No Ego

[Silver]

Originally Posted by wildflower57

I do not fight hate with intolerance and more hate. I feel too much of everyone elses emotions. I hear too many of their thoughts. I see their colors and energy. I take on too much of their pain and it literaly feels like my own. Its almost impossible to not "tune out" every once in a while. But ONLY every once in a while. I pull my **** together most of them.
Although my 'tune out mode' goes on auto piolet by itself when I just don't have inner strength.
Please, its NOT that I don't have the stength because I say I don't have the strength. To be weak is real. Sometimes its okay. It gives you sweet taste of surmounting and victory. Its very rewarding.

Just because I say I didn't have enough inner stength it doesn't mean I'm weak, it also doesn't mean I'm Super Woman.
I am very familure with...I don't know how to describe them..they're like the walking dead. They've all sold their souls. They aren't even on the brink of awakening like most folks...no
they were there, woke up, fell back to sleep and gave up.
I love them but they will use that to their advantage if they see that. If you call them out even ever so politely and compassionate..
all hell breaks lose.
Sometimes a nice cold serving of wake up call is just what someone needs.
I do love myself. It took a lot of time to love myself for I didn't even know who I was but I DO love myself. I'm very proud of who I've become.

I don't believe that. Everything is a mess but all is well? Maybe in SOME cases but not all. Most certainly not in my case growing up. It was unsafe, dangerous and scary. I could have died. I had to get away!
If I sat there and said everything is okay, I would have died.

If I didn't give into my own will power and own thoughts and own faith and didn't sit there and say that everything was going to be okay...


I don't know if any more of my points aren't getting across. I think this conversation is done. I did sort some stuff out though so thanks for that anyone who posted.

Hi wildflower. I do know how you feel.

What I see happennig with you is that you are using your template of what happened to you as a kid and overlay it on 'the rest' of the world - people you work with, etc., etc. It simply doesn't fit the situation - only for the unique experience you had growing up and seeing that you had to act.

I'm all for being an example - sometimes it is all you can do. And sometimes, it simply isn't enough, and you don't have (we) don't have control over everybody and everything. We may be able to make some differences, but sometimes it takes longer than we think it should. We are the light in the world when we live and act true to ourselves. When those who are seemingly asleep or zoned out catch us out of the corner of their eye / awareness, that little blip of light has registered in their psyche, but they are so far gone it just may take a while - then they see another and another. It is up to them to change.

When one says they would have died, do they mean their body or the Spirit? Because all human bodies will die eventually. All water based life on planet Earth will one day die as well when the Earth's Sun Novas. There is an interesting parallel I have come across which I doubt many Buddhists (or anyone) know of.

The Jesus side of the parallel is pretty widely known and it is when he urged to become born of the Spirit. The Buddha side was to say that all water based life as we know it will eventually parish when the Sun's intensity increases dramatically (I think he said seven times it's present heat), however he also said that by that time, many humans will have evolved into beings composed of Light and Spirit.

[Black Sheep]

This might be helpful and less triggering...

http://www.viewonbuddhism.org/compassion.html

[Morpheus]

Your big fat Ego...

http://www.astralvoyage.com/spirituality/ego.html

It is written -
"All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." (Who we are part of.)

Likewise, all are afflicted with Ego, as related to the survival instinct of this organic realm, dimension, and paradigm.

[7luminaries]

Originally Posted by Mayflow

You know, all mystics - Catholic, Christian, non-Christian, no matter what their theology, no matter what their religion - are unanimous on one thing: that all is well, all is well. Though everything is a mess, all is well. Strange paradox, to be sure. But, tragically, most people never get to see that all is well because they are asleep. They are having a nightmare.


Anthony de Mello (1931 - 1987) Jesuit Priest

That's a beautiful quote...thanks so much for sharing.

Peace & blessings,
7L

[Morpheus]

Excellent!

I have a hard time as well. Thats why I started reading about Buddism, and sometimes it's hard for me too. Not many people are willing to listen and constantly judge people. Sometimes it brings me down, hopefully I'll learn by not letting their negativity get to me. It must takes years I'm guessing to learning to accept how people are. I love this topic a lot. Anyone have any helpful tips?

Originally Posted by Dancing_Butterflies

I have a hard time as well. Thats why I started reading about Buddism, and sometimes it's hard for me too. Not many people are willing to listen and constantly judge people. Sometimes it brings me down, hopefully I'll learn by not letting their negativity get to me. It must takes years I'm guessing to learning to accept how people are. I love this topic a lot. Anyone have any helpful tips?

Sure. Just dance your own dance. Follow your instincts and follow what you love. I think you are already on this by saying not to let negativity get to you.

[BlueSky]

Ego= a sense of self to me and it can get out of control for sure but do we really want to "shed" it? Do we even know what that means?

Last night, holding our newborn granddaughter, trying to get her to smile where smiling is not learned yet....I wondered to myself, "why do we even think of going back to this point"
growing from a newborn, seems like the beginning of a sense of self, not of something we need to be liberated from, and it seems like it is just the way life is. Maybe this want "to shed" has a cause and it is best to pursue what that is instead of trying to shed something that cannot be shed
James

Ego = the Puppet (the I Am, a projection of Self)
Self = the Puppet Master (the Architect - god of ego - Mara) An illusion. It's comprised of illusions - lies.
Liberation = realizing the illusion of Self, being free of it, and with it goes ego.

Resolution, Disillusion of Self can sound like a terrible thing in a land where it's been made 'king', practically worshiped, and no more 'I Am' is frightening.

Our teacher called Self an aggregate. I visualize it as an aggregate rock made up of 'ideas set in stone'. Each idea/belief/conviction supporting the others, all stuck together. The glue being dualism. How much of our thinking is in dualistic terms: is - isn't, good - bad, love - hate, etc.

A chip falls off the the rock and it feels like a heavy chain falling away. Instead of feeling like diminishing it feels like becoming larger.