[Erock]

Man the more I look at the world the more I've realized that it just doesn't make sense. Every single one of my desires is for something that doesn't matter in the long run. I think that by identifiying ourselves as bodies, we are really really limiting ourselves.

The concept of identification is a very fascinating one to me. You can identify with anything. Have you ever had something that felt valuable to you? Maybe someone tried to take it away from you, and you felt scared, angry, jealous, and your entire attention was focused on getting it back. Maybe a year later you looked back on that incident and realized how dumb you were for being so attached to that item. In essence, you had identified with it. It had become a part of you, and because you made it a part of you, emotions arose. The emotions could be negative or positive. You could feel powerful and happy when you have it, or scared and fearful when someone else has it.

That basic analogy is how I think spiritual gurus and those that have reached enlightment look at their own body. It used to be a part of them. They used to identify with it, and had emotions surrounding it. These emotions were sometimes good and sometimes bad. Then they basically dis-identified with it. That's why the zen masters almost call people stupid. Their perspective on the body, is the same as your perspective on the item a year later. It seems stupid to have cared for the item so much, and cause yourself so much suffering.

Now to take this ramble one step further, I think the real secret is that the gurus do identify with something. What they identify with though I'm not sure. I guess it is the awareness behind consciousness, the everything and nothing? The point is that they identify with something timeless, something that does not die, cannot be killed, and I'm not sure but it may be god itself.

That's why one of the steps towards enlightment is feeling like you are nothing, a blank slate. This is the point where you have dis-identified with the body, but have not identified with the absolute yet. A lot of people get confused when they hit this point though, and may even go back to body-identification.

Erock