered by an event or by a thought arising.

What is the exact difference between a ‘general’ thought and a ‘memory’ thought?

The only difference that I experience is this 'knowing' that it 'happened before'. But this 'knowing' is just a thought as well. The thought of 'past' that accompanies this scene of events in the thought, cognitive, visual and/or auditory. It is all the same. This is what I experience. There is no difference between a 'general' thought and a 'memory' thought.

How is it known EXACTLY that a ‘memory’ thought refers to something that has happened?

Only because thought says so.

Then, look at a thought about the future.
What is the future thought ‘made of’?

The future thought is made of the same but worth a different message. It is a visual, cognitive and/or auditory thought that includes the 'knowing' of future.

WHEN does the future thought appear?

Whenever. It arises just as any other thought does. Triggered by an event or simply arising as thoughts do.

What is the exact difference between a ‘general’ thought and a ‘future’ thought?
How is it known EXACTLY that a ‘future’ thought refers to something that will happen?

The only difference between a 'general' thought and a 'future' thought is the 'knowing' in the thought; past or future. I'm not saying that these thoughts are any different than any other thoughts, more that the thought itself includes this notion of time; present or future. Just the same, a future thought contains the thought that something 'will happen'.

Thank you, Kay!

Lovingly,
Sarah

[forgetmenot]

Hi Sarah,

How does the ‘now’ become a thought?

So, this has been the hardest of the bunch for me to answer.
As I have experienced, there is no point at which this moment begins. Just the same, there is no point at which this moment ends. It is continuous. If experience is a continuous 'now', it can not become something else...because it is ALWAYS now. So, the 'now' cannot become a thought. Correct?

The ‘Now’ isn’t even continuous, as that points to a line, although I know that it is hard to put into words and for the sake of communication needs to be put into some sort of words! But yes, the Now does not become something else. The Now may appear as a thought, but it never becomes thought. The ‘Now’ simply always is. Therefore there is no time.

However, when pointing to time as a means to point, the now means this present, current moment. It is only thought that alludes to the ‘past’, as the ‘past’ is referenced in thought ie yesterday, last year, a million years ago, this morning, last night, 5 minutes ago, a minute ago, a second ago etc all point to a past. However when thought alludes to ‘past’, that thought is only ever appearing now, in the current present moment.

If thought appears saying you ate an ice-cream yesterday….where is ‘yesterday’ in actual experience. When is the thought and images of eating an ice-cream actually appearing? So where is the evidence of eating ice-cream at all, let alone ‘yesterday’!

Almost everybody believes that a memory thought is referring to something that has happened.

So, if it is true that the 'now' cannot become a thought, i.e. a memory of past, and there is only 'now', then these thoughts that arise which include the idea of past are simply stories.

Yes, they are simply stories. Where is the evidence that what thought is alluding to has happened?

I would go further to say that ALL that I "see" in front of me includes labels, includes stories, stories which include the idea of past... EVERYTHING! From a picture by of myself from past, to a 100 year old tree, these are all stories of past. But, they are just stories.

Yes, exactly :)

What is the memory ‘made of’?
WHEN does the memory appear?

Well, what I experience is a thought arising (visual, cognitive and/or auditory) which includes the 'knowing' of an event that 'happened before'. It appears when triggered by an event or by a thought arising.

How is it known that an auditory or visual event triggers a thought about a past event?

So the memory is plain and simply ‘made of’ thought and that thought is appearing in this present, current moment.

What is the exact difference between a ‘general’ thought and a ‘memory’ thought?

The only difference that I experience is this 'knowing' that it 'happened before'. But this 'knowing' is just a thought as well. The thought of 'past' that accompanies this scene of events in the thought, cognitive, visual and/or auditory. It is all the same. This is what I experience. There is no difference between a 'general' thought and a 'memory' thought.

Exactly! It is just all thought, and is only thought that categorises thoughts into categories of thought ie, past, present, future, good, bad, happy, sad

Then, look at a thought about the future.
What is the future thought ‘made of’?

The future thought is made of the same but worth a different message. It is a visual, cognitive and/or auditory thought that includes the 'knowing' of future.

There is no ‘knowing’ of a future. All it is a thought appearing in this present, current moment talking about an illusory tomorrow/future!

WHEN does the future thought appear?

Whenever. It arises just as any other thought does. Triggered by an event or simply arising as thoughts do.

For something to be triggered by something else points to cause and effect and points to time – one thing following another. It also points to separation that there are two or more of somethings that can affect one another!

What is the exact difference between a ‘general’ thought and a ‘future’ thought?
How is it known EXACTLY that a ‘future’ thought refers to something that will happen?

The only difference between a 'general' thought and a 'future' thought is the 'knowing' in the thought; past or future. I'm not saying that these thoughts are any different than any other thoughts, more that the thought itself includes this notion of time; present or future. Just the same, a future thought contains the thought that something 'will happen'.

Lovely!

This is a dream analogy of how all time is contained in an instant.
In the opening instant of a dream you find the 1st person dream character speeding along a highway towards the airport, because he is late for his holiday flight, because his wife couldn't find her passport.

Now you will notice that this is just the opening instant of the dream, yet it contains a whole "history" of being a person who is an adult and is married to a woman who left her passport behind, etc. It contains "memories" of having the drama with the lost passport, and it has a whole imaginary future too, in the flight and the holiday.
Do you see the analogy that is being drawn?

Love, Kay

[HappyOne]

Hello Kay,

The ‘Now’ isn’t even continuous, as that points to a line, although I know that it is hard to put into words and for the sake of communication needs to be put into some sort of words!

Do you mean that the present, 'now' just IS? And, if you say 'continuous' then there must also be 'discontinuous, and so this cannot be'?

But yes, the Now does not become something else. The Now may appear as a thought, but it never becomes thought. The ‘Now’ simply always is. Therefore there is no time.

Why is this so hard for me to comprehend? In this way, what I mean is that I am at the point where I have been able to experience, and therefore understand:
A) That 'Now' just IS. Yes, I experience that there is only 'Now'.
B) That thoughts of past are simply stories in the 'now', and at the same time are the 'Now'; just as are colors, scents, sensations, and general thoughts are.
However, although it may seem contradictory to what I have already said I have experienced, what is difficult for me to experience/understand is that there is no past. I have found myself in a corner with this one and I am not sure where to go with it.

• I experience a seed that I hold in my hand. It is nothing more than a color with sensations. It is Now.
• I experience planting a seed. It is nothing more than colors, sensations and smells. It is Now.
• I experience watering the ground. It is nothing more than thought telling me a story which includes the idea of 'past' where I planted a seed. It is Now.
• I experience a sprout peaking through the soil. It is nothing more than colors, thoughts with the idea of 'past', and thoughts with the idea of 'future'. It is all Now.

Maybe I should really do the above to truly experience. Maybe then I will get it.

If thought appears saying you ate an ice-cream yesterday….where is ‘yesterday’ in actual experience. When is the thought and images of eating an ice-cream actually appearing? So where is the evidence of eating ice-cream at all, let alone ‘yesterday’!

Yes, all of these are only in thoughts which are happening now, or better yet, they are the 'Now'.
I guess my real question is...So does this mean that I never got the ice cream? I never experienced it? Or does it mean that because I am having a thought with the idea of 'past' now, that I am having the ice cream now? And, if the later is true, and there is no such thing as 'time', then all that 'has ever been' is actually all that 'IS now'. And to go a little further, all that 'will ever be' is actually what 'IS now'. Is this it?

How is it known that an auditory or visual event triggers a thought about a past event?

Well, this is just thought which includes the idea that the visual or auditory event triggered a thought of past. Nothing more.

Do you see the analogy that is being drawn?

Yes, I see this. This makes sense. This seems to be what I was trying to get at above.

Thank you, Kay.

Lovingly,
Sarah

[forgetmenot]

Hi Sarah,

The ‘Now’ isn’t even continuous, as that points to a line, although I know that it is hard to put into words and for the sake of communication needs to be put into some sort of words!

Do you mean that the present, 'now' just IS? And, if you say 'continuous' then there must also be 'discontinuous, and so this cannot be'?

Yes...it simply IS. However, we are getting into the nitty gritty of all of this, which is really for another thread in a different forum. This thread is to see that there is no separate self. So, later on, this can be examined in more detail. A lot of the things that I point to are not necessary to see through the separate self, but are seeds planted for aha moments further on down the line…and who knows how long that may be….days, weeks etc.

But yes, the Now does not become something else. The Now may appear as a thought, but it never becomes thought. The ‘Now’ simply always is. Therefore there is no time.

Why is this so hard for me to comprehend? In this way, what I mean is that I am at the point where I have been able to experience, and therefore understand:

Because it is not meant for the mind…the mind can’t get it. It is only the aha moment that will get it….if you know what I mean. Trying to figure it out will only drive you around the bend.

A) That 'Now' just IS. Yes, I experience that there is only 'Now'.
B) That thoughts of past are simply stories in the 'now', and at the same time are the 'Now'; just as are colors, scents, sensations, and general thoughts are.

Colour, sound, smell etc are AE which thought overlays with stories and then further thoughts appear telling stories of how things have already happened and is now in the past and is recalled via memory. There is no stories AND colour, smell, thought, sensation etc. Stories are AE of thought and not the AE of stories.

If you IGNORE the labels colour, sound, smell, thought, taste, sensation, sound….all there is THIS/Now/experience.

Have a look at a table. Now thought says that the brown colour is a shape labelled table.
Now, look at the table and ignore the label 'table'....all you are left with is 'brown'
Now drop the label 'brown' and all you are left with is the label 'colour'
Now drop the label 'colour' and what are you left with?

However, although it may seem contradictory to what I have already said I have experienced, what is difficult for me to experience/understand is that there is no past. I have found myself in a corner with this one and I am not sure where to go with it.

I want you to put it to the back of your mind and just allow it to ferment on its own. When the time (haha…pardon the pun) is right, it will fall into place. In time and space ie the dream, there are seeming changes, however, the Now/THIS/experience itself never changes…it always simply IS.

The following might help. Have a look at the doodle...it is only thought that says the seamless colours are broken up into something called a cat, books, trees, cup etc. It looks like there are a lot of things…right?





Life seems to be a gigantic soup of experience that is grouped, categorised and labelled as things. There seems to be a ‘me’ that is ‘here’ that is experiencing things that are ‘out there’. And all those things ‘out there’ are all individual separate things.

None of it is separated except through thought because all of the images present are just one big canvas. Sounds overlap and intrude on each other, and there is a thought that says “I can separate bird song from car horns. Look! See? I've just named them!” But what is actually appearing is sound, with perhaps an image of a bird and an image of a car, and thoughts ABOUT sound appearing as a bird and car!

And thought appears saying “I can separate a cat from a book. See, I’ve just named them!” But what is actually appearing is colour and thoughts ABOUT colour appearing as shapes/images labelled ‘cat’ and ‘book’.

‘Things’ seemingly appear and there are never not things, but have a LOOK to see what is actually appearing.

What separates things? What makes up the borders? Can we pluck a thing out of the scenery in front of us? If not, is it truly separate or is it thought about variation in observed qualities which makes it so?

The next time you are watching television, look at the screen and see whether you can pluck an object from the scene. Are there objects existing inside the screen or is the image a seamless whole? What is it that makes it seem as though there are separate objects in the picture? Are they truly separated?

Love, Kay

[HappyOne]

Hello Kay,

Yes...it simply IS. However, we are getting into the nitty gritty of all of this, which is really for another thread in a different forum. This thread is to see that there is no separate self. So, later on, this can be examined in more detail. A lot of the things that I point to are not necessary to see through the separate self, but are seeds planted for aha moments further on down the line…and who knows how long that may be….days, weeks etc.

Yes, I experience this fully. I had an 'Aha' moment regarding this. All is now. Nothing could be otherwise because all there is only right now. Even when the thought arises, "Oh, I thought that a moment ago." It is still now. All is experienced now.

Have a look at a table. Now thought says that the brown colour is a shape labelled table.
Now, look at the table and ignore the label 'table'....all you are left with is 'brown'
Now drop the label 'brown' and all you are left with is the label 'colour'
Now drop the label 'colour' and what are you left with?

You are then left with nothing. So, it truly is nothing as far as mind is concerned (i.e. has no label, no story, nothing), but it is there. I realize this is the same with this story called 'Sarah'. No label, no story, no 'Sarah', the only thing left is experience.

The next time you are watching television, look at the screen and see whether you can pluck an object from the scene. Are there objects existing inside the screen or is the image a seamless whole? What is it that makes it seem as though there are separate objects in the picture? Are they truly separated?

No, they are not. Nothing is. It is all simply experience, now. There is no division.

Last, my son, Jack said to me yesterday while we were at a crowded event, 'Momma, it's weird that everything just seems like a dream". So, this has been the second insightful comment he has made in this direction. The first being, "Nothing really has a name. We make up names for everything." I would like to encourage his exploration in this direction, on his level, of course. In addition, he has been asking me about time. I realize I myself am not quite there yet, but I almost would like to begin putting together an LU guide for children. I have searched, but have not found this available.
He is six years old. Would you have any advice?

Thank you so much, Kay.

Lovingly,
Sarah

[forgetmenot]

Hey Sarah,

Yes...it simply IS. However, we are getting into the nitty gritty of all of this, which is really for another thread in a different forum. This thread is to see that there is no separate self. So, later on, this can be examined in more detail. A lot of the things that I point to are not necessary to see through the separate self, but are seeds planted for aha moments further on down the line…and who knows how long that may be….days, weeks etc.

Yes, I experience this fully. I had an 'Aha' moment regarding this. All is now. Nothing could be otherwise because all there is only right now. Even when the thought arises, "Oh, I thought that a moment ago." It is still now. All is experienced now.

Lovely, Sarah….yes! Using language is so limiting, because THIS cannot be put into words. So the word ‘now’ is the only one available really, but even that limits THIS because there is no ‘now’, there is only THIS!

I read this in A Course in Miracles a long time ago which I think paints the picture about the past beautifully.

“I see only the past.
This idea is particularly difficult to believe at first. Yet it is the rationale for all of the preceding ones.
It is the reason why nothing that you see means anything.
It is the reason why you have given everything you see all the meaning that it has for you.
It is the reason why you do not understand anything you see.
It is the reason why your thoughts do not mean anything, and why they are like the things you see.
It is the reason why you are never upset for the reason you think.
It is the reason why you are upset because you see something that is not there.

Old ideas about time are very difficult to change, because everything you believe is rooted in time, and depends on your not learning these new ideas about it. Yet that is precisely why you need new ideas about time. This first time idea is not really so strange as it may sound at first.

Look at a cup, for example. Do you see a cup, or are you merely reviewing your past experiences of picking up a cup, being thirsty, drinking from a cup, feeling the rim of a cup against your lips, having breakfast and so on? Are not your aesthetic reactions to the cup, too, based on past experiences? How else would you know whether or not this kind of cup will break if you drop it? What do you know about this cup except what you learned in the past? You would have no idea what this cup is, except for your past learning. Do you, then, really see it?”

Have a look at a table. Now thought says that the brown colour is a shape labelled table.
Now, look at the table and ignore the label 'table'....all you are left with is 'brown'
Now drop the label 'brown' and all you are left with is the label 'colour'
Now drop the label 'colour' and what are you left with?

You are then left with nothing. So, it truly is nothing as far as mind is concerned (i.e. has no label, no story, nothing), but it is there. I realize this is the same with this story called 'Sarah'. No label, no story, no 'Sarah', the only thing left is experience.

Yes, so it’s not nothing, but no thing (there is a difference) and yet paradoxically, appears as every thing but does not become those things! Just like the TV screen - everything appears on it but the screen never becomes the movie that it is screening!

Last, my son, Jack said to me yesterday while we were at a crowded event, 'Momma, it's weird that everything just seems like a dream". So, this has been the second insightful comment he has made in this direction. The first being, "Nothing really has a name. We make up names for everything." I would like to encourage his exploration in this direction, on his level, of course. In addition, he has been asking me about time. I realize I myself am not quite there yet, but I almost would like to begin putting together an LU guide for children. I have searched, but have not found this available.
He is six years old. Would you have any advice?

I have no idea at all. The only thing I can suggest is that you keep Jack apprised of what really is. To see the distinction between what thought says something is, and what it is in AE. It can be a game. Going to the park, point to a tree and ask what is really there…is it a tree or is it colour that a thought calls a tree. Something along those lines. Keep it simple. You might want to ask Ilona Ciuniate, who is the founder of LU.

I think our exploration is done, Sarah. You’ve been such a pleasure to guide. To make sure we have covered everything and that you are clear about what was explored, can you please answer the following questions in some detail please.

1) Is there a separate entity 'self', 'me' 'I', at all, anywhere, in any way, shape or form?
Was there ever?

2) Explain in detail what the illusion of separate self is, when it starts and how it works from your own experience.
Describe it fully as you see it now.

3) How does it feel to see this?
What is the difference from before you started this dialogue?
Please report from the past few days.

4) What was the last bit that pushed you over, made you look?

5) a) Describe decision, intention, free will, choice and control.
b) What makes things happen? How does it work?
c) What are you responsible for?
d) Give examples from experience.

6) Anything to add?

Love, Kay

[forgetmenot]

Hi Sarah....checking in to make sure you are okay as I haven't heard from you.

Love, Kay

[HappyOne]

Hello Kay,

Yes, everything is fine. I have been trying to process this whole journey and need just a bit longer to respond to the final questions you had asked. My apologies for the pause. I will be in touch shortly.

Lovingly,
Sarah