Notion of the self
Many people seem to think that "ego" is something to be destroyed as if it's something real and malicious. There's this ingrained sense that "self" is an illusion. I don't think ego is something to be destroyed nor do I agree with the notion that "self" is an illusion. Ego is just a manifestation of your beliefs about yourself. Beliefs that can be altered. Beliefs that experiences of your life alter. Beliefs that realizing that you are not separate from the experience alters. I don't think ego is something that you can get rid of in the first place. Calling self an illusion is quite misleading in itself. Self is a process. Buddha did not say "No self". Instead he said "Not self" implying self is not what it seems. Awakening leads to a direct realization that our view of self was wrong all along. However it does not indicate that you are not a person and that everything you know about yourself is an illusion. You are still a person IMO. Just blindly shifting your identity to the "higher self" and trying to kill your ego is not healthy. Whatever you resist, persists. Ego is not your enemy. Its just manifestation of your deepest beliefs about yourself. Its something to be integrated in the process. Killing your ego is the most unspiritual endeavor in my opinion. Let's talk more what exactly is an ego and self.
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from Buddhism https://ift.tt/2QakWaI
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