Inquiry
0. Statement
1. Is it true?
2. Can I absolutely know it is true?
3. What happens when I believe it?
4. Who/what would I be without the belief?
5. Turnarounds
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
There is an "I".
- Yes (seems like it)
- No, just an opinion.
- Sense of contraction, I-other, aggravation, alienation, anger, irritable, being an object in the world, ownership, accomplishment (transient), attainment (transient), joy, bliss, happiness (transient), sense of comfort, familiarity (transient, dependent on particular transient conditions), safe, protected, cozy, relaxed, lazy comfort (all dependent on transient conditions), sense of superiority, inferiority, goal, direction, meaning, lack of meaning, loss, grief, turmoil, at the mercy of circumstances, control, lack of control, clear, confused, overwhelmed, pace and calm, loss of peace and calm, apprehension of loss, apprehension of anything that may happen, always on guard, watchful, lost in abstractions about past, future and now, belief in abstractions, blinded by interpretations.
- Space, clear, present, effortless, no contractions, no center no I-other. Emptiness dancing, enjoying change.
- (a) There is no "I". (Yes, more true. Is a field of consciousness and its content, which itself is consciousness.)
(b) My thoughts are an "I". (Yes, the appearance of "I" comes from a belief in the thought "I". The belief in thoughts - rather than trust of immediate experiences - create an "I".)
I shouldn't believe in an "I".
- Yes.
- No.
- Impatient, try to push through into "no I". Try to "let go" through will and effort. Focus on an abstract/distant "goal" rather than what is, here/now.
- OK and present with what is, as it is. Allow it to unfold.
- (a) I should believe in an "I". (Yes, I do so I should - until I don't.)
(b) My thoughts shouldn't believe in an "I". (Yes, because is just an abstraction.)