Tom's Nature-up-close Photography and Mindfulness Blog

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One of the fundamental problems — which was observed even when one was rather young (in college days) — was that people who were trying to transcend beyond the self (in order to meditate or merge with the whole) were still clinging (in various ways) to the notion of a central “I” or central “ego.”   Innumerable people would each say things like: “This is my form of meditation which I practice daily.”  Or:  “I am observing my behavior throughout the entire day.”   Or:  “I watch thoughts as they take place and vanish from consciousness.”   

Separating the “I”, psychologically, from the rest of thought/thinking and maintaining that it has control is a waste of time and energy, and it contributes to friction and separation within (and “as”) the mind.  A dog perpetually trying to catch its own tail wastes energy (though in such a case it may at least be getting some needed exercise).  As was stated before (in previous posts)… one can function quite easily without the ego (which is, in itself, inherently false anyway).  Thoughts are tools used by organisms in order to achieve certain ends.  Maintaining that there is a central agency that is “separate from and controls these thoughts” may not be at all accurate.  (See my previous posts about the corpus callosum.)  Thoughts are conditioned responses; the manifestation of the “I” or “me” is another conditioned response, another thought or projected symbol.   Ego projections overly utilizing the “I” or the “me” are manifestations of brains that have some transformation or evolving to do.  The ego, being a falsity, tends to create an erroneous psychological radius and circumference around itself… (which tends to involve separation, learned space, and indifference).  Nullification of the “I” or the ego does not destroy boundless intelligence nor the eternity and timelessness of dynamic wisdom.

Though one can still use the term “I” in conversations with people, one may not — if one is fully aware — use it as a reference to a central point.  When not talking or communicating with others,  this movement — while thinking internally — often uses “we” instead of “I.”  Or one can use the term: “this movement” (instead of “I”).  Of course, the “I” can represent all of one’s thoughts; but one is actually far more than conditioned mental reactions… and far more than some temporary, biological mass.   This isn’t some kind of mental game.  If we were educated wrongly and cling to primitive falsities, we will remain in what is a circumscribed circumference that perpetuates limitation and disorder.

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Ant on Lichen. Photo by Thomas Peace c. 2015