Just needed to check the box to receive replies via email:)

Nope... and I have no rational reason why I wouldn't.

hmm, starting to see a common theme that requires a discussion of what 'we' are ;) I look forward to detailed debates on this when i've got a bit more time but as a statement of personal opinion, the one and only thing that is 'me' is my awareness of my awareness (not a typo) and there is no way to share that or connect it to anything else. As for my individuality, thoughts, emotions etc, they are simply a set of learned and biochemical habits, behaviors and neural/biochemical structures that are unique to the animal body 'I' reside in. So I would not be any less me by sharing those in any way and if it can lead to a reduction in suffering for all, would be more than happy to share away :)

I do however understand the discomfort such a thought brings and it is the ego! - not talking about the freudian definition (would be the super-ego in that context) or the way that word is used to insult someone arrogant etc, but as its used in eastern philosophies. Also makes sense from a neuropsychological point of view; in order to function, the mind, and particularly the frontal lobes, model the world around us and this model naturally includes a model of our own selves in that world. Ego is basically the 'me' that is defined in that model and is rarely accurate as it is biased by how we'd like to see ourselves. In a nutshell, the less that ego matches what/who we are, the more troublesome our lives will be as we'd be basing our decisions on an inaccurate model. Changing that model isn't very easy as for the ego to believe itself, it has to attack any information, internal or external, that doesn't fit its model or threaten its integrity in any way. So, its gonna get real pissed if you ask it if it would like to change ;)

ha, ha! Love the perspective, caged! Initially, I thought no way and then I reconsidered after reading what you wrote but I think part of the fun is what makes us unique and individual. I think you have to suffer the unhappiness and dissatisfaction to appreciate what is truly good in life.

It's the sharing the miserable part that concerns me. I can deal with my own misery - not so sure about sharing someone else's.

For that matter, not so sure I understood the original comment.

i can honestly say no . . .
i dont wnat to have to deal with someone elses issues and problems i have my own and that should respected, as if wouldnt want to push my problems on someone else.

my indivduality is important, and its not the feelings, and the freedom to think, its the part that is me. the good. the bad. the ugly. i wouldnt give that up for anyone or anyones world, peace, and as selfish as it sounds, i would rather see the world become nothing more then a rotten planet, then a place of peace and prosperity, beacuse i could say i stood for what i believed in, i did what my feelings said, and i stood up for myself.

hmm, got me a bit confused there MM, aren't you on DS because sharing problems helps everyone? I personally find that if i'm so wrapped up in a problem that i can't see its solution, the only way to untangle myself is to get a different perspective from someone else. As for the opposite, usually when i'm giving someone else advice about how to overcome their problems, not only do i feel good about myself for helping others but usually find that the advice i give is one i could use myself but just hadn't thought about until looking at it objectively which is very hard when we're thinking about our own problems.

also, i would be very interested to hear a detailed description of what you define as 'you'. you are saying that your individuality isn't your thoughts or feelings, which i agree with, but you indicate that what's left has its good, bad and ugly parts which my definition of 'me' can not have so you might have a definition of what makes us us that i haven't encountered before and i love new perspectives :)

as for the rest, maybe i'm just not understanding what you're trying to express but;

"i would rather see the world become nothing more then a rotten planet, then a place of peace and prosperity, beacuse i could say i stood for what i believed in, i did what my feelings said, and i stood up for myself."

does that mean you believe in and your feelings compel you for a rotten world and you dislike peace and prosperity? because if you believe in and desire peace and prosperity, any action towards them would be in line with your beliefs and emotions.

WOW Cage!!! LOVE THIS! This is how I am, too. Esp. when it comes to giving advice.

"I personally find that if i'm so wrapped up in a problem that i can't see its solution, the only way to untangle myself is to get a different perspective from someone else. As for the opposite, usually when i'm giving someone else advice about how to overcome their problems, not only do i feel good about myself for helping others but usually find that the advice i give is one i could use myself but just hadn't thought about until looking at it objectively which is very hard when we're thinking about our own problems."

I often see the solution to my problem(s) when looking at it from the perspective of it someone else with a similiar problem.

Ok last sentence is wacko - due to the wild enthusiam I was feeling after reading your comment, Cage. LOL

Should read: I often see the solution to my problem(s) when looking at
similar problems being dealt with by another. The slight change in perspective is an eye-opener. There! That's better. lol

BTW, sorry I went off topic...

"hmm, got me a bit confused there MM, aren't you on DS because sharing problems helps everyone?"

-- That depeneds, there are certain things i dont want people to know, or alot of people to know. but i have come to DS i guess to recieve support and run, but now i kind of found myself giving and reciving. Support is a two way street, you cant take one with out feeling obligated to return it. I will admit talking about thigns and getting things together as one with the support of people you know and trust is good. But i would never, ever feel the nead to burnden an entire planet with my needs.

"also, i would be very interested to hear a detailed description of what you define as 'you'. you are saying that your individuality isn't your thoughts or feelings, which i agree with, but you indicate that what's left has its good, bad and ugly parts which my definition of 'me' can not have so you might have a definition of what makes us us that i haven't encountered before and i love new perspectives :) "

-- the good to me, once i take my thoughts and feelings away, i am now able, not to be judgmenetal and give logical advice. But the bad is i am no longer compassionate and helping someone merely comes a task, not an enjoyment, or helping someone in some way becomes nothing more then a unfullfilling duty. the ugly is i am no longer who i am any more, i am no longer Morose-Mary, i am just a useless active self-aware (to an extent) Robot. What makes me, me is the choice that i have to be what i want to be, the freedom to choose and be aware of what i see, and to be able to identify with that. take away thoughts and feelings.


"does that mean you believe in and your feelings compel you for a rotten world and you dislike peace and prosperity? because if you believe in and desire peace and prosperity, any action towards them would be in line with your beliefs and emotions."

-- perhaps i made that last bit a little to wonkey. my feelings do not urge me or make me feel compheled to watch the world die. My feels urge me to do stand up for what i believe in and stand by what i believe in, even if it goes against what may be best for humanity, because in the end i know that i at least stood up for myself as an individual. Now that being said, if i know i am in the wrong and that my belif is perhaps to dangerous, then i would feel ready to drop it in a second and figure a different approach.

in short to that statement: I look out for myself, and anyone else who is on the road with me. In the end i am the only one that matters to me, i am the only one that i have power over, and i should be concerned for that. That being said, that doenst mean i dont care for my friends and family, i still view them as people, and people i care about, but i can only do so much for them, the rest is on them.


I hope this makes a little more sense then my previous post.

i believe that we all ALREADY are participating in such a personal/global world the very best that we are able to at our own maturity levels. we may each individually think that we are running our own shows with our own dramas but somehow, because reality and life are so-much bigger than any one of us, or group of us, in the end we each play a part in the tapestry of life and time. It's as if we are a bunch of King Minas'es running around thinking we have royal robes on when everyone else can perceive our self-delusions. Sooner or later, we must each humbly acknowledge our small role on the world stage and each other's small role. Selfish people bring out the best of unselfish people. Without each of us at our unique stages of maturity and chosen roles to play, this world would be a much lesser place.

I can't help but believe that each of us is on a very long journey with all of the little roads eventually leading to the same place, the same point in time or non-time, the same state of self-realization, the same state of realizing that we are already "home," needed, and appreciated. Sooner or later, sooner being better than later, it is in our best interests to stand back and merely admire with true awe at this marvelous experience of the gift of life and companionship that this visit to earth is freely being given to us.

My head hurts! All we have is 'now' - make the most of it!

i think that, in a way, we each already are participating in the global scheme of things. we each are living how we believe and do what is most important to us. collectively, we are each making the contributions to this world that are most important to us. some feel called to be priests. others, robbers.

for each of us, our middle ground is a fine line of self-interest versus other-interest depending on where we are "at" at any given point in our lives and in this point in human history.

who knows, maybe this earth experience is a sort of level of heaven and we don't even realize it.

So, to be clear: "Joining the collective" would mean giving up the part of your self that causes you misery (for me: the over-analyzing, the pension for physical and synthetic stimulation, and all the faults that I have as a human being in a society that expects perfection).
In return, you would have none of the "symptoms" caused by that part of yourself, but have access to the "collective" consciousness as though it were a region of your own brain.
You would not only be "one" individual being, but you would be "you" without the things you hate about yourself as well as an element that exists beyond the realm of human experience.

basically be an ant......we all will be soon enough whether we like it or not.... only way evolution can take us from where we are.