There is no such thing as me?

[mkirkpatrick]

Nice to hear from you Michael, but why do I always get the difficult ones?
Why can't I do transference? Or anxiety too would be a breeze. Even certainty would be a piece of cake.

But identity structures? The subject (me) object (not me) and the connecting "relationship"?

With Descartes' departure the subject tends to include the object. Here is Heidegger's favorite example: the hammer. This object may look like a coke bottle to the "Gods are crazy" crowd. The true meaning of hammer is in up and down, lower arm attached, focused in the brain, the nail, the wall and everything participating in the exercise. This is the "identity" that makes sense. There is no "me" and a piece of wood stuck through a hole in an iron wedge making as much sense. "I" am scattered among the gestalt of the "world" - permitting a generalization.

Good to hear from you again Jim,Where have you gone?

regards michael

[mkirkpatrick]

We only exist as "individuals" for as long as our egos manage to maintain this charade,the
reason why many individuals resist things like meditation and self-examination techniques
is because they instinctively feel that if they were to venture into these practises they would loose themselves?

tbc




regards michael.

[mkirkpatrick]

What does it all mean?I have a name,is it real? I say that I am me,is that real? None of it is real,I am in effect no-thing at all,however I am within that which IS,and that gives "me" a temporal home in order to find out that I am already home and knew it not!


regards michael.

[jim barlow]

To this (and similar) question I have found a satisfactory answer. However the style of thinking had to be upgraded somewhat. Here's the attempt:
first consider NOTHING. Now we know that nothing is not exactly nothing. Let's say it is some kind of womb but for you and me it is still NO THING and from ITS viewpoint (if any) the ME does not exist.
Then there is ME which seems a cornerstone of the experience of something.
The two should be viewed as complemetary to arrive at the yes-and-no answer.
It might be interesting to explore the story of the excluded middle or the argument expecting yes or no and its practicality in tribal decision making and in the scholastic attacks on the mind.

[mkirkpatrick]

To this (and similar) question I have found a satisfactory answer. However the style of thinking had to be upgraded somewhat. Here's the attempt:
first consider NOTHING. Now we know that nothing is not exactly nothing. Let's say it is some kind of womb but for you and me it is still NO THING and from ITS viewpoint (if any) the ME does not exist.
Then there is ME which seems a cornerstone of the experience of something.
The two should be viewed as complemetary to arrive at the yes-and-no answer.
It might be interesting to explore the story of the excluded middle or the argument expecting yes or no and its practicality in tribal decision making and in the scholastic attacks on the mind.

Many thanks jim for your thoughtful post here,I guess jim by the time we really realize this truth we will be long past caring who we really are! We will just be Being!

regards michael.

[austintorn@aol.com]

Hello nobodies.

[mkirkpatrick]

The ego knows me very well and does its very best to keep me in the dark about who and what is me?It will try every trick in the book (and some not even in the book) to distract me from any internal inquiry about what I am,the reason it does this of course is because it is afraid that too much inner questioning and contemplating will eventually lead to its demise.

regards michael.

[mkirkpatrick]

Confusion arises out of having to many choices,try ordering a cup of coffee from a coffee shop! You are at once presented with about 40 different ways of having coffee,which do you choose? And ever been to a Chinese resturant where the menu runs into about 200 different choices! I have spent ages trying to decide what to eat,In Turkey some small resturants have about 4 different things,Lamb,beef,chicken,or Vegtable,very east to choose.

The ego creates many choices as well,this is designed to deflect any serious inquiry within,the ego wants me to keep thinking about many things this way its position is secure.
It will promise me peace of mind in the future,when all else is done,it will not tell me that the future cannot exist and that it is forever now.I well remember when I decided to take up meditation how my mind would come up with all manner of sometimes very trivial distractions,all designed to keep me away from looking within and finally discovering that me does not really exist in absolute reality,it only exists within this relative field of expression.

regards michael.

[austintorn@aol.com]

Trying to be so great as to be of some special creation is an ego trick. Suggest humility instead of ascribing some divine greatness to a self.

[mkirkpatrick]

Trying to be so great as to be of some special creation is an ego trick. Suggest humility instead of ascribing some divine greatness to a self.

Thank you austin for your insightful post,Humilty is indeed what is needed in all our lives,I once asked an old sage what he thought humilty meant,"he said,teachabilty",to have an honest appraisal of oneself,in other word to see yourself as you truly are warts and all. I need to remain teachable,and find that meditation creates a balance where this is made possible.

regards michael.