Stephen and all,
Stephen: "My own opinion as of right now is that the self as we see
ourselves is nothing more than a collection of thoughts and memories and the
"I" as a seperate entity independent of its thoughts ie objective observer
aso is an illusion."
John B: I partly agree, though I do not have the experiential evidence for
the separate 'I' being illusory. To me it is a mighty strong illusion. As I
understand the mystic view, it is possible to reach a state where the 'I' is
no longer experienced as separate to the rest of the world. Ken Wilber, in
his book 'No Boundary' explores how therapy can break down the illusion of
boundaries in the mind, where the subconscious is reintegrated through a
therapy similar to psychotherapy, the body can be reintegrated through a
therapy such as Gestalt, and the final boundary between subject and object
can be broken down through a meditative practice (and perhaps the assistance
of a teacher). Even if all goes well this last is likely to take a decade or
two.
To me opinion is cheap. My experience to date does not demonstrate the
illusory nature of the self, so I must argue for my experience of self,
while acknowledging that I may eventually recognise this to be false.
One thing that I think strengthens the (illusion of) self is agency. This is
simply another way of arguing for free will. An agent can choose to act. The
existentialists saw man as thrust into a world where choices are
unavoidable, and to act in good faith is to make choices, usually with very
limited information, and to live with the consequences of our choices rather
than play victim. (However, this seemed a bit too hard for Sartre, who
eventually chose to assert a semi-communist collective will as a way of
lessening the pain of isolated choice.)
Wilber and Almaas see the development of a separate ego or self as a
necessary preliminary to development at the higher levels of spirituality.
While from the higher level the self is indeed seen to be illusory, (or so
they say), it functions with apparent realism for many years. Some
psychological development may necessitate the strengthening of the self, to
the long term benefit of the person who may ultimately transcend self.
For a detailed and thought provoking examination of the healthy development
of the "I-boundaries", I suggest Chapter 5, The Contact Boundary, in Irving
and Miriam Polster's book Gestalt Therapy Integrated. They discriminate
Body-boundaries, Value-boundaries, Familiarity-boundaries,
Expressive-boundaries and Exposure-boundaries, all of which go to make up
the I-boundaries that define a self.
Regards,
John B
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