Existence as a "Separate Individual" is a Fallacy based on Fixation of Attention

The term, "separate", means, "away from pairing" -- as if being a "single thing".


Ain't no such animal. We have no perception of anything that exists singly, but perceive only things with which we are in relationship. Things seem to exist separately only because of the perception of the apparent location of things in space-time, without a simultaneous perception of ourselves (our "Point of Viewing"), in a way that I will describe, in a bit.


The act of "locating" is the exact function of attention; attention ONLY locates and that's ALL that attention does. It creates an experience of position relative to our point of view.


That act of locating has a feel, to it -- the feel of, "something being THERE". That feeling of "something being THERE" isn't a property of the thing being perceived, but rather a property of embodied, personal existence -- the property of subject-object perception. It occurs when attention stays on something long enough for a memory of it to begin to form and for an intention toward it to be aroused (or reminded).


In other words, the feeling of "something being THERE" occurs within ourselves. It has a location, in us, a size of sensation, in us, a shape of sensation, in us, and an intensity, in us.


Those sensations are all tied to movement-memory -- our memories of how we move when "triggered" by those sensations -- toward, away, or around, handling or avoiding. They are how we interact in the world -- and also how we REACT to our own subjective experience (when we introspect) -- BOTH.


So, there exists, at minimum, TWO points of reference: self and other. There is NO experience of a single thing, but always the experience of the apparent thing (perception or conception) and of ourselves. Without BOTH, there is no sense of "something THERE in some position relative to ourselves".


Most of the time, one or the other dominates in perception and the other remains subconscious or submerged. That's the common of experience of "self" confronted by "other".


But the feeling of "self" is just that -- a feeling. It's not "self"; it's self-feeling within self, which is inherently formless Ground of Being. The self-feeling exists within Ground of Being the way fruit is suspended in jell-o.


When both are perceived, simultaneously, spontaneous intuition becomes apparent of being in NEITHER location. That's the Witness (or "witnessing") disposition. It is free consciousness, not bound attention.


So, the sense of separateness depends upon one of the two being overlooked. Separateness is a concept, only, resulting from the automatic operation of attention, intention, memory, and imagination -- with one or more operating "on automatic", below the threshold of recognition.


Therefore, "There is only RELATIONSHIP -- mutuality, interdependence. Wherever anything is arising, there is only RELATIONSHIP. But most of the time, you do not observe that fact. Most of the time, you are involved with, "me", with your separateness -- but of all the things that arise, IT is not true -- and it is the least significant."


("Walking the Dog" -- a talk by Bubba Free John, some time in the 70s, from memory)


The "cure": awaken and integrate -- master -- the four fundamental faculties of living existence -- attention, intention, memory, and imagination. Then, hidden subjectivity becomes part of the field of recognition and separateness is seen/felt to be a state of fixation, not a feature of actual existence. Relationship is restored to its unqualified (or without-quality) self-nature, self-source, and self-condition.


N'est pas?