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Caught in the Idea of a Self
WESTERN PSYCHOTHERAPY AIMS at helping create a self that is stable and wholesome. But because psychotherapy in the West is still caught in the idea of self, it can bring about only a little transformation and a little heal-ing; it can’t go very far. As long as we are caught in the idea of a separate self, ignorance is still in us. When we see the intimate relationship between what is self and what is not self, ignorance is healed and suffering, anger, jeal-ousy, and fear disappear. If we can practice no-self, we’ll be able to go beyond the questions that make people suffer so much.
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I think “struggling with the idea of an ‘other’” is more accurate to how unhappy people I know frame the narrative.
The focus of their energy is generally on what “everyone else” is doing, and specifically the things they don’t agree with.
By focusing on the things they dislike about others it becomes harder for them to accept the ambiguous relationship between “self” and “other”.
I feel called out 😅🙏
Well said! The idea of “other” is just as limiting as “self”. We are all connected. We are all one. At humanity’s core and the essence of human consciousness there is no “self” and there is no “other”. By understanding this we can heal and begin to realize that everyone is simply trying to be happy and forgiving actions and understanding them becomes much easier. At least this is what I learned from reading Yongey Mingur Rinpoche’s teachings. Not saying I am right or wrong just sharing my thoughts.
I agree with you. I haven’t read that, but I came to the same “conclusion” while playing Splatoon 3 one night.
The more I look at the world through the lens of a struggle between the reconciliation of a “self” and an “other” the more things make “sense” to me.
It starts to feel like all media is trying to convey the same idea, but there’s never a way to be 100% certain that the message is being received as intended. The best we can do is express ourselves as honestly as possible, and do our best to love each other.
