{"id":2232,"date":"2014-11-25T00:24:27","date_gmt":"2014-11-25T00:24:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.meditationmag.com\/blog\/you-dont-exist\/"},"modified":"2014-11-25T00:24:27","modified_gmt":"2014-11-25T00:24:27","slug":"you-dont-exist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meditationmag.com\/blog\/you-dont-exist\/","title":{"rendered":"You Don’t Exist"},"content":{"rendered":"

You don’t exist.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Philosophers have been asking for centuries: \u201cWho am I?\u201d<\/p>\n

Theologians have been asking: \u201cWhat happens to \u2018me\u2019 after I die?\u201d<\/p>\n

Psychologists have been asking: \u201cWhat is the nature of \u2018self\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n

People have been pondering these existential conundra for millennia. For some reason, the concept of \u201cself\u201d really stumps most people. For thousands of years, people have been forced into the incomprehensible, irrational, unscientific conclusion that \u201cthe soul is supernatural, and is beyond the reach of human logic.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Buddha\u2019s answer, on the other hand, is simple, rational, and powerful.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t exist.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

When I was a kid, I used to fall asleep trying to figure out the answers to questions like:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere was I, before I was born?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I fall asleep, why do I wake up in the morning with the same soul (the same \u2018experiencer\u2019 from yesterday)?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf someone built a robot version of me, with exactly the same body, molecule-by-molecule, and exactly the same brain, with exactly the same memories\u2026 would he have his own soul? Would his experience be exactly the same as mine, as if he was, in fact, ME? When he walked around, would I be seeing out of his eyes as well?\u201d<\/p>\n

All of these crazy paradoxes that we encounter when we talk about the \u201cself,\u201d are a product of the assumption that some kind of cohesive \u201cself\u201d exists, as an independent entity, that remains \u201cme\u201d through time. It\u2019s almost as if we assume that the \u201csoul\u201d is not made from physical matter and energy like the rest of the Universe, placing it \u2014 naturally \u2014 into the realm of the supernatural.<\/p>\n

Where are we getting this idea from? Does it make any sense to you?<\/p>\n

If you were an outside observer, is this the assumption that you would make?<\/p>\n

Every animal has a sense of \u201citself,\u201d as an independent entity that exists through time. It\u2019s a natural way of looking at the world, and it seems to affect just about everyone.<\/p>\n

In truth, this \u201csense of self\u201d arises from illusion.<\/p>\n

Animal brains have evolved what we call \u201cmemories.\u201d The brain remembers everything from events, to people, to emotions, to thoughts, to the way the \u201cself\u201d (host organism) relates to others, to the way the \u201cself\u201d relates to the things around it.<\/p>\n

These memories project the present experiences of the animal, back into the past.<\/p>\n

Animal brains (especially the ones with large frontal lobes, like human brains) also have the ability to project their experiences into the future.<\/p>\n

So, the brain of the animal forms a mental picture of past, present, and future, all painted from the viewpoint of this one individual animal. When the animal needs to make a decision in the present moment, it acts based on its memories of the past, and its goals for the future. This panoramic picture of past and future, centered in the aliveness of the present moment, creates the illusion of continuity of self.<\/p>\n

So, What Am\u2026 Who Is\u2026 Huh?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Instead of seeing your \u201cself\u201d as something that exists for your body\u2019s lifetime (and possibly beyond), imagine for a moment that this moment is all that exists.<\/p>\n

Past and future don\u2019t exist; they are only a figment of your imagination. If there were no living beings to remember the past and imagine the future, the Universe would just \u201cbe as it is.\u201d The Universe is a constantly flowing, changing soup of energy and matter.<\/p>\n

Everything is a part of this soup; the trees, the rocks, the planets, the sun, your body, your brain, even the consciousness that you refer to as \u201cme.\u201d<\/p>\n

Your ability to perceive the world, to experience consciousness and perception, is simply a product of the electrical energy flowing through your body and brain.<\/p>\n

In fact, there is no \u201cyou\u201d to perceive anything. Consciousness and perception exist, just as heat and light exist. Does the sun have a soul that puts out heat and light? Does it call itself \u201cme?\u201d<\/p>\n

The human body puts out consciousness and perception in the same way that the sun puts out heat and light. The heat and light of the sun are forms of energy. So are consciousness and perception (electricity in your brain).<\/p>\n

The heat and light of the sun continue to exist over time\u2026 but only because they are constantly arising in the present moment. Without the nuclear reactions happening at every moment in the center of the sun, the sun is NOT a giant ball of flaming gas. Without those nuclear reactions (which arise in the present moment), the sun is not the sun. It doesn\u2019t have the properties of giving off heat and light. It would just be a giant ball of gas. The sun doesn\u2019t naturally have the properties of heat and light; rather, it is the nuclear explosions which make it so.<\/p>\n

The consciousness and perception of the human being continue to exist over time\u2026 but only because they are constantly arising in the present moment. Without the electro-chemical reactions happening at every moment in the center of the brain, the human is NOT a conscious, perceiving being. It doesn\u2019t have the properties of giving off consciousness and perception. It would just be a big bag of meat, blood, and bones. The human doesn\u2019t naturally have the properties of consciousness and perception; rather it is the electro-chemical reactions which make it so.<\/p>\n

Consciousness is the product of the chemical reactions in the brain, right now. That which you call \u201cme,\u201d that which you call your \u201cself,\u201d is just an imaginary concept that is arising in the brain right now. This is the nature of the human brain. Consciousness misperceives itself. Consciousness does not see that it is simply an electrical phenomenon arising in the present moment from chemical reactions and electrical fluctuations, but rather sees itself as a long-lasting, separate, supernatural soul-self that came into existence at some point in the past and may go out of existence at some indeterminate point in the future. It is evolutionary. But it is not true.<\/p>\n

So What? The Sense of Self Evolved For A Reason. Shouldn\u2019t We Just Not Think About It?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Absolutely. There\u2019s no point in thinking about anything. After all, you don\u2019t exist; what could be the point?<\/p>\n

The dude that we call \u201cBuddha\u201d (Siddhartha Gautama) preferred to see the truth of reality (that there is no \u201cself\u201d) because, well\u2026 beyond the fact that to do otherwise would be delusional\u2026 the truth actually set him free.<\/p>\n

Most of our problems, as humans, come from what we call \u201cego.\u201d The ego is essentially the sense of self\u2026 your concept of \u201cwho you are.\u201d Once you realize that you don\u2019t exist, all of your problems disappear. In fact, you can\u2019t possibly have any problems. If there\u2019s no one to suffer, suffering cannot exist.<\/p>\n

The problems that disappear are actually the illusionary problems that arise from the illusion of self. \u201cProblems\u201d that are arising right now are not problems, but situations. All animals have the instinct to defend life and fight death. Letting go of all your \u201cproblems\u201d doesn\u2019t mean doing things in the present moment that will ultimately lead to your demise. You will notice that most serious Buddhist Monks enjoy extremely healthy lifestyles, are socially responsible, and live long and healthy lives. Letting go of problems just means letting go of the idea that a \u201csituation\u201d is a \u201cproblem,\u201d and dealing with situations practically, as they arise.<\/p>\n

When you think that you have some kind of \u201csoul\u201d that travels through time, you go through life in the shadow of death. This is precisely the thing that makes \u201csituations\u201d into \u201cproblems.\u201d It is the fear of death which drives us to the irrational, desperate behavior patterns of greed, violence, and selfishness. Without this fear, there would be no fighting, no violence, none of that craziness. Everyone would just be peaceful all the time, having fun, loving each other, supporting life and opposing death.<\/p>\n

When you realize that all that exists is now, and there is no \u201csoul\u201d inside of you, no \u201cyou\u201d living life\u2026 you realize that you can\u2019t die, because you never existed in the first place. The consciousness arising now is arising from electrochemical reactions in the present moment\u2026 the consciousness arising NOW (one second later) is arising from a whole new set of electrochemical reactions. Sometimes there are more reactions (stronger consciousness), sometimes there are less (weaker consciousness).<\/p>\n

Have you ever stood up too fast and felt your world blacking out? A smaller amount of oxygen is going to your brain for a couple of seconds, and all of a sudden, seamlessly, your consciousness dissolves into nothingness. If it completely dissolved and you fell down (passed out) for a few seconds, does that mean you \u201cdied?\u201d Your consciousness disappeared\u2026 your \u201csense of self\u201d certainly disappeared\u2026 so what happened? Did you cease to exist? I always wondered about this when I fell asleep at night as a child.<\/p>\n

A couple of months ago, I was in a really intense motorcycle accident. I saw the truck coming toward me. I knew there would be an impact, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Then, there was blackness. There was tumbling. Maybe one or two seconds of blackness and tumbling. I opened my eyes, and there were people standing all around me. This was on a country road in Thailand, in the middle of a forest, far from the nearest town. It struck me as odd that there were all these people around. How did they get there in the blink of an eye?!?<\/p>\n

Later, in the hospital, I had a lot of time to think about the accident. I came to the conclusion that I must have been knocked out for a period of time, but I couldn\u2019t believe that it had felt so seamless. It was like yikes, blink, tumble, look around. There was no \u201clong period of blackness\u201d in between. There was no \u201cI\u2019m about to be knocked out.\u201d It was almost like I was driving, driving, driving, and then *poof* I simply didn\u2019t exist for a period of time, and then *poof* I existed again on the ground. The feeling that \u201cthis can\u2019t be right\u201d was so strong that I doubted the obvious realization that I must have been knocked out.<\/p>\n

When I finally got a chance to talk to my girlfriend (who was in another ward, recovering from a broken leg from the accident), she told me that I had been knocked out for about ten minutes. She had thought I was dead until I woke up and started moving around on the ground. My neck was broken but thankfully I am expected to have a full recovery within the next few months.<\/p>\n

When I heard that I had been knocked out for ten minutes\u2026 it was a very profound realization for me. I had been hearing about the whole Buddhist concept of \u201canatta\u201d (\u201cnot-self,\u201d the understanding you don\u2019t exist) while meditating in the Buddhist Monastery nearby, but it was only a concept. This was a real-life experience that I could not deny. My consciousness exists only because it is a product of my body and brain in the present moment. If those conditions change, and consciousness ceases to arise, then \u201cI\u201d simply don\u2019t exist. My consciousness exists for as long as my body and brain remain \u201calive,\u201d but \u201cI\u201d only exist as long as I imagine it so.<\/p>\n

And what if I had died that day? There was no \u201cten minutes of blackness.\u201d In fact, I don\u2019t even remember the impact. It was just driving, driving, driving, uh-oh. If I had not woken up, well, that \u201cuh-oh\u201d would have been the end of it. There was no \u201cdeath.\u201d There was no \u201clong black nothingness.\u201d Hell, there wasn\u2019t even a \u201cnothingness.\u201d\u00a0There was no \u201cme\u201d to experience it.<\/em>\u00a0Death is not about you; there is no you for it to be about. Death is a self-centered concept arising in self-centered organisms.<\/p>\n

Death never existed for me. Those ten minutes of non-existence, didn\u2019t exist. All that has ever existed in my awareness is conscious experience (life). All you have is life, you never have death.<\/p>\n

When you realize this, you no longer fear death. You live life to the fullest, you enjoy it to the last drop.<\/p>\n

You also stop asking meaningless questions like, \u201cWho am I,\u201d and \u201cWhat happens to me when I die.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article is a collection of a little more than 2000 words which you can read, and maybe understand, or not understand, agree with, or disagree with. These words can create a concept in your mind, but they can never create true knowledge. Only through experience can you have true knowledge of the nature of self (or non-self).<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not suggesting you go out and experience death firsthand. I think that would be a bad idea (for me too\u2026 maybe I should put a disclaimer on this website). What you can do, if you really want to see how deep the rabbit hole goes, is to practice meditation. By intensely concentrating your consciousness, you will be able to develop the focus strong enough to see how everything (including your own consciousness) continuously arises and passes away in the present moment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Philosophers have been asking for centuries: \u201cWho am I?\u201d The Buddha\u2019s answer is simple, rational, and powerful: you don\u2019t exist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":649,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[29,30,31,3,32,33,34],"class_list":["post-2232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-existence","tag-anatta","tag-buddhism","tag-existence","tag-meditation","tag-no-self","tag-philosophy","tag-self"],"yoast_head":"\nYou Don't Exist - Meditation Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.meditationmag.com\/blog\/you-dont-exist\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"You Don't Exist - Meditation Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Philosophers have been asking for centuries: \u201cWho am I?\u201d The Buddha\u2019s answer is simple, rational, and powerful: you don\u2019t exist.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.meditationmag.com\/blog\/you-dont-exist\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Meditation Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Meditation-Magazine-565383236930078\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kevin.ellerton\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-11-25T00:24:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.meditationmag.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/poof.gif\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"371\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"273\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/gif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kevin Ellerton\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kevin Ellerton\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"11 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meditationmag.com\\\/blog\\\/you-dont-exist\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meditationmag.com\\\/blog\\\/you-dont-exist\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kevin Ellerton\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meditationmag.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1116a060c43d0d9dbf2c522ea4f9f2f9\"},\"headline\":\"You Don’t Exist\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-11-25T00:24:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meditationmag.com\\\/blog\\\/you-dont-exist\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":2243,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meditationmag.com\\\/blog\\\/you-dont-exist\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meditationmag.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/05\\\/poof.gif\",\"keywords\":[\"anatta\",\"buddhism\",\"existence\",\"meditation\",\"no-self\",\"philosophy\",\"self\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Existence\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meditationmag.com\\\/blog\\\/you-dont-exist\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meditationmag.com\\\/blog\\\/you-dont-exist\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meditationmag.com\\\/blog\\\/you-dont-exist\\\/\",\"name\":\"You Don't Exist - Meditation Magazine\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meditationmag.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meditationmag.com\\\/blog\\\/you-dont-exist\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meditationmag.com\\\/blog\\\/you-dont-exist\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meditationmag.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/05\\\/poof.gif\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-11-25T00:24:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meditationmag.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1116a060c43d0d9dbf2c522ea4f9f2f9\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meditationmag.com\\\/blog\\\/you-dont-exist\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meditationmag.com\\\/blog\\\/you-dont-exist\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meditationmag.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/05\\\/poof.gif\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.meditationmag.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/05\\\/poof.gif\",\"width\":371,\"height\":273,\"caption\":\"poof! 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