--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, turquoiseb <no_reply@...> wrote: <snip> > Spiritual seekers talk a lot about getting rid of that nasty > self thingy, and replacing it with the Self thingy. But then > how do they go about it, at least on the Internet? They argue > with other seekers about something that their self -- which > they say they're trying to get rid of -- believes.
Except that it's not about "trying to get rid of the self," of course. The self doesn't go away in enlightenment. <snip> > Isn't this a viable definition of arguing over a matter of > opinion or belief -- a self trying to convince itself that > it exists? No. > What then is the 'payoff' for the self of convincing another > self to believe the things your self believes? How does this > result in realization of the Self? Explain it to me. It doesn't, and nobody thinks it does. But if you're going to ask the question, you need to ask the same question about the compulsion to put down the selves of other seekers and exalt one's own self for not being like those other selves. You know, the way you've done in this post and innumerable others.
