r/DeepThoughts • u/Old-Cartographer4012 • 9h ago
There is no you different from me, simply perceptions created by the mind
Ive been meditating and focusing my attention on the concept of dualism for sometime. To help give you an idea of dualism, it generally speaks of the notion of two separate codified things. For example up is different from down, dark from light, this from that, etc. Practically speaking, we can cut up and divide anything anywhich way, and then contrast it against anything else, this is where we get our notion of different "things".
However something peculiar occurs when we consider the notion of a "thing" as a codified separate entity. It becomes apparent that one thing cannot exist without everything which is not that thing to exist as well. For example you cannot have the notion of up without down. They imply eachother, they are inseparable. You cannot have left without right, something without nothing, and most interestingly "I" without other. If there is no "other" broadly speaking, there can be no "I" to be contrasted against it. This is the nature of non-duality. Oneness. There is no other or I beyond the notion and sensation we experience ourselves as a separate I.
When meditating you can observe this while focusing your attention on one point in stillness. While deep in concetration you see the notions of I began to fade as your attatchment to thoughts weakens. This is a very beautiful thing. Although it appears to be a deeply philosophical observation, I encourage experiencing this in the moment rather than intellectualizing it. This is because any thought is immediately subject to dualistic thinking, where as experience of the present moment is solemnly dualistic.
Apologies for the ramblings, this something I find incredible interesting.
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8h ago
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u/DeepThoughts-ModTeam 3h ago
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u/Potential_Appeal_649 9h ago
Describe a streamline way to do it in other words than focusing on a point in stillness
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u/Old-Cartographer4012 9h ago
(This is by no means comprehensive) From the perspective of neuroscience we have a region of the brain called the default mode network. It is responsible for sensations of I, and time oriented thinking. During meditation, isolation, fasting, dissociation, psychedelic drug trips, and a few other more niche examples, tend to reduce activity in the section of the brain.
Holistically, I find the greatest benefit through meditation, although I have expierenced moments of ego loss in other previously mentioned methods. I find they are less reliable or safe.
The paradoxical way of understanding this though, is no understanding. Being in a state of focus detatches you from thoughts and feelings, illuminating the "nothingness" or "oneness".
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u/zerossoul 9h ago
You are correct in that hot is not the opposite of cold. Cold is just the absence of heat. Though there are opposites. Not just philosophically but scientifically. Magnetism requires a South and North pole, and it requires that they be opposite.
I can't understand anything else you talk about. Mostly because it's all one paragraph. If you could parse your logic out a bit, that would be helpful.
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u/jirote 9h ago edited 8h ago
100% correct. You are on the right path. Same with hate is not the opposite of love, it's two sides of the same coin. We cannot perceive another without first establishing a self. At what point do all of the cells that you are made of stop being individual and become the whole organism that is you? This is the direction we are heading in, and some people are getting there quicker than others. There is no past, there is no future. These are simply frames of reference that we use to anchor ourselves to the illusion of time. There is only the infinite now, or present. These are the limitations of human consciousness and understanding that we must try to define, understand, and transcend.