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.
