Can We Ever Be Selfless?

[Anton Rogachevski]

The biggest ego trip is to think you are somehow seperate from ego.
Do you realise that you are the ego?
When you talk about your ego doing something you didn't want to, you are multiplying it! Now there's a "good" you, standing aside from a "bad" you, pretending it's seperate, and so justifying it's selfishness by blame. When the truth is that you are both and neither at the same time.

Because we are hopelessly selfish. No matter how much we might pretend that we are not, that attempt will be another ego trip. It's power is beyond our imagination.

The easiest way is to admit right away: "I'm selfish, I only care about myself."

So now that we are honest with ourselves, it's time to start asking who is the self we are selfish about? What is a self? Am I a self? And one day we will find out, that our real self was actually the whole thing.

[AstralProjection]

6 hours ago, Anton Rogachevski said:

The biggest ego trip is to think you are somehow seperate from ego.
Do you realise that you are the ego?
When you talk about your ego doing something you didn't want to, you are multiplying it! Now there's a "good" you, standing aside from a "bad" you, pretending it's seperate, and so justifying it's selfishness by blame. When the truth is that you are both and neither at the same time.

Because we are hopelessly selfish. No matter how much we might pretend that we are not, that attempt will be another ego trip. It's power is beyond our imagination.

The easiest way is to admit right away: "I'm selfish, I only care about myself."

So now that we are honest with ourselves, it's time to start asking who is the self we are selfish about? What is a self? Am I a self? And one day we will find out, that our real self was actually the whole thing.

I was digging what you where saying until you said "The easiest way is to admit right away: "I'm selfish, I only care about myself."" Almost everyone has positive qualities about them. If your friend needed to barrow 2 dollars today would you loan him the money if you had some. Of course you would, unless you have a mental disorder. But most people have very positive qualities about them too. Even in extreme cases by admitting this you are subconsciously programming yourself to be selfish and so it becomes a self fulfilling prophesy. You got to think positive much more than you do negative otherwise you run into all kinds of problems. I use to think very negatively, but I changed my mind through trial and error.  

On the other side of the coin I see what you mean about these people that say crap like "I am light. I am pure consciousnesses" In this case it's best to not say untrue things but it's also good to use this as a mirror reflection of what we would like to be like. Like a model of what we would like to be. It's one thing for a kid to say I want to be like Micheal Jordan. And it's a completely different thing to say I am Micheal Jordan. Then again you don't want to say too much to yourself "I want to be like Micheal Jordan (or whatever role model)" otherwise you are creating a "want" instead of a "have." So it's a fine balance that isn't easy. Moderation is key though I think.

At the end of the day yes I am selfish but I am also generous. I do many generous things, so I focus on the positive. I don't deny that I am selfish because I know on a certain level I am. But it doesn't help for me to say I am selfish all the time. I'll put it to you like this. If I am truly selfish and it's a real problem then I'll leave it up to a psychedelic to show me that if it's truly a problem because psychedelics have a way of showing you things you need to work on.  

[Gopackgo]

I think the point is that you become aware of all the subtle way that you manipulate reality to suit you. You aren't only your ego. Your ego and superego are a stacks of beliefs that form the self via identification. Everything filters through ego and is assigned meaning based on preheld beliefs. It is the middleman between you and reality. Ego forms as a mechanism to mediate between primal drives (id), and societal/moral constraints. Therefore it cannot be all of you. Further, The goal isn't to destroy ego, but rather to relegate it to it's proper place. You are right in one thing though, everyone definitely must move through a selfish stage, otherwise they have no frame of reference to evolve from. This is primarily accomplished in re-framing and accepting. It is definitely possible to take a step back and start seeing how it functions, and to transcend it. If you don't believe that, look up ego defense mechanisms and apply it to your life. That's what really made it crystal clear to me.

But yea, we can't only be our ego, because ego exists as a bargainer between other forces. It literally exists to twist reality to satisfy them, and therefore an ego bound existence can only result in illusion. Saying that we are only ego ignores the subconscious and precociousness. Subconscious processes dwarf conscious ego processes by about 100,000 times in terms of data processing. Meditation and mindfulness push back the line between conscious and unconscious processes, resulting in unity. This makes sense because superego is also precociousness, and any mediator will tell you that one of the first transitions is to question beliefs that you identify with. It's like you have to push through the border lands of precociousness before moving to subconscious (except that the subconscious has the power to push whatever it wants into you conscious mind at any time.)

I know the idea of id, ego, and superego is an oversimplification, but it is a useful model to understand the compromise in the mind. I understand what you are saying I think, but also I think pinpointing sections in your awareness which aren't egoic is vital to recognizing that we have allowed ego a disproportionate share of awareness. 

Edited March 16, 2017 by Gopackgo

[Anton Rogachevski]

@AstralProjection  Thanks for your reply : )

The ego has ways to make it seem like you are generous, when in fact you secretly serve your self agenda.

In the money loaning situation it's a classic power law (48 laws of power by R.Green) , to show generosity. It makes you seem benevolent in the eyes of others.

[Anton Rogachevski]

@Gopackgo Thanks for a detailed reply : )

My theory is that while we operate in an unenlightened state we are helpless against ego delusion. We might theorize about it, but we can't really see the depth of it until a breakthrough. Even then, until you reach a constant awakened state you might be "under influence".

[Gopackgo]

Direct experience is definitely the only way. Triggering direct experience is a result of observing the mind and insatiable learning. Im reading Siddartha right now, and it gives me goosebumps to see how universal and timeless that awakening is. If you have experienced it, and you read the book, it is like looking into your own insights.

But yea, I have definitely had some moments pondering about the self and realizing, holy shit, the ponderer is the self. The "I" who ponders the illusion is illusion itself. It's like I am moving through different levels of observer in my awareness. Its trippy and awesome.

[Anton Rogachevski]

@Gopackgo Yeah. It's multiplying abilities are beyond imagination. The fact that it now projects 7 billion different entities, who you believe are absolutely separate shows the magnificence of the show.