Hi Vivien
Annoyingly, I've had very little time the past few days but I'll have loads of time for the next 4 days so will get on it. Thanks for your patience. Really enjoying this, it's great.
If you still expect that it should go away, then the self is still believed in some ways.
It did seem odd to me that it hasn't entirely clicked. But I feel that I've definitely had glimpses of it.
But does life happening to that sensation labelled ‘sense of me’?
No, not at all. The sense of me just appears. Life would still be happening if it wasn’t there.
Is that sensation the experiencer of life?
No, it’s just another experience.
Is that sensation an enduring, autonomous entity with free will?
No, it can’t do or change anything.
Is that sensation the thinker?
No, thoughts happen without it.
Is that sensation the doer?
No, it does absolutely nothing except be an experience.
Is that sensation the controller?
No, there is no controller.
Is that sensation the knower of experience?
The sensation doesn’t know anything, it is just known.
Is that sensation the feeler of emotions?
No, emotions are felt separately from it.
So when you are talking about the ‘sense of me’ you are not even talking about a sensation?
Sense = sensation
How could a thought be the sense ( = sensation) of me?
After some consideration, I see now that it is just a sensation in my head; right in the middle.
So you’ve expected that the thoughts of I/me/my/mine would stop appearing after they are seen to be not belonging to an actual entity?
Why would they?
I didn’t expect them to stop appearing, just to have less impact. I think I was looking in the wrong direction here anyway. I don’t think these words are the issue.
Is the thought ‘I want food’ is an entity who wants to eat?
No, the thought is a separate appearance to the feeling of hunger.
Is this thought know anything about the sensation of hunger?
It’s not aware of anything.
Is this thought aware? Or this thought is aware-d?
The thought appears, it is not itself aware; it can’t be.
Is the thought ‘my knee hurts’ the one that actually FEEL the hurt in the knee?
No, the pain appears as it does, and the thought appears as it does. The two are not aware of one another but there is awareness of them.
Does this thought know anything about the pain?
No.
Is this thought aware of the pain?
No.
Or, you are aware of BOTH, the pain + the thought “my knee hurts”?
Both appear but neither are aware in and of themselves.
Thanks Vivien
Chris