Dissolution of Character

[DerFürst]

The concept that meditation on awareness dissolves attributes that contribute to the sense of self (otherwise referred to as the ego) is something I have become aware of through experience. The person I've always wanted to be, funny enough, is only something I can be when the concepts of "I" and "becoming" are dropped.

Continuing to meditate will answer all these questions by dissolving their meaning anyway, but for the sake of the mind's pondering, let's suppose there's a problem needing to be solved. How does one going about living life refrain from being the person experiencing it? In the absence of "me," what's left behind treats people with far more compassion and love than the self-destructive striver and doer "me" ever does. There is an idea floating around my head that says "mindfulness is cultivated through mindfulness meditation, and so the sense of awareness will be more prevalent in all aspects of life as the practice unfolds."

The question here is how can I continue to stay mindful without the "I" in every day life? People, the thoughts they make, the technology they use, and many aspects of their society make this a difficult task, as it sucks the mind straight into its trap. What must happen before mindfulness can continue into the story of everyday life? Stuffing it into a separate portion called "meditation time" seems counter intuitive.

[ButterflyWoman]

The person I've always wanted to be, funny enough, is only something I can be when the concepts of "I" and "becoming" are dropped.

Yeah, it's like that, isn't it?

How does one going about living life refrain from being the person experiencing it? In the absence of "me," what's left behind treats people with far more compassion and love than the self-destructive striver and doer "me" ever does. There is an idea floating around my head that says "mindfulness is cultivated through mindfulness meditation, and so the sense of awareness will be more prevalent in all aspects of life as the practice unfolds."

You know, I don't know how to answer this, because I haven't gotten to the place of balance yet. I'm there sometimes, but a lot of the time, the distraction of the I-me-mine and the material goings-on pull me right back into the character of "me". Well, it is possible to get into a sort of blissed out, non-present state, which is very nice, but then nothing gets done because I can see all too well that nothing NEEDS to be done, because it's all perfect the way it is. And it is, but... yes. It's a dilemma. How do you stay present enough to play the dream-life-game, yet detached enough to not be dragged back into it all the time? To be, as St Paul wrote, in the world, but not of the world?

I don't know. For the moment, I have to say I think it's just something that evolves, something that is acquired. I can't even say it's learned, because that implies something that I don't think is probably possible. Maybe bits are learned, but for the most part, I suspect it's a maturing process where you eventually find the middlle path (thank you, Buddha) and, by whatever means, stay there most of the time, and eventually, all of the time.

Note: This view is subject to change, as are all of my views. This is just my current observation.

[Sinera]

I actually DO feel like Paul, "in but not of" the world. Yet, I can't say I feel or am enlightened in any way.

[ButterflyWoman]

Yet, I can't say I feel or am enlightened in any way.

So what does that feel like, exactly? I've been waiting for some great feeling of enlightenment for a long time now, but all I really experience is a big shift in perspective. Is that it? How would I know if it was or it wasn't? *shrug* Such is the problem of the word and even the concept of "enlightenment". Whatever it is.

[I-stone]

I like it Dreamweaver.
I was very selfless (in the literal sense of the word), it felt wrong to say I. Mostly it was because I found such an amazing wealth of good things when attachments and opinions were removed. I liked that I could be anyone I wished at any time. Really in retrospect it is so different from ordinary living I cant even begin. What made me decide to change gears from a cosmic being who literally felt the confines of the the universe.. well for one, there is plenty of time for me to explore the cosmos later, and two, the knowledge of form is valuable knowledge. Form is just a tool. The only trap is when we become attached to things, then we are tied to it. The body and self is a tool for experience, and you are whatever you believe, or better, know you are. In deep meditation that is all that everything is composed of, knowing.

[DerFürst]

Words are incredibly tricky. Soon as you let one thought in, they multiply like rabbits.

Alright, let me see if I can get this back on track. Unlike what the thread title might have suggested, this is not about killing the ego, vilifying it, or praising the idea of selflessness. Those ideas are very tricky and can get people stuck. The "ego death" here does not refer to a "brutal and righteous revenge against something evil," but rather the gentle dissolution of the attachment to concepts. Thoughts arise instantaneously to fit the content of the moment, though the mind takes credit for creating them. Awareness, which is not of the mind, views this mind, though the mind believe that it is the source of this awareness. This is what I meant. The mental attachment to all the things which are viewed by awareness, not getting rid of the things themselves.

Rather, this thread is asking how to take mindfulness wherever, whether it somewhere noisy or quiet. The ego is absolutely necessary for this existence, and "killing it" would literally be suicide since it's a packaged deal with life. The idea here was how to take mindfulness outside of meditation and into the world, where the mind can become very easily distracted and drag mindfulness down with it. We've all experienced that zombie-like state where we believe we're only the mind, and as a result, become stuck in our egos. Once again, I'm not saying "ego bad, no self good." That's another trap. I'm simply referring to the letting of all these things be as they are, allowing them to flow without resistance, especially outside of the practice of meditation.

We can still have our concepts and play with them as we like, but I just don't want to get stuck in them all the time. I don't have much experience of being mindful outside of meditation, and I was asking how I could bring mindfulness other places as well.

[CFTraveler]

Me too. Lol.

[CFTraveler]

I guess I'm enlightened on how I really know I don't know anything......

[I-stone]

Most people can inhabit form easy with sex. Sex is too disruptive for me. But when I was in hawaii I began to apnea dive 'freedive'. It is the first thing in this world to really interest me. I think it may be the best way to practice mindfulness. It is the most intensely 'here, now' meditation I could imagine. The balance to it is sitting meditation observing yourself in outside perspective (progressively going to 2nd 3rd, 4th+ person observation).

On the other subject.. I bet you guys HAVE had 'choirs of singing angels to command'. My experiences are vast, I forget that fact all the time.

[DerFürst]

The disappointment you all seem to feel . I don't know about anyone else, but I've been so disappointed with life that living in non-appointment seems a better option, if better were ever a thing.

I cannot say that I was ever looking, striving, or hoping to go down this road. Rather, it seems like it's a process that intention aligns with to avoid extra hassle, and not something acted upon by volition. Waking up to realizing nothing... that seems like a great deal. You get to keep learning nothing forever, as you have been, but without the extra hassle of feeling like you need to.

But belief systems are temporary. Once they're used up, they seem to drop away like they were never there. I guess the only thing left for "me" to do is keep at it and not worry about all the details so much.