Consiousness

The term "ego" seems to have lodged in the general public's imagination for common usage. Its acceptance seems to be a given. I think this is because it serves a useful, linguistic purpose. Whether or not it actually exists is another matter entirely. Does everyone that accepts the existence of the ego also accept Freud's other members of his tripartite - namely the super-ego and the id? Do they accept his model of the psyche?

s.
 
IMO, "mind" has many layers and we largely operate on the most superficial of them.
Freud had some interesting ideas but I think the cocaine addled his reason.
 
The atomic-size soul enters into and prevades the extremties of the bodily vessel, and thus animates it.

the Presence of Spirit-soul's Consciousness is what operates the machine of the Body with is constructed of Eight aggregate material elements:

Aka, Subtile-Body:
1 False-Ego (ahankara) - self-identification as per ones bodily birth.
2 Intelligence (buddi) - ability to descriminate
3 Mind (manas) - ability to desire and repulse.

Aka, gross-Body:
4 ether
5 air
6 fire
7 water
8 earth


Note that the sequence from 1 to 8 is subtile to gross.

This data is from the Bhagavad-Gita.

All creatures great and small are comprised in the same way.

The Soul-entity transmigrates from bodily species to species as per ones acculturation and ones accumulated summary of actions (aka, cycle of samsara).

This scenario is repeated since time immemorial so as to allow the Soul-entity to seek something known by the technical nomenclature as, The Supreme personality of Godhead ---with the goal of seeking out the [return to/re-uniting with] the Supreme personality of Godhead ---the only refuge from repeated births and deaths (samsara) is a state of nirvana.

BTW, along with the above 8 aggregate material elements there is also a few other things that paint the entire picture:

Add to the 8 aggregate elements:
TIME,
SPACE,
Atma.

Note: Now with all the above items add into the mix ---Karma is churned into effect.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
God known by the technical nomenclature as, The Supreme personality of Godhead, is eternal and far removed and thus outside the influence of time and manifest matter & energy ---yet God's Personage is the reservior of Personal Qualities & Opulences and thus the mercy of Freedom to choose our independent course in life and death repeatedly until we seek Him out "without mis-givings".

God' eternal abode is Sat (absolute) + Chitta (conscious) + ananda (blissfull).

When a soul in samsara since time immemorial in the material world returns to Godhead in His eternal abode ---the time spent "in seperation" since the soul left God's Association, was as long as the blink of the eye ---time spent away from eternity adds up to just a passin moment.

When a fallen angle returns to heaven, the time spent in seperation becomes the illusion of manifest time ---in contra-distinction to un-manifest eternal absolute presence of God's Entourage all of which is predicated upon God's Personage as the real currency of interpersonal affairs.
 
My understanding is that ego in Buddhism refers to our fundamental ignorance about the nature of things, including and perhaps espeically about our "self". The path is cutting through that ignorance. And the result is the absence of that ignorance. It's not about removing your personality or becoming like a rock or a vegetable at all. In fact, if you spend any time with Buddhist masters, you'll find that they are very alive and full of personality.
 
Zenda,

If you take the average person and strip away his or her personality, yes you will end up with a vergetable. But that is not what Buddhism is talking about. Buddhism is saying that there is a level of consciousness that is higher than the human level of consciousness. Once we achieve this higher level of consciousness, we will no longer need our personalities, and we will discard them, just like a child who discards his or her training wheels after learning how to ride a bicycle.
 
Nick the Pilot said:
Zenda,

If you take the average person and strip away his or her personality, yes you will end up with a vergetable. But that is not what Buddhism is talking about. Buddhism is saying that there is a level of consciousness that is higher than the human level of consciousness. Once we achieve this higher level of consciousness, we will no longer need our personalities, and we will discard them, just like a child who discards his or her training wheels after learning how to ride a bicycle.
Click to expand...

Hi Nick. Are you saying that Buddhism is about discarding our current level of consciousness for a higher one? Or that we get rid of our personalities? I would have to disagree if that is what you're saying because then instead of grasping and pulling things toward ourselves, we would be rejecting things, which is yet another form of grasping... At least, in my understanding, which of course could be wrong...
 
"Are you saying that Buddhism is about discarding our current level of consciousness for a higher one?"

--> Yes.

"Or that we get rid of our personalities?"

--> We will get rid of our personalities when we discard them for a higher type of consciousness.

"...we would be rejecting things, which is yet another form of grasping..."

--> I see it as more of a letting go than a grasping towards.
 
Nick the Pilot said:
"Are you saying that Buddhism is about discarding our current level of consciousness for a higher one?"

--> Yes.

"Or that we get rid of our personalities?"

--> We will get rid of our personalities when we discard them for a higher type of consciousness.

"...we would be rejecting things, which is yet another form of grasping..."

--> I see it as more of a letting go than a grasping towards.
Click to expand...

Hi again. Thanks for the clarification! :)
 
Nick the Pilot said:
If you take the average person and strip away his or her personality, yes you will end up with a vergetable. But that is not what Buddhism is talking about. Buddhism is saying that there is a level of consciousness that is higher than the human level of consciousness. Once we achieve this higher level of consciousness, we will no longer need our personalities, and we will discard them, just like a child who discards his or her training wheels after learning how to ride a bicycle.
Click to expand...

Shouldn’t we say that rather than “discarding” our personalities we learn to experience them in all their paradoxical reality, transparent to Reality, if you like, but still there because the absolute/nirvana is finally interdependent with the relative/samsara? Didn't Nagarjuna say there is not one iota of difference between them?

But everyone knows the Zen saying: at first mountains were mountains, etc., then mountains were no longer mountains; finally mountains were again mountains. We don’t want to leave the impression that the goal is level two, where the particular drops away in the interest of something “higher” when that higher cannot exist without the particular.

The goal is nowhere else but here. Look! (You missed it.)

Vimalakirti
 
Vimalakirti said:
Shouldn’t we say that rather than “discarding” our personalities we learn to experience them in all their paradoxical reality, transparent to Reality, if you like, but still there because the absolute/nirvana is finally interdependent with the relative/samsara? Didn't Nagarjuna say there is not one iota of difference between them?

But everyone knows the Zen saying: at first mountains were mountains, etc., then mountains were no longer mountains; finally mountains were again mountains. We don’t want to leave the impression that the goal is level two, where the particular drops away in the interest of something “higher” when that higher cannot exist without the particular.

The goal is nowhere else but here. Look! (You missed it.)

Vimalakirti
Click to expand...

well said Vim :)

s.
 
Amergin said:
I plead guilty to not understanding most of this post. The words are exotic. I do not criticise what I do not understand. I will follow the thread without further posting.

Amergin
Click to expand...

Thank you and please do. Thanks to everyone for their responses.

I had an Experience that relates to my original post. My room mate called it an "ecstatic experience".

I started laughing when I began to understand maya. He said I was laughing at my ego and I did a little bit. I did this for at least a half hour straight.

That night I got so many Revelations like how we can know nothing and we will die and all my "gods" were not real(they all died on the cross that night).

I stopped caring and laughed a lot for the next three days. I was happy and didn't care but for the basic bodily needs like masterbation and food. Ok masterbation is not a need, but after so long of being a disciple of Samael Aun Weor it was a nice relief.

Now I know that ego is like hair or grass-it needs to be trimmed but not gone. To kill the ego is just as real as physical death with no after-life.
 
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