No,it is just you a bigger idiot for bringing it up!God is transcendent to any living being.He is transcendent to the demons even.There is no such thing as ''chosen by God" people or nation.Sure you are just too dumb to get it.
If I am not wrong, I don't think they are talking about tuning out consciousness but rather using consciousness to shape the material world rather than the other way around. With consciousness, we create our own reality. However that is not the ultimate understanding as ordinary consciousness is in fact only a complex compound of constantly changing mental states. The false belief that this temporal assemblage forms some kind of immutable and enduring self or soul may even become a cause of much unhappiness. In other words, our ordinary common-sense idea that we each possess an independent conscious self is an illusion. I think this is what they are trying to say anyway. Maybe the experts can elucidate further?
No, actually quite the opposite. I believe in strengthening the self in a softened ayn rand /nietzschian type philosophy. I did the eastern route and its empty. surf
I am diametrically opposite of believing that the self causes unhappiness-- embrace consciousness, control the self don't dismiss it. In other words, take your instincts by the reigns. surf
Laugh all you wish friend. Happiness/contentment is within all of us, and its not from suppressing or superseding the self with dogma or behavioral routines.
What do you consider the self? In Yoga and other eastern practices the self is distinct from the ego. The ego is usually considered the self in the west, so I can see where there is some confusion. The ego is seen as a mental construct that seeks to perpetuate its own existence. The ego is a blinder in a sense because it distorts your perception of events in order to strengthen its own existence. Yoga is a practice that allows you to transcend the bounds of ego and experience reality for what is. Being empty or present is nothing more then being in tune with what is actually going on around you. That is true consciousness!
you started that train of thought by incorrectly describing judiasim. as i go through my meditation i will transcend the noise that you post on this thread.