Esoteric [Ego-Death Subthread] Why is it a good thing?

[littlebitflip]

I hate to say it but sometimes limits are good. Especially in a society where free-thought is limited and is considered illegal and a threat.

"The game" of society isn't fair but if you leave the game completely you can't live successfully in the society.

Psychedelics are okay as long as the person has the ability to set boundaries on reality and fantasy. It's easy to get carried away by speculation when you're experiencing things you've never experienced before. Some people lose their identity forever and it's a shame. These people may have been predisposed to it but who knows? It's all speculation.

Psychedelics... don't overdo them!

Ego-loss is good but realise you are your ego.

 

[Red Earth]

personaly, I don't agree with your statement.

1. The reason people post so much on ego death, is because once you acheieve it, you realise this is what you were persuing your whole life. Same goes for every other human being, weather they're even conscious of it, or not. Hence people posting about it. Once you achieve it, the aim is to help others.

2. We're all connected. How does that change things ? You're no longer out to prove anything, because you're only proving it to yourself. You're no longer out to fuck everyone over, cos you're only fucking over yourself.
the list goes on...

3. Pure naked existance. What are you going to do with it ? Don't do. be.

4. No one is to say what psychedelics cause you to experience. You be your own judge on that.

5. Reality is reality. but that means nothing. we all have different interpretation of it.

and as for this ...

To be egoless is to be apathetic and unmotivated.

I think to be ego less, is to be motivated by more, than just your own selfish desire.

Love & Light

Ps. Nearly all your posts on this thread, seem like they're motivated by fear.

 

[Bludda]

littlebitflip, I don't think anyone here has said having a sense of self is bad, or that seeking ego-death is the point of existence. You merely asked why ego death is a good thing.

Like anything that happens, ego death is not inherently good or bad. It just is. The people who have provided opinions (myself included) were just answering your questions.

The only ego death experience I've had was fucking horrible to go through, and it's taken me over a year to integrate. That said, it was also one of the most amazing things that has happened to me.

If you'd also asked "How can ego death be bad?" you would have got a lot of responses like "It terrified me" e.t.c.

Nobody is reccommending to abandon your life's goals, take a shitload of psychedelics and blow your mind searching for a ego death.

Maybe you should have rephrased your question if you were seeking different answers/opinions?


Respect and Peace

 

[littlebitflip]

It's an experience I thought needed questioning because it doesn't seem to get trivialized. I felt odd asking such a question because I'm sure I've benefited from my experiences with psychedelics both when they were ecstatic and when they were terrifying. A vacation from yourself is just what you need sometimes to realise how good it is to be you normally.

The fear you picked up on may be my residual fear of the experience of ego-loss. When I first started doing psychedelics I didn't experience any fear of losing myself and I lost myself in egoless states many times. After awhile and some changes in my life I got more nervous of it. I realised that I didn't want to lose my mind or my sense of self anymore but I still tripped a few times a year for a few years because it was something I thought I still enjoyed. Now after experiencing some horrible mindstates from some of those trips I can't dive into a trip without anxiety anymore. I think after enough experiencing I realised my mind and life weren't worth the experimenting. I guess I learned everything I could from them but I still get the urge to trip when lsd comes floating around... I just don't eat 10 hits like when I was younger. I'm still learning from my experiences.

 

[Bludda]

Agreed. I believe we were all stressing the same point after all

 

[Black Octagon]

Ketamine is by far the most effective drug for achieving ego death.

I'm sceptical of this. Ketamine is a powerful dissociative psychedelic but, from what I've read, has nothing on 5-Meo-DMT, which can seriously effect near-instant egolessness.

 

[Jamshyd]

^^^ That is highly subjective, either way.

I personally find Ketamine to be eons better than 5-MeO-DMT for anything .

As for the comment on people attempting to do go back there once it is experienced...

Well, while it is not necessary, the experience itself can be very reawrding if you know how to make use of it. One might want to go back because one has a miserable life and surviving ego-death re-ignites one's love/joy. Unfortunately, this is russian roulette when attempted with psychedelics, since psychedelics are notorious for being very unreliable. There are other, more reliable (but admittedly more difficult) ways of achieving ego-death.

There is no such thing as "constant egolessness" as long as you are alive. Living requires an ego. What ego death should teach you is to look beyond your single, little, insignificant ego. And "beyond" entails everything/every one, nothing/no one, and both at once.

IMHO, what one should strive to do after experiencing ego death, is to remember the experience and act accordingly, ie. through love (= being as selfless as possible). Again, thats just my opinion.

 

[warpigs330]

ego death seems like something I want to do. I am not sure If I am ready. you are all beautiful. thank you for the insight.

 

[futura]

no one is ever ready
but dive in and see what life is all about

 

[rm-rf]

"The game" of society isn't fair but if you leave the game completely you can't live successfully in the society.

give me liberty, or give me death

Ego-loss is good but realise you are your ego.

hardly. prove this.

Psychedelics are okay as long as the person has the ability to set boundaries on reality and fantasy

define reality. reality based on what you think reality should be? reality based on what the majority rule proclaims reality is? reality on your own terms?

 

[Red Earth]

ego death seems like something I want to do. I am not sure If I am ready. you are all beautiful. thank you for the insight.

:D

Love & Light to all brothers and sisters.

 

[Jamshyd]

^ Truly .

 

[kingpen]

"Fuck ego death" Those are harsh words man. There have been a lot of good reliles to this question though. Once you dissolve all boundaries, you are better able to view yourself as not just yourself, but part of something much bigger. If you can view the universe through a totally different perspective then you will be able to analyze different aspects of life from a viewpoint not just of your own, but from a viewpoint as the universe as a whole, and you as one of its many creations. IMO ego death is a beautiful blissful thing and all human beings could benefit in some way from an ego death experience. If you can just realize that death is a part of life, and there is much more to life than what meets the eye, then I think a lot of things on this earth could change. Ego death can indeed be a terrifying experience but every time I have achieved it, I was able to look back on the experience and see myself as a changed individual. If you are looking for a recreational trip, then sure, "Fuck Ego Death,' because it isnt recreational by all means, but if you are looking to actually gain something from an experience, and further yourself as a part of the universe, which thus furthers the universe, then ego death might be your kinda thing. You should indeed embrace who you are, but how can you really be sure of who you are if you never experience "who you arent"

 

[Inchoate]

Ah..such a good thread. So many of you have such beautiful words to describe something which, while I experienced it several times a long time ago (10 - 15 years ago) -- I had stopped thinking about the experience in those terms....

So my question/comment is: how has it changed you? After this amazing experience, when you return to your life (maybe even for a number of years after), how are you different? How is your everyday experience of the world different?

My experience: I went through an LSD phase in my early 20's..over a period of about 4 years, I probably ate about 100 hits. A few of these experiences did involve the complete dissolution of my ego and my frank acknowledgement of PURE NAKED EXISTENCE....... Now in my 30's I find that I am a different sort of person than others are.....frankly I think I am much much more accepting than others. Maybe I was already like this before I took those hits, maybe those hits had something to do with it....

what do you think? MODS: feel free to move this thread if it is too much of a different conversation

 

[DeepPurpleHaze]

The sun blocks us from seeing stars that are far greater than itself........

That's such a cool quote, did you com eup with that yourself?

fucking awsome.

 

[Flowingbeyond]

Lets see, ego loss. Is very intense. Dont do it too many times or you begin to forget what is what. Then you just strut

Ive been dead for a while and i keep coming back and realizing all this stuff and i am amazed with it. However, Id like to grow with it.

Ego loss doesnt necessarily mean total self loss. Those of us who commit to the universe. find out, we do infact get an identity, which is MUCH greater than our ego. We just need to earn it. accept it and breath life into it. Do not limit yourself to a lack of self through ego death. Realize we want you to feel at home in yourself and come around to greet us, like adults.

 

[Flowingbeyond]

I agree with most all people on this thread. I feel like there some people who should be working together in a more concerted effort. PM me.

 

[eek]

IMHO and personal experience

The concept of ego death pre-dates modern recreational use of chemicals and is associated with zen and some other forms of eastern mysticism that holds the notion that ego is all that binds us to the material world. When those bonds are loosed, the spiritual reality is what's left.... the self, left alone with the self experiencing nothing but the SELF. And, in my humble opinion based upon experience--that is possible with meditation and certain psychedelics.

However, I have also been with buddies while tripping who had the "thousand yard stair" where they were getting ready to give up the ____________ (ego, ghost, body, fill in the blanks). I believe that it was necessary on a few occasions to intervene in such situations in order to protect a friend in jeopardy. I believe there is a place where we can go where we can choose or by default let go of our attachments so completely that we just die. Sooooooo. I would suggest that a strong ego gives one the structure to let go of ego without giving up on life; it is paradox, but what is there about reality that is not, at its essence, pure paradox?

I have also experienced my own, or been with others during their ego-death experience that were extraordinarily powerful. While only momentary, the state is timeless and exhilarating beyond belief. For me, truly life altering and lasting in the best possible sense.

It is generally agreed that drugs can provide a glimpse of higher states of consciousness, but not bring about true spiritual enlightenment or cosmic consciousness. I am not sure that is true; one could make a case that those few people who are enlightened arrived there by chance or past karma more than by any practice (meditation, good deeds, devotion, etc.). Drugs could be a distraction, a door opener, even a stepping stone... or all of the above. And sadly, just a distracting pass-time, or death sentence for others.

We are playing with the highest stakes possible; life, death, souls, truth, fear, bliss, transcendence; the big stuff.

 

[Jamshyd]

That's such a cool quote, did you com eup with that yourself?

fucking awsome.

Thanks for the kind words

Well, I did not take this quote from anyone that I know of.

However, the Sun is a symbol of the Ego in many cultures and literatures (usually esoteric).

 

[blackpeter]

Turn off your mind relax and float down stream...

I think it is Taoism that has a term that means " actionless action"

I feel that the more I get myself out off the way the more consciousness I have left for experience.

I am slowly learning to turn my mind off.

I get stuck in Ego/dogma loops that result in useless fear, pain and shame. As I am growing I am learning to halt these "daemons at the gate".