How do i let go of control?

[KaRzual]

Guys how do i let go of control? Have you got some exercises/practices? 

[Mason Riggle]

@KaRzual by recognizing you never had control.  

By simply paying close attention to the present moment, it can be noticed that your organism operates all by itself.  It grows hair. It beats it's heart. It thinks thoughts.. and all of these things happen automatically.  There is no 'you' hiding somewhere inside your organism controlling what your organism does. 

Notice that 'trying to be like yourself' and 'trying not to be like yourself' would both be 'what you are doing', which is 'being like yourself'.  You just 'are' yourself, effortlessly, and you never have to try to do it.  How hard are you trying to 'be you' right now? Not hard at all.  You couldn't 'not be you' if you tried, because that would just be more 'you being you'. 

You don't have to 'let go' of control, because you don't have it.  Control is an illusion.  

[KaRzual]

@Mason Riggle I get it on conceptual level, however it doesn't resonate with my on some deeper level. I still know that i can change my behaviour and "let go" and sometimes i'm more controlling and feeling "not free". That's why i'm looking for some daily practices which i can do during the day to "get" what you wrote. 

Edited July 15, 2021 by KaRzual

[Mason Riggle]

@KaRzual I like practicing mindfulness (present moment awareness).  Practice staying very present.  Practice noticing what is true Now.. notice the sensations you are feeling now. Notice what sounds you are hearing now. Notice what thoughts you are thinking now.  This is what I mean by 'paying close attention to the present moment'.   

Notice that if you are thinking about the future, that is a thought occurring now.  Notice that if you are thinking about the past, or remembering something, that is also just more thought occurring now.  Notice that you have no idea what thought will occur to you next.  What will you think next? You won't know until it arises.  Recognize that everything, including your own thoughts, is simply happening, and you are becoming aware of it in each moment.  

[KaRzual]

@Mason Riggle Cool. How do you know you are in the present? I mean sometimes thoughts are so sneaky that it takes some conscious unfolding to know what's true.

 

Btw i always thought a guy on your profile pic is doing rear delts lol. 

[Mason Riggle]

@KaRzual Sometimes the thought occurs 'I am doing this', but that is just more thought occurring. This is like a whirlpool suddenly thinking, 'I am swirling myself'. This would be a mistake. This language creates the illusion of a 'doer' who is doing what is being done... a 'swirler' of the whirlpool somewhere inside the whirlpool in addition to the swirling. 

I am happening. There's no one 'doing it'. 

Edited July 15, 2021 by Mason Riggle

[Someone here]

What makes you think you have control in the first place? 

[Mason Riggle]

16 minutes ago, KaRzual said:

 How do you know you are in the present?

@KaRzual 

"It is always now.

However much you feel you may need to plan for the future, to anticipate it, to mitigate risks, the reality of it is now.

Now, this may sound trite, but it's the truth.

It's not quite true as a matter of physics, in fact, there is no "now" when it comes to the entire universe… You can't talk of an event occurring simultaneously occurring here and at the same moment occurring in Andromeda.

The truth is, "now" is not even well defined as a matter of neurology. Because we know that inputs to the brain come at different moments and that consciousness is built upon layers of inputs… whose timings have to be different. Our conscious awareness of the present moment is in some relevant sense already a memory. But as a matter of conscious experience, the reality of your life is always now." - Sam Harris

[KaRzual]

@Someone here I decide what i do, how i react, i plan, i move as i want to. 

[Mason Riggle]

Just now, KaRzual said:

 I decide what i do

This is the whirlpool thinking it's swirling itself.  Deciding is happening, but there's no 'you' who's doing it. 

[Someone here]

7 minutes ago, KaRzual said:

@Someone here I decide what i do, how i react, i plan, i move as i want to. 

Really? Or does it just happen? 

When you say "I".. What exactly are you talking about?  Can you point to it? 

 

[KaRzual]

I feel that i have control. Whats is I? Some structure inside my body? 

[KaRzual]

I'm giving you honest answers. I know the theory presented here on this forum and by Leo. I just don't "get" what you are trying to communicate and i look for a way to "get" it. 

[Mason Riggle]

@KaRzual 'I' is a thought occurring now, like a bubble occurring in a whirlpool.  Notice too, that there really isn't even a 'whirlpool'.. there is just 'whirllpooling' that occurs in a river.. you can't show me a whirlpool without showing me the river.  There is no 'whirlpool' that exists 'separate' from 'the river'.   Similarly, there is no 'you' inside your organism somewhere.  There is 'what your organism is doing', and sometimes what your organism does is produce the thought, 'I am doing this', without recognizing that that thought is just more of what it's automatically doing. 

[Mason Riggle]

@KaRzual this is annoyingly paradoxical stuff..  

You want to know 'how to let go of control', and 'letting go of control' can (is within the infinite possibilities of infinity) happen, but it will happen if and only if, and when and only when it does, and none of that is 'up to you'. 

It's similar to looking at an image full of other hidden images.. and I say, 'do you see the cat?'.. and you say, no, how do I see it?   There is nothing you can do to 'cause yourself to see it before you see it.'.  

You can discover it on your own, if and when you do.. or I could point it out, if and when I do.. neither are up to you. 

Edited July 15, 2021 by Mason Riggle

[KaRzual]

So i just live my life in that case? I can medidate, build up consciousness, have nondual expieriences, but in the end i may not experience non existence of "I"?

[Mason Riggle]

@KaRzual it seems that way.  

Could you 'not live your life'? 

What is there that you could do, that would be 'other than what you are already doing'? 

[KaRzual]

@Mason Riggle No, i don't think that i could "not live my life". The difference is - do i accept the fact the life is like it is, or i don't. 

[Mason Riggle]

@KaRzual the only thing you ever do is 'be how you are being', and you are always doing this, effortlessly.

[Mason Riggle]

4 minutes ago, KaRzual said:

 - do i accept the fact the life is like it is, or i don't. 

you shall find out which one happens.  Do I want coffee or tea? I guess I'll know the answer the moment it occurs to me, and no sooner. 

Edited July 15, 2021 by Mason Riggle