Ego death
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{{Refimprove|date=August 2007}}'''Ego death''' is an experience sometimes undergone by [[psychonaut]]s, [[mystic]]s, [[shaman]]s, [[monk]]s, [[psychologist]]s, and others interested in exploring the depths of the [[mind]].
The practice of '''ego death''' as a deliberately sought "[[mysticism|mystical experience]]" in some ways overlaps, but is nevertheless distinct from, traditional teachings concerning [[enlightenment]]/"[[Nirvana]]" (in [[Buddhism]]) or "[[Moksha]]" (in [[Hinduism]]), which might perhaps be better understood as transcendence of the notion that one even ''has'' any actual, non-illusory "[[Ego (spirituality)|ego]]" with which to experience "death" in the first place.
== Methods of inducing of the experience ==
The most direct means of accomplishing the [[Mysticism|mystical]] experience of '''ego death''' may be through the use of [[psychedelics]]<ref>Grof, S: "LSD Psychotherapy", page 35. Hunter House, 1980</ref> such as [[LSD]], [[dimethyltryptamine|DMT]], [[psilocybin]], [[mescaline]], [[salvinorin A]], [[muscimol]], [[Nitrous oxide#Inhalant effects|nitrous oxide]], a high dose of [[marijuana]].
Many other methods, practices, or experiences may also induce this state, including [[prayer]], [[ritual|sacred ritual]], several days of [[sleep deprivation]], several weeks of [[fasting]], or several years of [[meditation]] practice. Less frequently, it might also come about spontaneously or "of its own accord" (as a symptom of certain [[mental illnesses]], or in response to severe [[Psychological trauma|trauma]]).
There are a variety of schools of thought about the aim, practice, and interpretation of the '''ego death''' experience. According to one system, for example (see [http://www.egodeath.com egodeath.com] - [http://airbag.student.utwente.nl/www.egodeath.com mirror]) it is to be characterized as the perceived loss of boundaries between self and environment, a sense of the loss of "control," the loss of the accustomed feeling of existing as a "personal agent," loose "cognitive-association binding," and even
<blockquote>...a sense of being controlled by frozen block-universe determinism with a single, pre-existing, ever-existing future. Experiencing this model of control and time initially destabilizes self-control power, and amounts to the death of the self that was conceived of as an autonomous control-agent. Self-control stability is restored upon transforming one's mental model to take into account the dependence of personal control on a hidden, separate thought-source, such as Necessity or a divine level that transcends Necessity.<ref>[http://www.egodeath.com/EntheogenTheoryOfReligion.htm#_Toc177337640 The Entheogen Theory of Religion and Ego Death<!-- Bot generated title -->] - [http://airbag.student.utwente.nl/www.egodeath.com/EntheogenTheoryOfReligion.htm#_Toc177337640 mirror]</ref></blockquote>
It should also be noted, within the context of this system, that '''ego death''' is '''not''' ''[[death|actual death]]'' itself, but rather a temporary state of mind which can be stabilised and reverted. This can be done either by thought-source control for any who have achieved the state, as well as by deintoxication for those who have reached the state using [[psychedelics]].
However, there are, again, ''at least'' as many [[Perspective (cognitive)|points of view]] about the nature of '''ego death''' as there are [[mystic]]s, [[psychonaut]]s, etc. who have had the experience. (Some, for example, may even go so far as to agree with [[Dylan Thomas|the poet]] who said, "''after the first death, there is no other''."<ref>[http://www.undermilkwood.net/poetry_arefusaltomourn.html "A refusal to mourn death,"] by [[Dylan Thomas]] (retrieved 21-2-2008)]</ref>)
==References==
<references/>
==See also==
* [[Altered state of consciousness|Altered states of consciousness]].
* [[Death]], [[Brain death]], and [[Near-death experience]].
* [[Gnosis]] and [[Kenosis]].
* [[Self (philosophy)#Ego: The self as an illusion|Ego (philosophy)]], [[Ego (spirituality)]], and [[Self (spirituality)]].
* [[Mysticism]]
* [[Psychedelic experience]] and [[Entheogen|Entheogenic experience]].
==External links==
*[http://www.egodeath.com Ego Death and Self-Control Cybernetics] - [http://airbag.student.utwente.nl/www.egodeath.com mirror]
*[http://deoxy.org/egofalse.htm Ego - The False Center]
*[http://www.erowid.org/ask/ask.php?ID=2758 The Effect of LSD on the Ego]
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