The Self, Emptiness, and Awareness

In this exploration of self-identity, I argue that the self is not a standalone entity but an integral part of a broader consciousness. Deep meditation reveals the self as a construct beyond egoistic confines, interlinked with the external world and others' experiences. Decisions arise from an awareness that transcends individual ego, suggesting that our sense of self is an inexhaustible center of dynamic consciousness rather than an ultimate emptiness.

This is a chapter of the book Truthfulness. The Consciousness that Creates Reality.

Truthfulness. The Consciousness that Creates Reality

Claus Janew

Authentic

Are you tired of feel-good attitudes and really want to solve your problems? This unusual combination of down-to-earth life practice and magic-like creativity focuses on authenticity and seriousness as you learn about love, trust, and higher harmony. The one to two page chapters offer helpful philosophical, psychological and spiritual insights and do not exclude "radical" approaches. In particular, the daily life of truthfulness is linked to the possibility of consciously creating a better reality.

"This book is like a box of good tools. You can put it in a corner and take it out when you need it, but its true value is only revealed when you use the tool. Then you will learn to realize unimaginable abilities and creativity in your life and become a 'real person.'"

Kurt Folwill, Oldenburg, Germany

Read online (using Play Books)

Order the book

Code of Trust

"The book 'Truthfulness' replaces the psychologist, is even better, at least for me! No waiting time, quick to hand (practical format), no matter when or where: short, effective advice and tips for any life circumstance (fear, disappointment, blockages, finding your true self, etc.) to restore your mental well-being. Those who want to know more about the why will also find answers. As you delve deeper into the book, you can easily immerse yourself in the author's interesting philosophy, written in an easy-to-understand way."

Ulrike M., Leipzig, Germany

Self-responsibility and self-liberation

Only you have your worldview with all the bells and whistles, because that is what defines you as an individual. Everyone else sees things in a different way, a completely different way if you ask them, even if you have points of contact. Your motives for everything you want and everything you do are accordingly individual. Although we try to find and emphasize similarities in order to feel secure or to assure ourselves of mutual help, we actually know how little we really share. Strictly speaking, nothing at all. Or if we take "share" to mean "divide," then we divide everything – into individual perspectives, unique ways of being, unique emotional tones.

From the land of milk and honey

A world in which our every wish was immediately granted would obviously not make sense to us, but would simply be arbitrary. We wouldn't even need to have a specific wish, because we could just as easily have any other wish. We wouldn't need to understand our desires, in fact there would be nothing to understand. What we now know about ourselves, and what could serve as the basis for our desires, would have no connection to any more comprehensive reality. So we might as well wish for our dissolution. And why shouldn't we?

Judging people

To judge other people is not to condemn them. It is simply a choice, which of course always involves an evaluation, a weighting. However, such a judgment can go beyond mere preference by claiming to be universally valid. This is where it can clash with the evaluations of others.

Radical constructivism - a hollow shell?

Radical constructivism was initially formulated by Ernst von Glasersfeld. 

Radical constructivists do not speak of creating reality, but of constructing reality. What is the difference?

"Creating reality" ultimately means creating everything, without exception. "Constructing reality" means interpreting external "disturbances" and thus shaping effects.

Thus the constructivist has the lesser claim, but at the price of inconsistency. He cannot avoid including an external cause of effect that essentially determines his construction. In principle, however, he cannot and does not want to know by what this obviously pre-structured effect is exerted. What is important is only what is useful in the context of one's own life, whereby "usefulness" is equally constructed and thus co-determined by this external something, and so on.

Instead, he might well admit that there is an external reality, the effect of which he is only further constructing. But he would not be saying anything essentially new. And once he admits its pre-structuring, he might as well go on to ask what else there is to "pre-recognize". And with that, he abolishes the radicality of constructivism.