The Great Bernadette Roberts

[RisingLane]

No one describes the ego and the self-conscious mechanism quite like Bernadette Roberts. Her book "What is Self?" is an impressive achievement.

She believed in free will, and she was a monotheist, but aside from that, her explanation of the self-conscious mechanism is unmatched.

As a contemplative, she studied the interior movements closely and described them with precision.

Check out this interview with her.

Edited 3 hours ago by RisingLane

[Michal__]

Great books. I read "What is Self?" too.

[RisingLane]

30 minutes ago, Michal__ said:

Great books. I read "What is Self?" too.

Many fans of "The Experience of No-Self" don’t seem to enjoy "What is Self?" as much, finding it too technical, yet that book contains so many beautiful passages with clear and insightful descriptions of ego and self.

For example:

"The term 'ego' articulates a specific experience. Its best articulation might be this: the ego is what we feel when self-will is crossed, blocked or otherwise thwarted. It is the psychological pain that underlies all tantrum behaviors—anger, hitting back, revenge, anxiety and much more. It is the cause of true psychological and spiritual suffering and always symptomatic of an imbalanced, immature psyche. The ego is the interior movement we experience when we do not get what we want; it is also the experience of near uncontainable highs when we do get what we want. Obviously the ego is the experience of extremes—extreme feelings, that is—and for this reason it easily imbalances the whole psyche or consciousness. The ego is first and foremost the feeling-self—it is not, primarily at least, the knowing-self. Merely to know something exists—an object, a virtue, something good or bad—does not mean that we want it for ourselves. The ego springs alive only when we want something for ourselves and are determined to get it, possess it. This affirms that the ego is the experience of self-will, a will turned solely on itself that seeks its own fulfillment and benefit. When frustrated this egoic power or energy has given rise to all the evils in the world, yet the same ego in pursuit of goodness can give rise to great good in the world. Thus the ego is a particular self-energy or power that can go either way—negatively toward what is not good for self, positively toward what is good for self. If we believe that the divine is our highest good, then the ego (self-energy or self-will) goes in pursuit of the divine, and this pursuit is the ego's true, proper, developmental direction. The ego is, therefore, basically good; it is only bad when it goes against its own highest good."

[Michal__]

I didn't finish "The experience of No-Self".

[RisingLane]

5 minutes ago, Michal__ said:

I didn't finish "The experience of No-Self".

Interesting. It’s probably her most accessible and entertaining book.

[Michal__]

18 minutes ago, RisingLane said:

Interesting. It’s probably her most accessible and entertaining book.

I just got lazy. I am low key addicted to modafinil and only put in enough time reading, meditating and working when I am on it. I was out of it for a long time.

[gettoefl]

She is good. Here is her 13 step path. Read from bottom to top.