@memyselfandyou Well, not speaking for @BarbossasHusband, but I think such "honesty" and confusion with the questions comes from the recognition that there is in fact no definitive "self" that "we" can come to know. That the "self" is more a verb than a noun.
This not just "eastern" [i]not-self / anatta[/i] mumbo jumbo, but Nietzsche who recommends that the precondition for becoming what one is, is not to have the least notion of what one is.
Or the modern philosopher Jacques Derrida:-
Or even maybe the character in the Terry Pratchett novel who either knew where he was or where he was going but not both at the same time. Whether he knew [i]who[/i] he was is another question!
@Tariki I think Derrida was saying something else. And that is that the seeker of truth does so without an agenda or a preconceived notion of what the destination should be. But the quest for self knowledge has also been a journey philosophers have embarked on.
@memyselfandyou Maybe. I'm no expert on Derrida but have read a bit about "deconstruction". But my own point is simply that "truth" is not something to be [i]sought[/i] but is something to [i]live[/i]. I also think that there is no "destination" as such, more "the journey itself is home."
Obviously this is "eastern"......"To study the Self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be enlightened by all things of the universe" (Dogen)
This may all appear complex, even purely academic and of no concern. Yet it's utter simplicity becomes more and more apparent. And its relevance in respect of our "suffering" even more so.
