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Originally posted by DrunkYogi
reply to post by Bluesma
Ive often thought, it's not about destroying the Ego but integrating it with self-realization. I have got no idea how this would work but letting the Ego know you are going to destroy it seems like unnatural. Integrating it seems to me the way to go.
Originally posted by DrunkYogi
reply to post by Bluesma
Ive often thought, it's not about destroying the Ego but integrating it with self-realization. I have got no idea how this would work but letting the Ego know you are going to destroy it seems like unnatural. Integrating it seems to me the way to go.
meaning that ideas, beliefs and structure need to be washed away.
Originally posted by mysticnoon
reply to post by Bluesma
Yes, I see now how much of the problem lies in the definition of the term ego.
I regard the ego as everything assciated with one's own identity which is not the soul or spirit. Essentially, the ego identity is the vehicle through which spirit operates in this dimension.
Originally posted by Itisnowagain
What is the 'self concept'? A concept is an idea. Are you any of the things you think you are?
Would you consider it safe to say that you are no 'thing' in particular? So no matter what idea you have of yourself it is never correct.
Originally posted by Itisnowagain
If you have a label like 'American' and then move from America but have 'identified' yourself as an 'American' it will hurt when that label is removed from you. To attach yourself to a label will cause pain. Are you a label?
Should a 'label' be given that much power?
Labels divide that which is whole.
Originally posted by Bluesma
My body has attachments to people, and I do not see how rejecting those attachments as having any value is of benefit. It has value, for a certain layer of my being. I did not enter matter and physicality to run away from such experiences as emotion, love, loss, and all the other colors of physical existence. I do not search to avoid these.
Are you trying to fit in?
Originally posted by Bluesma
Your assertions that you are free of all thought, I am sorry but I cannot accept that as true. You are using language- which requires thought. You are attempting to communciate concepts to "an other".
Where did I assert that I am free of thought?
I see every thought (word) arise as it arises.
Originally posted by Bluesma
A very blunt but easy to grasp example- if i let go of my american values , then when going to the US, I would take off my top at the beach. I would be arrested and that would be a big hassle. (there is a scene like this in the movie "Martha Marcy May Marlene" in which a girl tries to readjust to the common american society again after escaping a cult-)
Originally posted by AthlonSavage
reply to post by Itisnowagain
Where did I assert that I am free of thought?
I see every thought (word) arise as it arises.
what happens when you fall asleep what are you aware of then?
Originally posted by Bluesma
Are you trying to fit in?
If you think you might be returning to live in a certain environment, it is useful to hold on to that set of concepts for use when you arrive. To have the appropriate language come out of your mouth, to have acceptable and comprehensible jokes, and a chain of thought they can grasp, a behavior which fits in with the rituals.
Otherwise, these all become obstacles to communication and interaction.