When mental field imaginations and other sense fields (sensations, sight, sound, smell, taste, mental field) combine, there is a gestalt. And this gestalt can be taken as real, substantial and solid. Or it can be recognized as a gestalt, created from a mental field overlay, and appear ephemeral, insubstantial and a temporary and practical tool only.
Some of the basic gestalts are those of space, time, me and I.
The mental field creates an image of space and extent, and map the other sense fields onto this image.
The mental field creates memories of what is happening in the sense fields, and string them together into memories of the past, images of the present, and scenarios of the future. All adding up to the appearance of time.
The mental field creates images of a me as a human being in the world, and these are located in space when overlaid on sensations.
And the mental field creates images of a separate I in its different forms of a doer, observer, center and so on. These images of a separate I are also located in space through sensations, often sensations in the head area. (At least in our culture.)
As before, when these gestalts are taken as real and substantial, they appear real and substantial and we act and react as if they are. When they are recognized as gestalts, as they happen, they appear emphemeral and insubstantial, and as temporary and practical tools only.
So it is also with the gestalt of a separate I. When it is taken as real and substantial, there is an identification with it. We take ourselves to be this gestalt, this image of a separate I. We act as if it is true, with everything that comes with it, sometimes at the mercy of fear, attractions, reactiveness. And when it is recognized as a gestalt, there is a release of identification with it. It is recognized as a gestalt as any other gestalt. As images. As content of experience, just like any other content of experience. Here, what we are is more free to recognize itself… as that which all content of experience happens within and as.
And all of this can be explored here and now, as it happens, through the sense fields. (See other places, including below, for some ways to do that.)
From the previous post:
[Any story] Is a mental field overlay. It is a mental field overlay on top of the other sense fields. And separating it out in sense fields (sensation, sight, sound, smell, taste, mental) is itself from a mental field overlay.
For instance, there is a sensation, a story of “pain”, and additional stories of pain as undesireable. All of these create the gestalt of “pain”, and this appears substantial and real when the gestalt is not noticed as a gestalt, and quite differently when it is noticed as a gestalt.
Here are three basic gestalts:
The gestalt of space. There is a mental field overlay of space, of extent, and whatever happens in the sense fields is mapped onto this overlay.
The gestalt of time. There is a mental field overlay of time, and whatever happens in the sense fields goes into a memory of a past (sometimes called a present), and fits in with other memories of the past as well as scenarios about the future. It is all really about the past, since this overlay always reflect something that has already passed, and scenarios about the future is based on memories from the past.
The gestalts of a me and a separate I. There is a mental field overlay of a me, as a human self, and sensations is mapped onto this creating a gestalt of me. And there is also a mental field overlay of a separate I, an I with an other, and this too is combined with sensations (for me, in the head area) to create the gestalt of a separate I.
As with any gestalt, the gestalts of space, time, me and a separate I can be recognized as a gestalt, as a mental field overlay combining with sense fields. All of it is then recognized as insubstantial and ephemeral, as a no thing appearing as something. And the reverse is true as well. When these gestalts are not recognized as gestalts, they appear real, substantial and solid.
The most basic gestalt is that of a separate I, and to the extent that one is recognized – as it happens – as a gestalt, identification with it falls away and it is recognized as happening within and as that which everything happens within and as. The gestalt of a separate I goes from being taken as “I” to becoming just another gestalt. Just another content of experience. Just another combination of sense fields and imagination.
And all of this can be explored through the sense fields.
For instance, close your eyes and visualize your body and its environment. Then notice how sensations are mapped onto the image of a body, and sounds are mapped onto an image of the environment it is in.
Then, find what appears most as an “I”. Can you find the sensation components of that sense of a separate I? Can you notice the imaginary component, the image of a separate I, a center with a periphery?
Can you notice how the two – sensations and imagination – combine to create a gestalt of a separate I?
Is that gestalt different from any other gestalt? Does that one too happen within experience, as content of experience? Is it really different from anything else happening as content of experience? Isn’t it all content of experience?
And is that what you really are?