Thanks for your reply....
My impression from your answers is that you are prepared to not stay with the exercise/looking until the answer is clear for you. But this will not get you anywhere. You need to determine the answer for yourself. Receiving the answer from me will do you no good at all if have not seen the truth of how it is arrived at. It is the seeing that provides the freedom. Maybe you could ask yourself if you are hungry for the truth or not?
You could stay with this exercise several days until you are 100% sure of the outcome, rather than settling for not being sure. Just drop me a line and let me know that this is what you are doing - that would be fine.
Is a thought controlling the palm? Or is there an assumption that thought is controlling the palm?
It’s very well possible that it’s an assumption. But when I turn the palm a thought seemingly says ‘do it now’ or ‘do it slowly’ or ‘fast’ and so on. It can be that the decision is not made through a thought and the thought claims it very quickly as its own decision. But then this happens so quickly that I cannot experience this!
Here again, you may need to repeat this exercise. It's about taking your time and doing them until you get to see what is being pointed at...look until you are clear about what is being pointed at. There is no destination point that will be reached in a certain time frame. It's all about the careful looking.
Nice noticing that the impulse to turn the palm happens and that thought then claims it. However, you need to be clear on whether it is a thought that is controlling it or whether it is an assumption. It is either an assumption or it isn't.
Did you at all notice that when the thought "turn the palm" arose, that the palm didn't turn? If thought were needed to turn the palm, and if thought was the catalyst that turned the palm, then the palm would turn every time the thought arose...whether you wanted it to or not and would not turn without a thought. If that were the case, then you would be aware of the thought each time it arose.
Can a thought be hidden? Can a thought happen without your knowing of it?
Look at this very carefully and go back and do the thought exercise where you had to look to see if you could predict your next thought...and redo that entire exercise several times to see the answer to these questions. Even redo looking for the gap between thoughts if that is going to be helpful to you.
Try to notice how things happen in life. Does the sun need a thought to move? The earth to turn? How about the wind? How about your beating heart? Your lungs? Your hair to grow. Your body when a car pulls out on you when you are riding? Your hands on the gears when you sense you have hit a gradient?
Notice what happens when you have an itch - how the hands move to it. Watch yourself eating breakfast, how the hands move, how the mouth opens and closes and so on.
Watch how your hands move in the shower. Maybe when you wash your hair?
Or the fingers as you type your reply to me.
Deeply immerse yourself in the curiosity of looking.... What is really happening?
Please take a couple of things like this in your daily, observe and write back what you find.
The answer refers to the answer before: I don’t get what’s really happening.Is it possible for you to look without any pre-conceived ideas and just see what is happening?
That is fine. Not knowing how it happens is great because there is no knowing of how... but are you clear that a thought isn't the controller?
Yes, walking/cycling is happening by itself. But what is happening when I speed up or stop? Is this also happening by itself or is thought involved?Do you need a series of thoughts to walk/cycle. Or does walking/cycling happen without thoughts?
That is for you to look and see if it is thought that controls the speed or not! That is why you given the thought exercises so you could become aware of thoughts. If you don't become aware of thoughts, then we are going to get nowhere fast.
The whole point of giving you the palm exercise, and getting you to look when you walk or cycle, is so you can look at the pointers to see for yourself if thought is the controller!
LOOK and see if it is thought and come back and tell me what you find!
I don’t know?Are thoughts actually the catalyst for actions?
And from this answer it shows that you are not looking carefully. It is quite obvious if thought is or isn't the catalyst for actions if you look.
So please look again and let me know if thoughts are the catalyst for actions.
I agree that it’s happening by itself. But where come all the decisions from: fast, slow, left, right, stop….?If thoughts are about something else whilst walking/cycling, does walking/cycling cease?
I want you to look for yourself and tell me what you find. It's no good me telling you the answers. You need look and see for yourself if there is anyone or anything, including thoughts that is making any decisions for these things to happen. Let me know what you find.
Wishing you well,
Aragon