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.: Yesterday’s post ended with this pointer:
Each person (each among the non-Realized) has his/her own little personality cult, worshipping the leader…the self. The personality of the leader is all-important. Only the ideas and beliefs and concepts of the leader are given any value as the self “loves” the self.
What is this self among the non-Realized? It is a composite…the very opposite of the singular Self. It is that which believes the lies of duality and multiplicity while having no clue about the oneness...the unicity.
The self is a composite of all ego-states assumed and employed by persons to identify incorrectly who they think they are. Those ego-states may also be called personas, roles, facades, masks, images, false selves, or any number of other words or terms that point toward the false identities that persons adopt (or unquestioningly accept when assigned by their cultures).
In their dualistic character, some identities carry “negative” connotations (“thief,” “bastard,” “whore,” “homewrecker,” “deserter,” “foreigner,” “insurgent,” “user,” “heartbreaker,” “sinner,” “infidel”) while some are assigned “positive” connotations by their cultures (“priest,” “preacher,” “imam,” “rabbi,” “soldier,” “patriot,” “law enforcement officer,” “mother,” “religious person,” “spiritual person,” “helper,” “volunteer”).
Also, there is always involved with ego-states either an upgrading or a downgrading. An example of an upgrade is when "I am a man" becomes "I am a good man," "I am a loving husband," "I am the best boss ever," or "I am a spiritual man." Another example is when such talk as "There is this world" is upgraded to, "There is a better world...a heaven." A downgrade can happen when "There is this world" can be downgraded to "There is a world of pain and punishment called hell that awaits you."
Some upgrades later become downgrades because ego-states are like chameleons, never knowing stability and always in a state of flux and movement. Thus, "He is a man" can be upgraded thusly: "The man I'm going to marry has a great work ethic and is a great lover," but that is often downgraded later to "The ass I married is a workaholic and sex fiend."
In every case, though, one commonality exists: every persona is driven by a hidden agenda. All are embroiled in (false)-self-service even as they fabricate and display a façade of altruism; all are bound up in (false)-self-absorption and (false)-self-delusion; and all desire that their roles will last and will continue to fulfill perceived needs.
And all selves form their own mental cult wherein they are in control, in power, and in charge or where they believe they should be in control, in power, and in charge or where they wish they were in control, in power, and in charge. As with all cult leaders, the self that worships itself usually has a superficial charm, is always manipulative, has a grandiose sense of itself, and displays no realistic perspective.
The multi-step process of separating from the self, from being free of the false belief that false selves are real, is the seven-step “journey” to Reality. Please enter the silence of contemplation. (To be continued)
