Thoughts on Buddhism

[genkaus]

Like you said, ego is a CONCEPT of self. God is also a concept. Therefore the ego is not the source, it is a mental construct created through experience and social conditioning. The pure mind is conscious awareness that gets obstructed by egotistic "needs". Ego is not mind, only a troubling phantom of it. This is a difficult teaching of the dharma, yet very important.

Your ego is your mind. No mental construct is possible without the primary concept of ego. The pure consciousness - without ego - is nothing - no thoughts, feelings, judgments, emotions - nothing. What you ask here is that man should surrender himself - his ego, his mind, his everything - and become an automaton, simply capable of awareness and reaction - not thoughts or judgment.

[Adjusted Sanity]

Always liked Buddhism. A lot of good lessons and teachings. Buddha was a man worthy of respect.

[The Grand Nudger]

Buddha was a mythical peddler of platitudes. Worthy of respect? Yours perhaps, but not mine.

[Adjusted Sanity]

Buddha was a mythical peddler of platitudes. Worthy of respect? Yours perhaps, but not mine.

We disagree then. I can respect that. Changing a mind takes a lot of effort, and why should I for such a trite disagreement.

[Bgood]

Your ego is your mind. No mental construct is possible without the primary concept of ego. The pure consciousness - without ego - is nothing - no thoughts, feelings, judgments, emotions - nothing. What you ask here is that man should surrender himself - his ego, his mind, his everything - and become an automaton, simply capable of awareness and reaction - not thoughts or judgment.

You are somewhat correct but I think you misunderstand the purpose of letting go of ego, especially during meditation. It is in the gradual lessening of the ego that lessens anxieties, fears, possessiveness, etc. The over-reliance on ego generally causes alot of personal human suffering. Realistically ego will probably never fully disappear or be completely surrendered, but the effort to reduce it's dominance is vital according to most Eastern philosophies. Supposedly, the complete conquering of "ego-self" is the state of Nirvana. I can't really imagine what that is like all the time, but I think I have had brief experiences of something akin to it, usually by chance or circumstance.


I added definition because ego IS quite a "heady" term. I don't see it as meaning 'the mind; or the brain as you do though. It has no real physical basis as I see it. It is kind of abstract.

e·go 
noun, plural e·gos.

1. the “I” or self of any person; a person as thinking, feeling, and willing, and distinguishing itself from the selves of others and from objects of its thought.
2. Psychoanalysis . the part of the psychic apparatus that experiences and reacts to the outside world and thus mediates between the primitive drives of the id and the demands of the social and physical environment.
3. egotism; conceit; self-importance: Her ego becomes more unbearable each day.
4. self-esteem or self-image; feelings: Your criticism wounded his ego.
5. ( often initial capital letter ) Philosophy .
a. the enduring and conscious element that knows experience.
b. Scholasticism . the complete person comprising both body and soul.

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Buddha was a mythical peddler of platitudes. Worthy of respect? Yours perhaps, but not mine.

Mythical?
I seriously doubt that Siddhartha Gautama was purely mtyhical character, ALTHOUGH there definitely are legends attached to his lifetime. A good example would be like St. Francis of Asissi. (a real man, good saint, but some mythos surrounding him also)

Peddler of platitudes? When the most important practice he espoused was silent meditation? There is def more to him than commercial bytes.

Not Worthy of respect? Well, that's your opinion but if he isn't than I guess you would say the same for Lao Tzu, Gandhi and Dalai Lama. I actually find it hard to find men more worthy of respect. (esp in religion)

[Angrboda]

Your ego is your mind. No mental construct is possible without the primary concept of ego. The pure consciousness - without ego - is nothing - no thoughts, feelings, judgments, emotions - nothing. What you ask here is that man should surrender himself - his ego, his mind, his everything - and become an automaton, simply capable of awareness and reaction - not thoughts or judgment.

You are somewhat correct but I think you misunderstand the purpose of letting go of ego, especially during meditation. It is in the gradual lessening of the ego that lessens anxieties, fears, possessiveness, etc.

"You cannot attain it by thinking. You cannot grasp it by not-thinking."

[Bgood]

"You cannot attain it by thinking. You cannot grasp it by not-thinking."

But can you attain it by not-thinking? And grasp it by thinking?

[genkaus]

You are somewhat correct but I think you misunderstand the purpose of letting go of ego, especially during meditation. It is in the gradual lessening of the ego that lessens anxieties, fears, possessiveness, etc. The over-reliance on ego generally causes alot of personal human suffering. Realistically ego will probably never fully disappear or be completely surrendered, but the effort to reduce it's dominance is vital according to most Eastern philosophies. Supposedly, the complete conquering of "ego-self" is the state of Nirvana. I can't really imagine what that is like all the time, but I think I have had brief experiences of something akin to it, usually by chance or circumstance.


I added definition because ego IS quite a "heady" term. I don't see it as meaning 'the mind; or the brain as you do though. It has no real physical basis as I see it. It is kind of abstract.

e·go 
noun, plural e·gos.

1. the “I” or self of any person; a person as thinking, feeling, and willing, and distinguishing itself from the selves of others and from objects of its thought.
2. Psychoanalysis . the part of the psychic apparatus that experiences and reacts to the outside world and thus mediates between the primitive drives of the id and the demands of the social and physical environment.
3. egotism; conceit; self-importance: Her ego becomes more unbearable each day.
4. self-esteem or self-image; feelings: Your criticism wounded his ego.
5. ( often initial capital letter ) Philosophy .
a. the enduring and conscious element that knows experience.
b. Scholasticism . the complete person comprising both body and soul.

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Presenting definition does not tell me which one you are using. While referring to ego, I use the first one.

According to that, reliance on ego is reliance on yourself - which according to you is the cause of suffering. So, what should we rely on reduce it? I know that eastern philosophies advocate its surrender, or atleast reduction in its dominance, to reduce suffering and that is exactly what I consider corrupt. I consider that practice to be akin to taking drugs to deal with your problems - that if you can convince yourself for the moment that your problems do not exist, then they'd cease to exist.

[Bgood]

The problem ego imposes is that it separates us from others. Ego still serves a functional purpose for the brain. Ego is like an application of evolution that enabled us to become the society that we are today, but it has now become cumbersome and outdated due to further progress. The ego is self serving and inherently fearful. With meditation, cognitive awareness and holistic responsibility, we TRANSCEND the mundane ego and realize connection with the All, the universe,or nothing, or whatever you want to call it but a fucking Christian God.

You come off as nihilistic when you say that without ego, there is no mind. There is more to life than your own petty thoughts of it. You are right in saying there is nothing, but that is a necessary aspect of something.

[genkaus]

The problem ego imposes is that it separates us from others. Ego still serves a functional purpose for the brain. Ego is like an application of evolution that enabled us to become the society that we are today, but it has now become cumbersome and outdated due to further progress. The ego is self serving and inherently fearful. With meditation, cognitive awareness and holistic responsibility, we TRANSCEND the mundane ego and realize connection with the All, the universe,or nothing, or whatever you want to call it but a fucking Christian God.

You come off as nihilistic when you say that without ego, there is no mind. There is more to life than your own petty thoughts of it. You are right in saying there is nothing, but that is a necessary aspect of something.

You come off as delusional if you think you can retain your mind after letting go of your ego. It is your ego that gives rise to your cognitive abilities. It is ego that has been the cornerstone of every progress made. Your philosophy is self-defeating. You advocate destruction of ego by merging its identity with something else and call it transcendence. True transcendence for an egotistical entity would mean going beyond what its ego currently is - encompassing more, not less. You cannot make the ego greater by cutting it down and merging it with nothing.

Tell me, since ego is what brought us where we are and surrendering it has never been shown to work, why would we do so? On your assertions?