Ego.

[jonesboy]

Originally Posted by sky123

Buddhism teaches ' not self ' rather than ' no self '
We are unique because we have the capacity for moral choice.

The belief in an Atman, a soul according to Buddhism is not possible because a soul is a "thing" that "exists". In Buddhism the true nature of all things is emptiness. Because of that there is no soul that is made up of things residing in some place.

So who or what are we then?

Often when people first experience the light they are blinded by it. It is bright and it is all they can see. With increased depth you start to notice that the light is made up of individual streams of light. In Buddhism these are called Mind Streams.

A post was made in this section asking if all Buddhas are the same. I think this will help explain some things.

Do Buddha now all have different individual personalities? I was always taught that there is no difference between Buddha's and the only reason they have individual names is because we gave them different names to distinguish one Buddha manifestation from another, but to view them as different "Buddha's" is to create a duality in Enlightenment.


There are no differences between one Buddha and another in terms of realization; there are differences in terms of aspirations, and so on., which give rise to differences in sentient beings karmic connections with this buddhafield and that, and so on. In short, everyone who becomes a Buddha starts out as a sentient being, and there is a unique rosary of clarity that continues from the time of being a sentient being through the attainment of Vajradhara which forms the relative basis for Buddhahood.

Loppon Malcom

So we are each these mind streams that are made up of light that's true nature is emptiness. Each mind stream has unique karmic connections that the light hits upon that gives us our individuality. There is no "thing" in some place which is what anatta/not self is referring to.

I hope this helps,

Tom

[Serrao]

Originally Posted by sky123

Are we born with ego, is it genetic ?

I am convinced that without ego our Ancestors in the caves would not have survived, a sense of self/me/mine was needed to live another day.

Thoughts/opinions please

There exists the pure ego; this is necessary to be able to experience reality (the I experience).

The false ego exists too; this form of ego makes superiority possible.
The false ego is a negative derivative of the pure ego and mostly has to do with other beings.

[jonesboy]

In Tibetan Buddhism they call the essential nature of mind Rigpa—primordial, pure, pristine awareness that is at once intelligent, cognizant, radiant, and always awake. This nature of mind, its innermost essence, is absolutely and always untouched by change or death. At present it is hidden within our own mind, our sem, enveloped and obscured by the mental scurry of our thoughts and emotions. Just as clouds can be shifted by a strong gust of wind to reveal the shining sun and wide-open sky, so, under certain circumstances, some inspiration may uncover for us glimpses of this nature of mind. These glimpses have many depths and degrees, but each of them will bring some light of understanding, meaning and freedom.
This is because the nature of mind is the very root itself of understanding.

What is the nature of mind like? Imagine a sky, empty, spacious, and pure from the beginning; its essence islike this. Imagine a sun, luminous, clear, unobstructed, and spontaneously present; its nature is like this. Imagine that sun shining out impartially on us and all things, penetrating all directions; its energy, which is the manifestation of compassion, is like this: Nothing can obstruct it, and it pervades everywhere.

[jonesboy]

Ego is the absence of true knowledge of who we really are, together with its result: a doomed clutching on, at all costs, to a cobbled together and makeshift image of ourselves, an inevitably chameleon charlatan self that keeps changing, and has to, to keep alive the fiction of its existence.

In Tibetan, ego is called dakdzin , which means “grasping to a self.” Ego is then defined as incessant movements of grasping at a delusory notion of “I” and “mine,” self and other, and all the concepts, ideas, desires, and activities that will sustain that false construction.

Such grasping is futile from the start and condemned to frustration, for there is no basis or truth in it, and what we are grasping at is by its very nature ungraspable. The fact that we need to grasp at all and to go on grasping shows that in the depths of our being we know that the self doesn’t inherently exist. From this secret, unnerving knowledge spring all our fundamental insecurities and fears.

[sky]

@jonesboy... thanks I have read the last two copy @ pastes before.

[sky]

Originally Posted by Serrao

There exists the pure ego; this is necessary to be able to experience reality (the I experience).

The false ego exists too; this form of ego makes superiority possible.
The false ego is a negative derivative of the pure ego and mostly has to do with other beings.

Thanks Serrao, are these ego's hindu beliefs ?

[RyanWind]

Originally Posted by sky123

Are we born with ego, is it genetic ?

Well both and more. #1 The soul has an "ego" or personality traits or unique qualities it brings into the human body. #2. The human brain is responsible for ego like traits as each human brain is unique in certain ways (genetic ego.) #3. We create an "ego" based on our experiences after we are born.

The "soul" or "consciousness" or whatever you call it, the thing that is your unique perspective or point of perception, that "thing" that is you does have qualities or energies attached to it. That are a part of it. Everything in life changes including what you are. We are constantly learning and evolving and growing. So I'm not saying the qualities of a soul are fixed in anyway. Everything can be added to or subtracted from. But we are born with what could be called "soul personalities." Anyone with children probably already knows this. Kids are born with distinct personalities and traits that have nothing to do with their conditioning. These belong to the "souls." Now conditioning and experiences we have after we are born have a major affect on what we become in life. Like being abused as a child etc. But some "souls" handle this abuse better than others. That's because souls in themselves have personality traits.

I would say we are born with an "ego" but ego is probably not the right word for it. Ego normally refers to all the stuff we accumulate as we experience things in life and learn to think of the human body as ourselves. Like if we have a beautiful body others are attracted to we may become vain and conceited etc. Likewise, if we have an ugly body and others shame us, we likewise feel ashamed and can hate ourselves and feel like we are ugly and less than others. So "ego" is also all the beliefs and opinions and conditioning we accumulate as we go through life in a human body in a human culture and society. We acquire beliefs and opinions and conditioning and habits as we go through life and all of these things become ego. But it also true that we are born with a type of "ego" in that our soul has certain likes and dislikes and habits and interests. The soul can have a lot of intuitive knowledge or very little. The soul can be very sensitive or aware or very little. Soul "egos" are all unique like human's egos are.

Then also, our brains are not created equal thus the genetic component to our egos. Intelligence is a genetic element as are most mental illnesses or disabilities. Mental illness runs in families. I got two kittens once, two sisters, and they were polar opposites from birth. One was brave and outgoing and full of curiosity and the other was scared and full of fear. One was always wanting to explore and play and be petted and the other was afraid of everything and hid all the time. I would say this was a genetic element of personality. Nature makes variations of personalities to give a species the best chance of survival. In the case of my two kittens, the outgoing one with no fear got hit by a car and died. The other scared one lived to old age. In some environments, one personalty type thrives and the other dies. In other environments it's the reverse.

So I'd would say "ego" or who and what we are has 3 sources. Our "soul," then the human body it joins with, then all of the conditioning we experience while in the body.

[Serrao]

Originally Posted by sky123

Thanks Serrao, are these ego's hindu beliefs ?

That about the pure ego is my own belief.

And that about the false ego I indeed adopted from the Hindu philosophy.

[Floatsy]

Originally Posted by sky123

@jonesboy... thanks I have read the last two copy @ pastes before.

sky123's ego doesn't like copy and paste lol Prefers opinions on forums

[sky]

Originally Posted by Serrao

That about the pure ego is my own belief.

And that about the false ego I indeed adopted from the Hindu philosophy.

Thanks, how would you explain the pure ego ? interesting idea. I always think of the word ' pure ' as untainted.