NO SELF?

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Is there an unchanging 'self'?

Is there an unchanging soul or spirit?

In Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam, there is a belief that something survives death.

But, that 'something' may not be 'unchanging'.

"Buddha criticized the materialistic annihilationism view that denied rebirth and karma."[47] 

The Buddha criticized the idea of an unchanging soul.

Jesus said that we must be 'born again'.

Buddhists and Christians teach that we should be 'selfless' rather than 'selfish'.

There is a belief that Heaven and Nirvana are achieved when one becomes selfless and becomes part of the divine soul.

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TERENCE GRAY - WEI WU WEI

Imagine that you are in an unselfish mood, you buy a lottery ticket and you win millions.

Being in an unselfish mood, you happily give all the money away.

Imagine a group of 20 handicapped schoolgirls on a holiday trip.

19 of them are in an unselfish mood and are having a wonderful time.

One of them is not having a wonderful time because she is concerned about her handicap and because she is not getting her own way.


Terence Gray (1895-1986) - pen name Wei Wu Wei

According to Terence Gray:

We should not grasp for pleasure and the avoidance of pain.

Bliss comes when we stop grasping for pleasure and the avoidance of pain.

"We are not number One, the first of all our objects, but ZERO ."

"The man who has transcended his false 'me', no longer identifies with his suffering."

Terence Gray was a Taoist-Buddhist philosopher and writer.

He was from an Irish family but was born in England,

He travelled throughout Asia.

Wei Wu Wei, alias Terence Gray (1895-1986) - Terebess / wei-wu-wei-biography / weiwuwei.8k

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Gray wrote:

"Are we not wasps who spend all day in a fruitless attempt to traverse a window-pane - while the other half of the window is wide open? ...

You should "disidentify yourself with the ego, by realising its unreality, and by becoming aware of your eternal identity with pure being...

"Doctrines, scriptures, sutras, essays, are not to be regarded as systems to be followed. They merely contribute to understanding. They should be for us a source of stimulation, and nothing more... Adopted, rather than used as a stimulus, they are a hindrance.

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Gray wrote:

"Play your part in the comedy, but don't identify yourself with your role! ...

"When you kick a man when he is down - do you realise that you are kicking yourself?

"Give him another kick - if you deserve it!

"Reality alone exists - and that we are. All the rest is only a dream, a dream of the One Mind, which is our mind without the 'our'."

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Why are you unhappy?
Because 99.9 per cent
Of everything you think,
And of everything you do,
Is for yourself -
And there isn't one.

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Wei Wu Wei, alias Terence Gray (1895-1986) - Terebess