Contents

Preface

A Little Bit about Ilona

The First Disillusionment

Looking for Truth

Trying Out Some Paths

Deconstruction, Pain, and Peace

The End of the Search, but Not the End of the Journey

A Beginning

Liberation Unleashed

It’s Closer Than You Think

The Word “I” Is a Tool for Communication—Nothing More

How to Use This Book

Set Time for Writing Down Thoughts on Paper Every Day

Quit Following

Your Best Guides Are Fear and Resistance—and Excitement

Be Aware of Distraction

The I Virus

The Symptoms

The Antidote

After the Antidote

More About the Virus

How Do You Know You’re Infected?

How to Remove the Virus

Noticing Is Effortless

Thinking Is Not the Same as Looking

Expectations Are Like Clouds That Cover the Sunshine

Fear Is Sensation

Nona

Recognition

Sacha

Concepts, Words, and Stories Are Not What They Seem

Ideas Are Hypnotic by Nature

The Trick of Language

Language and Labels

Language Assumes a “Doer”

But What If There Is No Doer?

Labels

The Story and the Narrator

The Stories in Our Head

What Happens When You Simply Look?

Lakshmi

Thinking

Belief Is Composed of Thoughts About Thoughts

Thank Thoughts, Don’t Fight Them

Shoulds, Should Nots, and Wants

The Description Is Not the Experience

The Mind and the Heart

What Do You Really Want?

Wanting Control

Wanting Security

Wanting Love and Acceptance

Other Wants

Shanti

Suffering

There Is No Sufferer

Suffering and Acceptance

Resistance and Frustration Are Our Friends

Rowland

Deep Looking

Yes, So Be It

Welcoming

“Thank You” Is the Magic Phrase

Listening Deeply to What the Mind and the Heart Have to Say

Distraction (Again)

Protection

Friederich

Marty

Seven Steps

Step One: Clearing the Path—Meeting the Fear

Step Two: Strip Away All Expectations

Step Three: Get in Touch with the Real

Step Four: “I” Is a Thought—Thought Does Not Think

Step Five: There Is No Separate Self at All in Reality

Step Six: How Does It Feel to Crash the Gateless Gate?

Step Seven: Falling

So What?

The End of the Search, but Not the End of Our Exploring

Some Things Change Quickly, Others May Take Longer

Don’t Hold On to Anything

Pass the Message On

A Note of Gratitude

Afterword by Elena Nezhinsky

—Elena Nezhinsky