NirodhaAvidya

Make it so number one.

That consciousness arises from matter as some emergent phenomenon. Integrated information theory, micro-tubules, or whatever: no.

I believe consciousness is fundamental.

‘You are under no obligation to be the same person from one moment to the next’

This one is a bit hard-won for me. You see I used to be an asshole. It was my brand. I thought “it’s just in my nature”. Fortunately, I was also a student of religion (mostly because I was a militant atheist. Know your enemy and all that). Studying Buddhism, I began to observe the nature of self. I found enough distance from it to see its transient nature. I realized being an asshole was a choice and I could just as easily choose otherwise. Soon I began to discover this was true of most character traits. I’m not saying you don’t have consistent patterns of behavior. I’ll hopefully always be curious and analytical. But for the most part, the way you conduct yourself and where you focus your attention is a choice. So, if you’re not happy with who you are maybe don’t be so attached to the idea of 'who you are". And if that seems hard, observe what you pay your attention to and try to find the distance between observation and behavior. In that gap lies the choice you make, consciously or not, to be “you”.

Strength Before Weakness