How long can the ego stay dead?

[CreamCat]

Can it stay dead for the rest of my life without an interruption?

[CreamCat]

So, the ego doesn't die although Leo said ego death is possible.

Is enlightenment then to free myself from self image?

[CreamCat]

@Joseph Maynor What is enlightenment to you?

By the way, if you meant an ego by a lens, my ego could die if a bullet penetrated my skull.

Edited January 12, 2019 by CreamCat

[Shadowraix]

13 minutes ago, CreamCat said:

@Joseph Maynor What is enlightenment to you?

By the way, if you meant an ego by a lens, my ego could die if a bullet penetrated my skull.

It is both simultaneously dead and alive. When considering nonlinear time.

[Shin]

Ego death is knowing you're not the character in the movie.

The character in the movie will exist as long as the movie is ongoing.

[ivankiss]

Nothing should die. Everything should be integrated and included.

Can't kill what's not there.

[Antonius]

Permanent ego death is unnecessary, nothing has to die for you to stop identifying with it.

[nightrider1435]

7 hours ago, CreamCat said:

Can it stay dead for the rest of my life without an interruption?

It's up to you whether or not you keep up with spiritual practices. You need your ego to live in this life so I'm not sure what you mean with this question. Your identity to the ego gets dropped, that's what will die.

[TheAvatarState]

@CreamCat think of ego death as losing attachment to your sense of self, and seeing it for what it is. Your ego still exists, but you have the ability to not be controlled by it. You still need the ego to survive, but your relationship with it is quite advanced and nuanced. I hope that helped!

[kev014]

@TheAvatarState I've had many deep realizations of not being my ego/realizing I'm just playing a character over the past 4 years and will reside in this state for a few weeks but then I inevitably fall back into daily life and get tricked back in to identification, I'm assuming this is part of the process as the ego will do everything it can to fight to survive. Is this par for the course? It seems over time as I move through these cycles and become re-identified that I gain a deeper understanding of what the ego is and how it operates.

[Shin]

4 minutes ago, TheAvatarState said:

@CreamCat think of ego death as losing attachment to your sense of self, and seeing it for what it is. Your ego still exists, but you have the ability to not be controlled by it. You still need the ego to survive, but your relationship with it is quite advanced and nuanced. I hope that helped!

No !!!

I MUST get rid of something that doesn't exist,

Like that I will stay stuck until I die !

This is my truth Leo, you don't my truth !!!

[TheAvatarState]

29 minutes ago, kev014 said:

Is this par for the course? It seems over time as I move through these cycles and become re-identified that I gain a deeper understanding of what the ego is and how it operates.

Precisely. There are many degrees and forms of the realization of ego death (almost synonymous with enlightenment). The ego death itself is an experience (like an enlightenment), but the actualization is the steady and difficult process of learning to live harmoniously with it. Do not shame your ego, for that is a part of you. You could not continue being YOU if you demolished your ego! You'd just dissolve into the universe as nondual consciousness, unable to function as a social creature. Of course what we're after is non-dual awakening, but you have to integrate that with reality. That is where the real growth happens. It is the paradox of staying on your toes, but never taking life so seriously, an idea so beautiful illustrated in The Alchemist by the parable of a man sightseeing while instructed to hold a spoonful of oil without spilling it. It's easy to see why this is such a difficult task for the ego. 

[nistake]

8 hours ago, ivankiss said:

Nothing should die. Everything should be integrated and included.

Can't kill what's not there.

Nice one

[SOUL]

Asking if the ego  can die or stay dead is like asking if a rock can die or stay dead.