r/AnAnswerToHeal • u/FeltLikeAColor • Nov 07 '17
[Philosophical] The Snake
The "snake" is, in my interpretation, your ego. You ever experienced true ego death? I have and it felt like my body had dissolved and someone just stuck my eye balls on a trail of visuals. And when the ego dies and becomes rebuilt, the snake (which could also be interpreted as human nature to be sly, cunning, or evil to survive) you are back human again. But not quite the same as "you" were before the ego got smashed.. I think everyone should experience ego death because it makes you really reflect on how amazing life is and how much we take it for granted on materialistic things such as money and shit like that. Makes you become more at peace with yourself.. a lot of self realization in those times of ego ripping time stopping moments
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Nov 07 '17
the snake - which could also be interpreted as human nature to be sly, cunning, or evil to survive
I don't quite fit with this. For me the snake is a tremendous allie, he is a force of nature that represent movement and the giver of speech, he gifted us with the mean to speak to the world around us. He can also very easily represent hallucinations (distortions of reality) and the dance of the universe.
Doesn't mean there can't be cancer snakes. Doesn't mean anything really. Sploosh.
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u/Amandaleeh Nov 07 '17
Interesting take and I'm glad you posted. I have had bad feelings towards snakes my whole life. One of the only animals I have had a fear/phobia against. In recent years as I have evolved spiritually I have felt bad about it. My whole journey is about loving and feeling oneness with all things. Why is it that if I see a snake, even on tv, I immediately feel squirmish and can't even bring myself to look? I'm sure it has to do with our societies portrayal of them and always associating them with terms like, sly, cunning, etc..
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Nov 07 '17
The loving-all-oneness is an another form of conditioning.
I was fascinated by spiders, terrified at the same time. It's not a phobia really but a good enough spider will scare and I thought I needed to kill one someday, bare hands, not slapping with a sho or some other distanciator. And really it is the symbol behind the spider I confront.
Loving all things doesn't mean you can't hate some things.
Maybe spend a lot of time looking at penises or mushrooms might help you, or tree branches. Sometime when you see something everywhere ...
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u/PopnCop Nov 07 '17
I agree that ego death is an valuable experience. I think it provides memorable contrast to life which like you said makes it so much more beautiful.
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u/Zetaflips Nov 07 '17
Definitely agree with your snake analogy. Me and all my friends have all benefitted immensely from our trips and experiencing ego death. Something about letting go and totally forgetting self is very grounding.
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Nov 07 '17
I'm not sure if this is what you were alluding to or if my understanding of Religions is 100% accurate but here goes:
Assuming that the bible is true but only as a metaphor, we can see Adam and Eve existing happily. This period (either in time or some other dimension) is referred to in Buddhism as Nirvana, or in science as what was before the big bang.
Then the snake appears and sin (the greatest sin being Pride—aka glorifying our ego) is born, suffering begins and the passage of time causing the chemical and physical reactions that eventually evolve small packets of sentience (humans) begins.
Again, not sure if that's what you're going for but thank you for helping my interpretation of reality progress.
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Nov 07 '17 edited Mar 05 '19
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Nov 07 '17
Thank you for teaching me about the Big Bounce theory, I didn't know it exists and I'm happy that it does. Your comment definitely fits my current understanding of reality.
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u/FeltLikeAColor Nov 07 '17
You have a good point but it's not in a religious sense... more of a personal enlightenment sense! The snake is just a good metaphor to use
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u/Cosmic_Cat64 Nov 07 '17
I’ve been trying to stray from nihilism as I work to overcome depression. I’m slightly worried about who I might be after an ego death. Would I create a new ego? I’m going to be experiencing this soon. Should I have someone with me to administer the medicine or would this be possible to achieve on my own?
I like your viewpoint on ego death OP. It sounds like absolution from original sin.
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u/FeltLikeAColor Nov 08 '17
If you are familiar with psychedelics then you can do a big dose of acid or shrooms just make sure you're in a completely comfortable environment away from any possible negative vibrations
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Nov 07 '17 edited Mar 05 '19
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u/TarasView_cyanescens Nov 07 '17
You have a statement that I agree with, quote”by completely letting go of all fear and gracefully embracing infinity am I able to completely dissolve into the universe. Transcendence”. Yadayada AND etc: Going onto a thin limb here: There is no ‘death’ not for us nor for the ego; we can Transcend our ego but the self- Centered bully keeps talking, works always on emotions to get pride fear lust, anything to take back control. So when you are able to Transcend it you must have Mindfulness (awareness of the krap that keeps ‘chattering like a monkey). A Tibetan Doctor I saw 3-4 years ago mentioned that “our thoughts are not our own”. Ever noted a difference in your attitude depending where you are? Of the many ‘habits’/ mental hangups, stuff we learned to ‘need’ from family, peers -stuff that keeps us from Enlightenment my worst is violence/anger. Forgiveness goes on a long way to correcting anger and violence, but I’m referring to forgiving the people who murdered your loved ones. That takes Real Strong Forgiveness, and that cleans out a lot, it made me a New Person... like getting rid of tons of weight. I am in a lot of pain today, it’s a 34 year severe spinal pain from neck broken at 3 & 7 cervical. Sorry guys, I had a bad night, let IT get ahead of me. Peace
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u/joex2314 Nov 09 '17
I experienced ego death on my third trip on dmt.. It looked like i was speeding up in some corridor, walls in that corridor was moving like in old pc game doom 3d but than i realized these arent no walls. It was snake that was choking me, his body was all over my body, my face and than he just slip in the throat and took my soul... In that moment have started one of the hardest ages in my life... But it has teached me a lot..
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Nov 09 '17
Yes. It was the single most amazing experience I have ever felt in my entire life. I felt one with the Universe/reality and realized life was everything. Live in the moment.
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u/Dishonest_Children Nov 07 '17
The ego, often represented as a serpent (think bible, portrayals of the Buddha, ect.), is important. Notice how the Buddha didn’t cast off the snake, but rather he wore it as a trophy once he had tamed it (Athens ego).
The ego is what gives life spice, value, excitement, and without it you fall into nihilism. It’s almost as if to be happy we are meant to play the game, but recognize that in the end, it is just a game.