should you commit ego death?

[aerosma]

"By understanding that I am cringe, I allow myself to reach higher levels of existence" or some shit idk I'm not a philosopher

[alicamilletti]

“I am cringe, but I am free”
-Plato, probably

[aitoralvarez]

I think that it is a common sentiment since most people want to, at some point, forget their lives without leaving existance. Doing something relatively close, like letting go of personal aspirations/ego, can help us achieve a more or less similar state and just take some weight off our shoulders.

[lewisleslie]

The death of the ego isn’t necessarily drug-induced, though that is the most reliable way to induce ego death. When I was a teenager, I experienced intense depersonalisation and derealisation. I had come to the conclusion that my personal vessel was arbitrary; there was no real difference between “myself” and someone else, besides past experiences. For a long time, I drifted through life as a non-entity. I felt like I had no firm grasp on reality, and that what I saw around me had no connection to the true expression of the world.
After a few years of reflection, I eventually felt like a human again, but I am not who I was before.

Thanks for reading, have a nice day :))

[AnonymousC]

I have a "Self-Disorder"; or a 'ipseity disturbance.' It's the worst shit ever. What little bit of me there is left misses being able to enjoy what I used to enjoy to it's fullest. Living my entire life on auto-pilot sucks. Yeah, I have no anxiety, no fears, no worries. But I also feel, very little, if any joy. Carrying conversations is hard, because I have nothing to say to anyone. Movies don't interest me. TV doesn't interest me. I enjoy music, but that's human; I don't have any set tastes, and I don't identify with the music I listen to. I play video games to pass the time, but beyond that, I just kinda' exist. Ego death sucks if you don't ever really come back from it, it's great if you want to cure your anxiety though; as I used to suffer with some of the worst anxiety imaginable, but now feel, not much of anything.

[metamorphosis_]

The ego is greedy. It will force you to complain because it feeds from your complaining. The only way to fight it is by observing it. Catch the voice in your head and recognize it as just your ego. No more than a conditioned mind.

[Player-joiz]

I feel like “ego” and “self” were used interchangeably in this video.

Ego is your theoretical self, the person you think you are, based on your experiences and such so far. The part of your psyche that never leaves you alone and is always trying to protect and nag you, your mother.

The self is the part of your psyche that never shows itself completely and can’t exactly be seen without tremendous effort on the part of the observer, whether that observer be you or someone else. It’s the thing that keeps you grounded in reality, makes you robust in the presence of chaos but never coddles you, it’s your dad that supposedly went to get milk, but never returned.

The process of enlightenment isn’t killing your father or your mother, your self or your ego, but making your ego stop driving away your self thinking she knows what’s best and instead letting self / intuition steer the ship with regards to decision making regarding the issue of meaning, and ego on everything else.

Self is what’s there, ego is the theory.
This may also make more sense if you switch self with intuition, and ego with intellect.

[hambonesmithsonian]

I’ve had some high intensity psychedelic experiences that totally annihilated my ego. This time without my ego did so much to help me heal from previous traumas, as I could examine them from a “third point of view.” If you will. It taught me how much my ego really influences how I perceived the world. But I also realized my “ego” is simply the “algorithm”, informed by our collection of previous experiences, by which we use to interact with the world.

The minimizing of ego is important, but it’s not everything.

[van_trini]

Oh man, this video. I've been arguing with my Dad and his family about this forever. They're obsessed with the idea of meditation in the new age sense, to destroy the ego and become enlightened. I've argued this exact point, that the ego and self are so important for existing and surviving in the world, to understand and better the nature of our relationship with our friends, family and the rest of the world, and ultimately be a good human. Ironically, they're among the most self-centered and narcissistic people I know, isn't that funny? Thanks as always bud.

[manwithaplan]

Had an ego death when I was 19 on 6 grams of mushroom. I thought I was for real dying and that I was never coming back. Once all concepts of reality left me and there was nothing but void, it was honestly one of, if not the most amazing baffling things I’ve ever experienced. I felt like I’ve always existed and always will.

[EranHertz]

I had a mental breakdown last year which caused me to seek therapy. After learning about CPTSD, childhood trauma, SPD, and slowly recovering lost memories, I finally understood every decision I made my entire, why I'm attracted to the things I do and why I behave the way I am. It all made sense and for the first time in my life, I could stop being ashamed and constantly terrified every second. But the downside is that now that I know my entire personality is a mask - a coping mechanism - meant to protect me when no one else would. So, whom am I really? If I take out the mask - what is left? And what if everyone else personalities are not just masks life mine?

[Rynamony]

When I was younger I was utterly convinced the world was a dream. Probably mine, probably someone else's, and that took a lot of meaning away from my life. I'm still not sure if anything is real but I've gotten to the conclusion that "Well fuck it if it isn't real. I'm me. I exist enough for me to feel, and if I'm the dream of a butterfly then I'm still myself." I have memories of the past, I'm the person who has memories of the past, regardless if the universe was created last Thursday. So I think in some way embracing the fact the self exists can also be quite a transcendent experience. You're here, right here and right now. Dreams are real while we're asleep, the fact we wake up doesn't make them any lesser.

[serenity]

“Your soul knows the shortest, safest route to your true destiny. Why is your ego behind the wheel?”
― Anthon St. Maarten

[juanrojas]

Had an ego-death at a relatively young age. It will forever shape my view on life and everything around me. The implications of that singular moment where I could no longer associate with the identity I had carried for my whole life until that point was amazing. I was existing without the worries of being human, I felt like I was a grain of sand on an open beach, there are many like me and nothing makes me special but it's what I make of it that matters most. My greatest moment in life was when I was just in acceptance of everything and anything around me, I had found my place and I was comfortable with everything about my old identity and the world around me. It's a bunch of gibberish but I felt free, and I have chosen to live my life just like any other grain of sand that we are, but I will never forget the view from this sandy beach. It's strange to experience pure observation but if I could choose, I'd throw myself away and watch the world go by without me.

[bestaneierflott]

I suffered the borderline disorder for over 23 years, with so much anxiety not until I came across psilocybin mushrooms treatment. Psilocybin treatment actually saved my life honestly. 6 years totally clean.
Never thought I would be saying this about mushrooms

[ericreingardt]

I don't think you have to kill your ego just control it. The ego is "a great servant but a terrible master." If you know it's an illusion you won't confuse it for the real you and you can do whatever you want with it to get the most out of life. Like you're an actor in a play and you can customize your character and write what the character does in the scenes the director put you in, but the actor goes crazy if he confuses himself with the character he's playing.

[guillermozapata]

I think that an interesting response to this is Rumi’s philosophy and poetry. Loss of the self and the experience of radical pluralism phrased in one way as “the drop joining the ocean” is seen as a form of ecstasy. Rather than seeing everything as meaningless, there is an ecstatic appreciation of the beauty and complexity of everything without differentiation. At one point he phrases it as being pleased by disappointment.

In essence, there’s an assumption about meaning at the base of what you’re saying. In order for something to be meaningful, there must be things that are meaningless. In order for there to be things that are good, there must also be things that are bad. Each term exists as a form of judgement. Collapse of the self into the whole equalizes everything, but that doesn’t make everything meaningless. Instead, this can be seen as the capacity for judgement collapsing. In this state, the bifurcation no longer makes sense. Instead, everything has individual quality and is experienced in its own way, like the colors on a color wheel. The judgement, good vs. bad, meaningful vs. meaningless, is actually a distraction from the true nature of the experience. Appreciating it and accepting it for what it is is what exists without ego. What happens next is mysterious, and always contextual.

[karun_vv]

Being the small one in family, often led towards narcissism in past. Not getting enough attention and demanding attention and make fake World view around me just so I can sustain that level of narcissism, it led me towards unhappy life. Though i knew at heart, this problem of mine and one day your channel was recommended to me. I starting taking interest in different philosophy and writers. Now I can say I am improving, little by little. Thank you.

[DETHFCK]

A few years ago I peaked on DMT and up until now I have struggled with the idea of self. It was easy at first I was just finding out about nihilism and taoism but over time it became very difficult. Take it from me, you can only look at the world this way for so long because as humans it's in our nature to crave warmth, meaning and routine, being at odds with your own nature, your own mind is difficult. The lessons you can learn from ego death I believe can make you a much more considerate and happier person but like all things in life it's about balance, swinging to one extreme (black pilled, pure nihilism etc.) is unhealthy. Take the best aspects and discard the bad aspects of everything you learn.

[HisKittySakura]

I love that your channel is just talking/explaining things that you believe or think is interesting, it feels really nice to me and I find myself putting your videos on in the background while I animate from time to time 😔✊💜