Hello:
1) Is there a separate entity 'self', 'me' 'I', at all, anywhere, in any way, shape or form?
Was there ever?
There is not - the habitual thinking would like to point to one and say that there is but that is not true and the result of years of conditioning. No, there never was an "I" - just an illusion with tons of labels attached to it.
Just thought of this: It's like the "invisible man" being covered with bumper stickers containing adjectives like "handsome", "skinny", "fat", "silly", etc - you can suddenly "see" the invisible man because he's covered in these stickers and those stickers (labels) give him "form". Pretty clever, eh? :) But he's not really "there"....just an illusion
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.
The illusion of separate self is just that - an illusion that "I" am (INSERT LABEL). It is the belief or thought that there is an "I" lurking behind the controls of this body making me do this or that as opposed to life living itself. It starts when we are born, essentially. We are told, conditioned, programmed, or what have you to believe that "we" are a certain way. These labels are reinforced and eventually become self-fulfilling prophecies - we accommodate and adjust to these labels because, after all, the people we look up to (mom and dad, teachers, etc) tell us that we are these things and they must be correct.
We then reinforce the "I" and the feeling of a separate self by conforming or rebelling against these ideas which make the "I" even stronger, one way or another.
I do want to take a few at a time as I'd like your feedback as we go along rather than writing a novel and trying to digest everything at once....
So I will address the next few after I get your thoughts....
Thanks!
