The tendencies of the Self (the Mind) are self-preservation and self-interest, and the mind (the Self) ultimately acts in it's own interests (consciously or unconsciously), including its own interest in experiencing Enjoyment (i.e. The Pursuit of Happiness or Desiring to experience Heaven) and its interest in considering ITSELF good, righteous or just better (or worse) than others in some way.
The only way to truly lose self-interest, and the suffering it causes, is through the removal of the Self (the Mind) and achieving this involves two things:
1. Self-realization:
- The complete & direct realization that one’s sense of self (sense of “I”, “I am” and “I exist”) also known as the mind (ego / self) is just a thought in consciousness (i.e. Humanist.xyz).
2. Enlightenment:
- Perceiving the insignificance & meaninglessness of every-thing (i.e. Humanist.xyz).
STEP 2 requires that a person realize enjoyment & hardship are essentially the same things - the Positive & Negative signs of imbalance.
It often takes either a lot of hardship, a lot of enjoyment or both before a person realizes that balance (Reality / Nothing) is not an experience (or Perspective), and for the enlightened, it is preferable to be outside the realm of thoughts, experiences (enjoyment & hardship) and consciousness.
This article was originally posted as a reply to one of @lordless.exile's posts and then it was posted and refined on Humanist.xyz. If you want to read more about our ideas, please visit Humanist.xyz where every human is a Humanist.
~ @chrisrice
