{"id":96963,"date":"2023-03-29T05:17:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-29T09:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=96963"},"modified":"2023-03-29T10:29:54","modified_gmt":"2023-03-29T14:29:54","slug":"western-concept-of-self","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/western-concept-of-self\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the Western Concept of Self Just an Illusion?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What’s the Western concept of self<\/a>? Was Plato right about the soul? Are some of us just fooling ourselves about our true nature as humans?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many people in the West internalize the idea that each of us is an individual\u2014an entity separate from others and our surroundings. This basic understanding of identity is so foundational to Western society that most people never question it. But, British philosopher Alan Watts<\/a> questions it in The Book<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading to learn why Watts thinks the idea is misguided and what he believes our true nature is instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Ego Illusion and Our True Nature<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In our discussion of the Western concept of self, we\u2019ll start by describing the ego, the ego illusion (Watts calls it the \u201cego trick\u201d), and how Watts defines our true identity as being one with the universe\u2014which we\u2019ll call the Cosmic Being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ego is essentially feeling like an \u201cI\u201d\u2014an individual consciousness contained in a body<\/strong>. Watts defines the ego illusion as the false sense of being an individual who exists as an entity separate from other people and the environment. Watts argues that this is the fundamental assumption that guides Westerners\u2019 relationship with the rest of the world, causing them to feel isolated and at odds with nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: This idea of the ego illusion comes from religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism, which both deny the existence of a \u201cself\u201d and identify the ego as the source of human suffering<\/a>. By contrast, Western philosophy and religions generally believe in an analogous concept of individual egos, although the terminology varies. For example, the French philosopher Ren\u00e9 Descartes believed that the mind is the essence of a person<\/a>, while Christians generally refer to the soul.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another aspect of the ego illusion is the Western idea that we enter the material world when we are born and then later depart it when we die. Although people have different beliefs about an afterlife, there\u2019s still an underlying assumption among Westerners that humans are individual entities who cease to exist on the earthly plane after death. For atheists, humans physically decompose, and that\u2019s the end of their existence. For most Christians, people\u2019s individual souls move on to the spiritual realms of heaven or hell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Although Watts generalizes about the temporary nature of the Western ego, the ancient Greek philosopher Plato (considered a founder of Western philosophy) believed that the soul was both uncreated and eternal<\/a>. He wrote that individual souls are reincarnated into different physical bodies forever. The main difference between Plato\u2019s eternal soul and the Cosmic Being is that there are multiple, individual souls in Plato\u2019s philosophy.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our True Nature<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Despite this Western concept of individual identities, Watts argues that we\u2019re not really isolated beings, and we don\u2019t enter or leave the world because we\u2019re all part of the Cosmic Being that has always existed. In fact, more than being part <\/em>of the Cosmic Being, each of us is<\/em> the Cosmic Being, taking different forms and playing pretend in different roles<\/strong> (different humans, animals, plants, and minerals). What we think of as \u201cI\u201d is just one expression of the Cosmic Being in a particular time and place, but our real identity is the entire collection of beings and their environments and their relationships to one another. (Shortform note: This concept that there are no separate entities\u2014only one Cosmic Being\u2014is called non-duality<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comparing Watts to Another Non-Dual Western Philosophy<\/strong>

In Conversations With God<\/em><\/a>, Neale Donald Walsch makes a similar argument for non-duality\u2014the idea that we are all one\u2014but with slight differences in his representation of the Cosmic Being. For example, he claims that God split itself into infinite forms<\/a> and created the world so that sentience could exist. Walsch argues that God couldn\u2019t know itself unless there was something besides God. Therefore, God created other beings that could experience God from a different perspective. As a result, life is essentially a game of remembering our true nature as God and enjoying existence.

This is similar to Watts\u2019s playing-pretend model except that Watts never provides a motivation or justification for why the Cosmic Being manifests in so many different forms in the universe. In addition, the two authors differ in their terms for the Cosmic Being. When using the word \u201cGod\u201d for a Western audience, people tend to conceptualize it like the God of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam<\/a>\u2014a paternal, king-like figure who is envisioned as a person. Watts emphasizes that his Cosmic Being concept is much grander than a person or any particular physical form.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Limitations of Language<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Watts writes that the Cosmic Being transcends language, which is inherently limiting, so it\u2019s impossible to adequately explain the concept with words. \u201cKnowing\u201d ourselves as the Cosmic Being is more of an experience than an intellectual understanding<\/strong>. He notes that because of the inadequacy of human languages, the Cosmic Being has many names, including \u201cGod,\u201d \u201cUltimate Ground of Being,\u201d and \u201cExistence.\u201d The Cosmic Being isn\u2019t a supernatural, all-powerful being who controls everything, but rather is <\/em>everything. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Translation of Eastern Philosophical Terms<\/strong>

One of the challenges of interpreting Eastern spiritual philosophy in English is the fact that the ideas were originally written in Sanskrit in the Vedas<\/a>\u2014ancient religious scriptures. The oldest of the Vedas was written around 1500 BC<\/a> and defines the Cosmic Being using the Sanskrit word \u201cBrahman.\u201d Scholars translate it as the unchanging and infinite ultimate reality<\/a>.

Although Watts uses the word \u201cself\u201d and \u201cego\u201d interchangeably, the Sanskrit word \u201catman\u201d refers to the self that is distinct from the mind, body, and ego. The term an\u0101tman<\/a> refers to the belief that there\u2019s no fundamental \u201cself.\u201d The non-dualist schools of Hinduism believe (like Watts) that Brahman and atman are the same, while the dualist school of Hinduism<\/a> claims that Brahman, atman, and matter are all separate entities. <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What’s the Western concept of self? Was Plato right about the soul? Are some of us just fooling ourselves about our true nature as humans? Many people in the West internalize the idea that each of us is an individual\u2014an entity separate from others and our surroundings. This basic understanding of identity is so foundational to Western society that most people never question it. But, British philosopher Alan Watts questions it in The Book. Keep reading to learn why Watts thinks the idea is misguided and what he believes our true nature is instead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":70918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,6],"tags":[952],"class_list":["post-96963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-philosophy","category-spiritual","tag-the-book","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nIs the Western Concept of Self Just an Illusion? - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Many people don't question the idea that each of us is an individual. 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