Can you know Self? Can you possess Self?

By Will Bond <wbond@meta-net.net>

Can you know Self? Can you possess Self?

Before one can possess Self, one must know what Self is. Self is one’s soul (Atman) or what the ego is and cannot be known by another person. Basically, it is what is left after the shell or body has passed, or you could say it is the essence of your being.

But can one really possess (Big) Self or even begin to describe Big Self without using characteristics that relate to the Empirical Self. I believe not. How many can say they know what their soul is like? Or can someone describe what really makes up their soul without using descriptions of personality types or consciousness? No, we end up describing the Empirical Self and not the Big Self. I don’t think this comprehension is plausible in this physical world.

The Big Self is made up of meta-physical traits, that I believe we cannot know until our physical existence ceases. So, in this world we can posses and know the Empirical Self, but to know the Big Self it takes death, or even possibly enlightenment to fully understand what the soul is.

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Peter Rutanga <wung32@hotmail.com>

I agree that it is hard to describe the real self (or "soul" as you say) in our limited perception. However, I think that if self has no distinct trait (since they would all exclusively be part of the empirical self) it's fair to say that it can not be possesed.


shaun cutler <cutlershaun@hotmail.com>

i agree that it would be very difficult to understand Self simply because death or enlightenment must occur to understand it.


Anna C. Nance <eirendel@yahoo.com>

I agree that it is difficlt to understand soul and equally difficult to describe it without using empirial erms. Since this is the case, that you cannot describe it, would you not have to say that you canot possess it?


Fran Sanders <FranSanders@hotmail.com>

I really enjoyed the paper and I agree that the soul is diffficult to prove.


J.W. Preston <Wednesday@emeraldis.com>

Very interesting essay. I feel it is difficult to understand Self!


Dowd <rdowd@student.lander.edu>

One thing I've been wondering(and not necessarily because your paper topic, but because it has nagged me and I have a forum to write about it), if you cannot know Self without death or enlightenment, then how can you know that you have been enlightened or died? Seems like a vicious circle. Now is enlightenment a big light bulb that pops on over your head, and then you just know all there is to know about your own Self, or soul, or what it is? Who has described it so well, that if he/she cannot describe soul then he/she could describe enlightenment. Seems puzzling. I know I can write all about Self and souls and enlightenment, but how do I know what all of it means if I cannot truly describe it... even if I don't use words and instead use only my thoughts, I still cannot give meaning to something that seems apparently transient, or barely physical.


Rick Miller <rellimin@hotmail.com>

I agree with your view on Self I think that you really can't know. An old Taoist saying sums it up best, "The Tao which can be concieved is not the real Tao ... Those who know don't say, and those who say don't know."


BRIAN NETTLES <NED_CREEPER>

Type Your Comment Here Excellant paper on self.Good detail I should have read it before our test maybe I good have got a few extra points


Scott Elingburg <kehoutek@hotmail.com>

A well-written paper. I understand your idea in thinking that there really is no way to describe the soul without using empirical terms. Perhaps that is why the concept of the Soul and enlightenment are difficult to express on paper or in class. We are speaking of things that we have no knowledge of first-hand. With that in mind, it seems a little silly that we should try to describe these things in the first place. They are what they are. There is no way to describe the Soul or enlightenment.


Eric Howell <grayghost13@hotmail.com>

I enjoyed your paper, and I think that you made a good point, when you said that you could not describe self in the sense of the physical world.


Travis Galloway <hyperdedo@hotmail.com>

Very well spoken .... I agree with most of what you said and you argued the points enough... good wook


Tiffany Norton <TiffNorton@Hotmail.com>

Little confused now, but this topic always has that affect.
Self/soul is a hard topic to write about, but you seem to have handled it very well.


Will Mulkey <wrmulkey@hotmail.com>

Interesting paper. It does seem hard to separate and understand the two.


Richele Skelton <skelton@emraldis.com>

I agree that you can't understand Self without being enlightened


Christa Ryan <christaryan@yahoo.com>

This is a hard subject to write about. You did a good job and I agree it is very hard to understand and explain.


10-27-00 <Topic Closed>

Submission for comments on this topic is closed.