Trying to make sense of what I'm learning but not sure how to make it a question..
There is a do'er which I identify with as self but that do'er is just a part or a system among a bunch of parts and systems that is the body-mind complex. What the do'er does is a result of cause and effect. Parts and systems causing and effecting.
This do'er can still influence the parts and systems but it is not me any more than a bike's wheel is a bike. This do'er can get a little heady and absorbed in itself whilst doing its function. Taking more resources than needed. Taking them away from the other parts and systems and somehow getting tangled up into thinking it runs the show and owns things and has desires and dislikes.
The do'er likes to come along everywhere with those misapprehensions in tow. So when the eyes see, the do'er sees too. When the nose smells, the do'er smells too, when the hands work, the do'er works too. It doesn't have to, but it forgot that or is too infatuated with wanting to. Problem is, that do'er mucks stuff up for me. It mucks stuff up for the eyes, nose, mind, etc. It likes that sight, doesn't like that smell, is frustrated by that thought... What it likes goes away too soon. What it doesn't like lasts too long and it anguishes. But it doesn't have to. It chooses to or has forgotten how to not anguish.
So for me, I remind it. "Hey, you don't need to attend this one. You can go." So when the eyes see, it is less the do'er seeing through the eyes an object which it likes or doesn't like. It is more the eyes seeing the object. More than that, when the do'er leaves, the object of focus is all there is. When that is all there is, it can be seen/heard/smelled/etc more clearly than when the do'er comes along. When it can be seen/etc more clearly, it can be understood more deeply.
Is this right?
From the view of one zafu
Try thinking of how you, as an abbot of a monastery, would try to get long-term practitioners, to move along beyond the comforts & complacency that can arise after their grosser forms of attachments have been relatively addressed. One of the most basic aids to point out the way & dissuade one from lounging on one's spiritual laurels (from material attachments to spiritual attachments and then beyond both) is the bodhisattva vows.
Those vows really just say that there was, is and never will be a separate self that could experience enlightenment. Ultimately, this is not an act of accumulation so much as it is about renunciation.
The Bodhisattva vows are an underlying teaching to remind one of this truth
and while those actively softening their own egos can experience the Boddhisatva vows as a potentially transformative teaching aid, to the identity bound they will literally seem like an impossibility and a personal failing. Try considering the Bodhisattva vows as signposts pointing to the most direct route towards suffering's cessation.
Don't worry about it. Adopt it, if you're inclined, as a compass heading on a spiritual journey. Whenever you feel like you've strayed off course, check where its pointing and there at least will be an alternative direction you can decide to head towards, or not.
What do you think is a "self"? How could Enlightenment or Nirvana be anything more than an oxymoron for such an imaginary construct. How do you stop practitioners from simply substituting one attachment for another, like prisoners continually trying to do a make over of their own jail cell, and just show them the cell door that has always been open?
how
I always thought Bertrand Russel’s teapot argument was sufficient.
Jeroen
Thus I heard Bertrand Russell once say...
"When you are studying any matter or considering any philosophy, ask yourself only what are the facts, and what is the truth that the facts bear out? Never let yourself be diverted either by what you wished to believe or by what you think could have beneficial social effects if it were believed. But look only and solely at what are the facts."
Kotishka
Personality and language, including non-verbal cues, can give you hints of how someone might interact with you and the world. This is important as first impressions count a lot, just like in a job interview, to decide whether you want to spend time with someone or get to know this person in depth. Though this can be misleading sometimes.
Following your example Jeroen...
George Carlin - Factual, direct, funny, smart.
Bertrand Russel - Wise, compassionate, intellectual
Pedro Sánchez, Pablo Iglesias, Feijoó (+most politicians worldwide) - Money my name, Bullshit my game
Kotishka
"The Cosmos is within us, we are made of star stuff ...We are a way for the Cosmos to know itself"
~Carl Sagan~
Shoshin1
The Fifth Mindfulness Training
Nourishment and Healing
Aware of the suffering caused by unmindful consumption, I am committed to cultivating good health, both physical and mental, for myself, my family, and my society by practicing mindful eating, drinking, and consuming. I will practice looking deeply into how I consume the Four Kinds of Nutriments, namely edible foods, sense impressions, volition, and consciousness. I am determined not to gamble, or to use alcohol, drugs, or any other products which contain toxins, such as certain websites, electronic games, TV programs, films, magazines, books, and conversations. I will practice coming back to the present moment to be in touch with the refreshing, healing and nourishing elements in me and around me, not letting regrets and sorrow drag me back into the past nor letting anxieties, fear, or craving pull me out of the present moment. I am determined not to try to cover up loneliness, anxiety, or other suffering by losing myself in consumption. I will contemplate interbeing and consume in a way that preserves peace, joy, and well-being in my body and consciousness, and in the collective body and consciousness of my family, my society and the Earth.
You can dream of the past
You can dream of the future
You are always in the present
"Came across this more recent and thorough answer from HHDL that might shed some more light.2
https://buddhism-controversy-blog.com/2016/09/16/the-dalai-lamas-advice-to-buddhists-in-the-west/
Thank you for the link @person I was very interested in his comment that one should avoid criticizing a former faith. Through my reading, I have discovered that some of my early criticisms are not quite as watertight as once believed. You never know what is around the corner do you?
rocala
Pagan Blessing by Ed Fitch
“Above you are the stars, below you are the stones.
As time passes, remember…
Like a star should your love be constant,
Like the earth should your love be firm.
Possess one another, yet be understanding.
Have patience with each other,
For storms will come, and they will go quickly.
Be free in giving of affection and of warmth.
Have no fear, and let not the ways or words of the
Unenlightened give you unease.
For the Old Gods are with you,
Now and always!”

lobster