Ego experiment

[Gerard]

Try this:

 

Get rid of all mirrors in your home and avoid looking at any reflective surfaces for at least 10 years of your life. After that period go grab a mirror and take a careful look at what you are seeing. Of course it would be the "you" you always identified with but in this case would be older and somehow different.

 

This experiment will prove two things:

 

1. Anicca, or impermanence. All samsaric phenomena is subjected to change.

2. Anatta, no self.

 

The self we always have identified with is a social product.

 

I am willing to start this experiment right away but it would be hard once I leave home. As it is hard to avoid reflective surfaces.

 

Anyone interested in joining this experiment.

 

 

Namo Amitabha.

 

 

Edit: deleted topic description.

Edited September 6, 2008 by durkhrod chogori

[.broken.]

Living in a city, avoiding reflective surfaces would be near impossible. There are car windows, shop windows, car mirrors, computer monitors, puddles of rain water... even the windows in one's own home...

 

Despite the sheer feat of avoiding these objects, I would speculate that, for some, it is not necessary. Our appearance changes from day to day - the astute would realise this. If one is not quite such an observer one only has to look at a photo of oneself taken some weeks, months or years ago...

 

Impermanence is quite clear.

 

No self... well, that's a matter for personal enquiry and contemplation.

 

Yours humbly,

James

[三江源]

you must be kidding durkhrod.

 

I could be walking around in completely the wrong shade of lipstick, if I did that.

 

 

[orb]

Try this:

 

Get rid of all mirrors in your home and avoid looking at any reflective surfaces for at least 10 years of your life. After that period go grab a mirror and take a careful look at what you are seeing. Of course it would be the "you" you always identified with but in this case would be older and somehow different.

 

This experiment will prove two things:

 

1. Anicca, or impermanence. All samsaric phenomena is subjected to change.

2. Anatta, no self.

 

The self we always have identified with is a social product.

 

I am willing to start this experiment right away but it would be hard once I leave home. As it is hard to avoid reflective surfaces.

 

Anyone interested in joining this experiment.

Namo Amitabha.

Edit: deleted topic description.

 

 

I'll do it, but wouldn't it be more realistic to start with 1 month ?

And another rule that should be applied jointly would be smth like: you can't talk about your experience but very rare (maybe once a year) and only with the people that are part of the experiment because your ego would get even worse if you always talked about it.

The ego is fed on the attention that you are getting from telling everybody about your experience.