Hi Allen
. The whirlpools are just different localizations of the same consciousness. It's only thought that makes them into separate entities and labels them.
Great. That's good.
. The idea of a doer being here is not as solid anymore. Things have felt a little looser somehow. It seems like repeated looking has helped.
Its also good to hear this. Yes you have been examining things in the right way. Well done.
. The sensations are the ones from my chest up to my head. For example, I tend to associate the sensations in chest/throat as “me” and sensations in the head as the part that does thinking.
I just looked to see if these sensations were really a me and if they were really doing things. I paid particular attention to the point of initiation or decision. This part seems sticky. Then I checked to see if the me or doer was just imagined.
It might be that this is no longer a sticking point but it woukd be worth double-checking.
The sensations you mention from chest up to head and any feeling of identification with these as 'me' or 'doer' is a very common notion about 'I am my body' or 'I am in my body'.
Sensations are experienced, right? And thoughts definitely appear? So we are not denying that these happen. But there is a narrative about an *experiencer* of these sensations and thoughts that is supposed to be located within a body /head.
And then, of course, people generally all address each other as if exactly this is going on.
How clear is it that no entity is contained or operating from within a body?
Is there a puppet-master behind the scenes, somehow 'within' a body/head, pulling strings and making things happen in an 'outside'?
Is there a guy in a control room somewhere looking at TV screens and adjusting levers and knobs to control what happens?
:-)
Jon