The Illusion Of The Separate Self

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05:50

The Illusion Of The Separate Self

by Pratika 'Sahayak' Kshemya

Rated

5

Type

talks

Activity

Meditation

Suitable for

Everyone

Plays

1

We often experience life as though there is a separate “me” at the centre - an observer who is thinking, feeling, and moving through the world. In this meditation, we gently explore direct knowing and discover that hearing, seeing, sensations, thoughts, and emotions are simply appearing within awareness, without the need for a separate observer standing apart from experience. Through quiet self-inquiry, this reflection invites you to look beyond habitual identification and recognise the natural wholeness that has always been present. A gentle exploration of awareness, self-inquiry, non-duality, inner peace, presence, and the possibility of living with greater ease and freedom.

Self Inquiry Practice Resting As Awareness Direct Recognition Non Duality Awareness Direct Experience Perception Interconnectedness Inner Peace

Meet your Teacher

Pratika 'Sahayak' Kshemya

1074 Tawapiban Soi 12, Tambon Nai Mueang, Amphoe Mueang Roi Et, Chang Wat Roi Et 45000, Thailand

Meet your Teacher

Pratika 'Sahayak' Kshemya

1074 Tawapiban Soi 12, Tambon Nai Mueang, Amphoe Mueang Roi Et, Chang Wat Roi Et 45000, Thailand

Transcript

Hello again and welcome. This meditation is called the illusion of the separate self. Right now, Where you are, There is experiencing happening. Perhaps you can hear sounds, Feel the body where you're sitting. See what is around you and notice thoughts appearing and disappearing. And normally there can be a very clear sense that I am here experiencing while everything else is somewhere over there. I am the one experiencing and life is what I am experiencing. But let's look at this a little more closely. Where exactly did this I of the separate self begin? And where does everything else end? Perhaps you can feel the body sitting here. There may be sensations, Sounds, Movements. Or simply feeling of being aware of these words. And in our experiencing, We naturally say, I'm feeling this and I'm feeling that. But before the thought of I am feeling this appears, What is actually present in real time? There are simply sensations being experienced. And now for a moment, Listen. A sound may appear perhaps close by, Perhaps further away. Normally we might say, I'm hearing that sound. But notice. The sound is already being heard before the thought, I am hearing that sound, Appears in one's awareness. The hearing itself doesn't require a separate me to identify that sound to make it happen. There is simply a sound and the hearing of it. Then perhaps the thought follows, I'm hearing that sound, And almost instantly we assume there is a hearer separate from the hearing. Now look closely. Can you actually find a separate self, Me, Who is the hearer? The one who hears, Apart from the hearing itself, As a direct experience. Not as an idea, But in the actual experiencing of hearing right now. Now let's look at seeing. Something may be in front of you, A wall, A tree, The sky, Another person. Normally, We might say, I see that. But before the thought of interpreting appears, There is simply natural, Unconditional and spontaneous seeing. Can you find a separate seer apart from the seeing itself? There is seeing, And what is seen appears within that seeing. There is hearing, There is seeing, There are sensations, Thoughts, Emotions, And all of them are known. Not by a separate observer standing apart from what is happening, But simply within one's awareness. Awareness doesn't need to stand back to observe life. It is already present as life, Intrinsically within what is happening. You don't need to make anything special happen. We don't need to create a feeling of oneness. We are simply looking more intimately at what is already unfolding within the wholeness of our awareness. And now the question is. . . We're the separate me to which all of this is happening. Not as an idea, But in your direct personal experiencing. Can a separate me actually be found? There may be a thought that says, Of course I'm here, I'm the one experiencing all of this. But notice, That too is simply another thought appearing within what is present. So what if, For a moment, We don't follow that train of thought? What remains? There is seeing, Hearing, Feeling, Thinking, Breathing, Living, All happening naturally and openly. And so we begin to notice that separation may not be something we actually experience, But something we have learned to assume, And that assumption can become an unquestioned belief. There is still this personal body, There is still a personal life. There is still this particular expression of life unfolding in this moment. There's no need to deny any of that. But does being a unique expression of life necessarily mean being separate from life? A wave is clearly a wave, With its own movement, Its own shape, Its own moment of appearing. But can the wave ever be separate from the vast ocean body itself? So we begin to recognize with an awareness that life is not something happening to a separate identity of you. Life is spontaneously appearing as this momentary experience, Right here, Right now. So now, Don't try to become one with anything. Don't try to dissolve the sense of a separate me. Simply notice what is actually here, Present in this moment. Seeing, Hearing, Feeling, Life happening, Without needing to feel that a separate me is at the centre of it. Now quietly ask, Without needing an answer. Is there actually a separate me experiencing life? Or is there simply experiencing unfolding all happening in this moment? Just notice. And allow whatever is here to be exactly as it is. Nothing to achieve, Nothing to become, Simply this, The wholeness of an all-inclusive life as it is, Already happening, Already unfolding, Spontaneously, Without any need for an apparent separate self to question it.