Nick P:
wylo .:
All that is gone. However Im in a job at the moment, and I want to be good at that job, because in the long run I could earn more money, the job would be more enjoyable, and overall , life would be more enjoyable, fun and liberating as a result.
But none of those desires are in order boost a sense of self , or put meaning or a sense of completion and success to my life.
If it puts you off that by pursuing this you may make you lose your ambitions, all I can say is, you'll only lose the ambitions that were full of nonsense in the first place imo.
That's the thing. One of my conceptions around enlightenment is that greed drops away. If that happens to such an extent that you don't see any motivation to strive for a promotion at work (or whatever fits the particular case), that ends up negatively impacting your worldly life. You could be the
happiest least suffering person in the world, but you'll create, in an extreme case, poverty and mediocrity for those around you, and therefore suffering unless they too happen to be enlightened (unlikely).
Your answer makes absolute sense, and is consistent with my ideal of a future life as an enlightened being. The self dropping away, but that doesn't mean that you just float in Nibbana for the rest of your life and can't be bothered to do anything positive for your worldly life.
Unless you are already prone to laziness or used to making crazy quick irrational decisions, I honestly dont think you are going to do anything that you wouldnt have already done. You will probably be more open to things alright, and you will have a more balanced and cleaner less personal view on things, and yes, this MAY result in you turning down a potential promotion, or it may not. OR , it may result in you taking that job you were always too afraid to take, or it may not.
I know Im being pretty vague there, but the point Im trying to make is, speaking from personal opinion, while it is an absolutely amazing inner transformation where you have a tremendous understanding of the behaviour or your own mind and body, and while you will feel like a totally different person, or more likely not a person at all anymore, it still doesnt necessarily mean you will lose your very basic morals and personality and interests, especially the honest ones, ie the ones that are true to you , as opposed to something you are just latching onto.
FWIW, Ive went through huge changes and have good friends that havent even noticed.
tbh, if you get really really into hit and start hitting paths, it wont be about that stuff anymore. Those questions will seem irrelevant , not that I dont respect your need to ask them at the moment though.
Something Ive often been curious about. In my life Ive never been able to kill bugs, I see people swatting a fly or a wasp with a newspaper and I think to myself I couldnt do that, not just now, but never could. I often ask myself, if during my whole I was completely used to doing that, would I still be doing it now after much practice and inner peace and enlightenment, and the answer is , probably yea