Certainly. That is why I said “one of.” Although, I do believe that everyone is capable of getting great satisfaction by helping others too, as taught by the Buddha’s lessons on compassion.

“You started that your desire was to gain a ‘greatest gift and greatest high one can get out of life’”

The desire to do good for others is a bit different than the desire to just serve your ego.

“With my philosophy, one could sit quietly in a white room with nothing until death and be at peace. I still believe you are doing things for the reward, which by definition is not removing ’self’”

You have your philosophy and I have mine. I don’t think someone can disconnect themselves from the outside world and still be truly happy. It denies the reality of interconnectedness.

This is a subjective rating. Do you accept that others may have alternative experiences? I personally find peace by expressing myself creatively, through invention, learning and a-ha moments.

“To truly be a being of compassion one needs to practice the removal and dissociation of the desires of one’s self.”

You started that your desire was to gain a “greatest gift and greatest high one can get out of life”. With my philosophy, one could sit quietly in a white room with nothing until death and be at peace. I still believe you are doing things for the reward, which by definition is not removing “self”.

“Acting on the petty desires of the self is a road towards delusion, harm, and sadness.”
This is a bold statement. I and many others experience otherwise, thus disproving your assertion. You should qualify such bold assertions in the future.

“If one is always placing concern in the self, and never others, one begins to lose a sense of purpose – meaning – and the sense of contribution and worthiness to one’s society and world.”
Only if “a sense of contribution & worthiness” is important to your “self”.

This post was mentioned on Twitter by NeuralCorrelate: The Notion Of No Self http://bit.ly/34ToXI #buddhism #psychology #mentalhealth #compassion #meditation #blogging…