Rickard

"trying to control everything" ?? I did not say that, on the contrary, I specificly said we can NOT control everything. But if we have no control at all, there is no meaning in trying to achieve things in life.

We can't control everything. But if I believe I have no control at all over myself and my reality there is no point in doing anything. Why work on my personal development if I think it makes no difference? Why start a business if I have no control over it? Why try to change my life? I can just as well give up then. And the result will be depression and suffering.

So we exist after all then, as perception...

"In the gap between stimulus and response lies your freedom." - Victor Frankl

I don’t agree that we should eliminate the ego. The goal should be to develop a strong and healthy ego. The word “ego” is Latin and simply means “I” or “me.” So strictly speaking, we do not only have an ego – we are egos. The ego is our whole person, including our body. Ego is personal identity. The important question is what kind of ego we should have, not whether to have one or not. To say “I have no ego” is to say “ego have no ego” and that is obviously a contradiction. The only way to kill the ego is to commit suicide. Some people use the word ego to describe a false personality, as if ego by definition is something false or faked. You can have a false or faked ego, but you can also have a genuine ego. The ego can make us want to brag, or lie to protect us from embarrassment, or create the need to always be right, etc. But this is the result of a weak ego, not a strong and harmonious one. A weak ego feels inferior and need to compensate with bragging while a strong ego have no such need. A weak ego needs validation, thus the need to always be right. A weak ego need others agreement (support) while a strong and harmonious ego can easily accept disagreement. A strong ego is self-supportive and independent and is not easily affected by what other people do or say. A so-called “big” ego is inflated; it´s empty on the inside. A strong and harmonious ego have no need to be “big” or “loud” or “bragging,” etc. The ego should be like a diamond; strong and beautiful. ............. Relevant article by Phillip J Watt: The Ego is Not the Enemy http://themindunleashed.org/2015/07/the-ego-is-not-the-enemy.html “Ultimately, the aim should be to have a healthy, functional, content and loving ego which explores the ‘spirit’ of life. Expand it. Empower it. Enlighten it. It should also have a balanced attachment to itself, which means it should be attached in ways that is practical for its existence but not attached in ways that reinforces the pain and suffering of itself and others.”

Gothenburg, Sweden