The Tao of Dark Sages - Chapter 7, Part 2

The Tao of Dark Sages
by Scott Bradley

So where do we begin? I’m thinking maybe we should regroup and discuss what has brought us to where we are now. We are talking about the self. What do we know about the self?

Nothing really. Except that we experience a sense of self.

Yes, it seems pretty central to our experience. That’s why we want to spend time with it. Sue-tzu gave us a kind of model of our experience, what is that?

That this sense of self arises from awareness and with this self we have created an ego-self-identity trying to give ourselves substance and meaning that we don’t otherwise have.

That’s the model or metaphor — whatever we call it we must remember it’s just an aid to help us work through our experience; we can’t really say that this is the way things are. For my part, I find it really helpful. And I sense that Sue-tzu is also correct when she says that, since we make the ego-self, we also have the power to transcend the ego-self by starving it of belief. If we cease to believe that we are that separate identity, that identity will dissolve. And that leaves us with...?

A self. A transparent self. The metaphor of a crystal sphere through which my awareness looks at the world really works for me. Because it’s been purged of ego, it can allow a wholly different perspective on self and the world to arise.

Though it’s the same idea, I like to think of the self as a window through which awareness observes the world.

So, are we this self?

Yes. And No. I sound like Sue-tzu!

(Laughter)

But what I mean is, we are this self in a very impermanent way. This self is a product of awareness and can’t really be said to exist. Yet, it is how awareness chooses to view the world, so it’s to be enjoyed and affirmed.

And is that it? When we say “I” does it stop there with self or...?

Because I can be aware of my self, I transcend my self so I am that awareness that observes. I am awareness.

And what is that awareness?

I haven’t a clue.

Good answer. I don’t see how we cannot be led to further experience of what it means for us to be that awareness, but I feel very strongly, for myself at least, that I need to spend more time just understanding and experiencing the self.

If you're interested in reading more from this series by Scott Bradley, go here.