gheinz wrote: ↑May 19th, 2022, 3:14 am
I previously wrote an abridged version in the thread Re:
Can't we ever see the real world? and reported on it in an abbreviated form in
viewtopic.php?t=15839. I would like to discuss this topic in more detail here. The following considerations are based on just 2 findings/observations:
1. The starting point is the realization that we are not objective observers of reality because of our
egoism (selfishness, self-care, self-centeredness). Rather, we are partisan, biased observers. There is therefore a possibility that we do not see reality as it actually is. Fortunately, while it is not possible to go directly into the state of selflessness (in which we would be objective, impartial observers), there is an easy way - through a simple logical deduction - to find out what reality would be like in that state.
2. Here the starting point is the recognition that there are
subjectively significant limits as a result of our
egoism (selfishness, self-care, self-centeredness). Now, using a simple inversion, we can state that in the state of SELFLESSNESS (where by definition there is no egoism) there are no subjectively meaningful boundaries; i.e. that this state can be seen as a state of limitlessness and infinity and, moreover, as a state of freedom. Because in the state of unselfishness we would see things as they actually are, it follows that there really are no meaningful boundaries. Our egoism makes us believe that there are limits and it is also the one that constructs our reality, ie. it pretends it to us.
You can judge how far I have succeeded in this derivation and I would be happy to read about it in the comments. I will continue these thoughts afterwards.
Even before you think about whether valid knowledge was gained here, you have to ask yourself why these thoughts were not thought much earlier. For example, in his Allegory of the Cave, Plato might have associated the underground prison with the state of selfishness, and might have an association of the state of freedom that a prisoner attains in the parable after being brought out of the cave to the surface with the state of selflessness.
The Advaita-Vedanta philosophy arose in India much earlier than the allegory of the cave was conceived. Its serotological goal is to
experience the unity between the Atman, the core of the individual personality, the individual self, and Brahman (the cosmic self, the cause of EVERYTHING). This unity is taken as always given in this philosophy, but
cannot be experienced in everyday consciousness. As previously described here, in the state of selflessness there are no limits and there is only oneness. Thus, in this state, the serotological goal of this philosophy is achieved. Here, too, one has to ask oneself why this knowledge has only now become possible. The answer can only be that a taboo, an inhibition to think, has so far prevented comprehensive reflection on selflessness. In Hindu philosophy there is the term Maya. Maya means illusion and magic. It is an integral part of Advaita-Vedanta. So Advaita-Vedanta teaches that our world is an illusion and explains the mental inhibition with magic.
Now let's take a closer look at the state of selflessness. The only thing that matters here is the Self, the Atman in Indian philosophy, the unqualified core of personality, the observer. Everything else, the koshas in Indian philosophy, the sheaths have become meaningless, no longer exist because they have limitations. But this also applies to much more: space, time, causality, conceptual thinking, material objects are no longer available.
There is no boundary between the subjective and the objective realm. That means: everything that exists is my thoughts, everything that exists is created by my thoughts. However, for the loss of all of the above, one is compensated in a great way.
There are no limits to my personal power. What hurts us most in ordinary life, in the state of selfishness, is that we are constantly experiencing limitations in our personal power. That pain is no longer there, instead there is infinite well-being.
One could explain this unlimited power by the unity of the personal SELF, Atman, with the cosmic Self, Brahman (endowed with omnipotence). But since, as mentioned, there is no conceptual thinking in the state of selflessness, one also has to regard Brahman as a construction that is given only in the state of selfishness and not as something that actually exists.
I assume that this all could be subject for discussion and I would therefore like to pause again before continuing.