LittleHawk Thank you very much for your extremely interesting and thought-provoking answers to my questions. You mention 'people with experience doing this'. I have spent some time on retreats with contemplative nuns, who practised 'inner silence' and it sounds rather like the goal you describe. The sisters encouraged me to do just as you say, to eradicate all the strident and powerful content and try to 'empty' the consciousness, leaving space for the true nature of oneself to emerge. (It wasn't necessarily for Christian or even religious people, as anyone was welcome.) The experience made me see that there is indeed an awful lot of imposed and self-contrived 'rubbish' inside one, and what I personally was left with was a childlike naivety. I found this refreshing, liberating but also a bit frightening, as you do feel vulnerable without your armour and your role, like going on stage with no script and no lines! (This is a bit of a drift from 'chavs, but immensely fascinating.) Eliza