Alphard

How exactly does it help me to live a better life? If I suffer for some reason such as I lost my job? I can then tell myself that its ok because I don't really exist? If its just an interesting theory I don't see the point.

You knew him personally did you? My understanding of what this supposed person supposedly said is that there is nothing you can point to that you can call self. Everything you point to is not self and I do not disagree with this.

Its funny how Americans start referring to people as 'dude' when they feel affronted. Its ok you can calm down. My opinion differs to yours. I am willing to explore the questions thats why I asked it in the first place but I haven't heard any convincing arguments. All I hear are the same vague new agey generic concepts repeated ad nauseam. And thats all they are - concepts. I could say the same thing about you having made up your mind. Part of this whole vernacular is that one needs to keep ones mind open, keep ones cup empty and cultivate a beginners 'not knowing mind' however the people who choose to believe and talk about it seem to be very closed off and adamant about their views because they have had some experience and decided that therefore it must be the ultimate truth for everyone. Its a very rigid way of seeing things and similar to christianity. The christians have certain experiences that they interpret as the holy spirit entering them. They are convinced that what they believe is real and everyone else is delusional. How is this No-thing concept/belief any different? People from your ilk claim that its egoic or delusional to believe anything else yet it seems to me that its their own egos that refuse to accept death and so they convince themselves that some part of them will live on. They look down on those who don't agree as though they are somehow less conscious, less enlightened, or inferior but its done in this kind of passive aggressive way. "oh silly you, how absurd that you cannot see that you don't exist. You will awaken like us one day" etc Spiritual egotism appears to be rampant.

I go to sleep for both. It only feels good during the falling and the rested feeling after. While Im actually asleep there is no feeling except in dreams perhaps but even then the feeling is when I awaken and remember what i dreamt of. What if what if what if. I have to eat and various other things to keep living. Holding a belief that there is no me doesn't change that. I already told you that I understand "the self" is an illusion however the body and brain are not. They are here in the world. They exist. If someone was to chop off your arm are you going to stand there and say "its ok because I don't exist"? Its all philosophical waffle that you can think and talk about till the cows come home but in the end your sense of self is produced by neuro brain chemicals and when the brain is gone so has the sense of self, individuality and personality that has the conversation in the first place. Sure the no-thing goes on but NTOgen won't know about it. It all seems like just more ways for the ego to try and convince itself that it isn't going to die. For people who are scared of death to feel better about not existing anymore because its such a terrifying concept that our tiny brains cannot fathom. Also what you are saying may be interesting and nice for wealthy middle class people to sit around chatting about but what about a poverty stricken child prostitute living in squalor? Are they also causing their own burden because they believe they exist? I dont think so. If these kinds of beliefs don't end suffering then whats the point. Once the brain is gone there is no me , no you, no noticing anything.

Because its a relief from the woes of daily life. Because the body gets tired and needs to recuperate. It feels good to slip into unconsciousness. Im using the term "out there" because the english language is limited and I can find no other way to describe what Im trying to articulate. As I said before I have "discovered it" during meditation and it was mind blowing but in the end it was just another experience which became a memory and the body/mind still exists and still has to go about its mundane daily duties and chores.

It isn't noticed. Its noticed in past tense when you wake up. When you once again become conscious. The brain switches back on and you realise you're awake.

Lets get things straight here. The mind/body definitely exist but the self or the feeling of an entity thingness behind it all is nothing more than an illusion and I have actually experienced this more than once during mediation. This is my understanding and this understanding is coming from this brain in this body. When this mind/body die then yes the no-thingness may still exist out there, wherever out there happens to be, but this sense of a personality and thinking mind that is here now trying to understand it will be no longer. Therefore I don't really see the point of trying to believe that I am no-thing. How does it help me? How does it make life any better or different? I still have to go to work and still have the same set of shitty problems. Im not sure what school of thought you are getting your ideas but my understanding is that the Buddha never said that you don't exist. Not-self and not existing are not one and the same thing. Apparently all he ever said was that there is nothing you can point to that is "the self" and I agree with this but on a daily basis I can't walk around saying to people "hi how are you today? Never mind me Im just a field of infinite awareness" It just seems pointless and they would be like "take a hike hippy". It all makes for very interesting deep conversation but at the end of the day It just doesnt help me function any differently or better to believe I am no-thing.

But if Im dead what does it matter? There is going to be no me to notice this no-thing.

According to the theory we are 'no-thing' or a 'field of infinite awareness' etc but if when I die there is no longer any sense of I then this tells me that what I am is just created by the brain and when the brain dies it no longer exists. Can anyone explain why this may not be so?

ON REINCARNATION I have no idea and never will. Some people claim to know but there is never any definitive proof so I personally dont believe them. I consider the entire subject a waste of time even thinking about. I believe its more likely to be an archaic way for religions to control and manipulate people. ON SUICIDE The statement "suicide is a selfish act" is WRONG. Suicide is a desperate act by someone who is in intense pain and wants their pain to stop. That is a HUMAN response to extreme pain, not a selfish one. Over 90 percent of the people who die by suicide have a mental illness at the time of their death, so they are not thinking clearly. Saying that a person who had severe clinical depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, PTSD, or a similar illness was engaging in an act of selfishness when they died by suicide – even though their thought process, mood, and judgment were greatly affected by their mental illness – is not only inaccurate, but downright cruel, to both the person who suicides and the suicide survivors. Those who use the word “selfish” are merely helping perpetuate the STIGMA associated with suicide. A suicidal action that manifests from intense, excruciating, unbearable pain associated with a serious mental illness has nothing to do with selfishness.

You don't.

Go to work, do the grocery shopping, cook dinner, do the cleaning, fart, take a dump, have sex, have a look at youtube, fart, go visit a friend, feel angry because someone cut in front of you on the road, cry because your dog just died, get sick, get old, die.

This is such bad advise on so many levels that I don't even know where to start. Its bad enough that we actually exploit developing countries for a cheap vacation but to take advantage of sex tourism is even lower. Besides the fact that these countries have very poor education and so have very little understanding about safe sex. HIV and STD rates are skyrocketing in these countries as is underage prostitution and there is nothing to stop prostitutes from continuing to work even when infected. Ladyboys are commonplace. Nothing wrong with that but many confused heterosexual men go to these countries because they want to try some dick while keeping their fragile sense of hetero-masculinity in tact. After all if they hadn't have had those drinks then they wouldn't have been fooled into it right? Its all very tragic and ugly.

I did it with a couple of hookers in my late teens. Was a revolting experience. I remember one of them had a really flabby twat with baggy piss flaps. Probably had herpes scabs. Mmmmm yeah like really sexy. Turned me off vag for life. How any one could ever put their face in one is beyond my understanding.

Again this is not ultimate truth but nothing more than your opinion. Sorry to be the one to break it to you Gura, I know you're probably not comfortable with those who choose to think more critically around your ideology, but reading some books, attending some seminars and meditating for a couple of years doesn't actually qualify you to understand or preach about enlightenment and consciousness despite the sound of all the back slapping coming from your disciples inside your self built echo chamber. Its true what they say about you all over the net. You really do have a god complex. Let us know how that works out for you in 20 years when all your devotees have fallen away. Symptoms of the unenlightened 1 You think you are enlightened 2 You talk about being enlightened and how you’ve become so 3 You think yourself special because of your enlightenment 4 You know more about enlightenment than an average Zen master 5 You’ve paid hard cash for your enlightenment 6 You have a name for your enlightenment 7 You are a part of some exclusive community, by the virtue of your enlightenment 8 You are competitive (and not just about enlightenment) 9 You use the word ‘I’ often 10 You are unconditionally happy, no matter what happens to you 11 You take yourself absolutely seriously and are aware of your own importance