Self-consciousness is a stoppage because it is like interrupting a song after every note so as to listen to the echo, and then feeling irritated beca… - Alan Watts

But this must not be confused with our usual ideas of the practice of “unselfishness,” which is the effort to identify with others and their needs while still under the strong illusion of being no more than a skin-contained ego. Such “unselfishness” is apt to be a highly refined egotism, comparable to the in-group which plays the game of “we’re-more-tolerant-than-you.” The Vedanta was not originally moralistic; it did not urge people to ape the saints without sharing their real motivations, or to ape motivations without sharing the knowledge which sparks them.

The principle thing is to understand that there is no safety or security. One of the worst vicious circles is the problem of the alcoholic. In very many cases he knows quite clearly that he is destroying himself, that, for him, liquor is poison, that he actually hates being drunk, and even dislikes the taste of liquor. And yet he drinks. For, dislike it as he may, the experience of not drinking is worse.

En effet suggérer à quelqu'un de ne pas penser à ses réactions, équivaut à l'inciter à réfléchir sur la manière dont il pourrait s'emêcher d'y penser. De même, parler d'harmoniser l'Espirit indroduit iposo facto le concept du soi « s'efforçant d'harmoniser » et, par conséquent, détourne notre attention de la vie.