Comment below:
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Peter Sutphen
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote
>
> Ego arises out of identification. Consciousness
> identifies with the body and the mind to create a
> sense of individuality. When this identification is no
> longer occuring there is no "ownership" of anything.
> There is no "my" body or "your" body. This distinction
> in ignorance comes about because of the experience of
> the ego. This does not mean that there is no sensory
> distinction in enlightenment. Of course the sensory
> distinction is there (people in UC don't walk into
> walls!). But there is no longer "mine" and "yours".
> That is a distinction of ego. The ego, per its nature,
> includes and excludes.
> >
The above statement is an interpretation of a certain state of
conciousness ie one in which the expereince of a personal self(aka
ego) is absent.A # of things need to be said.One is,at birth,the human
brain is not producing the expereince of a ego or personal self.
As the development of the mind-body occurs a sense of personal self or
ego develops.This happens because in the biopsychosocial evolution of
the human organism the function/stucture of ego is an essential aspect
of how individual humans grow/learn and adapt to their
enviorment.Without a functioning ego an individuals development would
be severely impaired.After more or less devloping an intergrated and
successfully functioning mind-body-personality the ego function/
structure becomes less essential to the continued functioning of the
mind body.Actually what is more acurate to say is that the expereince
of ego becomes unncessary.The functions of the ego such as decision
making,expressing preferences etc continue and should they become
impaired for what ever reason that would create significant life
problems.This is what occurs in dementia.Enlightenment(the advaita
version)is really about the capacity of the brain to dispense with the
experience of a personal self s.t thing that happens every night while
we sleep.This cessation of the experience of personal self can give
rise to a radically altered sense of being in the world.However, imo
there is no reason to believe that this change is anything more than a
change in brain function.This change does not(necessarily) in any
significant way change how the person acts or have any impact on the
world.IOW while this change may have a profound effect on the
individual it is in many ways not that big a deal.Contrast this view
of enlightment with Gurjieff who saw enlightenment more in terms of
the capcity to have intentions that are succesfully brought to
fruition ie an enlightened being is someone whose individuality has
achieved a high degree of intergration and awareness.In the latter
individual there is a strong connection between intention/will/doing
and being.A good example of this type of individual is the charater
played by Anthony Hopkins in the movie the"Edge". It seems that in
looking at TMO that there is distinct lack of people like this(and I
would include MMY in this category).Kevin
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