why does Buddhism want to get ride of the ego???what would one be without it?NOTHING!?

Question

if I am not my ego nor mind, what am I then?

Answer 1

Without ego no one can exist.

Buddha told about "ID" not "EGO"
Without "ID".. Ego will transforms in to Superego.
This is a problem of translation.

Answer 2

Barring natural disasters, the root of all humanity's ills is selfishness.

An unselfish person, having seen that all the preaching and example of mystics and sages still leaves the world, at large, a very selfish place to live in, seeks to dissolve his individuality (in Buddhist terminology), or to get off the wheel of samsara and bodily existence, which is the whole aim in the Indian version of the concept.

It is paramount to understand that giving up the individuality does not mean passing into non-existence - also because, for one thing, there can be no possibility that the existent can ever become non-existent. Even science conforms to this view , that nothing can be (created or) destroyed. The best analogies that I have come across that try to convey the idea are those of a drop of water dissolving into the ocean, thus permeating the whole of the ocean and that of an enclosed space having its boundaries removed, becoming non-different (as it was in reality even before) from the infinite Space.

Answer 3

The ego is the source of all desperation and suffering. Without the ego, the world is free of suffering. Right. So the ultimate would be, why not get rid of life, and be free, of all suffering and pain and everything else.

Right. So, the ego does have some thirst, but it solves problems. And causes them. The trick is to balance the ego, to yield and to survive.

Answer 4

You are exactly correct. If you give up all that makes you an individual, you may still exist, but you would no longer be YOU. You would only be some kind of mirror to the universe; an amalgam of everything around you.

And in this it is no different from any number of other religions that want you to sacrifice everything in exchange for only the promise of something better. If you want nothing you will have everything you want... which is exactly nothing.

There is a reason why Nietzsche called systems such as these a 'slave morality'. It is exactly these kinds of ideas that you would want a perpetual victim to adopt. It's up to you: reflect the universe or define it.

Answer 5

That's one of the big misconceptions about Buddhism - even with some Buddhists.
Buddhism does not want to 'get rid' of the ego!
Buddhism teaches that we should have egos rather than our egos having us.

Answer 6

My understanding of the Buddha's teaching isn't that it is aimed at eradicating the ego, but at eliminating the notion that the ego is permanent and independent.

My understanding of "no-self" is that it is derived from the Pali term "anatta" or Sanscrit, "Anatman". Anatman is a reference to the Vedantist notion that the Cosmic Consciousness/Being, the ALL, which is represented by Brahma is the same as the Atman which is the consciousness inhabiting human Being. (A parallel notion is "immanence" in the more intellectual notions of Christianity.) Brahm, Cosmic Consciousness and Being, is transcendent of all qualities, including time, and therefore eternal. On the other hand ego, itself only a part of individual consciousness, is particular and defined, qualified by attributes of situation in time and space and perspective. It is therefore not permanent and not separate.

An expression used by a wonderful Vietnamese Zen teacher, Thich Nhat Hahn, is instructive here: "The self is made up of non-self elements." The insight is that one is defined by his/her circumstances of genetics, time, space, social milleu, etc. The insight also reveals that the sense of separateness from the rest of the cosmos is an illusion. Our "self", our ego, even our very Being and Consciousness is interdependent with the sum of the Cosmos. The objective of Buddha's teaching, to my understanding, is to awaken to that interdependence so that we may harmonize our being and consciousness with the All. This is liberation and the ending of suffering.

The realization of no-self is the realization of the "self's" interdependence with the cosmos and of impermanence.

I beg pardon for my clumsy attempts to express the ineffible realization of no-self, there are names, but not nature in words.

Good on ya!

Answer 7

Buddhism sees ego as evil. Ego is pride. Pride is the source of all evil in the world and is the source of our separation from God. Ego is "I" but God is the only true "I" God is the only one that dererves to say "I am" So for humans to take on the "I" attitude is to be against the only source of all that is true and real. That is the conflict of existence, to be a god or to serve Him?

Answer 8

I give a star to your question, because not enough people question the motives of religions, let alone this one. And it does not take religion to make us want to become ego-less.
To make a long list short, the purposes of getting rid of the ego are:
It was the downfall of Adam.
It is "selfish," as if "selfless-ness" was a virtue, not a crime against one's self.
It connotes "walking over your mother's grave to get what you want," when the denotation is nothing of the sort.
It prevents one from losing his soul in the "one-ness" of the "great spirit of the universe." [Or something like this: Each Eastern Religion, as well as in the West, have their own version of this.]
It is god's will to serve him, rather than your own interests. "Let go and let god."
etc etc.
The virtue of selfishness and its cause, the ego, are that they protect us. The only steadfast rule in every civilization is some version of : the non-initiation of force. Don't use selfishness with physical force, don't use the ego with physical force, but use their force to benefit its owner. After all, Give to Cesar what is Cesar's; give to yourself what is yours, to paraphrase the New Testament.

Answer 9

The mind is a tool. One can learn to discipline the mind to stop all thought. This is not death, but it can bring about a new perception of awareness that does not depend upon the ego boundary that each human creates and maintains in order to learn logic.

In a world of things, the ego is center. Lessening the ego is the means to gaining a universal perspective. Lust is ego driven, unconditional love is not. Materialism is ego driven, spirituality is not. Suffering is ego driven, true joy is not.

Most people are controlled by their minds and egos instead of being in a position to control their minds and egos.

Answer 10

Most of Western culture, including the product of it that is me, is SELF-CENTERED.
And my, the problems that causes.
Most of the Eastern world is SOCIETY-Centered.
And the idea is to lose one's self-importance in the hopes of making life better for EVERYBODY.
Remember, Siddharta Gutama (Buddha) was a very privileged, rich prince. He inspired such a peace-seeking religion because he cared about OTHERS.
The ego, the id, they are nothing, compared with the superego,
the equivalent of the other-centered philosophy that we find in Buddhism.

Answer 11

You, like all uf us are both ego, and collective. Provisional teachings get all hung up on splitting hairs almost as badly as the Westerners. It is easy to get hung up on either-ors, it takes more to understand boths.