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“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” – Viktor Frankl
Is there even a self at all? True, or otherwise?
What would constitute a ‘self?’
Does the fact that there are thoughts being thought and memories being remembered prove that there is a ‘self?’
Does the fact that there appears to be both Life and “something” that seems to be experiencing it and analyzing it, automatically confirm there must be a ‘self?’ A ‘separate someone?’
“There is no entity by name self or mind. Because of the emergence of thoughts we surmise something from which they start. That we term self or mind . When we probe to see what it is, there is nothing there.” - Ramana Maharshi
Like Brahman, ‘pure awareness,’ Being and Supreme Consciousness - “true self” is one of those terms that has been bandied about more and more with the advent of increased interest in ‘spirituality’ and ‘enlightenment’ in recent centuries. Conceptual labels to try to identify the unidentifiable and locate the non-locatable. So many modern-day ‘sages’ and ‘gurus’ promise that only if you find and dwell in your “true self,” will “you” attain a life of permanent peace and joy.
But what if there is no such thing as a ‘self?’
What if, as Ramana says, there is only a conglomeration of thoughts, that appear to add up to something called ‘self?’
What if, as Sri Nisargadatta says, the universe is only pure function, but no functioner?
Or Buddha reminding, “Thinking, there are only thoughts, no ‘thinker?’
What if, as J. Krishnamurti said, “Observer is the observed?”
What if there is absolutely no separation between phenomena and that which appears to experience or observe them (quantum physics,)
What if this is a dream, Nothing appearing as Everything, and, just as in our night dreams, there are insubstantial ‘people’ walking around, who seem remarkably real, yet are absolutely devoid of a ‘self’ within them - as proven by their instant evaporation upon arising?
Your “true self” does not exist.
Only phenomena, rising and falling from Nothing, for no ‘reason’ or ‘purpose,’ and no subject-object ‘awareness of it’ required. Only a river-ocean of love flowing into Itself. Pure function without a functioner or evaluator.
The apparent one standing by the river mouth, and the river-ocean, are One Thing. Even as they appear separate.
The true no-self is discovered - by no one - only when the illusion of the ‘self,’ of all separate selves, is seen through so completely that it collapses. Leaving only What Is…with no “true” or “false” self aware of it. Join us for our “Life Without A Self” Retreat.
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-- Suzy Kassem
The more fatigued we are, the more likely we are to microsleep
A two-second sleep is enough for a car or a lorry to swerve into the next lane, which of course can be fatal
Willpower is not enough even when you know it will keep you alive
This was evidenced by the deaths among pilots returning to England after bombing raids during the Second World War, sleep research Jim Horne wrote in his book Sleepfaring: a Journey Through the Science of Sleep. During the dogfights their fear, focus, efforts to win, and adrenaline kept them awake, however tired they were. But once there were no distractions on the way home, there were some pilots who were overcome with the need to sleep and crashed their planes as a result.
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-- Kevyn Aucoin
