UnbornTao

I suspect Americano? Expresso is quite intense.

Lisan al-Gaib

Tried it. Doesn't work so well with expresso. Perhaps with American coffee which is prepared with more water...

@Salvijus What do you make of being and self (or whatever terms used to describe what you are versus who you've taken yourself to be through programming, growing up, and learning? Are they the same? Here he's making that distinction, using self as being and ego as self. Self "rose"; it is extrinsic to being--and perhaps paradoxically not different in nature, but this is beside the specific point we are dealing with now.

Could you be falling deeper into the belief rabbit hole?

Question your experience of stuff throughout the day. What is boredom? What is learning? What is language?

We could start by moving towards recognizing what is essentially an "idea" and what is experience and actual. This puts us on an adequate footing to begin.

Hey, cheer up. We all go through shitty circumstances. Nothing like building hope and constructive things, looking forward to the future as open possibility.

What you described above might be what the assumption itself is about. Assumption isn't just intellectually fabricated; the self seems real and solid to us, so what is the act of assuming comprised of? For example, at some point, your memory of yourself stops. What is that about? We say that a body and a laptop are objective. They have shape and are physical. We can also consider non-physical "objective" realities, such as awareness. Where does the self stand? Say the self both exists and does not exist. It exists as constructed, as the result of an intricate web of mental activity. It exists as that contextual invention to which we adhere and largely depend for our survival. And ontologically, its existence is illusory, an appearance--it is invented, assumed and adopted. It might be extrinsic to existence. Not necessarily given up but seen through. As for relationship, that's the relative world of interaction, in which the self clearly comes into play. That is where it can be seen as a useful and convenient tool, perhaps even a necessary one. Self and other form the basis of relationship, yet what is the nature of each, existentially?

Thank you. What about the fact that things are distinct from one another? Is that "activity" (distinction) the same? A bit like: the opposite of distinction, which could be sameness, is also a distinction. As a side note, I initially considered distinction to be conceptual but am having doubts about it--might not be.

Good old Jung.

Nice. Hope God and you get along now.

Interesting, care to elaborate?

And what is the nature of that perception? Setting aside philosophies, the "little person" within and behind the scenes, is assumed. But an assumption isn't just a thought, as we can see that self is for us the center of existence plus our most precious possession. Yet, where exactly does it land in the psyche? Is it objective? Show me a self. This is not to say we live it as if it were "false", as we clearly don't. It is this certainty that's being challenged. At some point in our efforts, we have to admit that we have a hard time exactly locating the source of this one in our experience. Also, we doubt our own reality as selves. Wouldn't whatever is found turn out to be something other than yourself--perceived by and from this presumption? Consider: without self-history, identity, attachment, which are forms of concept, what in your perception is self? Where is it to be found? Does it exist independent from the complex system of mental activities identified as self? That's self and being is a different matter.

Got it, thank you.

Been using it quite a lot lately, in place of Google.

Moved to Intellectual subforum.

Not sure, it sounds like a story you are telling yourself. Calm down and focus your mind on the contemplation subject itself, or on something constructive. Hope that helps.

https://youtu.be/8m7Ybp3Ehrs?feature=shared

Effective if done, although that's the hard part. Notice that that is "known" and perhaps even obvious, yet can you do it, and to what degree? That's the work here.

What do you mean?

Sharing a documentary that explores this possibility: I'm convinced he studied Buddhism in his lost years, became enlightened, and returned to his homeland to teach others. The Gospel of Thomas is an insightful read and much recommended.

The simple answer is master your mind.

Do you think this thread and similar would be better suited for the Intellectual sub-forum?