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Quote by Elena Y. Goldberg

“To replace the self with the ego is to misunderstand the essence of our being. True egolessness can only be achieved through rare states of psychosis, enlightenment, deep meditation, or profound drug experiences. Yet, such a state is fleeting, and once it ends, we are reborn into our selves once more. An eternal egoless existence is an illusion, even for monks. Our journey is not about eradicating the ego but about continuously integrating ourselves into a harmonious whole.”

Quote by Elena Y. Goldberg

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Elena Y. Goldberg

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“The trials of evolution programme a human race for aggression, not wisdom. And once capitalism gets underway human relationships become regulated by systems that deliver behaviour into a killing zone of selfishness and greed. The Tension Dynamic, p165”

“You should realize that even the thoughts originating in your mind are not always your own. They don’t just happen when you want them to arise, but often arise within a certain dictated framework. Let me explain. In some ways, our minds have some similarities to AI models of the current era. Just like AI, we are trained on large sets of data and facts, fed by our operator (the society and world around us) and our thinking is limited within the current evolutionary constraints of our own brains, just like other animals cannot possess the cognitive capabilities of a human. To think beyond this framework is almost a superhuman task, truly demonstrated by only a few known people in history, the Buddha being one example. In other words, the one who is blind from birth, has no idea what “seeing” feels like.”

“we shouldn’t view persistent negative emotions as symptoms of a biological malaise or a malfunctioning brain, as medical professional often tend to do. Instead, we should see them as indicators that our life has veered off the intended path and we are now living in a way that fails to satisfy the deepest yearning of our soul.”

“As someone once said, “Your life doesn’t get better by chance; it gets better by change.” Unfortunately, many fail to embrace this principle, and when negative emotions, boredom, and sadness come into their misarranged lifestyles, they often resort to suppressing or masking these feelings, seeking solace in the pursuit of immediate gratifications and easily accessible distractions—a seemingly efficient yet deceptive solution that only prolongs their entanglement in the same toxic lifestyle.”

“Social status among humans actually comes in two flavors: dominance and prestige.12 Dominance is the kind of status we get from being able to intimidate others (think Joseph Stalin), and on the low-status side is governed by fear and other avoidance instincts. Prestige, however, is the kind of status we get from being an impressive human specimen (think Meryl Streep), and it’s governed by admiration and other approach instincts. Of course, these two forms of status aren’t mutually exclusive; Steve Jobs, for example, exhibited both dominance and prestige. But the two forms are analytically distinct strategies with different biological expressions. They are, as some researchers have put it, the “two ways to the top.”

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