Ok, we've all engaged in plenty of arguments regarding the existence of the "self". That is not the topic here.

From birth to death, we are bombarded with the opinions of others defining who we are as individuals. "You're smart, you're stupid, you're overweight, your too thin, you're falling behind" etc etc, and the words and remarks form inner impressions of who we understand ourselves to be.

Can one live without the inner impressions? Can one be free of the cultivated form that exists within consciousness?

Inner impressions belong to the past. They have little importance. What is important is to have no image of oneself therefore of the others. Is that possible?

Peter Sharpe wrote:
From birth to death, we are bombarded with the opinions of others defining who we are as individuals.

I am noticing that others have opinions about me and I am noticing that I am affected by those opinions, whether I accept or deny them.

I am also noticing that I myself form opinions about others, in part based on how accurate I think their opinions of me are.

I see that these opinions are always partial, incomplete. I see that they omit.

Seeing the opinions are incomplete, and therefore false to some degree, I am asking is it possible to live without them. I cannot control whether others form opinions, but I can let go of my own.

I now ask, is it possible to have relationship free of opinion? Can I look at someone anew, without preconception, letting go of all that has occurred between us in the past? Can I see the person as they are now, not as I believe they have been?

Can I also have fresh relationship with myself, not living up to some consistency, some mental image? Can I allow myself the freedom to be unencumbered by the past? Can I discover what is now?

This post was last updated by idiot ? Fri, 09 Mar 2018.

idiot ? wrote:
I am noticing that others have opinions about me and I am noticing that I am affected by those opinions, whether I accept or deny them.

Isn't the noticing what it's all about? Surely the noticing is everything, isn't it?

idiot ? wrote:
Can I also have fresh relationship with myself, not living up to some consistency, some mental image? Can I allow myself the freedom to be unencumbered by the past? Can I discover what is now?

Yes I can but living in the past gives the self strength and power . It is this power that most of us seek . That is why this forum is a mess.

This post was last updated by One Self Sun, 03 Mar 2019.

Humans are not intelligent . That is why they destroy every thing including them selves. K says that the root cause of human misery is being dominated by thought . The function of education is to deal with this issue. Krishnamurti said so.