Dear Stafford
You're getting the feel of This !?!
Little by little hopefully getting there, where I'm already :)
Now take a Look at The Word i ?!?
Does 'i' Actually refer to anything & When is 'i' Actually Doing Anything ?!?
Does 'i' Actually refer to anything ?
"I" is a concept that refers to this whole body-mind, "I" is noticed as a thought arising in this mind, as this mind.
When is 'i' Actually Doing Anything ?!?
Good question ahah ;).
So the label "I" is a label, a thought, so the only thing it does is appear to awareness (and is noticed) and disappear in awareness (and is nowhere to be seen).
Now what is "doing" is this hands, this body. These guys are "doing" things, these fingers are typing on the keyboard for example. And because I consider these fingers mine, it appears that "I" am typing these letter. In direct experience, these fingers are typing these words on the screen, a priori directed by some intention (thoughts) to reply to your questions. I could say that this intention is what give these fingers "energy" to "do" on behalf of my whole body-mind. So I could say that I am that body-mind, nothing else or more than that the total sum of this body-mind aka body (here fingers) + mind (intention/energy/thoughts), the total sum of this bodymind is labelled "I", but this "I" is not something else, it's a label in the mind.
There was Noticing a few Times in Your Post & I'd like You too Look at again ;
( """"Well I don't need thinking for That, These happen independently """")
(""""When am I doing any of these seeing /hearing /touching /breathing? Well, Right Now. When Else Lol"""")
Ok IS i doing anything right Now ?!? Let's take a Deep Look !?!
So as said above the "I" as thought, as label is only an appearance as a label/thought to the mind, so it doesn't "do" anything except as an appearing as a label/thought. However lots of things are "happening" in the mind (thinking) as well as in the body (fingers, arms, wrists) right now. This is happening for sure. Now I say that the label "I" refers to this body-mind, but this "I" is a only reference thought in mind, "part" of this complete appearance now.
On This, Does 'i' Do The Thinking or is it just a thought & When are Senses Separate from the Thought i ???
The "I" doesn't do the thinking, the "I" is part of the thinking.
When are senses separate from the thought "I" ? All the time. They are almost never the same as the thought I. It can be that the thought "I" and the senses are all arising together but each belong to its own reality-sphere, they are in that sense separate. Where I would say that they are not separate is that when the thought "I" and for example seeing and hearing are all taking place as part of an unseparate happening right now, how can we really they that these are "separate"? Aka are these really separate happening in their own sphere or are these ONE happening that then get divided into seeing/hearing/thinking ??
Then Notice What Doesn't Happen Independently, or is Everything Happening Separate ???
Not sure I understand what you mean by "Notice What Doesn't Happen Independently". So let me think that further. What does NOT happen independently ? So is there anything that happens independently ?? Independently of what ? Of all the rest ? NO. That is not possible. Nothing is independent, nothing exists from its own side :). Everything (not even every "things") is an appearance through causes and conditions that make them appear (like a rainbow).
"is Everything Happening Separate ?"
So in a way we could say that each sense (seeing/hearing/touching/tasting/smelling/thinking) is separately in its own sphere.
In another way we cannot really say that, because what tells us that any of these sphere is separate. What happens is THIS, a whole seamless whole happening NOW that can (apparently) be divided (by thoughts) in different categories.
Thank you,
Mike