Questions about the Ego and 'modern' Buddhism.

So I've been reading some Buddhist scriptures, and a couple of questions have arisen, chiefly: If there is no 'ego', no personal spirit, then how are we each such different yet distinct representations of a human personality? What are we? What is the force that drives us?

Secondly, Buddhism does not speak of a purpose so much as Enlightenment; but what if one does not wish to reach Nirvana yet? What if somebody wants to experience worldly pleasures and accept the suffering that accompanies it? After all, we have bodies and are on a physical plane for a reason, in my eyes. Suffering may be the sacrifice for the physical experience. Could Buddhism still be considered a practice if Nirvana is not one's current goal?

Thirdly, where are some resources I can go to for a slightly modern view of Buddhism? I'm not going to completely abandon the ancient texts, of course, but I would like a more updated perspective, since I know I'm not going to be throwing on some robes and leaving my home anytime soon. I'd like a few ideas on how Buddhism can be practiced in daily, modern life.

Thank you so much for your help in advance, and thank you for the resources already within this forum. I recently picked up a copy of The Teachings of the Compassionate Buddha [Early Discourses, the Dhammapada and Later Basic Writings] by E.A. Burtt, and I feel like the Buddhist religion speaks to me the clearest out of the plethora I have experienced before. Any help is greatly appreciated.

-Amsler

 

We are made up of the five skandhas: form, sensation, perception, mental formations, consciousness. Nothing more. Ignorance and a desire to avoid suffering are what drive us.

Suffering, by definition, is that which one does not want. If you want pain, then pain is not suffering. If you wish to avoid pleasure, then pleasure is suffering. Everyone has things that they find unsatisfactory. Those things are suffering, and we all want to be free from them. We each want to be free of different things, but discontent is universal.

One that people looking for a modern perspective seem to like is "Buddhism Without Beliefs" by Stephen Batchelor. It has many critics who feel it is not true to the tradition. However, it may be what you are looking for.

Traditional Buddhism does not require one to wear robes, become a monk, or leave a normal lifestyle. You might want to read the Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra - a traditional Buddhist scripture - because it teaches the very important point that a layman can attain enlightenment too.

 

So there is no such thing as a personal identity? What, then, would Buddhism claim our purpose to be?

 

perhaps not seeking a purpose?

 

I feel as though one's purpose being to seek no purpose just wouldn't be right for me.

 

then try looking at it from another way. it's not that ones purpose is to seek no purpose, but that seeking a purpose has no purpose.

 

Buddhism makes no claim about a purpose. That is a modern, New Age concept.

Buddhism does claim that all beings wish to avoid suffering, and it proposes a method for doing so. If you choose to make that your purpose, then that is a good choice. But it is something that comes from within you. It is not ordained from outside. Nothing in Buddhism is ordained from outside.

 

Okay, I understand now. At least I do a little more than before. Thank you.

 

Purpose is solely a relative concept, is it not? It is all in the mind. Why then would we 'need' a purpose? If our purpose only exists because we create it then why can't we have ten purposes? Or ten thousand purposes? Or even no purpose at all?

Destiny exists and it is made by you. So do as you wish, follow your own purpose. Just don't forget to be mindful of the consequences of your actions because fulfilling your 'purpose' will require very specific karma, whether it is to experience as much of the world as you can or to cease that experience all together.

 

You have a rare chance right now with this life. You have the opportunity to change your growth... if you waste it all by causing suffering to others, living recklessly, or something like that then you're practically wallowing in bad karma and that is certainly not going to help at all... When you choose the action, the consequence comes with it. If you're wanting to party, drink, and raise a little hell, then your suffering would come from whatever results of your reverie (DUI, disturbing the peace, etc.).

If you're trying to justify a reckless and inconsiderate lifestyle with a Buddhist "there is no purpose/reality" thought, then you're not seeing the bigger picture... Look inside yourself and you can find that the change starts in you. When you become the embodyment of peace and love, then it's possible for you to want/give that to others, and the whole 'seeking worldy pleasures' won't be such a driving factor for you. It would probably even lose its appeal when you see what others go thru as you bounce off of one place to another.

Another thing to consider is the Middle Way. An extremely pleasure seeking life and chaos is at one end while totally buckling down and boarding up your windows and doing nothing but meditations and chants and letting the practice itself override everything else, is at the other end of the see-saw. An extremely amped life will stomp out any peace as an extremely shut down life, prevents sharing love and peace and helping out others.

And, the best way to be Buddhist is to not be Buddhist, right? I hope you find peace, and you spread peace.

 

Buddhism does not teach a purpose in regards to ones existence. It teaches that there are fundamental results to all action one performs, beit mental, verbal or physical. It also teaches one to recognize the primary cause, by understanding why it is one acts. That is, what motivates one to act.

Karma (pali: Khamma) is nothing but a word that describes the process of action and its results. Which are inclusive of the actions one perform regarding the results, i.e., acting on the results of a previous action, which perpetuates both action and result.

Buddhism never claims there is no soul, or no spirit. The anatta principle is that all this continuous contact between object and sense associated with a specific object results in fixation on what is being contacted in the form of Craving which results in Clinging, which in turn results in Becoming. That this non-stop persistent contact gives one the illusion of Self. Anatta means NON-SELF, not NO SOUL or NO SPIRIT.

Buddhism also teaches one a specific path which includes a practice of morality, not defined in a religious implication, rather defined on results of actions in ones conduct. Morality in Buddhism is merely a practice of Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livlihood. That by practicing this, one also chooses to practice Right Effort and Right Mindfulness. This this practice has results and that is Right Concentration. And that a continual practice of morality which results in a continual development of concentration also has results, that being Right View and Right Intention. So that the Fourth Noble Truth becomes a practice, a praxis that has no religious connotations outside of the ones one wishes to apply by induced ritual.

One can live however they wish to live, for as long as they wish to live, as long as one realizes, or comes to the truth regarding action and its results. One does not even need to practice morality to practice Buddhism. One needs to understand that all actions have consequences (results). Seeing is an action. Hearing is an action. Smelling is an action. Tasting is an action. Touching is an action. And, thinking is an action. These actions are being performed non-stop every moment of every day, of every life.

The Second Noble Truth teaches what so many positive-thinkers teach these days, that THOUGHTS CREATE REALITY. That whatever one fixates on with their mind is being created by their mind ... even the views and perceptions of reality itself and the universe (visible). That by fixating on the objects associated with our senses what we perceive BECOMES our reality ... yes, even that brick upside the head, the brick, and the head ... all of these things we THINK we see, hear, smell, taste, touch we give existence to by fixating on it to the point to where we believe what we are in contact with as being real.

Ego is not more than the idea of an identification of a self separate from and the same as what one experiences. Which commonly leads to the thought, "Who is doing the experiencing." Which, again, should be thought of as "What is being experienced." Then the idea changes to a view of self as being nothing more than a conditioning of a set of processes rather than an inherently existing being.

To answer some of your questions one needs to understand the process itself, which is discussed in the First Noble Truth. That all of our senses and the objects associated with the senses are made of four basic materials (elements): vibrations (wind), energy (fire), liquids (water), and solids (earth). In essence, one conditions the other, i.e., vibration conditions energy, energy conditions liquids, and liquids conditions solids. Where vibration is and can be considered in modern science as the atoms themselves, since each constituent particle has a wavelength that defines the properties of the particle being identified. But the teaching is such that all things are made of these.

The principle teaching is that everything is in a constant state of changing. That clinging to things constantly in a state of change induces stress. That the continuous and constant contact between sense and object conditions the idea of a self.

1) We are each different because we think different about what it is we are in constant contact with. Because of the feelings we each experience. Because of the perceptions we form regarding the continuous feelings. Because of the mental ideas we fabricate regarding our perceptions. And because of the awareness we attain from continuous mental ideas.

"Human" and "Personality" are only words we choose to identify the experiences we have when we are in contact with a specific set of objects that look, sound, smell, tastes, and feels a certain way. They really don't need the label "Human" or "Personality" associated with them. It could be something else. So "Human" and "Personality" are just a part of the idea of a separate self, which comes down to the idea of a separate set of experiences used to identify the total experience associated with being "Human" or having A "Personality".

2) We are nothing more than the experiences we are having at the moment. And yet, we are not even that because things are constantly changing. Never the same from one moment to the next. Meaning what was identified as a self one moment, is gone the next only to be re-established again from the next moment of contact between sense and object.

3) In Buddhism the teaching of the force that drives us is called Ignorance. Not knowing. Not knowing why we act, we act, continuously, over-and-over. In the Second Noble Truth is the understanding that Ignorance conditions action. And since all actions have consequences, we act on the consequences themselves which in turn perpetuates the action itself ... this is the fixation. Mahayana calls this motivating factor (force) the three poisons. Hinayana calls it the kilesas (defilements), which are Greed, Ill-Will, and Delusion. These three things motivate all actions. We act according to these three. They drive us to act. And the basic idea we have in being driven by these motivating factors is the desire and/or need to be happy, free from stress.

4) Enlightenment is not a purpose, nor is it a goal. Nirvana (pali: Nibbana) also is not a purpose nor a goal. Enlightenment and Nibbana both are only comparable to the extinguishing to a flame. To have acquired (wrong choice of wording) enlightenment or nibbana is to NOT USE conventional modes of thinking in order to describe a result of attainment of wisdom which leads to the elimination of stress.

5) If one has no aspirations, desires or wishes to seek Nibbana, only simply just stops trying to understand why they are stressed out all the time. Plain and simple. Just stop and enjoy the misery, even the misery that IS enjoyable. Why even think about it. Just keep acting and reaping the results of the actions. The one acting is the sole owner of the results of their actions. No one else is, and never can be. Stop worrying about not wanting to end the stress. It will keep going on and on all on its own as a result of ignorance.

However, you may wish to stop practicing Buddhism as it will most certainly lead to an understanding then you will begin to become disillusioned with this desire to avoid Nibbana.

6) Bodies are a result of past actions. The size of our body. Its shape. Its color. Its height. Its gender. Its disposition. The eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind are a result of past and present actions. All this is a result of action. This plain of existence (realm) is a result of action. You are continuously creating it moment-to-moment.

7) Suffering and the "physical experience" are one-and-the-same. Same meaning, different words used to describe it. Chili and Pepper are the same as well, yet we still like to use both words separately and even together in the same sentence.

8) Buddhism is NOT a practice. The Noble Eightfold Path (Fourth Noble Truth) is a practice. Buddhism is the teachings of a Buddha, and a Buddha teaches to generate an understanding of what motivates one to act, or what causes ignorance because it is ignorance itself which is the ROOT of stress. The main cause. The beginning.

Nibbana is comparable to a RESULT of having been freed from stress, freed from Ignorance (Enlightened), freed from those things that motivate us to act and whose results are greed, ill-will and delusion.

While many who practice Buddhism will attest that Nibbana is a GOAL. It is not. Freedom from Greed, Ill-Will and Delusion IS a goal. The result will be Understanding (Enlightenment). Nibbana.

9) The best way to practice Buddhism for a "in daily, modern life" is to just keep doing what you're doing now, only be mindful of your actions. Are you actions harming other living beings? Are your actions becoming a source of stress for others?

By "source of stress" I mean, that you do not CAUSE others to stress, they cause their own stress by being motivated to act in accordance to how they experience what they are seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching and thinking. And you can DO things that others don't like, and can even do it intentionally, and they act accordingly ... and all actions have consequences (results).

10) Buddhism has no concerns for the views or opinions of others. It is an understanding solely for the one practicing. It is the elimination of Ignorance for the one seeking liberation from stress (Dukkha). The Fourth Noble Truth entails the Noble Eightfold Path which is: RIGHT VIEW, Right Intention, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livlihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration.

In Buddhism RIGHT VIEW is Understanding the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Noble Truths, which leads to Wisdom, which leads to Liberation. Liberation from Self, from stress, from ignorance.

So there is no MODERN VIEW per-se, nor is their an ANCIENT VIEW. There is only understanding to dispell ignorance, and this understanding requires a quiet, focused and concentrated mind.

My question regarding this (these) question(s) of yours is this: Why practice Buddhism? Why not just practice nothing at all. Live a good life, do no harm, be mindful.

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Thank you so much. That was extremely clarifying, and makes me feel better. I feel as though Buddhism is merely an idea, that I can attach my own realities and meanings to suit my own purpose (so long as I am not harming/distressing others). This is perfect. I love this.

 

Why single Buddhism out as being an idea as if nothing else is?

Everything we can ever possibly think is an idea. Speech is an idea. Actions are ideas. Seeing becomes an idea. Hearing becomes an idea. Smelling becomes an idea. Tasting becomes an idea. Touching becomes an idea. Thinking becomes an idea.

First Noble Truth: Sense contact with FORMS condition FEELINGS. Feelings condition PERCEPTION. Perception conditions MENTAL IDEAS. Mental ideas conditin CONSCIOUSNESS (awareness).

So there are feelings, perception, mental ideas and consciousness associated with the eye. There are feelings, perception, mental ideas and consciousness associated with the ear ... with the nose ... with the tongue ... with the body ... with the mind.

Would like to add that the same word for mental ideas in the first noble truth is the same word used for actions in the second noble truth. Sankhara.

 

Sounds rather like Dionysus than Buddha.

 

What is "rightness"?

 

A dying slug then, is rightness.

 

That which reduces suffering.

 

It is right then to murder because it ends the suffering of the murdered?

 

Where is this going, and is it related in any way to the topic of the OP?

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I am not a predictor of future events save in the most general way. I would hope it would lead to greater understanding.

If you are looking for a judge of right speech, I think you should do it.

Isn't the thread called questions about the ego and "modern" Buddhism?
I am trying to flesh out the meaning of rightness when applied to the prescription for the relief from anxiety called the "noble eightfold path".

If there is a "right action", is there also a wrong action, and how is the difference discerned?

So I ask the question what is rightness and one response is, "That which reduces suffering". In the body of your statement you say #7) Suffering and the "physical experience" are one-and-the-same.
So do we reduce suffering by reducing physical experience??