Does the self or I exist?

[Galyna]

3 hours ago, Preety_India said:

I've been contemplating this for a while. And I'm a bit confused. 

The answers to this question are very murky. No end in sight. 

 

 

Hello my Princess

The self is a concept, therefore does not exist, it is an emergence of thoughts, feelings and perceptions. You do not make your thoughts, but your thoughts comprise your identity. 

Meditation is the best way to notice how the thoughts make your identity and how you are NOT in control of your thoughts.

Everything is just an appearance, including self, time, space and distance.

Hugs.

[VeganAwake]

36 minutes ago, Galyna said:

Hello my Princess

The self is a concept, therefore does not exist, it is an emergence of thoughts, feelings and perceptions. You do not make your thoughts, but your thoughts comprise your identity. 

Meditation is the best way to notice how the thoughts make your identity and how you are NOT in control of your thoughts.

Everything is just an appearance, including self, time, space and distance.

Hugs.

Like ? ❤

[VeganAwake]

4 hours ago, Preety_India said:

I've been contemplating this for a while. And I'm a bit confused. 

The answers to this question are very murky. No end in sight. 

 

 

The thing is... this can't just be intellectually understood ...it has to be seen on a first-hand basis.

It needs to be looked at and seen clearly that the separate sense the self(seeker) is an illusion.

I’d like to ask you to explore this SENSE of self very-very thoroughly. Not by thinking about it, but by FEELING it.
Keep the focus of attention on the sense of self and inquire:

Does the sense of self have a location?

Does the sense of self have a shape or a size?

Does the sense of self say or communicate anything?

If the answer is yes, how does the sense do this exactly?

Does the sense of self have any characteristics or attributes?

What is the sense of self ‘made of’? An image? Sound? Taste? Smell? Sensation? Thought Arising? If not, where is any Direct or Actual Experience of some sense of self?

 

Edited October 18, 2020 by VeganAwake

[peachboy]

From a literal perspective, Rupert Spira has some great words on this:-

Existence

No object, from the point of view of consciousness, ever comes into existence. Existence means ‘to come into being’, or ‘to stand out from’, from the two Latin words, ex, meaning ‘out of’, and sistere, meaning ‘to stand'.

The idea is that when something comes into existence it stands out from the background of infinite consciousness. As a result, we believe in our culture that objects have existence, and that when an object vanishes, its existence vanishes.

No! Objects do not have existence; existence has objects, from time to time. In fact, there is no real ‘existence’, no real standing out from the background of infinite consciousness. Infinite consciousness is not the background of experience, though it is often found there first. It is the sole reality of all experience."  - Rupert Spira

 

 

 

Edited October 18, 2020 by peachboy

[Reciprocality]

I would claim nobody can understand that they are alive at all, non less how and why, neccesitated by the nature of understanding as opposed to being. To have a claim, to undestand, to aim, to recognize is all neccesitated by ego both in the lowest of stages and the highest. Only the higher ones fear not loosing it as much and as often. Essence as opposed to Existence is yet another way to conceptualize "I" and "self", and thereby do not exist, or only does so by extention of those essentials turned inwards by means of meditations or pshycadelics.

The only thing which exist is what all experience have in common, which is the only alternative to experiences *positive value. 

*Positive as in quantitative/qualitative, i can add modality altough that will beg some confusion.

[Dodo]

@Preety_India

this vid showed up for me without searching for it, it could probably be what you need to get you going.

Practice is important for this, we all need to practice staying in that place. We, as forms. Its a big trap that people, including me, sometimes say "we are already enlightened so there is nothing to do".

Yes we are enlightened, but we are not the bodymind, so the bodymind needs to practice. Ultimately, you are not practicing, you are the awareness which knows, but since there is this ignorance currently that we are bodies, then those bodies must act in a way to align to the truth that we already are. 

Listen to the beginning of this talk also, unless you wish to keep watching after that, ofcourse, but the guidance is top notch. However the no practice bit again can be misunderstood. The person needs to practice in order to align as mentioned earlier. The first few mins are important, once you lock on to what is pointed at, just close the vid, close everything and stay with that, that is the practice. It purifies the ego. 

 

Edited October 18, 2020 by Dodo

[yetineti]

I pieced this together quite recently myself.

In Leo’s enlightenment series he mentioned how enlightenment means we have ‘No-Self.’ It’s not that we don’t physically exist, it’s not that we hadn’t had prior experience- for example - it’s just that any thought about ourselves is ultimately imaginary.

What we think about ourselves is imaginary. Who am I? Is imaginary.

This came as a shock to me until I read a response Leo posted to someone on the forum awhile back. ‘There is a self, just the infinite self.’

If you take an infinity of numbers (all of the positive numbers infinitely one way and all the negative numbers infinitely one way) and add them all together - they will equal out to 0.

So there is a self, the infinite self. It’s just that the infinite self is also the ‘no self.’

[SoonHei]

@Preety_India yes, it does. The self or I which knows no other. Only that one exists. Which is to say. Only you exist, in your own subjective experience. And that's all you got. Your own personal subjective experience.

But it is to be known and understood that your subjective experience is one out of Infinite. 

You aren't alone. You are alone together with everyone else.

[kai0]

Very simple

I exist as perception 

others exist as thoughts 

The other way around from others perspective 

[Preety_India]

@peachboy that's a nice example. 

 

[Nahm]

5 hours ago, SoonHei said:

You are alone together with everyone else.

Beautiful. You got yourself right in the feels with that one. 

[SoonHei]

38 minutes ago, Nahm said:

Beautiful. You got yourself right in the feels with that one. 

Love doing that

And love you my champ ??

[integral]

Lastest video!!! 1:26:13

[Leo Gura]

16 hours ago, Preety_India said:

So what happens when someone attacks me with a knife?

It is actually impossible to attack "you" with a knife. Since you are nothing.

"Attack ME with a knife" << that's ego imagining itself.

This is not a matte for discussion. Sit and notice there is no "me" inside.