Guest guest Posted July 7, 2011 Report Share Posted July 7, 2011 I have three terms for the observing self to add, one of from Buddhism, one from Shakespeare, and one from Harding: Anatta The Self Glassy essence Headlessness Buddhism referes to Anatta, which is often translated as 'no self'. The Self. The capital S is important, since it refers to what ACT calls the observing self as opposed to the everyday small-s self we have that makes us feel individual and separate from everything that's not us and causes so much of our suffering. When people experience enlightenment (Zen calls it kensho or satori), we lose our sense of being separate from reality and experience oneness with it. We experience the Self directly. Shakespeare called the observing self our 'glassy essence' in his play Measure for Measure: " Man, proud man! Drest in a little brief authority, Most ignorant of what he's most assured, His glassy essence, like an angry ape, Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven As make the angels weep. " An amazing insight from a man who lived in England four hundred ago and who probably had little or no knowledge of Eastern philosophy! There's an article on Buddha Space that's worth a look: http://buddhaspace.blogspot.com/2009/10/buddhism-this-glassy-essence.html The author's references to Harding's headlesssness experiments are, I think, also worth checking out: http://www.headless.org/experiments.htm As a humanist, I don't entirely agree with the spiritual metaphysics talked about on this site, but the exercises are an easy and fun way to get in touch with our observing self. Cheers, Stan > > What are the labels given to the observing self in other traditions, philosophies are religions? > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 Fascinating and educational post, as usual from you, Stan! The first term that occured to me, which I don't believe has been mentioned, was Higher Self. Helena To: "ACT for the Public" <ACT_for_the_Public >Sent: Friday, July 8, 2011 12:41:08 AMSubject: Re: observing self I have three terms for the observing self to add, one of from Buddhism, one from Shakespeare, and one from Harding:AnattaThe SelfGlassy essenceHeadlessnessBuddhism referes to Anatta, which is often translated as 'no self'.The Self. The capital S is important, since it refers to what ACT calls the observing self as opposed to the everyday small-s self we have that makes us feel individual and separate from everything that's not us and causes so much of our suffering.When people experience enlightenment (Zen calls it kensho or satori), we lose our sense of being separate from reality and experience oneness with it. We experience the Self directly.Shakespeare called the observing self our 'glassy essence' in his play Measure for Measure:"Man, proud man!Drest in a little brief authority,Most ignorant of what he's most assured,His glassy essence, like an angry ape,Plays such fantastic tricks before high heavenAs make the angels weep."An amazing insight from a man who lived in England four hundred ago and who probably had little or no knowledge of Eastern philosophy!There's an article on Buddha Space that's worth a look:http://buddhaspace.blogspot.com/2009/10/buddhism-this-glassy-essence.htmlThe author's references to Harding's headlesssness experiments are, I think, also worth checking out:http://www.headless.org/experiments.htmAs a humanist, I don't entirely agree with the spiritual metaphysics talked about on this site, but the exercises are an easy and fun way to get in touch with our observing self.Cheers,Stan>> What are the labels given to the observing self in other traditions, philosophies are religions?> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 Fascinating and educational post, as usual from you, Stan! The first term that occured to me, which I don't believe has been mentioned, was Higher Self. Helena To: "ACT for the Public" <ACT_for_the_Public >Sent: Friday, July 8, 2011 12:41:08 AMSubject: Re: observing self I have three terms for the observing self to add, one of from Buddhism, one from Shakespeare, and one from Harding:AnattaThe SelfGlassy essenceHeadlessnessBuddhism referes to Anatta, which is often translated as 'no self'.The Self. The capital S is important, since it refers to what ACT calls the observing self as opposed to the everyday small-s self we have that makes us feel individual and separate from everything that's not us and causes so much of our suffering.When people experience enlightenment (Zen calls it kensho or satori), we lose our sense of being separate from reality and experience oneness with it. We experience the Self directly.Shakespeare called the observing self our 'glassy essence' in his play Measure for Measure:"Man, proud man!Drest in a little brief authority,Most ignorant of what he's most assured,His glassy essence, like an angry ape,Plays such fantastic tricks before high heavenAs make the angels weep."An amazing insight from a man who lived in England four hundred ago and who probably had little or no knowledge of Eastern philosophy!There's an article on Buddha Space that's worth a look:http://buddhaspace.blogspot.com/2009/10/buddhism-this-glassy-essence.htmlThe author's references to Harding's headlesssness experiments are, I think, also worth checking out:http://www.headless.org/experiments.htmAs a humanist, I don't entirely agree with the spiritual metaphysics talked about on this site, but the exercises are an easy and fun way to get in touch with our observing self.Cheers,Stan>> What are the labels given to the observing self in other traditions, philosophies are religions?> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.