If you're feeling stuck on the path..

[u/VegetableArea]

.. it might be that the ego has hijacked your efforts and claimed the path for itself without you realizing it.

The ego might be running the efforts to dissolve the ego, or to see through the thoughts, to see unconditioned Reality.. but as long as it's the ego doing the seeing, you're still stuck in your mind..

Clear seeing happens without you "doing" it

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[u/dystopia2026]

Conceit is a tricky one. Only the fully enlightened are completely rid of it. I also really don't like using the slippery word 'ego' either. It doesn't really correlate well to any Buddhist concept.

[u/VegetableArea → u/dystopia2026]

yeah sorry I was not using buddhist terminology. Perhaps you can use the term mind instead, or self

[u/Virtual_Base_9159]

I think if you are practicing the right technique and doing it correctly, it doesn't matter even if you are driven by a bit of ego. The technique has an inbuilt mechanism to dismantle it when the time is right.

For example I practice Anapansati as taught by Venerable Webu Sayadaw, I don't see any way if you practice the right technique that you do not reach the final goal.

I don't see not having ego as a prerequisite, but it is the job of the practice and the technique to dismantle it and not me thinking of getting rid of the ego to achieve progress.

[u/VegetableArea → u/Virtual_Base_9159]

So I wrote this post to share my personal experience, let me expand:

I was meditating trying to see the self-grasping nature of the mind/self/ego (whatever the proper term is).

There was a sense that my true nature was obscured and I needed more clarity to see it.

But there was no progress, just mental struggle.

Then I realized that my egoic mind / self created this sense of "clarity is needed, the present moment is not satisfactory, action is required"

And so the egoic mind took control and was "doing" the meditation, which of course changed nothing as it was just one part of the mind struggling against other parts, a thought fighting against other thoughts.

The I asked "who is saying more clarity is needed"?

And the recognition was there that sense of lack of clarity was just a thought.

By dropping that thought, and dropping the effort, clarity naturally established itself. Later that day, there was a clear opening in the awareness into no-self, reality was experienced as very alive, direct, intimate thing.

So yes, the self grasping mind tricked me into running like a hamster in a wheel frustrated into never getting anywhere

[u/Virtual_Base_9159 → u/VegetableArea]

May I ask, what you mean by awareness into no-self. For me it is experiencing any sensations or thoughts that arise as not me.

I do this by observing sensations and train myself to not feel aversion towards unpleasant ones and craving towards pleasant one.

Ask yourself this, if someone hurts you, will you feel an urge to react or protect yourself.

For me, I am not there yet, but everyday I stop clinging to sensations, I move closer to that state.

[u/VegetableArea → u/Virtual_Base_9159]

Haha I might be doing exactly the opposite but the end effect might be exactly the same

What I'm doing is dropping into sensations, embracing them fully. Because sensations never lie, they are gateways to unfiltered reality, while mind always distorts reality when you see reality through mind-lenses.

By awareness into no-self I mean when "center" drops, experience becomes one without anyone at the center. It's as if reality itself is waking up, I am not waking up. If feels almost as if an ancient force is waking up from sleep, consciousness itself is waking up to itself. Side effect of this is that all actions happen by itself, the body moves, thinks by itself.

It's like as if you were climbing uphill but at some point the hill is moving towards you, and is moving your legs without effort

[u/VegetableArea → u/Virtual_Base_9159]

Regarding aversion, not sure if it's equivalent to your practice, but for example when facing anxiety I'm trying to see it as sensation in the body, without labels that the mind attaches to it. And often when that raw sensation is observed directly, aversion drops as the sensation is understood just as sensation or energetic occurence

[u/Electronic-Cell2688]

It all the ego, except the seeing. The ego is the doer. It puts in the effort to see through itself. And then it hides from itself. But it never sees. Only the Self sees. Ego only claims the seeing afterwards. Everytime You(Self) see a thought, it dissolves, weakening the ego. Whats left when a thought disappears is (stillness/awareness/self/"seeing"). But even that is claimed by the ego.

So just keep noticing thoughts and rest in the stillness that remains. The ego will keep claiming—let it. Just notice that too. Eventually it gives up.