You are throwing too many thoughts out at once.

I'll respond to the bolded since it applies to my previous post better.

Most people would say their patterns and habits are them as well as the millions of random thoughts running through their head. But that is exactly what the link you posted is trying to say is not you. That's all the bullchit your friends/family/media has ingrained in you. People don't just wake up one day in their early 20s and go ... "Man... I'm a fuk up. I hate me". No... their upbringing is more to blame for that than anything. The real "you" for those people, is that voice that spurred the thought to begin with. It is a semblance of clarity seeping through trying to bring order to chaos. That chaos is represented by pain, anger, regret, sorrow, hate, rage. Those negative emotions are trying to say that the thought, "I'm a fuk up" (their perceived self) is NOT congruent with the truth.

This is why i referenced children multiple times. There is a point in time where no of that BS existed and that was when you were a child. I believe this why the Bible states:

"Jesus called a little child to stand among them. 3Truly I tell you, He said, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."

This is a little off topic but there is a lot of evidence that Jesus studied Buddhism. I tend to think in the verse above that "kingdom of heaven" is actually means enlightenment.


Going to the gym.

Actually the bold was me trying to see if you understand what you're talking about. But you keep dodging any real question from anyone and more often then not choosing to belittle.

...but yet we are the close minded idiots ... yup ... sure

All thoughts from your brain are you. Nobody else in the world has the same dna, same neural connections, habits, experiences, interpretation of habits, interpetation of experiences, etc.

ANY thought or experience came solely from your individualistic - "i"- brain

I know you don't want to believe it, but you are the idiot here.

I'm sure those monks have a more fulfilling existence than some 40 something year old mailman nobody who lives on a bodybuilding forum collecting virtual reputation points when he's not slaving away at his soulless job 40 hours a week.

I would give him that 1 piece of food, reaping the positive karma from it in my next life cycle.

At the end of the day both of us would be dead in 2 weeks with a difference of a day or so so...pointless fighting over it.Because you reference society as the society where EGO triumphs. If you look at the Matrix for example, the society you speak of is the made up one.

At the end of the day enlightment is basically being happy with nothing. Because you realise everything you do have is false anyway. Cars, houses, money...all false.

I realised all this but I choose to live in the ego world, the moment I accepted that money is fake the pressure decayed to have a lot of it.

Sure you need enough to survive and enjoy life but it taught me that there is no point in hoarding money. For example a friend of mine plays the lottery and he skips any days where the prize is less than 25 million because he says it's "not enough" I can't see what you can do with 50 mill that you can't do with 100mill. Yet there are people out there with NW of 1bill and still isn't enough. That is pure EGO right there.

Thats another argument ive seen against buddhism

Children in school acquiescing on normal functions and experiences out of fear of being "re-born" poor in the caste system

Also, id bet the ACTUAL scenario of last piece of food would play out much differently than the idealistic one

Were you not the one that posted the link about making choices before being consciously aware? Aside from that ... you can't prove scientifically or philosophically that your thoughts are indeed your own. What is thought? What makes you... you? Are you aware? If they knew the answers to that concretely, they wouldn't be running tests to understand consciousness.

But you're straying away from your statement about eastern philosophy and "me" vs. "true me". Millions of random thoughts don't encompass you and who you are. Do you really believe thinking negative thoughts makes you that negative thought? Does thinking that you're a bird make you a bird? Have you ever spent hours trying to figure out a problem and then right before you're about to fall asleep or in another moment of complete relaxation the answer just pops out of nowhere?

They've done studies on professional athletes that show clarity of mind produces better results and different brain waves in the middle of swinging a bat, throwing a ball, putting, etc. than someone who's in their head with a million random thoughts over thinking the action. You're saying that in both instances they are the same "I". I'm saying in one instance there is a better "I"... and that's the "I" the eastern philosophers are talking about. Present in the moment ... clarity of mind, not spiritually crippled by being rooted in the past or future.

One of the best explanations for this stuff that i've seen is the book this video is based on...

Let me try and explain the Buddhist concept of "non attachment" and not being addicted to things.

Firstly, its legit. When your attached or addicted to something and you dont get it, it creates suffering. So does that mean dont desire anything, no, heres my twist.

Dont be attached/addicted to outcomes. Have preferences instead. For example. I prefer that the stocks my cousins recommends me are profitable, however im not attached to the result. If it happens great, but if it doesnt, then its fine, I dont suffer, I gave it a try and it didnt work. When you have preferences you get the pleasure of the outcome coming to pass, but if it doesnt it doesnt effect you because it was only a preference. I prefer to pick up that hot chick, but if she doesnt like/want me, im not addicted/attached to the result. I move on unaffected.

Forget the whole monk think, thats the equivalent of becoming a priest. Its for 0.1% of the population.
Addressing bolded points.

Sounds like you had a bad trip on weed and it messed your mind up pretty bad. My condolences. Why is it that you dont blame the weed? Weed effects everyone differently. Back in the days when we would smoke, we gave a bong to a friend who had never used and he got psychosis from one bong and ended up in the psych ward and on meds. Dude ended up turning into a barrel. You know theres something like +300,000 ER visits due to marijuana in the US alone? Anyhow, good to see you came to your senses and your brain rebalanced.

Second. I have heard that when you become Very spiritual you almost become like a child again. Not an infant, but a child. An infant has no real idea about anything thats going on. A child does. To become like an infant is not spirit, its mental illness. Now think of children. Arnt they the sweetest ? No ****. But they can do no harm, etc etc. Its a beautiful thing. Everyone loves children, well not everyone.

Third. Not knowing what a lawn mower is? Dude that has Nothing to do with ego death. I suggest you stay right away from cannabis or any kind of psychedelic. To be completely honest with you, it sound to me like you had some temporary psychosis.
You have a point, however, since when has ego meant identity?

Ego is an inflated sense of self importance. For example you walk into the Gym thinking your better than everyone there because you rolled up in a BMW.
This is a perfect example of what ego is. Thinking your better than another person in every way possible when you have no idea who he is.

I dont think there is no such thing as a superior person. Only God can judge that when we take our last breath. Everyone is born with different gifts, levels of attractiveness, life situation, upbringing, circumstances and conditions. How can you compare two people?This ^^

Thats just psychology. We hate people who think they are better than us.You can still be the best athlete, the best doctor, whats ego got to do with it?

I think you need to make a descriptive post on your definition of ego. Refer back to above poster.

Dude I think you should keep your mouth shut about "*******s" since "Proudmanlet crew". How does his dick taste? Nah just kidding broVery strong point. Your not your thoughts.

Essential viewing. At least watch from 15 seconds to 3:40

How can "you" be your body when it changes. A fat chick can lose weight, a skinny kid can gain muscle. The body will age. Its impermanent.

5 star thread!

Not because its great. Not because there is great discussion, and not because there are great posts in this thread, but because its the most thought provoking thread iv ever come across.

Last night I awoke at 4am and for about 30-40 minutes, I coulnt sleep. I started thinking "who the **** am I?". Thinking, im going to go on the misc and just be honest and say "im confused", I have no idea whats going on. So I thought **** this, go back to sleep and when you get up write a journal addressing "who am I?" "what is the "self"?, what is the "I"?

I got writing.

3 things. 1, who am I socially? 2, who am I emotionally, 3, other personality traits. From there I done a google search "how to get to know your personality" and I came across a site calledwww.16personalities.com

Heres my conclusion (at this point).

Your not your body as Krazy says. On that note krazy, you must be one of the most judgement kunts! out there. Judging people on their body and appearance rather than the inner qualities that make up a man. Why is it that fat, ugly people can be confident and have high self esteem? I can think of one guy in particular I use to work with. This guy was not spew ugly, but he was verging on ugly (68%) and had **** all of a body. Fat. Yet this guy had a confidence and self esteem above 95% of the population. He was a supervisor and you should see him with hot women.OMFG!The only thing this guy had going for him was a particularly strong voice and decent height. Thats it. Moving on.

I understand the spiritual concept but in a western world I really dont know how well that works. You need an identity to survive, otherwise, who are you, your nothing, you have no value in relation to anybody else.

So who the **** are you?

Your personality, your inner qualities.

Ego is personality.

Having done the personality test on 16 personalities I found that I am humble, ie "having or showing a modest or low estimate of one's importance." My guess is that some people have a natural high sense of importance for some reason, who knows why.

Anyway, if you wanna know who you are, go do the test atwww.16personalities.com, its actually pretty accurate. You will get a full on personality profile at the end of it. Excellent. Im definitely considering the premium profile. Having done the personality test I know myself better and like myself more.

Personally I believe personality can be changed

Who you are (identity) comes down to two things

1) The person your not willing to change, and

2) The person you can not change even if you tried

Outside of that, its not who you are but "where your at". You can grow and evolve. You can go from insecure to confident. Shy to more outgoing. Even introverted to more extroverted. Its up to you but it will take work. If you dont work on it then thats just "you".

I started to re-read the book handbook to higher consciousness since I remember it changed my life years ago and gave me power. Now, im ditching it. Id rather develop my mind, personality and Status. I think I might read the 49 laws of power. I'll take up spirituality in a few years when iv fully developed my personality and status. Right now my focus is self esteem, confidence and status. **** thinking your nothing.