Spending a lot of time alone playing a musical instrument is a good way to learn to remain conscious as your self dissolves. As you get better at the instrument, it becomes easier to play in a total trance with no awareness of what you're doing. Those are the coolest moments, because your existence disappears into a neutrality that is beyond pain or pleasure. You aren't merely playing for the thing in itself-- you ARE the thing in itself. The drawback of that state is getting lost in the abyss and making a jarring mistake that slams you back to reality. The trick is learning how to co-pilot your auto-pilot. Your conscious co-pilot stays off to the side and influences the experience from a distance, but only when the subconsious autopilot needs a course correction. As your co-pilot gets more experienced, your autopilot follows suit and learns how to get through a flight plan with more control and fewer malfunctions.
This comment is genius!! love the plane analogy. Whenever I write songs, singing the lyrics while playing guitar I get caught in this euphoric trance that feels extremely uplifting, even if the song lyrics are oddly depressing. Ever watch a guy play a guitar solo and they are so immersed in the experience that its considered normal for us to watch them pull ridiculous faces? I thought of this when I read 'you aren't merely playing for the thing in itself, you are the thing in itself' It is as it were... like having sex with the instrument.
I’ve always hoped for an updated version with state of the art visuals and likenesses of today’s most notable public minds in other time periods and great minds from other time periods in our current age.
you said, " there is no self, you are the flow of experience " hmm, well, to understand yourself in this way would make that a personal realization. Get it, " a personal realization "
This whole world creates suffering. And it will always be this way. How can one live in this constant war and struggle, and be pure consciousness with no sense of self? Being more aware, more in the moment, yes! That's important, necessary, beautiful. But without a sense of self you will not survive in this world, you will not have competition, ambition, drive, and can anyone tell me how do you raise your children with little to no money?
Language can confuse.You have a sense of self,you recognize your body,if someone calls your name you respond.You work ,take care of kids etc etc,its not when you recognize the false sense of self that you stop functioning.You might function better as you are not carrying excess baggage that is needed to sustain that false self.Hope that clarifies somethings for you.
@@williamburts5495 Yes language is a tricky one,that why in zen they do not enter into this dialogue..however here we are.One taste is you are being,you are not doing,you witness the doing..The false self thinks its the doer,its the thinker.The subject/object dynamic created in dualistic terms is absent,so non dual awareness.This you is the witness that has no attributes at all is observing functioning and is not separate from that being observed.Sam has'nt come to the realization of transcend by including.He cant put the understanding into christian terms for example.Love thy neighbor as thy self..Christianity describes god as non dual is another example.
@@daviddeida To me, self just means being conscious. I exist, and to know that you exist you have to be conscious that you exist it is this being conscious that you " be " or " am " that is self.
"Identification with the self." Whose identifying with the self? Wouldn't that just be another self? My identity is Consiousness! That still feels dualistic: there's "me" and then there's what I identify with. "I" lost me sense of self? Then who am I? And if the self is an illusion then how can you identify with it much less lose it?
So like, random thoughts would pop into your head out of "nowhere", and then you would latch onto them as if you personally thought to think those thoughts? This is standard, but to have a really strong focused connection there would be pretty weird. Sometimes trips will make people feel as one with the universe and stuff, and see behind all that sort of stuff, but not this time! and I find that interesting.
Sam says, " we are always at war " " we are always fighting something " you are noticing something wrong, you are feeling uncomfortable in your body " " you are just being blown around " All of these statements are realizations, but what is it that experiences the human drama and relays that experience to others of "what it is like being a human being", if there is no " knower " ( self ) of the human experience !!
The loss of self can also involve acute suffering; ask many schizophrenics whose sense of self can be fragmented into a shattering and shattered glass. I'm bipolar; my sense of selfhood gets disturbed - with depression my sense of self is oppressive - with elation my sense of self is the pinnacle of extreme happiness; my own and, to a more limited extent, the happiness of others that I can subsume within my exalted sense of self; I am more than a measurement, surely?
Sam says you lose your sense of self when you savor the moment of looking at a beautiful sunset, but it is the self that savors the moment, who is in the moment.
@A Pumpky You said, " the self is purely conceptual " hmm. I think it is more than that the self is the cause of action by being the love principle or love energy that underlies the ego. Does ego exist? Well, we couldn't have good self-esteem or bad self-esteem without it. We could not exhibit confidence and selfishness without it. Narcissism is all about ego, so yes we have ego but the ego Isn't the self. The ego is the cause of you performing activities, the self is why you perform activities.
@A Pumpky Yes, all of our perceptions and conceptions are in consciousness so it is consciousness that is absolute, being absolute it is eternal, timeless, complete, and it is even infinite ( as supreme consciousness ) but I see my conscious self as part and parcel of a supreme consciousness that it is one with in quality but different in quantity.
@A Pumpky Being an eternal" in the now " reality that knows no change or deterioration is the impersonal aspect of self, knowing that you know this impersonal nature of self is the personal aspect exhibited as knowledge, and love is it's dynamic aspect. To know the impersonal selfless nature still makes that nature of self something "known" and "knowing " is what makes you a self therefore the impersonal and personal are intertwined as one complete whole entity. Eternity is it's impersonal nature, knowing and love is it's personal nature, but the impersonal is illumed by the personal since " truth " of self doesn't exist if there is no personal aspect.
@A Pumpky There's no such thing as 'experience' without a self. An impersonal selfless state is Buddhist quackery. There is always an experiencer. If you were having a 'no self' experience, you wouldn't have any memory of it. There is an 'experiential self' in addition to the 'ego' self. The ego self drops off, due to deactivation of the default mode network of the brain associated to selfhood and mental wandering, but the experiencer is there watching the sunset because of continued activity in other regions of the brain---information that can be integrated into the ego as it reemerges as a memory.
If consciousness is always just this flow of experience. How come certain kids are born more talented or gifted in certain areas that other kids aren’t? Like smarter or more into reading then sports etc. or the 7 year old who can play the piano better then a professional. Or why are siblings who grew up in the same house with the same experiences so different from each other? Like how were these certain kids born with a I wanna say different “ consciousness “ but if it’s just a steam of experience how does that make sense? Or is it just the DNA genes and genetics of how they were born? Lol I don’t know if that makes sense but I just wanted to type it cause it came to mind
Apart from the pulling and hauling stands what I am, Stands amused, complacent, compassionating, idle, unitary, Looks down, is erect, or bends an arm on an impalpable certain rest, Looking with side-curved head curious what will come next, Both in and out of the game and watching and wondering at it. -Whitman
does it mean that Persona doesn't exist ?? I mean the self or structured person like I'm strong or I'm this and that ?? is it a false construct from the beginning to end ??
The way to transcend a false sense of self is by including everything ,which includes the persona.The personal is a set of images you present to the world,a mask.Identifying only as that is where the false self takes root.So you are your body and you are more than that body.You are one with consciousness arising as all things.
Enlightenment isn't about abolishing and rejecting the self then trying to live the rest of our lives with no-self. It's about seeing through the illusion "self" projects and recognizing the fundamental interconnectedness of everything.
what sam addresses is the ego. the self is not the ego or individual "me" or "i" but rather the "all" or - defying any concrete knowledge of the all by the i - nothing. the self is unconditional love. the self doesn't create or destroy. or even change. the self is ok. the self says everything's everything. therefore possible. the self allows the ego's i its blindness or myopia. the self allows timespace and all other illusion. the self allows the hatred of the self bc being unknowable, the self cannot be hated. the self isn't the answer and obviates the question. the self ain't nuthin to fuk with. thanks.
Identification with the True I does not create suffering...it leads to integration, light, and bliss. This is the purpose of human life...to integrate the Self on all levels...body, emotions, feelings, mind, Soul, and Self. To bypass the lifelong work of individuation, healing, and integration misses the point. Anyone to touch the Higher Self in meditation...but that is not the full story. Souls are evolving. The Self doesn't evolve. The Soul must be integrated with the Self. There is the One and the Many. To stress one over the other is to miss the point entirely. I know...I am Self Realized after 35 years of grueling inner work.
in sunset you dont loose your sense of self. you loose your stupid belief that your self is behind your face. thats the loss of a belief not of a self.
Sam's struggle to find a coherent explanation for No Self is, unfortunately, replicated in a couple of dozen RUclips videos. Or in his Waking Up app. He tap dances as fast as he can, but he can't get it over. Because it makes no coherent sense. It's based on Buddhist dogma bullshit that Sam, as one of the new atheists 15 years ago, should have no time for. None whatsoever. He tries 30 times in this little clip, to get his idea of No Self communicated. He's 0 for 30. No, Sam, you're not making sense. Which is pretty ironic given that's the name of your sporadic podcast.
Spending a lot of time alone playing a musical instrument is a good way to learn to remain conscious as your self dissolves. As you get better at the instrument, it becomes easier to play in a total trance with no awareness of what you're doing. Those are the coolest moments, because your existence disappears into a neutrality that is beyond pain or pleasure. You aren't merely playing for the thing in itself-- you ARE the thing in itself. The drawback of that state is getting lost in the abyss and making a jarring mistake that slams you back to reality.
The trick is learning how to co-pilot your auto-pilot. Your conscious co-pilot stays off to the side and influences the experience from a distance, but only when the subconsious autopilot needs a course correction. As your co-pilot gets more experienced, your autopilot follows suit and learns how to get through a flight plan with more control and fewer malfunctions.
Thanks for this man!
I used to feel the same way playing sports or in the gym. You just get lost, you experience a kind if equanimity
Truly a poetic way to put it. I like it. As a musician myself, I know exactly what you are talking about.
This comment is genius!! love the plane analogy.
Whenever I write songs, singing the lyrics while playing guitar I get caught in this euphoric trance that feels extremely uplifting, even if the song lyrics are oddly depressing.
Ever watch a guy play a guitar solo and they are so immersed in the experience that its considered normal for us to watch them pull ridiculous faces? I thought of this when I read 'you aren't merely playing for the thing in itself, you are the thing in itself'
It is as it were... like having sex with the instrument.
@@scrollkidsylable6793 Okay I was with you up until the instrument fetish part loll
“Most people are waiting for the world to give them a good enough reason to just be present.”
This is a scene that would fit perfectly in Waking Life
I’ve always hoped for an updated version with state of the art visuals and likenesses of today’s most notable public minds in other time periods and great minds from other time periods in our current age.
What a comment!!!
Ego is just another object arising in consciousness
No Sam…you’re not identical to your face, your identical to Ben stiller
This is ben stiller talking here. Sam was sick so he called in ben to do the talk
Ahaha
pridepotterz6564, the self is an illusion. You're lost in thought. Wake Up❣️
🤣🤣🤣
You’re
2:21 there is no self, you are the flow of experience
A verb rather than a noun
you said, " there is no self, you are the flow of experience " hmm, well, to understand yourself in this way would make that a personal realization. Get it, " a personal realization "
@@williamburts5495 I would say intimate.The observer is the observed.Its not person as an object experiencing a subject.
@@daviddeidaLove is the dynamic nature of consciousness and it flows from the self. Hence the statement, " I love you "
@@williamburts5495 I concur.
Thank you Ben Stiller for helping me to uncover my true selfless nature.
This whole world creates suffering. And it will always be this way. How can one live in this constant war and struggle, and be pure consciousness with no sense of self? Being more aware, more in the moment, yes! That's important, necessary, beautiful. But without a sense of self you will not survive in this world, you will not have competition, ambition, drive, and can anyone tell me how do you raise your children with little to no money?
Language can confuse.You have a sense of self,you recognize your body,if someone calls your name you respond.You work ,take care of kids etc etc,its not when you recognize the false sense of self that you stop functioning.You might function better as you are not carrying excess baggage that is needed to sustain that false self.Hope that clarifies somethings for you.
@@daviddeida It's Sams language that is confusing! Sam says you have a sense of self, but that makes " you " different from what " you " sense.
@@williamburts5495 Yes language is a tricky one,that why in zen they do not enter into this dialogue..however here we are.One taste is you are being,you are not doing,you witness the doing..The false self thinks its the doer,its the thinker.The subject/object dynamic created in dualistic terms is absent,so non dual awareness.This you is the witness that has no attributes at all is observing functioning and is not separate from that being observed.Sam has'nt come to the realization of transcend by including.He cant put the understanding into christian terms for example.Love thy neighbor as thy self..Christianity describes god as non dual is another example.
@@daviddeida To me, self just means being conscious. I exist, and to know that you exist you have to be conscious that you exist it is this being conscious that you " be " or " am " that is self.
@@williamburts5495 Exactly,its the only thing that is not a concept.Some people identify with form excluding the witness that is not confined to form.
Best thing ive learned for today
"Identification with the self." Whose identifying with the self? Wouldn't that just be another self? My identity is Consiousness! That still feels dualistic: there's "me" and then there's what I identify with.
"I" lost me sense of self? Then who am I?
And if the self is an illusion then how can you identify with it much less lose it?
You're always chasing our resisting!
This is such a great clip, Sam Harris is the man!
I had that "passenger feeling" on a Salvia Trip. I identified myself with my thoughts but nothing else. It was pretty relaxing though
So like, random thoughts would pop into your head out of "nowhere", and then you would latch onto them as if you personally thought to think those thoughts? This is standard, but to have a really strong focused connection there would be pretty weird. Sometimes trips will make people feel as one with the universe and stuff, and see behind all that sort of stuff, but not this time! and I find that interesting.
5:53
not about 1/2 second ago, or 1/2 second from now. @ a balance
Sam says, " we are always at war " " we are always fighting something " you are noticing something wrong, you are feeling uncomfortable in your body " " you are just being blown around "
All of these statements are realizations, but what is it that experiences the human drama and relays that experience to others of "what it is like being a human being", if there is no " knower " ( self ) of the human experience !!
You're assuming there must be something in addition to consciousness for there to be an experience..
@@kevinmm20 Whatever we experience we understand due to being observers.
@@williamburts5495 But the observation is the experience itself
@@kevinmm20 And to know it as such makes you an observer ( self ) since to know anything you also know that you know.
@@williamburts5495 That’s not what is meant by “self” here. What is meant is the sense that there is a self in the head in addition to consciousness.
The loss of self can also involve acute suffering; ask many schizophrenics whose sense of self can be fragmented into a shattering and shattered glass. I'm bipolar; my sense of selfhood gets disturbed - with depression my sense of self is oppressive - with elation my sense of self is the pinnacle of extreme happiness; my own and, to a more limited extent, the happiness of others that I can subsume within my exalted sense of self; I am more than a measurement, surely?
Yes you are one with the consciousness that permeates all things.That ever present witness
I´m bipolar too. I know very well about determinism, but when I become maniac I forget about it.
Love listening to Sam, but I think the word he was looking for there is Presence.
Sam says you lose your sense of self when you savor the moment of looking at a beautiful sunset, but it is the self that savors the moment, who is in the moment.
@A Pumpky You said, " the self is purely conceptual " hmm. I think it is more than that the self is the cause of action by being the love principle or love energy that underlies the ego. Does ego exist? Well, we couldn't have good self-esteem or bad self-esteem without it. We could not exhibit confidence and selfishness without it. Narcissism is all about ego, so yes we have ego but the ego Isn't the self. The ego is the cause of you performing activities, the self is why you perform activities.
@A Pumpky Yes, all of our perceptions and conceptions are in consciousness so it is consciousness that is absolute, being absolute it is eternal, timeless, complete, and it is even infinite ( as supreme consciousness ) but I see my conscious self as part and parcel of a supreme consciousness that it is one with in quality but different in quantity.
@A Pumpky Being an eternal" in the now " reality that knows no change or deterioration is the impersonal aspect of self, knowing that you know this impersonal nature of self is the personal aspect exhibited as knowledge, and love is it's dynamic aspect. To know the impersonal selfless nature still makes that nature of self something "known" and "knowing " is what makes you a self therefore the impersonal and personal are intertwined as one complete whole entity. Eternity is it's impersonal nature, knowing and love is it's personal nature, but the impersonal is illumed by the personal since " truth " of self doesn't exist if there is no personal aspect.
@A Pumpky wow you guys actually agreed after a debate.
That awe experience when you lose this feeling of "self" is what I understand.
@A Pumpky There's no such thing as 'experience' without a self. An impersonal selfless state is Buddhist quackery. There is always an experiencer. If you were having a 'no self' experience, you wouldn't have any memory of it. There is an 'experiential self' in addition to the 'ego' self. The ego self drops off, due to deactivation of the default mode network of the brain associated to selfhood and mental wandering, but the experiencer is there watching the sunset because of continued activity in other regions of the brain---information that can be integrated into the ego as it reemerges as a memory.
If consciousness is always just this flow of experience. How come certain kids are born more talented or gifted in certain areas that other kids aren’t? Like smarter or more into reading then sports etc. or the 7 year old who can play the piano better then a professional. Or why are siblings who grew up in the same house with the same experiences so different from each other? Like how were these certain kids born with a I wanna say different “ consciousness “ but if it’s just a steam of experience how does that make sense? Or is it just the DNA genes and genetics of how they were born? Lol I don’t know if that makes sense but I just wanted to type it cause it came to mind
Apart from the pulling and hauling stands what I am,
Stands amused, complacent, compassionating, idle, unitary,
Looks down, is erect, or bends an arm on an impalpable certain rest,
Looking with side-curved head curious what will come next,
Both in and out of the game and watching and wondering at it. -Whitman
does it mean that Persona doesn't exist ?? I mean the self or structured person like I'm strong or I'm this and that ?? is it a false construct from the beginning to end ??
The way to transcend a false sense of self is by including everything ,which includes the persona.The personal is a set of images you present to the world,a mask.Identifying only as that is where the false self takes root.So you are your body and you are more than that body.You are one with consciousness arising as all things.
I feel this all the time.. I'm the experience
if you have no self acceptance then you will spend your life running from your sense of self and use enlightenment to help you do that.
Enlightenment is the acceptance of all things,it does'nt excluded anything.
Enlightenment isn't about abolishing and rejecting the self then trying to live the rest of our lives with no-self. It's about seeing through the illusion "self" projects and recognizing the fundamental interconnectedness of everything.
what sam addresses is the ego. the self is not the ego or individual "me" or "i" but rather the "all" or - defying any concrete knowledge of the all by the i - nothing. the self is unconditional love. the self doesn't create or destroy. or even change. the self is ok. the self says everything's everything. therefore possible. the self allows the ego's i its blindness or myopia. the self allows timespace and all other illusion. the self allows the hatred of the self bc being unknowable, the self cannot be hated. the self isn't the answer and obviates the question. the self ain't nuthin to fuk with. thanks.
"BLOWN AROUND", story of my life so fatr
Identification with the True I does not create suffering...it leads to integration, light, and bliss. This is the purpose of human life...to integrate the Self on all levels...body, emotions, feelings, mind, Soul, and Self. To bypass the lifelong work of individuation, healing, and integration misses the point. Anyone to touch the Higher Self in meditation...but that is not the full story. Souls are evolving. The Self doesn't evolve. The Soul must be integrated with the Self. There is the One and the Many. To stress one over the other is to miss the point entirely. I know...I am Self Realized after 35 years of grueling inner work.
The body is the unconscious mind!
@@jarivanlennep3979 yep, precisely.
1:57
pretty much ”anatta” in Buddhism
4:55
War
I see Harris ego has reached “i want to be a guru.”
Well gurus have been recognizing this awareness for thousands of years
Brillian question. Sam didn't know the answer and decided to talk about something else.
I feel the same way and its sad because its such an important question to get answered.
This is what the Buddha taught
in sunset you dont loose your sense of self. you loose your stupid belief that your self is behind your face. thats the loss of a belief not of a self.
The self is a belief.
Sam's struggle to find a coherent explanation for No Self is, unfortunately, replicated in a couple of dozen RUclips videos. Or in his Waking Up app. He tap dances as fast as he can, but he can't get it over. Because it makes no coherent sense. It's based on Buddhist dogma bullshit that Sam, as one of the new atheists 15 years ago, should have no time for. None whatsoever. He tries 30 times in this little clip, to get his idea of No Self communicated. He's 0 for 30. No, Sam, you're not making sense. Which is pretty ironic given that's the name of your sporadic podcast.
Sam harris is illussion
stfu
We all are
@@gazagxrlx2974 your mother is
@@bobymocanu5256 Just like ur mama! And your entire generation 👍
AHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA
If I identified as Sam Harris I would be definitely suffering.
ask harris about the 5 dancing israelis
Sounds like he no what he is talking about