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Re: The Higher Self
Not sure about the 'Buddhist point of view', but going by personal experience I'll go with: yes, there is a Higher Self.
From the mundane perspective, it makes no sense, so no answer or explanation will ever satisfy.
A deep investigation into 'who am I?' + luck or Grace might trigger at least a glimpse.
However, as our old friend @genkaku might say, glimpsing the Higher Self and 50 cents will get you a bus ride. It's much more about our day to day lives, and how we are on an average Tuesday at 11 am, rather than these 'miraculous' openings.
My path these days is about the mundane and the wholesome. So, I would reccomend the same to Tavs. The Higher Self and similar matters will take care of themselves if and when the causes and conditions are right.
marcitko
Re: The Higher Self
@Tavs said:
From a Buddhist point of view, what actually is The Higher Self? I know some Buddhists compare it to Buddha nature but I find that answer unsatisfactory or some might say its what lies beyond ego but to me this answer is vague and too abstract. People talk about it as if it's a little silent unseen deity which somehow lives in our heads. Does it exist at all?
Mmm Higher Self...
Here's some food for thought to lose your self in... aka Anatta :
Awareness is fundamentally non-conceptual before thinking splits experience into subject and object. It is empty and so can contain everything, including thought. It is boundless. And amazingly it is intrinsically knowing.
Shoshin1
Re: The Higher Self
@Tavs said:
From a Buddhist point of view, what actually is The Higher Self? I know some Buddhists compare it to Buddha nature but I find that answer unsatisfactory or some might say its what lies beyond ego but to me this answer is vague and too abstract. People talk about it as if it's a little silent unseen deity which somehow lives in our heads. Does it exist at all?
To be honest, I’ve never found any mention of a higher self in Buddhism. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. As @person said, you might find it in the Tao, where everything - the Earth and the heavens, including even man - is patterned after the unnameable Tao.
Jeroen
Re: Meditation and mental health
@Vastmind said:
Do you have access to mental health care/help? I would strongly suggest that….i say that bec depression and anxiety usually can’t be addressed with just spirituality alone.
I agree. Having depression punctuated with acute anxiety, I'm no expert, but my Dr-prescribed medications work just fine. Better, in fact, than where I'd be if I relied on meditation alone.
Meditation is not a self-help regimen.
Re: Meditation and mental health
Meditation is a way of losing one's self and all the baggage the self has accumulated over the years .
What I mean by accumulated "baggage" is the accumulated weight of the conceptual self, the stories, the regrets, the identities, the fears, and the desires that the mind carries. Meditation, at its deepest, is not an act of doing but an act of undoing. It is a conscious, gentle setting down of that baggage.
Depression can be liken to a thought pattern cycle which locks one in one's mind where it can become very difficult to escape...A cognitive prison built and reinforced by thought patterns.
It's important to recognise that using meditation to free the mind from depression is a deeply personal journey. it is not a universal solution and may not work for everyone.
I'm reminded of one of my old sayings : I AM just a thought which thinks I AM thinking I AM just a thought. In other words... I AM what I think but ultimately I Am not my thoughts.
Shoshin1
Re: The Higher Self
@Tavs said:
From a Buddhist point of view, what actually is The Higher Self? I know some Buddhists compare it to Buddha nature but I find that answer unsatisfactory or some might say its what lies beyond ego but to me this answer is vague and too abstract. People talk about it as if it's a little silent unseen deity which somehow lives in our heads. Does it exist at all?
Great question and the answer is simply, no. A higher self cannot be found.
Re: The Higher Self
All I know is what people tell me and there are conflicting views, even among Buddhists. My understanding is its sort of what's left when all our normal states of mind (thinking, feeling, sensing, etc.) are pacified. But its not really a thing in the normal sense, any thought or conception isn't it.
person
Re: The Higher Self
Does it exist at all?
Yes it exists. It might be called the super-conscious or awake part of our being. In this sense we have the subconscious, normal consciousness and an awareness that is always a part of the first two.
In many schools of Buddhism these basic three are subdivided into chakras.
https://mindworks.org/blog/what-is-enlightenment-in-buddhism/
lobster
Re: Some troubles with new sila efforts
@marcitko said:
'training grounds' for moral courage and integrity.
I’ve come across a number of training grounds of that type…
Life itself: living life in a chaotic, outgoing fashion, where you encounter people in different functions, tends to be a great proving and training ground of morality. Anything that involves money will inevitably put your integrity to the test, and find you balancing greed against morality. This can be avoided by living a life of routine.
Hallucinatory visions: these can be a moral and spiritual pressure cooker. It tends to of its own accord seek areas where you are vulnerable, using your high intentions against you. Until you learn that almost always the best course is to do nothing, and keep quiet.
Books, films and games: any of the storytelling media can place you in morally complex situations, albeit imagined ones. It can be useful to just step outside the story and see what your own personal response would be in a given situation, away from the story’s railroading.
It of course depends on what type of moral courage you are looking to develop.
Jeroen
Re: Some troubles with new sila efforts
I wanted to offer something organized, but even after reflecting for a bit all I have are a couple random bits of related information.
-Having ones beliefs challenged often feels to our brain like a physical threat
https://massivesci.com/articles/brain-political-beliefs-reaction-politics/
-Often our beliefs are more about social belonging than intellectual or moral conviction. When people cling to obviously false ideas its often because giving them up would mean giving up ties to an important social group. I imagine it works in reverse in adopting a new set of beliefs.
I operate similarly to how you framed it in the OP, I keep it to myself and act in the manner I believe anyway. I think others don't feel as threatened and can respect your own convictions easier if you're not trying to push them onto others. I don't drink but sometimes find myself in situations where people are drinking. It was harder early on to stand out, it feels awkward and there is a fear of rejection. I don't think I ever said its a Buddhist thing, I think I made up some excuse about not liking how it made me feel (not really a lie). In some ways I probably didn't get invited to parties I might have, but at times I get invited because people want a sober driver.
person