Where do I begin?

We base our language and much of our thought on the notion of separateness. We distinguish objects from their backgrounds. One of the most enduring separate objects is our selves. The idea that we are a separate entity from our environment and other beings is so deeply ingrained, we find it ludicrous to consider alternatives.

Yet when we examine this notion we find that it is physically and mentally without support. Our boundaries are fuzzy. We draw them arbitrarily. We superficially think that our 'self' begins at the boundary of our skin. Even an elementary grasp of physiology recognises the falsehood of this notion. Our skin boundary is porous allowing a flow of materials in and out of our bodies. We depend on our physical environment for our continuing existance. We are deeply emeshed in a physical web of flow between us and our environment and our fellow beings. To think we have a separate existence is like thinking our liver could decide to leave home to join a rock band.

Even within our skin the boundaries are fuzzy. Shrinking in size we see systems, organs, tissues, all of them, in some sense, 'us' and yet 'not us'. Finally, we see a mix of molecules and atoms. When did we pass the boundary from life to non-life? Are some carbon atoms us, are some not us? Where did we go?

Perhaps the idea of 'me' is a social convention. Perhaps the delusion of a separate subjective experience in a world of objects is what helps to create our suffering. Perhaps the ultimate liberation is to be liberated from ourselves. 'He that shall find his life will lose it'.