Why Am I Not The Body?

[Gneumatics]

Just one question here.

 

If "I" am not the body why do I follow it everywhere its ever been?

[Ananta]

It (the body) is an appearance "within", you, awareness. You (awareness/consciousness) don't move-you are ever present, the body (as well as all objects) moves within you. 

[Leo Gura]

@Gneumatics Think about this now... It's very simple:

Maybe you are the body, but if you are not the body, then you are mistaken about what you're taking the word "you" to refer to. See?

So when you say, "Why do I follow it (the body) everywhere its ever been" what are you actually saying? What is following the body? If you're the body, as you insist, then there's nothing to follow the body. There's just the body being you.

Nonduality doesn't say you follow the body. Nonduality says, You do not exist! The body just walks around like a zombie on its own. The problem is, it thinks there's someone inside it. You are like a robot who's been programmed to believe it's a human. When you think, "But I'm a real human." << that's just a program running. That program has no one behind it. In the same way that when you look at your computer, you don't think of it as having a "soul" in there somewhere. It's just a bunch of mechanics.

What you REALLY are is the empty field of Nothingness within which the body walks around.

[Loreena]

I sometimes Think that the mind is the body. 

[Socrates]

@Leo Gura But if -insert "your" name- dont control the body, who controls the body? 

This is getting weird

[Leo Gura]

@Socrates Nobody controls it, of course!

Who controls the sun?

How could anything control anything else? There cannot be any controllers in existence. Because who would control the ultimate controller?

This is the essence of mysticism. Nothingness is in control.

Of course it's weird. It's irreducibly mystical! An infinite chain of groundless surfaces.

[cetus]

7 hours ago, Gneumatics said:

If "I" am not the body why do I follow it everywhere its ever been?

This is where it sometimes gets complicated for the "I" to comprehend.  The "I" is  kind of a case of mistaken identity if you want to think of it that way.

When you refer to an "I' your probably referring to a thought of you as an "I". But what are thoughts? Thoughts come and go all the time. The "I" that you thought you were a year ago, or even a second ago is different from the "I" you associate yourself as now. And it will be different tomorrow and the next day and the next year ect. ect.

So where is a fixed "I" located ?

What proof do you have of this "I" you speak of?

If you've looked deeply into theses questions, you will realize there is no fixed "I" anywhere to be found (other than a fleeting thought).

What happens next? The transcendence of "I".  What was once "I" attached to a body becomes dissolved into everything and the dream of a separate self falls away..

 The body is realized as just another aspect of the physical universe. No different than a tree or a dog or sand or stardust ect, ect.

 

 

 

[Loreena]

4 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

@Socrates Nobody controls it, of course!

Who controls the sun?

How could anything control anything else? There cannot be any controllers in existence. Because who would control the ultimate controller?

This is the essence of mysticism. Nothingness is in control.

Of course it's weird. It's irreducibly mystical! An infinite chain of groundless surfaces.

Then what about identity  ?

[Leo Gura]

@Loreena Identity doesn't exist. It's a hallucination.

Does Santa Claus exist? Or is he just an idea?

Ditto for you. You have the exact same physical status as Santa Claus.

[Guest username]

4 hours ago, Maxx said:

3. If you were your body then then this would mean that your body, your flesh and bones, can philosophize, solve complicated mathematical questions, put up complicated physical theories like the theory of relativity, create beautiful art and music and so on. Since this is not the case you can't be your body.

Think about it.

How is that not the case?  Those are just functions of mind-- can't the brain do all that? If not, what does and how do you know?

[Leo Gura]

@Outer A "public" experience is just a private experience which your mind labels "public experience".

See?

Everything is literally a hallucination. Because the substance of everything is nothing. The various categories humans invent just attempt to hide this fact through sleight of hand.

[Leo Gura]

@Outer Public/private is a conceptual distinction which you invented. If the self/other distinction is conceptual and unreal, surely the public/private distinction is so.

Meaning is something you also invented.

Being has no meaning. That is nonduality. Meaning only exits for egos.

[Visitor]

12 hours ago, Gneumatics said:

Just one question here.

If "I" am not the body why do I follow it everywhere its ever been?

You (mind's way of making sense of itself) is a by-product of brain (body) activity. So the 'you' is a mental fabrication (story) of the body. It's not real, though it can strongly seem real, because it's intermingled (mentally) with all other body senses.

[Gneumatics]

Ok, lemme try to get this. I can't follow the body because there is no 'I', there is no 'body' and there is no 'follow'.

They are all arbitrary assignments I assume are real through layers of assumption and belief. Useful fictions (from the humans point of view at least).

And any complication of these is just higher up in the house of cards of delusion?

[RichardY]

The best metaphysical explanation for non-duality I've heard of is "Leibnizian Monadology" (only looked superficially at it). Maybe someone is familiar with other (correct?) premises?

[Nahm]

@Gneumatics There is only the 'substance' of everything. You are it, what you think is still it, no matter what you think. What you say is it, no matter. What you believe is it, no matter. Every thought and word expands it. No Matter. 

[Natasha]

On 7/7/2017 at 8:56 AM, Gneumatics said:

Just one question here.

 

If "I" am not the body why do I follow it everywhere its ever been?

We 'follow' the body for the same 'reason' an ant 'follows' its body - an automatic/instinctive/conditioned happening. If ants had human brain, they would think they are building something meaningful what in reality is just a pile of dirt. 

[Guest username]

 

On 7/8/2017 at 4:17 AM, Maxx said:

 I am not talking about the mind, I am just talking about the physical body. This of course includes the brain. What is the brain viewed just as a physical entity?

I'm not going to pretend that I understand how the mind works, which is largely why I'm asking. In my direct experience, the brain is just a thought ,and as for the true nature of the mind and how it works, I have no clue. I've been under the impression that the mind is just another body function while consciousness is something else, but I don't have the experiences to make any sort of claim yet, and I'm not too invested in any belief.

Do you know how the mind works?  I've been under impression (not saying I actually know; this is just what I've heard) that the ability to do math or write symphonies were possible due to the brain.  Am I wrong here? 

Edited July 14, 2017 by username

[Joseph Maynor]

On 7/7/2017 at 5:56 AM, Gneumatics said:

Just one question here.

 

If "I" am not the body why do I follow it everywhere its ever been?

You are the awareness that contains visual content that the ego conceptualizes as the body.  But think deeper about the body.  What is the body stripped of all concept?  What is the body to awareness?  

Edited July 14, 2017 by Joseph Maynor

[5driedgrams]

On 7/7/2017 at 4:18 PM, Leo Gura said:

nonduality doesn't say you follow the body. Nonduality says, You do not exist! The body just walks around like a zombie on its own. The problem is, it thinks there's someone inside it. You are like a robot who's been programmed to believe it's a human. When you think, "But I'm a real human." << that's just a program running. That program has no one behind it. In the same way that when you look at your computer, you don't think of it as having a "soul" in there somewhere. It's just a bunch of mechanics.

 

This opened my eyes a bit. I'll have to keep this in mind.