• Welcome to Religious Forums, a friendly forum to discuss all religions in a friendly surrounding.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Our modern chat room. No add-ons or extensions required, just login and start chatting!
    • Access to private conversations with other members.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Ego death: valid confirmation of God?

an anarchist

Your local anarchist.
Ego death is the hypothetical state of consciousness in which you lose all sense of individual self. You become one with the “universe” or “God”.
Ego death - Wikipedia
I am curious if anyone here has ever achieved this state through intense spiritual practice and mediation. My exwife, who got me into Buddhism, told me her books she read spoke of such a process.
Question: is ego death real? Or is it simply the power of the brain’s creativity at work?
Question: is ego death a valid way to confirm God’s existence?
 

Ella S.

Dispassionate Goth
Question: is ego death real? Or is it simply the power of the brain’s creativity at work?

Yes, ego dissolution happens. I've experienced it. I think it's quite common, even, among dedicated mystics.

Question: is ego death a valid way to confirm God’s existence?

No. It's just an altered state of consciousness. You can refer to the state using religious terms like "union with the One" or "self-emptying of the self into God" but that doesn't mean it can be used as evidence for the existence of God.
 

Fool

ALL in all
Premium Member
Ego death is the hypothetical state of consciousness in which you lose all sense of individual self. You become one with the “universe” or “God”.
Ego death - Wikipedia
I am curious if anyone here has ever achieved this state through intense spiritual practice and mediation. My exwife, who got me into Buddhism, told me her books she read spoke of such a process.
Question: is ego death real? Or is it simply the power of the brain’s creativity at work?
Question: is ego death a valid way to confirm God’s existence?
god, love appears where you forget your own wants to alleviate another's suffering, or need. the empathy becomes i am that i am

you've been doing it all along; every time you helped someone who needed you. god's spirit appears in that moment and manifests through self


1 john 3:10
1 john 5:2


selflessness is not the absence of love for any it is recognizing someone needs loving kindness to move forward. in that instance love for all manifests and out of the bounty, the empathy one is able to feel another's suffering and reaches out to succor them.

someone needing a lift up because they have become downcast.


psalms 3:3

psalms 24:7-9
 

sun rise

The world is on fire
Premium Member
Question: is ego death a valid way to confirm God’s existence?

If the ego truly dies, that's it - the atma disappears into paramatma. And as I understand it, it happens only to the very very few.

What does seem to happen to many are times when the limited self is momentarily inundated with radiance and people experience a sense of the joy of the goal.

The "New Troubadors"/Lorian had a song which expresses this:
Change can come in the twinkling of an eye,
In the ripple upon a lake.
Change can come in the color of a flower,
In the sparkle of morning dew,
When the Light catches you.
In that tiny moment, you are transformed.

And the radiance of Christ
Shines forth in reply
...
 

The Hammer

[REDACTED]
Premium Member
If the ego truly dies, that's it - the atma disappears into paramatma. And as I understand it, it happens only to the very very few.

What does seem to happen to many are times when the limited self is momentarily inundated with radiance and people experience a sense of the joy of the goal.

The "New Troubadors"/Lorian had a song which expresses this:
Change can come in the twinkling of an eye,
In the ripple upon a lake.
Change can come in the color of a flower,
In the sparkle of morning dew,
When the Light catches you.
In that tiny moment, you are transformed.

And the radiance of Christ
Shines forth in reply
...

Havamal

137.
I trow I hung on that windy Tree
nine whole days and nights,
stabbed with a spear, offered to Odin,
myself to mine own self given,
high on that Tree of which none hath heard
from what roots it rises to heaven.
 

Evangelicalhumanist

"Truth" isn't a thing...
Premium Member
Question: is ego death real? Or is it simply the power of the brain’s creativity at work?
Ego is a product of a living brain. When that brain stops living, then so does the ego. Nothing could be simpler!
Question: is ego death a valid way to confirm God’s existence?
Obviously, based on my previous comment, not.
 

Twilight Hue

Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
Ego death is the hypothetical state of consciousness in which you lose all sense of individual self. You become one with the “universe” or “God”.
Ego death - Wikipedia
I am curious if anyone here has ever achieved this state through intense spiritual practice and mediation. My exwife, who got me into Buddhism, told me her books she read spoke of such a process.
Question: is ego death real? Or is it simply the power of the brain’s creativity at work?
Question: is ego death a valid way to confirm God’s existence?

There is no permanent "I".

So yes ego death is real as it dosent persist in terms of self identification of which we are familiar.

In other words, all your memories and attachments will be gone upon death and that will be it. Even physical trauma can bring that about while still alive like dementia and such.
 

Viker

Häxan
In order that I may converge with the Many to the One my ego must give way. Through purgation my ego can be bound and the dissolved. It does return like a rebirth (with some new assets after). I imagine this would become a permanent state after life, without rebirth I presume.

This still can't provide solid evidence of the existence of gods or the divine.
 

The Hammer

[REDACTED]
Premium Member
Ego death is the hypothetical state of consciousness in which you lose all sense of individual self. You become one with the “universe” or “God”.
Ego death - Wikipedia
I am curious if anyone here has ever achieved this state through intense spiritual practice and mediation. My exwife, who got me into Buddhism, told me her books she read spoke of such a process.
Question: is ego death real? Or is it simply the power of the brain’s creativity at work?
Question: is ego death a valid way to confirm God’s existence?

It's a thing. But not a way to confirm God.
 

an anarchist

Your local anarchist.
It's a thing. But not a way to confirm God.
Ego death is a thing, this we agree. We’ve both experienced it in the same way before, we’ll leave it at that.
During ego death, I felt I was in the presence of a higher power. People who I’ve spoken to who believe they had momentarily achieved ego death relay this same experience, as well as a newfound belief in God. However, I don’t trust these experiences as necessarily genuine for reasons. This is what inspired my OP.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but you say ego death is a thing because you believe you have achieved it before. When you were in this state of consciousness, did you feel the presence of a higher power? I lost sense of “I” and merged with everything, the universe.
How was ego death for you?
 
Last edited:

stvdv

Veteran Member: I Share (not Debate) my POV
New Ego death is the hypothetical state of consciousness in which you lose all sense of individual self. You become one with the “universe” or “God”.
1) You can't recover from real ego death
2) A true Master can Grant this experience
 

stvdv

Veteran Member: I Share (not Debate) my POV
I am curious if anyone here has ever achieved this state through intense spiritual practice and mediation
I have not achieved it myself by Sadhana

After accepting my Guru as my God, my Master Granted me this experience a few times. It's beyond words.

But the difference is, that with a real experience by your own Sadhana that state is said to be permanent, whereas by Guru Grace it's temporarily (unless God wills differently of course).

Guru may Grant it to you to motivate you to continue your practices, and it definitely made staying on the Spiritual Path with God easier for me, because after such experience I knew that Spiritual life is as real as it gets
 

RestlessSoul

Well-Known Member
In some theologies, including among Christian mystics, Satan is a metaphor for the Ego. That is my interpretation of Satan's character in John Milton's epic Paradise Lost. Condemned by his own pride to eternal darkness, the Ego/Satan attempts to convince man that he can be his own God.
 

Secret Chief

nirvana is samsara
Ego death is the hypothetical state of consciousness in which you lose all sense of individual self. You become one with the “universe” or “God”.
Ego death - Wikipedia
I am curious if anyone here has ever achieved this state through intense spiritual practice and mediation. My exwife, who got me into Buddhism, told me her books she read spoke of such a process.
Question: is ego death real? Or is it simply the power of the brain’s creativity at work?
Question: is ego death a valid way to confirm God’s existence?

Not keen on the word "death" for this term. "Ego" is a useful term for the illusion of a persisting entity, considered to be separate from the rest of the universe. It does not seem to be concerned with the validation of God. (The upper case G suggests you are only referring to the Christian god?).
 

stvdv

Veteran Member: I Share (not Debate) my POV
(The upper case G suggests you are only referring to the Christian god?
Christians might fancy "God is ours".

But

Hindus also use the word God, and definitely not to address the Christian exclusive God.

And

Muslims believe in "1 God", so I would be highly surprised if they use the word God, meaning "Christian God"

So, I don't accept "God = Christian God".
 

an anarchist

Your local anarchist.
(The upper case G suggests you are only referring to the Christian god?).
Habit really. I wonder if it would make sense for a deist to use a capital G when referring to their idea of god.
Not keen on the word "death" for this term. "Ego" is a useful term for the illusion of a persisting entity, considered to be separate from the rest of the universe. It does not seem to be concerned with the validation of God
I suppose in my model the universe is God itself, or rather, the essence of God is in all the positive energy of the universe. That’s not backed up by anything, that’s just my subjective understanding. So when you lose your sense of separation from the universe, you find god in my model. Model could be partly or completely wrong, I’m always updating my worldview.
 

an anarchist

Your local anarchist.
After accepting my Guru as my God
Would you mind explaining this a bit more? I’m curious
that state is said to be permanent
I can’t even imagine. Such a person is truly enlightened no doubt.
after such experience I knew that Spiritual life is as real as it gets
After my temporary experiences, I felt a newfound motivation in my spiritual journey. Had direction at least.
 
Top