liberation from the karmic cycle

[RUSSLA]

There is no you

there is no self.

there is no me, there is no you - is this true?

who are you? have you ever seen yourself?

"well duh," you say. "i see myself every day when i look in the mirror."

do you?

that`s not you that the eyes see. that`s light on glass. it`s an image of reality. not reality. it exists as an image of reality, but it is not the physical image that it refers to.

your reflection in the mirror isn`t what the mind thinks it is. it isn`t you. it`s a reflection. obvious stuff that a child can understand.

the same goes for your mental self image. it`s an image of yourself, in the form of a thought. the mind`s perception of reality, whatever it percieves the host organism to be in any given moment.

the thought exists in reality, as a thought. but that thought IS NOT YOU. in the same way the image in the mirror IS NOT YOU.

when the self image is being played by the mind as a thought - that is all the mind knows. and it believes that the thought is reality.

But the thought of you is not reality. it is a thought of you that exists in reality. but the thought is not you. the reflection is not what is being reflected, it`s just a reflection.

In the case of the mental image “you” there is nothing being reflected. There is just the reflection. Just the mental image.

there never was a you. there were just events, and over time, the mind constructed a self based on those events.

then the mind saw the reflection, and said ``that`s me. I am that.`` just like you look in a mirror and say ``that`s me.``

but it can never be more than a mental image. never more than a thought. never more than a reflection.

why not? because the past is past, and the future is yet to come. so they can only exist in the form of thought of reality. never in actual reality.

think about it.

what were you before you were born? before your first romantic relationship? before all those events that you think impacted `your` life?

what was the perspective before what was percieved?

nothing.

it was never your life all along. it's so obvious. just a constantly evolving mental image built up around the flow of percieved reality.

the mental image `you` is an illusion.

the image in the mirror is not what it shows. The mental image has no physical counterpart.

there is no you.

[Melchior]

Originally Posted by RUSSLA

There is no you

Then what is there instead?

In the case of the mental image “you” there is nothing being reflected. There is just the reflection. Just the mental image.

Why would there be a reflection of nothing, or a mental image of nothing? Isn't that something?

the image in the mirror is not what it shows. The mental image has no physical counterpart.

Then is the mental image physical itself?

Just giving you a hard time.