Thought and it's modus operandi

[Charlotte]

For some time now I have been contemplating the nature of thought and reality. I would often ask myself,

"Why does 'out there' feel so different to in here ????‍♀️" 

What is the contrasting differences between the two and why do they contain they nuance differences. 

The other day in the coffee shop, sat with my dad, contemplating, it hit me in the face like a brick. Now intellectually I knew this before this moment, however, something about this realisation hit me so hard it made me feel sick, you know them type of insight's. 

I realised that thought itself, is what creates that duality to 'out there' & 'in here'. Though is what separates them, however, they are the same thing, made from the same substance. 

Now after all these years I have been following Leo, you would think, 'Well dur Charlotte?, Bit late to the party!' 

But a few years back, I realised I had taken on most things Leo says as blind faith, I had not undergone my own investigation to derive at any answers for myself. So, I worked on defragmenting everything I 'knew' and I wiped the slate clean (this process was painful as I realised I had built a sneaky ideology). 

And now here I am. I appreciate Leo's insights but am now more skeptical, and go off to on my own quest (I am also skeptical of my own skepticism and even any insights I may find along the way). 

So tell me, even when you do have insights of your own, do you continue to question?  Does it drive you insane like me because THERE IS NO GROUND!? ?

[BipolarGrowth]

The self/other or internal/external duality is unfortunately much more than just thought. This is precisely why you can say you already felt to have this intellectual understanding yet had not had the deeper realization of it. Someone can feed themselves thoughts or have them arise spontaneously from having consumed certain spiritual content about the self/other or internal/external divide being illusory, but the thoughts alone actually do very little. What is more fundamental is how perception is occurring in relation to the sensations which are present.

Thoughts are in many ways sensations which are more tapped into the mind’s ability to affect meta-shifts in the sensory field though, so they are still very helpful for making useful changes to perception. Almost in all cases, there will be a basis of related intellectual understanding before directly experienced perceptual shifts one might call insight occur. What is most important though is to actually feel the shift in perception which aligns with the intellectual understanding. This is why psychedelics, meditation, and other techniques are so effective at producing insight as they are altering perception and in turn changing the very nature of the sensations which are accessible in one’s experience. 
 

When it comes to being sure of one’s own insights, it’s helpful to always remain open to new perspectives and focus on high quality sources of information to temper one’s personal insights. If you know something for 100% certain, this is usually more of a flaw than a sign of a solid understanding IMO as even some of the most time-tested and plausible perspectives around nonduality do not at all deserve 100% certainty. There’s no need to drive yourself crazy over needing to constantly reassess things. Why not fall in love with the exploration process rather than clinging to certainty? Certainty is almost always a clear sign of a bit too much or at times way too much bias. 

[Nahm]

4 hours ago, Charlotte said:

So tell me, even when you do have insights of your own, do you continue to question?  Does it drive you insane like me because THERE IS NO GROUND!? ?

That there is a you which is having “insights” is like the ‘out there’ & ‘in here’. That is the perpetuation of thought attachment, or, monkey mind (you are not a monkey). There is neither, but thought(s) seem to make it so. Same for ‘ground’ & ‘groundless’. Like clouds & the clear sky, without the monkey mind, there simply is no desire or craving for a remedy (ground). ?

Without believing insight is more than thought, and in kind, without thought attachment, there is a certain ‘seeing the innocence of God’s children’, so to speak, and no more ‘sick feeling’. 

[gettoefl]

continue to question ... truth is elegance simplicity child's play ... if you can't explain it to a child you can still go deeper

[Charlotte]

@Nahm but surely there has to be some sort of arrival point ('me') at which to question from? And then you could question the questioner from there? 

@BipolarGrowth thank you for this. Absolutely agree with everything you said. You're right about falling in love with the just the exploration of it, however, I also am seeking answers, even though I know there really aren't such thing as answers. Or even an answer for that matter, or maybe there is, I don't know ?

@gettoefl ?

[Nahm]

@Charlotte

That’s what’s so amazing about you really, that there isn’t.