Osaid

@dimitri lol

@fridjonk Interesting how that works. Thanks.

Wow, nicely put

@Peter124 How does this apply when it comes to other people/creatures? Do they not have their own experience like me? Or does the same apply, whatever I cannot perceive in my direct consciousness does not exist. This is where I've been stuck on.

Do animals have ego? To what degree? I can imagine maybe chimps having one, but what about bacteria? Does a bacterium really have a sense of self?

@PlayTheGame Yeah it is pretty crazy when you put it that way lol

@PlayTheGame The ego is God, but it is a small part of God that doesn't help you realize that you are God.

@Victor Mgazi All of that conditioning ultimately stems from the sense of self. Acknowledging that you are not separate is a good start, but as you said, it doesn't instantly get rid of all the implications of the ego that still exist in your life. Realizing yourself to not be separate, if it is truly accomplished, includes getting rid of all that conditioning.

Sense of self is when you believe to be the human body and nothing else. It doesn't necessarily refer to the sensations that come with the human body. Smell, taste, etc. is not the sense of self, but, believing that you are an individual human body BECAUSE of those sensations is. Where does this belief come from? It comes from consciousness mistaking itself for a human body.

@Brivido Wow staring at that actually gave me an illusion where my hand and the walls were bending haha

@from chaos into self No problem

@arlin Do you think God exhibits fear and hate towards his creations? The only reason you love and hate specific things is because you have adapted what you love based on what helps your ego survive. This is why your view of love is fundamentally selfish. I am not trying to insult you, I mean that word in the most literal sense. Your view of love is highly based on what your ego self wants, so I say it is selfish. Don't take it personally. Lets say you love someone. Then, that person does something and now you hate them. Why is this? It's because you are adapting your love to suit your ego. This love is conditional, not unconditional like God's. If you look at things more holistically, you might be able to appreciate them more. What would happen if pain didn't exist? What positive/negative consequences would this actually have? The conclusion you should reach is that reality is perfect, and it actually needs these things to function and create love. There are so many radical implications that would come with removing pain from reality, it would be a massive domino affect, and this perfect reality would no longer be perfect. God would no longer be able to be itself. Love would no longer be. When a person hates something, they do it out of love for something else. When a person makes fun of your looks, they do it because they want to love their looks. These things are hateful, but now you can see that hate is also a form of love. In the end, it is a struggle for love. Learn to see and appreciate the love. Everything is here to maximize love. If you can't see the love in something, your perspective is not broad enough.

@SageModeAustin Yes. Ignorance is everywhere. But they don't know any better. Everything they experienced in their life has led them to be ignorant. They were not fortunate enough to have an opportunity to better themselves and find truth. With everything they experienced in life, they HAD to have ended up ignorant. There was nothing else to stray them from that path. If you experienced their exact same situations, you would have ended up the same. Ignorance, like everything else, is a form of love. In their narrow attempt of love, they try to ridicule other people's looks so that they can love their looks. Really, it is just a struggle for love. Try to see it from that perspective. It often helps to look at things more holistically, this usually helps you to appreciate things more. What would happen if there was no ignorance? What sort of negative/positive affects would that have on reality? Hopefully this helps a bit.

@Nate0068 Yeah now that you mention it, I had a dream with a certain vibe recently that I thought to myself about. It has a sort of adventurous and scary feeling to it. Now that I think about it, it's pretty crazy how this feeling even spreads to dreams. Like why did my mind put that feeling there. But it's also true that every area in reality has this sort of atmosphere/feeling to it, so it makes sense to have it in dreams as well I guess.

@Nate0068 I always thought about this when I was younger. Like do other people really experience this as well? What if their feelings are different, or what if its the same for everyone? Who knows. It's such a hard thing to pinpoint. There are some pretty nice vibes out there. I can often re-experience it to some degree through nostalgia, which is nice.

@Nate0068 Yes, I get this a lot. It's pretty hard to describe but you put it well in words. Like, if I think back to a place right now, I just get this feeling in my heart that is associated with the sensation/vibe of that area, and each area seems to have a feeling totally unique to itself. It's different than just nostalgia, because you feel it even during your first experience of it.

@from chaos into self Neurosis is an internal conflict. It is a struggle between how reality is and how someone (ego) thinks reality should be. It is a failure to accept reality as it is and be content with it. This leads your ego to pursue all its usual shenanigans, it tries to make itself happy through external means because it cannot be content with the present moment. It does this through Junk food, gossip, etc, which then leads to the usual symptoms of neurosis. When it is put this way, you can clearly see where the ego plays its part. Neurosis is a way of looking at the world that is motivated by compulsive needs, rather than a genuine interest in the world as it is.

@Victor Mgazi No, I never became aware of any bubble of consciousness. It is just a theory I made up. Thanks for all the responses, i'll contemplate about it.

@Victor Mgazi I understand that everything is ultimately consciousness. I am the lamp in my room and I am also this human body, both are appearances experiencing itself in a system of consciousness. Why do you think the concept of ego exists only within this experience of being human, and not with other animals like chimps? I don't get it. I can see that they are existentially the same thing, consciousness. But, it is also true that these imaginary appearances which we call reality interact with itself. The brain is imaginary, but it is an appearance that affects other appearances within consciousness. If I take drugs (appearance) it will affect my brain (appearance) and how it sees other appearances. If I get hit in the head with a hammer (appearance) and experience brain injury, this will affect how I see other appearances. Even though these things are imaginary, they still affect how I experience this imagination we call reality. Even though my brain is imaginary, it would still affect my ability to create an ego, right? There are different bubbles of consciousness, in this one I get a direct experience of what it feels like to be in this human body. I cannot see or taste what other people see or taste because I have my own bubble of consciousness which I experience things from. Do bacteria not have their own bubble of awareness/consciousness? If they do, then they would lack a brain which can think to form the concept of ego. Does this not show that certain animals don't/do have ego depending on their physical characteristics? I am not saying the ego is existential. I know it is illusory, but I don't see why it would only affect humans.

Are you trying to say that there is no difference between the human body and bacteria, and that this idea of self is the only reason I can differentiate it as bacteria? I have a human brain, doesn't this brain hinder my ability to not have an ego? I imagine for something like a bacterium it would be very easy to have no ego because they do not have a brain like me. There is no difference between my human body and a bacteria fundamentally speaking, but my human body has a brain which makes it very easy for me to have an ego as compared to other animals. Is this not true? It's very hard for me to understand this concept for some reason. Thanks for the response. EDIT: Upon further contemplation, I think I might be starting to understand a little better now. People and bacteria themselves do not have egos, but rather, it is awareness (you) that might attach itself to the human body, thus creating ego. But, if your consciousness is experiencing what it feels like to be a human instead of a bacteria, is it still not true that it is easier to develop an ego with a human body rather than a bacterium body? How come you say ego only exists in humans?

@Red-White-Light There are also positive aspects. You could look at it as equivalent exchange. I sell a product, I get money for it. I kill someone, I go to jail and suffer psychologically. That oneness aspect is also a really cool way of looking at it.

My sleep schedule is horrible right now. I feel lost as to what I should be doing in life. I am not getting enough sunlight and haven't been out in a while because of COVID 19. I also feel that I am lazy. But, it's not like i'm depressed or anything. These are things I look forward to overcoming. I can't wait to actually go outside after all this time.

@Thewritersunion Yeah I was about to say, only a week? It's down here till the end of the school year.

@WHO IS Yes, then the ego creates boundaries in order to exist and sustain itself. But these boundaries are illusory. Your ego is your mind tricking you into thinking that YOU exist and are separate from everything else. Anything that helps you realize this truth threatens the existence of the ego, and elicits a hostile response from it.

@Tanuj "Eyes of god everywhere" is a really cool way of describing how reality is self-seeing. Also wow, I should really meditate more.