max_freakout
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2005
- Messages
- 560
But that's simply a delusion isn't it.
It isn't as simple as that, it is a delusion in a certain sense, but in another sense it is an accurate statement about the metaphysical basis of egoic identity - because ego doesnt really exist in the first place
thinking that one is dead during ego death is a delusion in the sense that the physical body has not died, and life continues after the ego death trip has ended, so when the ego death trip comes to an end the initiate realises that he isn't really dead
However thinking that one is dead during ego death is a reflection of the way that ego appears from the higher-dimensional psychedelic perspective. From the perspective of timeless oneness that is revealed in the peak psychedelic state of consciousness, there is no egoic separateness (there is only a timelessly unified plenum), which is why ego has this tendency to proclaim its own death or nonexistence when it adopts this perspective during a trip.
So you could say that the ego death proclamation is a delusion, but you could also think of it from the other way round that the original proclamation of egoic identity (the thought/belief that "I exist" per Descartes) is the real delusion, which is actually corrected by the ego death experience.
The facticity of egoic existence (ie the truth or falsity of the claim that "i exist") is nuanced, and not a simple case of either the ego exists or else it doesnt exist. Ego exists in a certain limited way, and ego doesnt exist in a certain limited way. So the whole issue of delusions versus true beliefs is a misleading way of characterising the issue