"You" Don't Exist: Why an Enduring Self Is a Delusion Mindfulness practice increases our capacity to ride the waves of pleasure and pain. By Ronald Siegel / Psychotherapy Networker What if our therapeutic goals of improving self-esteem, developing a stable and coherent sense of self, and identifying and expressing genuine, authentic feelings all turn out to be symptoms of delusion? And what if the current mindfulness craze—if we take it seriously enough—changes who we think we are and what we’re trying to do in therapy [or in trading]? Like atomic energy in the 1960s, mindfulness is lately being seen as the cure for everything. Depression, anxiety, alienation, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, financial difficulties—you name it and there’s a mindfulness-based remedy for it. And while it’s true that reducing stress and giving us respite from our incessant thoughts can make almost any condition feel better, serious engagement with mindfulness practice is likely to produce an unexpected, often unwanted effect: it can lead us, and our clients, away from our comfortable constructs and toward a radical reappraisal of who we are and what our life is all about, upending our psychotherapy practices in the process. In the Buddhist traditions from which many contemporary mindfulness practices derive, mindfulness techniques evolved as tools for deconstructing our usual view of ourselves and the world, for waking up from conventional, socially reinforced fictions about who we are and how to find happiness. This awakening occurs to the degree that we no longer believe in the self. It involves realizing what’s called in Pali—the language in which the Buddha’s teachings were first recorded—anatta, or non-self. The mindfulness practice that leads to recognizing anatta is deceptively simple. It begins with cultivating concentration—choosing an object of awareness, such as ambient sounds, the breath, or other body sensations, and returning attention to that object every time the mind wanders from it. Once some concentration is established, we open the field of awareness to attend to whatever predominates in consciousness. Throughout the process, we try to accept whatever arises, whether pleasant or unpleasant. If we engage in this simple practice long enough, we discover that our sense of being a separate, coherent, enduring self is actually a delusion maintained by our constant inner chatter, which generally features “me” at its center. From mundane decisions (“I think I’ll get the salmon with wilted spinach tonight”) to existential fears (“What’ll I do if the lump is malignant?”), this chatter fills our waking hours. Listening to it all day long, we come to believe that the hero of this drama must exist. But if we practice mindfulness long and often enough, this conventional sense of self can start to unravel. By repeatedly bringing our attention to sensory experience in the present moment, we see that what arises in consciousness is a kaleidoscope of sensations and images [including price movement], regularly narrated by subvocal words, which themselves arise and pass. Attention goes from the sensations of breathing, to a sound, to an itch on the scalp, to an image of a client, to remembering an upsetting email. We never actually find the little homunculus, the heroic man or woman inside, the stable and coherent “I” so regularly mentioned in our passing thoughts. Rather, there’s just a continual flux of changing mental contents. more . . .
What are your own thoughts on this stuff especially the No "I" or "me" delusion? You are aware it is a really hard thing to do / achieve?
Of course it is. But when we talk about "being in synch with the market", abandoning the idea of "self" is a great help, and opens the door to trading emotionlessly.
A tested plan, will that not do it? No matter how hard we try to "abandon" the self (I-am), by pure will, it is impossible. There are certain ways to do it according to the teachings. It can't be done intellectually. It must be experienced.....so to "know". So to "abandon" is to try which is ineffective and likely to be limited in results.....so trading with no emotions is unlikely as the "self" (I-am) isn't truly removed. Although removing the "I-am" allows for a better way to SEE and REACT to things differently. (actually, the word "self" should be replaced with "I-am". The "self" cannot be said to either exist or not exist as it is formless)
best advice I ever got. Back when I was in college. Came from the coffee (pot) table in every hip seekers house. Blue book, "Be Here Now." Very simple, Just eliminate the word "I" from your vocabulary. It was easy and life changing back then. As you can read, I've already violated the rule twice (well now three times) just in this post. But that was before typing on the internet. The tipping point was taking some good LSD and smoking some good pot, and making a conscience decision to give up my individuality and join the universal "All." And All is in vibration, and it is very blissful. Since then, everything has been pretty much peachy keen.
If it's followed. A great many people don't. It's easier to abandon if it doesn't exist. What one is abandoning is the perception. As for trading emotionlessly, why not? What is there to get emotional about?
it's a perfect fit. Sitting around stoned trying to figure out how everything works and betting on it. You do know that 85% of your crowd underperforms the market every year don't you?
My crowd is tracked and verified--- claimants and parrotbots on this site wont even submit to the most basic verification. With that said, i venture that 99% of them are negative annually. Surf
make it 95% and I'll lay that bet, but I don't know how we could ever verify. but getting back to mindfulness, why do you laugh when people talk about the past that eventually led them to trading?