Getting untangled

[Tanglier]

Hi Rowena

Well, empiricism precisely IS using the direct experience of the senses to determine what is true! But I am happy to let the debate go and to concentrate on the direct experience itself. I am aware that my mind throws up lots of objections partly because it the ego feels under attack.

Do we need to name or label something (say a tree) to fully experience it?

That is an interesting one. Often the labelling detracts from the experience, I agree. But then I think of the way in which having words for things actually brings those things into consciousness, e.g. the Inuits’ « fifty words for snow ». Their experience of snow is so much more developed and subtle than ours because of the differences that they observe and then the names to help them. I guess the observation comes first, out of necessity, and the labelling comes later, but the labels sure help them maintain that understanding don’t they?

Do the values or qualities of being that you mention above need labels in order to be experienced?
Is there a separate "you" needed for experiencing beauty, truth, simplicity, contentment, love?

No, I suppose they don’t need the labels (though they may help, as in the snow example?)
A separate You isn’t needed.

Where does it FEEL that the sound is?
Where does it FEEL that "I" am?
Now ask "What is hearing?" and "Where is it located?"
What happens to the quality of hearing when you ask this question?
Does attention shift from hearing to the thought space?
Notice any sensations that arise in the body with this question.
Be fully with the sensations in the body, let go of any thoughts
Allow yourself once again to become absorbed in the sounds.

The sounds and the I are all mixed up together, there is no separate experience of the I when I immerse myself in the sound world.
When I ask questions about the hearing, the point of view seems to solidify a bit, separating subject and object, and attention is divided between the hearing and the thought space.
I didn’t notice any bodily sensations at this point.

Can an INHERENT HEARER be found?
Could anything that is suggested as the hearer, be anything other than a concept/idea/thought?

I couldn’t find a hearer, inhérent or otherwise.
Yes, the hearer is a concept.

Best wishes
Kim

[Noro]

Hi Kim,

That is an interesting one. Often the labelling detracts from the experience, I agree.

It's good you've recognized that.

But then I think of the way in which having words for things actually brings those things into consciousness, e.g. the Inuits’ « fifty words for snow ». Their experience of snow is so much more developed and subtle than ours because of the differences that they observe and then the names to help them. I guess the observation comes first, out of necessity, and the labelling comes later, but the labels sure help them maintain that understanding don’t they?

Yes, it do agree, and I think it is amazing that the inuits have developed such a refined language about snow. There is no argument here Kim, it's just that it is not the focus of our discussion which is into investigate the existence of an actual separate self. Direct experience together with inquiry are the tools we are using to do this.

Do the values or qualities of being that you mention above need labels in order to be experienced?
Is there a separate "you" needed for experiencing beauty, truth, simplicity, contentment, love?

No, I suppose they don’t need the labels (though they may help, as in the snow example?)
A separate You isn’t needed.

Good.


HAND ON DESK
Please close your eyes for this exercise, just notice any ‘mental’ images or thoughts that appear and put them aside.

Place a hand on a desk or table (flat surface) - Close your eyes.

Now 'go to' the feeling/sensation which we would normally refer to as 'hand on desk' and answer from what you can FIND.

1) How many things do you find? Are there two things (hand and desk) or is there one thing – sensation?

2) Can a ‘feeler’ be found in 'what is being felt'?

3) Do you notice 'one thing feeling another thing'? Or is there just 'a sensation'?

4) Do you find an 'I', a body, a hand 'feeling' . . . or is there just 'a sensation'?

What do you find?

Can an INHERENT FEELER be found?
Would anything that is suggested as the feeler, be anything other than a concept/idea/thought?

[Noro]

Sorry missed the last question in blue!

Can an INHERENT FEELER be found?
Would anything that is suggested as the feeler, be anything other than a concept/idea/thought?

[Tanglier]

Hi Rowena

HAND ON DESK
1) How many things do you find? Are there two things (hand and desk) or is there one thing – sensation?

Initially I find a sensation that relates to the cold hardness of the desk, but very quickly all sensations merge into one feeling that is neither hand nor desk but something else, or at least something that cannot be separated into hand or desk.

2) Can a ‘feeler’ be found in 'what is being felt'?

No

3) Do you notice 'one thing feeling another thing'? Or is there just 'a sensation'?

There is just sensation

4) Do you find an 'I', a body, a hand 'feeling' . . . or is there just 'a sensation'?

There isn’t actually anything doing the feeling, there is just sensation.

What do you find?

Sometimes I imagine that I can isolate particular sensations and attribute them to different bits of my hand, like the end of the fingers, but that involves a mental fabrication of my idea of the physical body and what is located there. In terms of the actual meeting of the hand and desk there is no direct experience of two separate things, or of a separate feeler feeling the sensations.

Can an INHERENT FEELER be found?
Would anything that is suggested as the feeler, be anything other than a concept/idea/thought?

That’s right, the idea of a feeler is just that, an idea. The feelings arise in and of themselves.

Rowena, I am noticing exactly the same kind of response to these exercises as I do when I do similar exercises in my meditations. It is clear that there is no separate self. But it seems to make no difference to my being. It seems like just another idea (‘there is no separate self and I have direct experience of that fact’) which remains in the realm of concepts without touching the core of my being or affecting how I feel or act. I don’t fully understand why this is, as the implications of that idea are obviously huge. How do I cross the bridge from ‘expérience + idea’ to ‘feeling’? Am I doing something wrong in my approach?

Best wishes

Kim

[Noro]

Hi Kim,

Rowena, I am noticing exactly the same kind of response to these exercises as I do when I do similar exercises in my meditations. It is clear that there is no separate self.

Good

But it seems to make no difference to my being. It seems like just another idea (‘there is no separate self and I have direct experience of that fact’) which remains in the realm of concepts without touching the core of my being or affecting how I feel or act. I don’t fully understand why this is, as the implications of that idea are obviously huge. How do I cross the bridge from ‘expérience + idea’ to ‘feeling’?

Kim, you are discounting the fact that when you are looking from direct experience you have shared with me the following a couple of threads back:

"Moving from one set of sensations to another I noticed the vibrational nature of the sensations and that they bore little relation to the boundaries and locations of the actual physical body that they related to. There was an expansive feeling."

This expansive feeling is what we are looking for. Identification with an "I" creates a strong sense of contraction within the body, and when the sense of "I" disappears that contraction releases and expansion is experienced. You mentioned that "the implications are huge." This is more thought content, probably based on expectations created from picking up what others have shared about "awakening" or "enlightenment". It is different for each person, sometimes a gentle realizing that there really is no separate self or "I", and then we hear about the dramatic experiences experienced by others.

Am I doing something wrong in my approach?

Please look closer at this question:
Can an "I" be located that could do something wrong?
Is there any validity to this sentence?
Who or what would validate?
Or is it just a narrative that is taken to be true?

You are definitely not doing anything wrong. For a start, you are already seeing that there is no "you" to do anything wrong, only thoughts being experienced as an "I" doing something wrong. The habitual ideas and narratives never belonged to a separate "I". So seeing that a separate "I" never existed has not changed anything except the knowing that the stuff does not belong to any "one."

The fact that it can be seen that any thought is actually empty of an "I" doesn't stop identifying with that empty narrative. Empty of "I".



PALM FLIPPING EXERCISE
1. Hold a hand in front of you; palm turned down.

2. Now turn the palm up. And down...and up and so on.

Watch like a hawk.

Don't go to thoughts – examine your direct experience.

Do this as many times as you like, and EACH TIME inquire:

- How is the movement controlled?

- Does a thought control it?

- Can a ‘controller’ of any description be located?

- How is the decision made to turn the hand over?

Track any decision point when a thought MADE THE DECISION to turn the hand over and the hand turns over immediately.

- Who or what chose which hand - the left or right hand for the exercise?

Can you find a separate individual "I" or anything that is choosing when to turn the palm up or down?

Can a thought initiate anything or is that just another thought story, an overlay to what is actually happening?

Warm regards,
Rowena

[Tanglier]

Hi Rowena

Can an "I" be located that could do something wrong?
Is there any validity to this sentence?
Who or what would validate?
Or is it just a narrative that is taken to be true?

If there is no I as such, then « I » can do no wrong. Though that leads us to the problem of personal responsibility for things, which is a hornet’s nest. I have to take some responsibility for my actions even if there is no substantial separate self. Is that not the case?
PALM FLIPPING EXERCISE

How is the movement controlled?

- Does a thought control it?

Sometimes the hand seems to move of its own volition. At other times, especially when I wait, I seem to have a thought that says ‘turn the hand’ and that acts as the trigger for the movement. When I don’t attend to my thoughts at all, then the movement appears spontaneous. How then is the decision made? Are there two different ways, depending on whether I think about it or not? It seems very unlikely. So I must conclude that the thoughts are an unnecessary overlay to the actions, I.e. the thoughts come in as a kind of rubber stamp to the spontaneous activity of turning the hand.
I cannot locate any actual controller who decides when to turn or what hand to use.
Best wishes
Kim

[Noro]

Hi Kim,

Can an "I" be located that could do something wrong?
Is there any validity to this sentence?
Who or what would validate?
Or is it just a narrative that is taken to be true?

If there is no I as such, then « I » can do no wrong.

Next time, please answer each question separately for clarity.

Though that leads us to the problem of personal responsibility for things, which is a hornet’s nest. I have to take some responsibility for my actions even if there is no substantial separate self. Is that not the case?

We are not making an inquiry into responsibility. In a relative sense, responsibility apparently happens or doesn't happen.

I have to take some responsibility for my actions even if there is no substantial separate self.

Is there a substantial separate self that can be found to take some responsibility? Yes /No?
If yes, where is it located?
If no, what happens to responsibility? Please look in your direct experience.

I cannot locate any actual controller who decides when to turn or what hand to use.

Good!



HOW TO DISTINGUISH TRUTH FROM A LIE (BODY YES, BODY NO)

We often lie every day & don't realize it.

For example, the grocery clerk asks, "How are you?" You reply, "I'm fine." While, yes. there is a sense in which we are always fine, even in the middle of suffering, at that moment, say you were grieving the death of your dog, or you had a slight sore throat & you had a headache, but you didn't feel like sharing all of that with the grocery clerk, so you lied, "I'm fine."

Also, it matters not at all how "distant" the remembered lie is. Besides the fact that time itself is fictional, a kind if lie; as we recall the memory of the lie it becomes present in this moment, as if it were happening now. This brings up sensations in the that accompany the memory of lying.

Lies can be intentional or unintentional, conscious or unconscious, even so automatic that we ourselves are fooled.

The story of a separate "self" is a lie.

This is the lie you came here to see through. Therefore, it is helpful to notice the body Sensation of lying as one of the tools for finding the truth of no self.

You want to be in touch with body Sensations & able to clearly label them in words. This will help.

Lies are usually felt in the heart or solar plexus as a contraction that we may label as tight, heavy or tense.

In contrast, truth is usually expansive. We may call it loose, light or relaxed.

First, can you remember a time when you lied to someone you loved?

Here we count anything, lies we think of as "big" or "small" that "matter" or don't "matter."

How are you? I'm fine. No, your knee hurts, but you don't feel like discussing it with the grocery clerk.

Those are social lies, but a seemingly "bigger" one will work better for this exercise.

Find the lie. I don't need the whole story, just a few key words to refer to it.

Then scan your body for any Sensation (DE or Direct Experience), particularly in the gut or maybe the heart. Check very closely.

What is found?

If you think the memory you used wasn't clear enough, find another one or lie to yourself right now, make something up.

1 + 1 = 14 is a lie.

I love eating worms is (probably) a lie.

Or call up a video of a lying politician & notice what Sensations arise as you listen.

Please report back with what body Sensations (not interpretations) you feel. Bodies can feel hot or cold, heavy or light, contraction or expansion, etc.

"I feel peaceful" is an interpretation of a body Sensation, it is not a description of the Sensation itself, for example.

Can you see that?

Do you see the difference between an actual Sensation & the thought interpretation of Sensation?

Can you find any "self" in anything Actual (i.e. your Direct Experience?)

Lies are contractions. tense, tight & heavy.
Truth is expansive, relaxed, loose & light.
Most people can find this in their gut or heart.

Thinking to find the answer won't help. That's not what will help you to SEE.

Warmly,
Rowena

[Tanglier]

Hi Rowena

Is there a substantial separate self that can be found to take some responsibility? Yes /No?

No

If no, what happens to responsibility? Please look in your direct experience.

Responsibility is a concept, so it doesn't exist in my direct experience.
HOW TO DISTINGUISH TRUTH FROM A LIE (BODY YES, BODY NO)

Please report back with what body Sensations (not interpretations) you feel. Bodies can feel hot or cold, heavy or light, contraction or expansion, etc.

Sorry, I really cannot distinguish any sensations of this kind when I recall 'lies'.

Can you see that?

Yes

Can you find any "self" in anything Actual (i.e. your Direct Experience?)

No
Best wishes
Kim

[Noro]

Hi Kim,

DRINKS EXERCISE
The aim of the following exercise is to discover whether the function of choice can really be found or confirmed in actual experience. The idea of making ‘choices‘ is a very clear example of a function that we wrongly identify as the basis of our identity.

Here's what’s needed - a chair, a table and two different drinks. Any two drinks you like are okay for this: coffee, tea, milk, water, juices, smoothies, beer, wine, etc.

Preparation - Place the two drinks side by side on the table in front of you, sit comfortably on the chair and mentally label them as drink A and drink B.

Experiment - Finding the function of choice

Sit for a few moments, take a few relaxed breaths and let the dust settle. When you feel ready:

1. Look at drink A and at drink B. Think about their respective qualities, the things you like about them, compare and weigh the pros and cons of each. See if a preference is manifesting for one or the other.

2. Count to 5.

3. Choose one of the drinks. Pick it up and take a sip.

Questions:
Remember that we’re looking for some kind of function, a something, an ‘I’ which is doing the ‘choosing’.

In step 1 when thinking about their respective qualities, did you ‘choose’ the qualities? Or did they kind of appear by themselves? If some preferences manifested, did you ‘choose’ these preferences? Or did they just pop up by themselves?

In step 2 when you counted to 5, if the preferences took the back seat while the numbers took the front seat, did you ‘choose’ this sequence of event? Did you ‘choose’ to shut down the preferences to give way to the counting?

Did you directly experience a mental function or faculty doing the ‘choosing’? Have you seen this function in action?

In step 3 where you made a choice, did you actually witness or directly experience a mental function or faculty doing the ‘choosing’? Did anything arise that announced, ‘I am the chooser’? If so, what does this function look like?

Sometimes we describe this sense of choosing as a ‘feeling’: It feels like ‘I’ did the 'choosing’. But the question is, can a feeling ‘choose’? Is it in the nature of a feeling to 'choose’?

Warmly,
Rowena

[Tanglier]

Hi Rowena

DRINKS EXERCISE

In step 1 when thinking about their respective qualities, did you ‘choose’ the qualities? Or did they kind of appear by themselves? If some preferences manifested, did you ‘choose’ these preferences? Or did they just pop up by themselves?

The qualities just appeared by themselves. Likewise the preferences.

In step 2 when you counted to 5, if the preferences took the back seat while the numbers took the front seat, did you ‘choose’ this sequence of event? Did you ‘choose’ to shut down the preferences to give way to the counting?

I 'chose' to take step 2, which meant that the counting was foregrounded. However, that 'choice' just appeared, so it wasn't really me that chose it.

Did you directly experience a mental function or faculty doing the ‘choosing’? Have you seen this function in action?

No, as above, the choice just happened.

In step 3 where you made a choice, did you actually witness or directly experience a mental function or faculty doing the ‘choosing’? Did anything arise that announced, ‘I am the chooser’? If so, what does this function look like?

No, as above, the choice made itself based on the accumulated value judgements of the assessment process in step 1. After step 1 I 'knew' what my choice was going to be, but I wasn'rt aware of any separate function or faculty that made that choice.

Sometimes we describe this sense of choosing as a ‘feeling’: It feels like ‘I’ did the 'choosing’. But the question is, can a feeling ‘choose’? Is it in the nature of a feeling to 'choose’?

A feeling cannot choose. There may be a feeling that accompanies a movement towards choice, but that is different. In fact, in this particular case I didn't have a feeling about it, it was more of a logical conclusion from the evidence of the preceding evaluation in step 1.
Best wishes
Kim

[Noro]

Hi Kim,


INTRODUCTORY BODY EXERCISE
Sit with eyes closed for 10 to 15 minutes. Paying attention only to sensations in the body including feet on ground, etc., without relying on thoughts or mental images:

Can it be known how tall the body is?
Does the body have a weight or volume?
In the actual experience does the body have a shape or a form?

Can a boundary be detected between the body and the clothing?
Is there a boundary between the body and the chair?

Is there an inside or an outside?
If there is an inside - an inside of what exactly?
If there is an outside - an outside of what exactly?

What does the word/label ‘body’ actually refer to?
What is the ACTUAL experience of the body?

Look very carefully, especially with the last question. Take your time, don’t rush. You can look several times during the day while doing other things (like washing hands, showering, having a short break from work, walking, etc) before replying.

Warmly,
Rowena

[Tanglier]

Hi Rowena
INTRODUCTORY BODY EXERCISE

Can it be known how tall the body is?

No

Does the body have a weight or volume?

No

In the actual experience does the body have a shape or a form?

No. There are sensations but no form as such.

Can a boundary be detected between the body and the clothing?

No

Is there a boundary between the body and the chair?

No

Is there an inside or an outside?

There is no inside or outside, just a bundle or cloud of sensations of different degrees of intensity, which appear to be swirling in what the mind says is 'space'.

What does the word/label ‘body’ actually refer to?

Usually the word body refers to what we think is the physical body.

What is the ACTUAL experience of the body?

The actual experience is of a cloud of sensations, tinglings, that bear little relation to the physical body concept.

Best wishes
Kim

[Noro]

Hi Kim,

DEEPER BODY INVESTIGATION
Here is an even deeper investigation of the body. Please follow each step, don't leave out any. Take your time. Don't move to the next step until the previous one is clearly seen.

Repeat the exercise several times.

Stand in front of a bigger mirror.

(1) First, close the eyes and feel the sensations labelled ‘body’.

(2) Then open the eyes and look into the mirror while still paying attention to the sensations.
Is there any connection between the felt sensations and the image in the mirror? Or just thoughts (and/or mental images) suggest that there is?

(3) While still paying attention to the sensations move one hand and observe the movement from the mirror.
Is there any connection between the felt sensations (labelled ‘hand’) and image of movement in the mirror?

(4) Now do the same movement with the hand, but this time look at the hand directly, not from the mirror.
Is there any connection between the felt sensations (labelled ‘hand’) and the image ‘of movement’? Or only thoughts suggest it?

(5) Now, pay attention only to the image in the mirror.
Does the image by itself suggest in any way that is ‘you’ or ‘your body’?
Does the image itself suggest in any way that it is a ‘body’ at all? Or are there only colours and shapes?

(6) Where the mirror ends, some parts of the body (probably legs) cannot be seen.
Just by the image in the mirror, is there any ‘knowledge’ that there must be legs, or only thoughts and mental images suggest so?

(7) Now turn away from the mirror and look forward (don’t look directly to any body parts).
Is there a ‘body’ anywhere when all thoughts and images are ignored, or are there only sensations?

(8) Start to walk slowly.

Is there a ‘body walking’, or are there only sensations?
Is there actual experience of ‘walking’ at all?

Or just THOUGHTS ABOUT ‘walking’?

Can such a thing as ‘body’ be found OR just THOUGHTS ABOUT a ‘body’?

Can such a thing as ‘walking’ be found?

Are the sensations localized in space, like ‘going through the room’; OR is there only an image that is labelled ‘room’ and appearing sensations without any location?

Any comments?

Warmly,
Rowena

[Tanglier]

Hi Rowena

DEEPER BODY INVESTIGATION

Is there any connection between the felt sensations and the image in the mirror? Or just thoughts (and/or mental images) suggest that there is?

No connection at all.

Is there any connection between the felt sensations (labelled ‘hand’) and image of movement in the mirror?

Only that I notice the sensation of air against the skin changing as I move the hand, which relates to the movement of the hand as I see it in the mirror.

Is there any connection between the felt sensations (labelled ‘hand’) and the image ‘of movement’? Or only thoughts suggest it?

Same response as above.

Does the image by itself suggest in any way that is ‘you’ or ‘your body’?

The image on its own does not suggest anything other than its form.

Does the image itself suggest in any way that it is a ‘body’ at all? Or are there only colours and shapes?

As above - only colours and shapes. The rest is conceptual overlay.

Just by the image in the mirror, is there any ‘knowledge’ that there must be legs, or only thoughts and mental images suggest so?

Only thoughts suggest so.

Is there a ‘body’ anywhere when all thoughts and images are ignored, or are there only sensations?

Just sensations that I label 'body'.

Is there a ‘body walking’, or are there only sensations?

Only sensations

Is there actual experience of ‘walking’ at all?

The experience is a familiar one, which I connect in my mind to previous experiences and so label it 'walking'.

Or just THOUGHTS ABOUT ‘walking’?

Yes, these are thoughts that say 'walking'.

Can such a thing as ‘body’ be found OR just THOUGHTS ABOUT a ‘body’?

Just thoughts about a body.

Can such a thing as ‘walking’ be found?

Not as such.

Are the sensations localized in space, like ‘going through the room’; OR is there only an image that is labelled ‘room’ and appearing sensations without any location?

Again, the experience is a familiar one, which I connect in my mind to previous experiences and so label it 'walking through the room'. Direct experience has only sensations.

Any comments?

Only what I have mentioned before, that all this is clear to me, and true, but it somehow leaves me 'cold'! It feels strangely abstract and conceptual, even though in one sense it is of course the opposite of conceptual because it is direct experience. I find this paradoxical.
Best wishes
kim

[Noro]

Hi Kim,

Any comments?

Only what I have mentioned before, that all this is clear to me, and true, but it somehow leaves me 'cold'!

Good, let's take a look here.... Having done the exercise of DE, there is an invitation for mind (thoughts) to have its' say.
Immediately the default 'personal' mode kicks in out of habit..."somehow leaves me 'cold'!
1. Look for the apparent separate "me"! Can it be found? Yes/No?
2. Look at what your words are pointing to: are there further thoughts/beliefs/expectations underneath that have not been met? Dig deeper? What does 'cold' stand for? 'Untouched' maybe, or disappointed?

It feels strangely abstract and conceptual, even though in one sense it is of course the opposite of conceptual because it is direct experience. I find this paradoxical.

This is paradoxical! And we are disrupting old habitual patterns of interpreting 'reality'.
If you were starting to learn to play the piano and had to learn fingering and scales etc. and in your mind you were already hearing completed pieces of music, then those early exercises would also create some kind of feelings (body sensations) and descriptive thought labels.... boring, cold, unmusical....etc. !!

First of all, can we get clear on language just for these exercises. Let feelings describe sensations. It is helpful to be precise in order to uncover the way thoughts and body sensations/feelings/emotions get entangled.

Please describe how abstract and conceptual actually feels in the body, or can we agree that this is just more thought content pointing to further unformed thoughts/expectations and maybe some unfelt body sensations that have gone unnoticed. Can you pick one word?

Let's look at your responses to the first questions when you began this inquiry:

LU is focused guiding for seeing there is no real, inherent 'self' - what do you understand by this?
That the self is a delusion, a belief. Specifically that there is a separate entity that we call ‘me’ which is apart from yet relating to the rest of the world.

If there is no real self and we can truly believe this, then we can live according to our true unseparated nature. If we can live in this way then we reduce our suffering.

Is there a real self? Yes/No
If Yes, where is it located?
If No, what does belief have to do with it?

Let’s say that you have lost your keys and you swear that you left them in your coat. You go to look and check all the pockets - the keys are not there. You swear they must be as that was the last place you remember them. You have a vivid memory of putting them there after you left the house. But when you check they are not there.
At this point you can keep on believing that the keys are in your pocket, or you can admit that even if they were, they are no longer there now.


What are you looking for at LU?
I am looking for another tool to move me on the path to awakening. I am hoping that an extended period of one to one work with a guide will help me really address all the assumptions that I have about the self - I say ‘really address’ because I have been addressing them for some time, and in many ways

I am intellectually convinced that there is no self, yet I cannot really ‘feel’ it. So I suppose there must be still some delusions holding me back.

There won't necessarily be a big event where you can really 'feel' it. The shift is subtle, there's just the recognition that reality is "just this", that nothing has really changed, except there is no longer a deluded belief in being a separate self, the illusion has been seen through. It doesn't mean that life will be different.

You may see clearly that the self is an illusion but still feel a sense of self - just like the keys.
Feeling something to be true and seeing that it is or is not is different. (Remember the Coloured Socks Example!)


I'd like you to explore this "Sense of Self" again very thoroughly, not by thinking about it but be LOOKING for it.
There might be a familiar sensation that we call a sense of self, but can an actual self be found? Keep the focus of attention on this sense of self and answer the questions with a simple yes or no when appropriate:

Does this sense of self have a specific location? Yes/No
If Yes, is it permanently fixed, or does it come and go?
And if it comes and goes, where does it go to?
Does this sense of self have a shape or a size? Yes/No
Does this sense of self say or communicate anything? Yes/No
If the answer is yes, how does it do this?
Does this sense of self have any specific characteristics or attributes (shimmering, tingling, pulsing, contraction?
What is this sense of self made of? An image? Sound? Taste? Smell? Body Sensation? Thought?
Does this familiar "sense of self" confirm the existence of an actual self. Yes/No
In conclusion, is there any separate self to be found?

Any further comments?

Warm regards,
Rowena