BryantheNo-Self

“16:31 As a metaphor we could say we are like a mouse running inside its wheel. What keeps us moving is the allure of some tasty cheese—the myth of obtainable “survival-happiness”—just outside the wheel. The “cheese” is only there to get us to run; it is not there for us to obtain. Unfortunately for us, we don’t know that. Since we don’t seem to be closing the gap, we run all the harder chasing this cheese—the promise of happiness. If we didn’t believe we were entitled to the cheese, or we knew we couldn’t ever get the cheese, we’d stop running. But our wheel and our running and what we perceive as our particular needs are a large part of what makes us “this particular one.” In the overall scheme of surviving as a self, it’s imperative that we remain ignorant of what’s true and what’s only an illusion. If we were to grasp this dynamic for what it is, this self we’ve become confused with might cease to persist.”
― Peter Ralston, The Book of Not Knowing: Exploring the True Nature of Self, Mind, and Consciousness

“Whatever we think of as “self” we will protect and maintain. If it’s a conceptual self, and likely it is, then we end up with mind protecting mind.”
― Peter Ralston, The Book of Not Knowing: Exploring the True Nature of Self, Mind, and Consciousness

“You are eight years old. It is Sunday evening. You have been granted an extra hour before bed. The family is playing Monopoly. You have been told that you are big enough to join them. You lose. You are losing continuously. Your stomach cramps with fear. Nearly all your possessions are gone. The money pile in front of you is almost gone. Your brothers are snatching all the houses from your streets. The last street is being sold. You have to give in. You have lost. And suddenly you know it is only a game. You jump up with joy and you knock the big lamp over. It falls on the floor and drags the teapot with it. The others are angry with you, but you laugh when you go upstairs. You know you are nothing and know you have nothing. And you know that not-to-be and not-to-have give an immeasurable freedom. —Janwillem van de Wetering”
― Peter Ralston, The Book of Not Knowing: Exploring the True Nature of Self, Mind, and Consciousness

“when the mind serves “the self” it is actually serving something of its own making—a conceptual self.”
― Peter Ralston, The Book of Not Knowing: Exploring the True Nature of Self, Mind, and Consciousness