What do all these poems have in common?

 God
 the “real world”
 finding who we are
 there is no God
 there is no “self”
 belief
 truth
 finding the “self” “truth of us”
 some invisible thing on which we believe and
depend
How do they connect to the reading you did for
today?
 we have no self, but that doesn’t mean we don’t
exist
 realization that things are connected and also
separated
 no self…just “God” or this powerful, invisible
force
 spiritual teachings
 connection between self and God/powerful
invisible force
1. What’s it mean to have no self?
 we can still exist…we don’t have attachments
to our body
 selflessness and emptiness of self
 we are empty…but not “zero”
 we don’t own anything—our body our
emotions, things
 a little paradoxical, a little nonsensical. Can
involve being in touch with “God”
 we can’t possess anything
 full of everything—connected to everything
2. What’s it mean to be your true self?
 The true self is beyond all identity
 true self depends on no self
 “You must be somebody before you can be
nobody.”
 “unique patterns”
 virtues and character
 Buddha nature? emptiness, no self…
ESSENTIAL QUALITY
3. How can we have no self and simultaneously
be our true self?
1. We talked about the brain and the mind.
2. interactionism
3. substance dualists/mind-body dualists
4. reductive physicalists (reductionism)
5. qualia

1. How do these poems connect to the concept

of “no self” and qualia?
 We try to find ourselves outside in religion,
but the truth is “no self”.
 If you look for you, it’s not you! If you
know that, you will become one with “the
way things are”.
 The poems talk about how we realize things
are. The poet knew a lot of things, but then
realized these things are nothing…and tried
to express this experience of everything to
nothing, which is connected to qualia.
Somehow, this realization connects to the
loss of self.
 We have another “us”. It can be you and not
you. It could be our “shadow”?

2. What’s it mean to have “no self” and how

does it relate to emptiness? What is emptiness?
  No self means no more illusions. No
self=emptiness.
 No self leads to selflessness. Emptiness can
lead us to no self and freedom. In order to
achieve “no self” we have to think beyond
our immediate desires.
 Emptiness is not meaningless!
 It doesn’t mean things don’t exist but that
our identity isn’t permanent. When we
realize this, we have achieved “no self”.
 Interdependent self.
 True emptiness isn’t empty. It contains
everything.
3. What’s it mean to be your “true self”? What
are the different parts of “true self” Kornfield
discusses?

No self and true self depend on each other, but they’re

not the same.

Reclamation
Character
Letting go
Personal destiny