I know it but don’t yet see it.
Posted: Fri May 29, 2026 4:30 am
LU is focused guiding for seeing there is no real, inherent 'self' - what do you understand by this?
There is no distinct entity that manages the retrieval of thoughts or the driving of actions. I’m fully convinced intellectually that we humans have no free will and are just along for the ride. The thing that still eludes this brain is seeing past the feeling that there is a “passenger” along for that ride.
What are you looking for at LU?
I am looking to see past the feeling that there is a passenger who is along for the ride. In terms of the intellectual idea that there is no distinct self and that we as humans don’t have free will but act according to the programming stemming from a lifetime of experience that were also beyond our control. This is what I see as karma… programming from earlier in this life (nurture) and in DNA (nature), not a religious belief in an accounting from a past life of “mine”.
What do you expect from a guided conversation?
I expect pointers that serve the purpose of helping this brain stumble and sputter as it tries to maintain the illusion of a passenger riding along behind the eyes and directing experience… and thereby creates the conditions/internal questions that lead to the experience of no-self (not just the intellectual concept, which I don’t need convincing of).
What is your experience in terms of spiritual practices, seeking and inquiry?
Meditation started with transcendental meditation.
After starting with TM, books started with western pop spiritualism, then moved Hindu Sankya and Yoga Sutras related texts.
Something like this (some others interspersed):
Power of Now - Eckhart Tolle
Be Here Now - Ram Dass
Yoga Sutras of Patanjili
Untethered Soul - Michael Singer
Three Pillars of Zen - Philip Kapleau
(Started me on Zen Meditation)
Right Concentration - Leigh Brasington
Dhammapada
Waking Up - Sam Harris
(Got me watching pointing out videos from Tibetan Dzogchen teachers)
Liberation Unleashed
I’ve been disciplined and maintained a formal meditation practice of one sort or another for long stretches of time. Individual sessions have been between 5 minutes and an hour. After learning more about Dzogchen, I’ve become more interested in trying to immediately apprehend non-duality rather than sitting and expecting something to happen.
On a scale from 1 to 10, how willing are you to question any currently held beliefs about 'self?
11
There is no distinct entity that manages the retrieval of thoughts or the driving of actions. I’m fully convinced intellectually that we humans have no free will and are just along for the ride. The thing that still eludes this brain is seeing past the feeling that there is a “passenger” along for that ride.
What are you looking for at LU?
I am looking to see past the feeling that there is a passenger who is along for the ride. In terms of the intellectual idea that there is no distinct self and that we as humans don’t have free will but act according to the programming stemming from a lifetime of experience that were also beyond our control. This is what I see as karma… programming from earlier in this life (nurture) and in DNA (nature), not a religious belief in an accounting from a past life of “mine”.
What do you expect from a guided conversation?
I expect pointers that serve the purpose of helping this brain stumble and sputter as it tries to maintain the illusion of a passenger riding along behind the eyes and directing experience… and thereby creates the conditions/internal questions that lead to the experience of no-self (not just the intellectual concept, which I don’t need convincing of).
What is your experience in terms of spiritual practices, seeking and inquiry?
Meditation started with transcendental meditation.
After starting with TM, books started with western pop spiritualism, then moved Hindu Sankya and Yoga Sutras related texts.
Something like this (some others interspersed):
Power of Now - Eckhart Tolle
Be Here Now - Ram Dass
Yoga Sutras of Patanjili
Untethered Soul - Michael Singer
Three Pillars of Zen - Philip Kapleau
(Started me on Zen Meditation)
Right Concentration - Leigh Brasington
Dhammapada
Waking Up - Sam Harris
(Got me watching pointing out videos from Tibetan Dzogchen teachers)
Liberation Unleashed
I’ve been disciplined and maintained a formal meditation practice of one sort or another for long stretches of time. Individual sessions have been between 5 minutes and an hour. After learning more about Dzogchen, I’ve become more interested in trying to immediately apprehend non-duality rather than sitting and expecting something to happen.
On a scale from 1 to 10, how willing are you to question any currently held beliefs about 'self?
11