Some believe in a Self, an ultimate, eternal, infinite Self. It's like an ocean.
They believe their self, their ego, interferes with their awareness of Self. They desire to transcend their ego and, like a drop of water, be absorbed into the boundless oceanic Self. Then they will be without limits. Nirvana.
Let's be clear. They're not talking about something they know. They're talking about something they believe, a matter of faith. They are certainly free to believe what they believe.
They might have had what I call an ecstatic unitive experience. They might have experienced being absorb into the ocean. It's an experience based on what they believe. As we believe so we experience.
I do not share their faith. I do not believe in an ultimate, eternal, infinite, oceanic Self. What I see and experience are drops, egos, individual selves: your self, my self, and all other selves. "Drops" is not the best metaphor. "Stories" is better.
For the time of my life, until I die, I am a story, forever changing, always in the process of becoming. My story is an adventure. I make it up as I go, one action at a time.
As the main character of my story, I do not seek to vanish like a drop in a boundless ocean. Like an acorn lives to become an oak tree, I live to become me. I am always becoming me. "Me" is an ongoing creative process of development. "Me" is a narrative of revelation in a network of other narratives of revelations.
We all play roles in each other's stories. Our lives are interwoven networks of spirited
narratives. We are living threads in a potentially eternal weave.
"Me" is always new. So are you. There is always more of us to become.
Why would anyone want to extinguish their self? Extinguishment. That's what nirvana is. It's the opposite of being truly alive and becoming who we are meant to become. Turning inward to seek nirvana is another way of avoiding and denying our life. It's another form of self-medication.
I prefer opening my eyes, engaging in life, and living it fully.
What a refreshing perspective you present here! Like you, I don't see myself as a creation of some one, divine mind--a source from whence I come and to which I will one day return. You take this notion and stand it on it's head.
ReplyDeleteIn particular, these lines resonate: "We all play roles in each other's stories. Our lives are interwoven networks of spirited narratives. We are living threads in a potentially eternal weave." This tells me that our interconnectedness comes not from without, but from within ourselves, as we forge these links to one another. In this version of the story, what has come to be called the "ego", the "self", is not something to be subjugated. Instead it is something to be celebrated and grown over a lifetime.
It is so much healthier to see myself as both the weaver and the woven of that grand tapestry of the universe.
Thanks for reading and commenting, Sara.
ReplyDeleteIMO, the current fad about becoming egoless, transcending ego, not indentifying with ego, etc is another form of self-loathing rather than self-loving. Only those who loathe themselves want to become selfless, transcend themselves, and dissipate like a drop in a boundless ocean.
I'm all about living a fully engaged life and becoming who we are meant to be. I'm all about rising to face life's challenges rather than avoid and escape from them.