Messages

If the sense of self is still there, but cannot be localized when you look for it, you have already come a long way.

Now it’s a matter of looking again and again to see where the sense of self arises.
Is there a moment when you notice that no self can be found?

Focus your attention on the sense of self. Where does it appear to be perceived?

The self is the object of inquiry, and you are looking at it directly. Is there really a self to be found there?

• Can you perceive a self right now?
• If so, where can you find it?

Focus your attention on the self.

If the search is frustrating because you can’t find anything, you know you’re really looking.

To see through the self illusion we go into direct experience. Here we separate the sensual experience from mental interpretations.

In direct experience there is no self (and no other illusions or assumptions).

In seeing through the self illusion, the following happens: The no self that we experience in direct experience becomes our everyday experience. It is then no longer necessary to go into direct experience. The ego-lessness is then always experienceable. Omnipresent. Whereas, of course, in this way there is neither self nor egolessness.

So if we have to go into direct experience to experience selflessness (no self), the shift has not yet occurred.

Experiencing this shift is important, because otherwise the self illusion is not seen through and we cannot loosen the next fetters. We no longer investigate the next fetters in direct experience, but in our then everyday experience – without the self filter.

So if you notice that you are not getting anywhere in the next fetters, it may be because the self illusion has not been fully seen through.

What can you do? Just keep looking. Do all the exercises for recognizing the self illusion again and again and check: There is no self – is that true?