A few posts below, is the post I called "No Self". In it, I spoke about about some things Jed McKenna said in his book. It might be confusing, because I interjected a lot of my thoughts and questions in the post. The best way to get Jed's teachings is to read the book.
I received an email from a friend who would - for the purpose of this post - like to be known as "The Anonymous Plagiarizer". He says these ideas are around elsewhere, here and there. The blue text is from my original post. The red text is part of his response to me. Just thought it would be neat to add another viewpoint to this blog. (By the way, for those of you that email me, please let me know if it's OK if I choose to use some of your email on this blog, and if I do, let me know how you would like to be known, i.e. anonymous, first name or full name. I'd like to share other viewpoints besides my own.)
S.W.: Jed McKenna says in his book, _Spiritual Enlightenment: The Damnedest Thing_, that we can't find our true selves because the true self does not exist. There is only false self and no self. Journeys of self exploration only perfect the ego, one's dream character. Most people aren't awake because they dread the nothingness of no self.
A.P.: This needs some clarification. In Buddhism the terms used are "no independent self", no separate identifiable Jack or Sophia. What does it look like to have no separate self or no self or no boundaries? Why is it scary in fact terrifying to the point of getting the shakes when this is first looked straight in the face? Because we think we will die and disappear. It is really the question of death looked starkley in the face. ARE YOU A BODY? If so, you have every right to be scared, because IT'S GOING TO DIE! The only answer is to discover what you are with no shred of doubt and to the point where it is bluntly obvious to you. Anything less is speculation and hearsay.
11 comments:
I don't know about this book and particular point of view.
I think of this kind of conceptual consideration as I do the standard Oneness conception. In this the loss of self is to the collective, that is the general thought I believe. But rather than a 'loss' I think of it as a gain, a rise in consciousness, like leaving the closed center of your normal mode of discernment and thinking, and moving into or upto your power to exist continually (meaning 'hold on to the thought and point of view'), exist continually in the mode of thought where you do not allow, or you do reject, all the distinctions between people, groups, etc, that the standard self-centered mode of consciousness/thinking presses on us from all sides and from all mediums (tv, radio, songs, books, mags, movies, etc, any thing which exploits and expands on differences as problems). I also think that once one becomes 'conscious' in this power of 'oneness' that one has to learn to, and practise, finding the way in which we are all alike, and exploiting that for its' own sake. In doing this, we break the old mode of differentiation and exploitation of one against another, and we heal the wounds and then, we have to build new thought based on this oneness consciousness, build new ways of understanding the world and ourselves.
I don't think this can be done if we exploit for entertainment a survival-of-fittest nature, and use it for a role model for our human (higher than nature, rules nature), behaviour, it brings us down to its self-centered level.
Just some thoughts Sophia, Love and Peace to you and yours, always.
I'd go with the blue part.
Ego holds us to the world, and it is scary when we are floating about at the mercy of the universe.
"we can't find our true selves because the true self does not exist. There is only false self and no self."
An Analogy
When we sleep we are motionless.
When we have only our thoughts then we are crawling.
In those brief moments when we are aware of what is before us, then we are walking.
When we experience that
we are not our individual selves then we will be flying.
I think it is a good idea to learn to walk before trying to learn to fly.
Jim,
Thank you for your thoughts. Ego makes us think we are disjointed from others. Of course, thinking otherwise (or not thinking) would be dangerous to ego's health. :)
Goatman,
Thanks. They're just two different points of view, taken from two different yet very reliable sources, or at least, sources that I personally trust.
Indeed it is scary! Like looking down into the canyon, knowing I'm about to jump.
Mossy,
Very wise advice. Baby steps first! And taking baby steps isn't so easy when one feels like making giant leaps, but jobs done in a rush are usually shoddy, so is best to stick with baby steps. At least until one gets the hang of it, of course.
I'm going to have to check out this Jenna person. Never heard of him. Any recommendations as to one of his books start to with?
I Be Me,
I personally prefer to do things in chronological order. So were it me, I'd start off with his first book, which sets the stage for his others. The book is called _Spiritual Enlightenment: The Damnedest Thing_.
WOW! What an original idea. Why didn't I think of that...start from the beginning.
YOU are way too smart for this earth.... :)
I Be Me,
Aw shucks. :) You never know... some people can pick books up from the middle of the series, or watch sequels to movies without having seen the first, but I'm finicky. And really, so far I like the first book better than the second, although the second is pretty good, too. Jed says that his first book is complete in and of itself, meaning that one doesn't really need to read the sequels if they don't want to. But if you like the first one, I definitely recommend the second one. I haven't read the third one, yet.
Post a Comment