FROM A SITE VISITOR: I appear to be still “trapped” or entranced at the level of personality.
FROM ANOTHER SITE VISITOR YESTERDAY: So how to eliminate self once and for all?
F.: Next, since the self is taken by most to be a composite of body and mind and personality, elimination of the belief in all three of those must be completed before moving any farther along the “path” to Realization.
In May of ’06 and August of ’07, that process was covered in detail. [The archives are available to those who are interested in the full explanation.] Here is a selection from those postings explaining that, for the self to be mistakenly identified as the Self…
some sort of body and mind and personality continuity would have had to exist for whatever number of years your culture has assigned to you, but no such continuity has happened.
First, there has been no body continuity:
The human body is constantly replacing and regenerating cells to maintain proper and efficient function. If you spend ten minutes reading this post and considering the content, during that time you will have shed 250,000 skin cells and those will have been replaced by 250,000 different cells. Not one cell of the billions of skin cells that came about during the last twenty-eight days is now present. There has never been one body with continuity, and there will never be a body with continuity (whether talking about pre-manifestation, manifestation or post-manifestation).
(It is the illusion of "memories" that contribute to the false belief that the body "has had" continuity.)
So much for body continuity. Secondly, there has been no “mind” continuity, that storehouse of ideas and beliefs having been in constant flux. How many things that you “loved” in the past mean nothing to you now? You “changed your mind”? No. The “mind” is constantly changing since it is a storehouse of lies and beliefs and attitudes, and new ideas and concepts are being added regularly. Thus, that speck of consciousness which calls itself “a seeker” might be aware of reality today but can be totally out of touch with reality tomorrow because abidance as the unchanging Absolute is not happening.
Thirdly, there has certainly been no continuity of personality. Some identities you assumed ten years ago, you do not assume today, and those roles you are assuming and playing today, you will not assume and play in “the future.” Further, any labels that you accepted years ago but have not subsequently questioned and rejected will be a part of that mass of lies that blocks the light of truth.
To differentiate between the Real Self and the false self requires an understanding that the self, and the world in which you believe the self resides, are “nothing but the picture of your own ‘I’ consciousness” (Maharaj).
There is no “you” that “has” consciousness. The consciousness manifested without plan or rhyme or reason, and someday it will simply unmanifest as well. Prior to manifestation, there was no form, and post-manifestation there will be no form.
The form is temporary. It might be referred to as a form-cum-consciousness for the sake of discussion, but that is not You. (Just because you might fly in a plane does not mean you are the plane.)
It is seen clearly from My view that “you” (the false self which you take your Self to be) are nothing. When You see clearly, You will also know that there is no self to be rid of. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
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