20 Kinds of False "Self"-Projection:
What are the 20 invalid Theories of an only apparently
existing "Ego-self"?
1: My "self" is identical with my
Body: This physical matter is my "Ego".
2: My
"self" has a Body, this physical matter is owned by my "Ego".
3: My "self" is hidden somewhere inside & included within this Body
frame.
4: This Body form is hidden inside
and included within a pervading "Ego".
5: My
"self" is identical with
my Feelings: Pain, pleasure & neutral
feeling is my "Ego".
6: My "self" has Feelings, these sensations are owned by my very
own "Ego".
7: My "self" is hidden inside among these Feelings, included within
these emotions.
8: These Feelings are hidden inside
and included within my
all-pervading "Ego-self".
9: My
"self" is
identical with my Perceptions: These experiences are my
"Ego".
10: My "self" has Perceptions: These experiences are owned by my very
own "Ego".
11: My "self" is hidden inside these Perceptions, included
among
all these experiences.
12: These Experiences are hidden inside & included inherently within
my "Ego-self".
13: My "self" is identical with my
Mental Constructions:
Ideas & intentions
are my "Ego".
14: My "self" possesses mental Constructions: These activities are owned by my
"Ego".
15: My "self" is hidden inside among these mental
Constructions, included as a core.
16: These Cogitations
are hidden inside & included inherently within
my "ego-self".
17: My
"self" is identical with
my Consciousness: This bare awareness is my
"Ego".
18: My "self" has a Consciousness: This naked awareness is owned by my
"Ego".
19: My "self" is hidden inside this Consciousness, included in all
aware moments.
20: This Consciousness is hidden inside & included inherently within
my "self".
The imagined EGO tragicomically
imprisons itself in overblown pride and ego-centrism!
Even without noticing it, since it is so blindly fallen in love with this
non-existent Myself!
Enveloped in Egotism this Ego then systematically destroys itself by egoistic
behaviour!
The very conception of an 'Ego' is thus a catastrophic form of
mental auto-cannibalism,
which beings repeat life after life, resulting in immense pain for themselves &
all others...
This "My Ego" idea is therefore a both
Frantic and Cruel
obsessive "self"-deception!
Why are these 20 common assumptions invalid, erroneous, wrong and false?
Because any concept of a "Self" inherently implies 3
crucial criteria:
1 Sameness: It is something constant over time:
An "identical same self"...
2 Control: That it is
"self"-controllable: i.e. fully independent and autonomic...
3 Pleasant: That it is pleasant, since if self was not pleasant,
& the "Self" really
was in full power, then it would instantly make whatever is self, become
pleasant!
However, neither body, feeling,
perception, mental construction, nor consciousness
is constant and the same, even for a moment... Therefore they cannot possibly
ever
qualify as a "same self", nor be identical with any stable
and definable identity...!
Neither is body, feeling, perception, mental construction, nor consciousness
fully
controllable... Neither can they thus
ever meet the control requirements
of a self!
Neither is body, feeling, perception, mental construction, nor consciousness
always
pleasant... They can therefore never contain or coincide with any
autonomic self!
Could the assumed '"self"' be a combination of any of 1-20? Not
so! Why not?
If "self" is not found within any of 1-20, it cannot ever be a collection of
them!
The 4 Mechanisms of unseen, assumed,
and associative Ego-projection:
1+5+9+13+17 are examples of
illusory identification with mere passing states...
2+6+10+14+18 are examples of
fictitious immanence and
invented ownership...
3+7+11+15+19 are examples of imagined
inclusion in something becoming otherwise...
4+8+12+16+20 are examples of
phony possessing as an invisible acquisition...
This doctrine of selflessness,
Anatta, No-self, Not-Anyone-Anything-Anywhere
is
particular to the Buddhas. No other is able to discover, comprehend, nor
teach this!
More on
this subtle,
counterintuitive, profound, baffling, yet liberating
Selflessness:
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Anatta_No_Self.htm
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/V/The_Fact_of_No-Self_Anatta.htm
The Blessed Buddha
once radically pointed
out:
"All phenomena is void of a "self" or of what belongs to any
"self"!
Within this frame is therefore nothing belonging to anyone, anywhere,
nor is
there anything owned by this frame
in anyone, anywhere or elsewhere..."
Like a Scarecrow empty of self, soul, ownership & ego...
The best way to comprehend No-Self
(anatta) is to begin with observing
and reflecting on Impermanence
(anicca) and Suffering (dukkha).
Then eventually one comes to understand: Whatever is always otherwise
and never the same, never identical cannot ever be an identity, a
self...
Whatever is always ultimately suffering cannot be under the control of a
self,
since if it were, then this self would by this control change it into
something
pleasant and happy. But no self can do that, since it is not in full
control.
If a self is not in control of even itself (fully autonomic) it cannot
be a true self,
but just conditions that plays out their cause and effects...
On clinging to
"personality" view (Sakkaya Ditthi) and selflessness (Anatta):
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/I-dentification.htm
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/Ego-Projection.htm
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Anatta_No_Self.htm
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/No_Agent_is_Inside.htm
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/The_Anatta_Doctrine.htm
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Just_Passing_Bubbles.htm
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/drops/IV/Neither_Agent_nor_Actor.htm
A Void Empty of anything
REAL is the EGO...
Source: The Moderate Speeches of
the Buddha.
Majjhima Nikāya 106 [ii 106] The Way to the
Imperturbable.
http://store.pariyatti.org/Middle-Length-Discourses-of-the-Buddha_p_1543.html
https://What-Buddha-Said.net/library/ati_website/html/tipitaka/mn/index.html
