Icelander said:

Noteworthy said:

I wonder though, what if.. all this talk of ego loss is misguided. What people are actually experiencing is an 'omni-ego' that embraces every fibre of its reality, thus dissolving borders and making it harder to -see- one's ego .

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Not sure I understand. Can you go into this a little more.

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Noteworthy said:

Well, people talk about losing their ego, but it can be said that the ego never really goes away, because there is always a point of view 'I'.

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If you focus on 'I' intently & relentlessly enough, then it thins out into a pure space & silence
This is my experience & the experience of Ramana Maharshi
(who suggested the technique of Self inquiry 'who am I?' as the only true/final method of 'Self relization' or enlightenment)

Focusing on what 'I' is, inevitably destroys the ego, or the ideas which make up 'ego'
Really ego is just ideas we have about ourself, a shape shifting self image
I suppose egoloss is to stop shifting shapes & to be shapeless
To stop projecting images of self & be imageless

Icelander said:

ego is a part of the personality structure. It is a navigational tool for an individual entity. This world would make little sense without one. If the ego dies the person dies. Ego death is a myth. And you can't "override" your ego. Your ego structure is either healthy/unhealthy or skillful/unskillful or like for most of us something of both.

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Yeah I WANT to believe the buddhists, but I just can't imagine being able to function without an ego. What might an egoless person behave like? How would he be able to have a conversation without associating with either of the participants?

Icelander said:

At core IMO the buddha taught a workable psychological technique.

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At the very core would be the four noble truths:

- life is suffering
- suffering is caused by attachments and desires
- there is a way out of suffering (nirvana)
- the way out of suffering is following the eightfold noble path

While a lot can be narrowed down to psychological tools, the very core of Buddhism remains a very spiritual system of liberation. Rebirth, karma, different realms of existence - these were all included in the earliest of Buddha's teachings. When you compare it to other eastern religions - hinduism and jainism particularly - the very same concepts of rebirth, karma, and ultimate liberation (nirvana or moksha) all hold true.

A lot of rationalists in the West who are picking up Buddhism are trying to assert that it's a purely psychological system - and in doing so they ignore some of the most powerful teachings - and the entire purpose of the path - liberation from continuous birth and death, and the attainment of a deathless blissful state.

Icelander said:

what's samsara

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