Phobias: Strange fears we can't always explain!

 

Everyone's afraid of something.

Whether it be changing jobs, or not being financially secure, or having your child abducted, everyone has something to be afraid of in this world. Most fears are easily justified. It could be the number of car accidents reported on a particular highway section, or the startling amount of gunshots in a neighborhood. It could be the amount of hurricanes in the south, or the staggering number of young adults being diagnosed with Diabetes. A lot of things scare us.

But some things are just absurd.

A phobia is an irrational fear of something. Meaning, you're scared of something that you have no real reason to be afraid of. Phobias are psychological phenomenas that grip many people; there is no little bubble of specific phobias in one place. Almost everyone has one. A lot of people are able to overcome them. But there are some phobias that really are crazy, and I would like to share with you the most confusing, confounding, and hilarious phobias to date. Ready? Here we go!


A list of funny phobias:

Ablutophobia - Fear of washing or bathing.
Acousticophobia - Fear of noise.
Agyrophobia - Fear of streets or crossing the street.
Alektorophobia - Fear of chickens.
Alliumphobia - Fear of garlic.
Allodoxaphobia - Fear of opinions.
Ambulophobia - Fear of walking.
Anablephobia - Fear of looking up.
Ancraophobia - Fear of wind.
Angrophobia - Fear of becoming angry.
Ankylophobia - Fear of immobility of a joint.
Anthrophobia - Fear of flowers.
Anuptaphobia - Fear of staying single.
Apeirophobia - Fear of infinity.
Arachibutyrophobia - Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth.
Arachnophobia - Fear of spiders.
Arithmophobia - Fear of numbers.
Astrophobia - Fear of stars and celestial space.
Asymmetriphobia - Fear of asymmetrical things.
Atychiphobia - Fear of failure.
Aulophobia - Fear of flutes.
Aurophobia - Fear of gold.
Auroraphobia - Fear of Northern Lights.
Autodysomophobia - Fear that one has a vile odor.
Automatonophobia - Fear of ventriloquist's dummies, animatronic creatures, wax statues-anything that falsely represents a sentient being.
Automysophobia - Fear of being dirty.
Barophobia - Fear of gravity.
Batonophobia - Fear of plants.
Bibliophobia - Fear of books.
Bogyphobia - Fear of bogies or the bogeyman.
Bolshephobia - Fear of Bulsheviks.
Bromidrophobia - Fear of body smells.
Cacophobia - Fear of ugliness.
Caligynephobia - Fear of beautiful women.
Catagelophobia - Fear of being ridiculed.
Cathisophobia - Fear of sitting.
Catoptrophobia - Fear of mirrors.
Chaetophobia - Fear of hair.
Cherophobia - Fear of gaiety.
Chorophobia - Fear of dancing.
Chromatophobia - Fear of colors.
Chrometophobia - Fear of money.
Chronomentrophobia - Fear of clocks.
Chronophobia - Fear of time.
Cibophobia - Fear of food.
Climacophobia - Fear of stairs, climbing or of falling downstairs.
Clinophobia - Fear of going to bed.
Cnidophobia - Fear of strings.
Cyberphobia - Fear of computers or working on a computer.
Cyclophobia - Fear of bicycles.
Decidophobia - Fear of making decisions.
Defecaloesiphobia - Fear of painful bowel movements.
Deipnophobia - Fear of dining and dinner conversation.
Dementophobia - Fear of insanity.
Dendrophobia - Fear of trees.
Dentophobia - Fear of dentists.
Dextrophobia - Fear of objects at the right side of the body.
Didaskaleinophobia - Fear of going to school.
Dikephobia - Fear of justice.
Diplophobia - Fear of double vision.
Dipsophobia - Fear of drinking.
Dishabiliophobia - Fear of undressing in front of someone.
Domatophobia - Fear of houses or being in a home.
Ecclesiophobia - Fear of church.
Electrophobia - Fear of electricity.
Eleutherophobia - Fear of freedom.
Enosiophobia - Fear of having committed an unpardonable sin or of criticism.
Eosophobia - Fear of dawn or daylight.
Epistemphobia - Fear of knowledge.
Eremophobia - Fear of being oneself or of lonliness.
Ergophobia - Fear of work.
Erythrophobia - Fear of redlights. Fear of blushing. Fear of red.
Euphobia - Fear of hearing good news.
Geliophobia - Fear of laughter.
Geniophobia - Fear of chins.
Genophobia - (mature content)
Genuphobia - Fear of knees.
Gephydrophobia - Fear of crossing bridges.
Gerontophobia - Fear of old people or of growing old.
Geumophobia - Fear of taste.
Graphophobia - Fear of writing or handwritting.
Gymnophobia - (slight mature content)
Hagiophobia - Fear of saints or holy things.
Hedonophobia - Fear of feeling pleasure.
Heliophobia - Fear of the sun.
Hellenologophobia - Fear of Greek terms or complex scientific terminology.
Hereiophobia - Fear of challenges to official doctrine or of radical deviation.
Heterophobia - Fear of the opposite sex.
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia - Fear of long words.
Hodophobia - Fear of road travel.
Homilophobia - Fear of sermons.
Hygrophobia - Fear of liquids, dampness, or moisture.
Hylophobia - Fear of forests.
Hynophobia - Fear of sleep or of being hypnotized.
Hypengyophobia - Fear of responsibility.
Iatrophobia - Fear of going to the doctor or doctors.
Ideophobia - Fear of ideas.
Ithyphallophobia - (mature content)

The J ones (the two that there are listed) are a little racist, so we're not going to post them.

Kinesophobia - Fear of movement or motion.
Koinoniphobia - Fear of rooms.
Kolpophobia - (mature content)
Kosmikophobi - Fear of cosmic phenomenon.
Kyphophobia - Fear of stooping.
Lachanophobia - Fear of vegetables.
Laliophobia - Fear of speaking.
Leukophobia - Fear of the color white.
Levophobia - Fear of things to the left side of the body.
Liticaphobia - Fear of lawsuits.
Lockiophobia - Fear fo childbirth.
Logizomechanophobia - Fear of computers.
Logophobia - Fear of words.
Lutraphobia - Fear of otters.
Macrophobia - Fear of long waits.
Mageirocophobia *- Fear of cooking.
Maieusiophobia - Fear of childbirth.
Malaxophobia - Fear of love play.
Mechanophobia - Fear of machines.
Medomalacuphobia - (mature content)
Medorthophobia - (mature content)
Megalophobia - Fear of large things.
Melanophobia - Fear of the color black.
Melophobia - Fear of hatred or music.
Mertophobia - Fear or hatred of poetry.
Metallophobia - Fear of metal.
Metathesiophobia - Fear of changes.
Methyphobia - Fear of alcohol.
Microphobia - Fear of small things.
Mnemophobia - Fear of memories.
Monophobia - Fear of solitude or being alone.
Motorphobia - Fear of automobiles.
Musophobia - Fear of mice.
Mycophobia - Fear or aversion to mushrooms.
Mythophobia - Fear of myths or stories or false statements.
Namatophobia - Fear of names.
neophobia - Fear of anything new.
Nephophobia - Fear of clouds.
Nostophobia - Fear of returning home.
Novercaphobia - Fear of your step-mother.
Numerophobia - Fear of numbers.
Ochophobia - Fear of vehicles.
Octophobia - Fear of the figure 8.
Odontophobia - Fear of teeth or dental surgery.
Odynophobia - Fear of pain.
Oenophobia - Fear of wines.
Olfactophobia - Fear of smells.
Ombrophobia - Fear of rain or being rained on.
Ommatophobia - Fear of eyes.
Oneirogmophobia - (mature content)
Oneirophobia - Fear of dreams.
Onomatophobia - Fear of hearing a certain word or names.
Opthalmophobia - Fear of being stared at.
Optophobia - Fear of opening one's eyes.
Orthophobia - Fear of property.
Ouranophobia - Fear of heaven.
Pantophobia - Fear of everything.
Papaphobia - Fear fo the Pope.
Papyrophobia - Fear of paper.
Parthenophobia - Fear of virgins or young girls.
Patroiophobia - Fear of heredity.
Pedophobia - Fear of children.
Pentheraphobia - Fear of mother-in-law.
Phallophobia - (mature content)
Pharmacophobia - Fear of taking medicine.
Phengophobia - Fear of daylight or sunshine.
Philosophobia - Fear of philosophy.
Phobophobia - Fear of phobias.
Phonophobia - Fear of noises or voices or one's own voice; of telephones.
Photophobia - Fear of light.
Phronemophobia - Fear of thinking.
Plutophobia - Fear of wealth.
Pogonophobia - Fear of beards.
Politicophobia - Fear or abnormal dislike of politicians.
Polyphobia - Fear of many things.
Porphyrophobia - Fear of the color purple.
Psellismophobia - Fear of stuttering.
Psychophobia - Fear of mind.
Pteronophobia - Fear of being tickled by feathers.

Oh darn, no Q's.

Rhabdophobia - Fear of being severely punished or beaten by a rod, or of being severely criticized. Also fear of magic. (wand)
Rhytiphobia - Fear of getting wrinkles.
Rupophobia - Fear of dirt.
Samhainophobia - Fear of Halloween.
Scatophobia - Fear of fecal matter.
Sciophobia - Fear of shadows.
Scriptophobia - Fear of writing in public.
Selaphobia - Fear of light flashes.
Selenophobia - Fear of the moon.
Sinistrophobia - Fear of things to the left, left-handed.
Sitophobia - Fear of food or eating.
Soceraphobia - Fear of parents-in-law.
Sophophobia - Fear of learning.
Spacephobia - Fear of outer space.
Stasibasiphobia - Fear fo standing or walking.
Staurophobia - Fear of crosses or the crucifix.
Symbolophobia - Fear of symbolism.
Symmetrophobia - Fear of symmetry.
Syngenesophobia - Fear of relatives.
Tachophobia - Fear of speed.
Technophobia - Fear of technology.
Telephonophobia - Fear of telephones.
Testaphobia - Fear of taking test.
Textophobia - Fear of certain fabrics.
Theophobia - Fear of gods or religion.
Theologicophobia - Fear of theology.
Triskaidekaphobia - Fear of the number 13.

The two U's were lame. One's a repeat and the other's about pee. o_O

Vestiphobia - Fear of clothing.
Vitricophobia - Fear of step-father.
Walloonphobia - Fear of Walloons. (what on earth is a walloon?)
Xanthophobia - Fear of the color yellow or the word yellow.
Xerophobia - Fear of dryness.
Xylophobia - Fear of wooden objects. Forests.

No Y's. How sad.

Zelophobia - Fear of jelousy.
Zemmiphobia - Fear of the great mole rat.

Phew!

It's a long list, but it's funny as heck.

People fear the strangest things. And while phobias are irrational, they are hard to overcome. This is my short list of personal phobias (I promise it's very short).

Aichmophobia, Athazagoraphobia, Cleisiophobia, Emetophobia, Harpaxophobia, Helminthophobia, Homophobia (Fear of sameness, monotony or of homosexuality or of becoming homosexual - I can't stand having monotony in life.), Iatrophobia, Isolophobia, Kenophobia, Maieusiophobia, Nosocomephobia, Pediculophobia, Pharmacophobia (Fear of taking medicine. I can take certain meds, but I can't swallow pills. I just can't.), Taphophobia, Tomophobia.

Okay, so it's not exactly that short. Most of those are relatively rational, and some weren't included in the funny list.

The Work of Imagination

Imagination could be defined as the work of the mind that helps us create an artistic product, for instance. We can examine the different psychological reasons and resorts on which human imagination depends. Non-musicians, for instance, who are usually less capable of perceiving a musical piece through the same critical and analytical perspective of musical experts, are merely capable of transposing the audio excitation that usually translates into their minds into powerful emotions, into visual images. Thus, we could say that non-musicians "read" music through images, with the help of their imagination.

The ambiguous affective excitation can be manifested as personal reverie, incapable of adhering to the musical object. If it does adhere, it can only turn musical fragments into images. Even while the subject is in the process of creating his very own musically emotional sphere, it may happen for this sphere to go beyond the audio limits. Like a powerful excitation, it can make the individual's entire sensitivity system vibrate. This can be called sensorial transposition, transfer, correspondence, etc.

There is only one type of sensitivity at work in the aesthetic emotion. The entire human spirit takes part in the creation of this kind of emotion. There are a priori forms of the sensitive intelligence, so to say and these are in fact the great general laws of aesthetic sensitivity. There is also intelligence in action, the need to know things, to understand, together with the skills of intellectually representing and stylizing things. Imagination has the tendency to complete and go beyond the defined aesthetic feeling. In a way, imagination proclaims the unity of arts, beyond the peculiarities of any of these arts. Baudelaire was perhaps right when saying that in every work of art there is a missing part which is completed by the aesthetic subject's imagination. Each art actually represents only one aspect and artistic moment. At their very origin, arts get mixed in a sort of synthetic confusion, out of which they get differentiated in order to express themselves in their individuality and specificity.

Nonetheless, the deepest musical contemplation can quite often result in images and also a sort of mind poetry, images that are filled with musicality. Henri Delacroix compares the way of perceiving music and art in general, to the religious contemplation. He thus explains how certain mystics "find shelter" in the Divine shadow and reject everything that is labeled as distinct and ascertained. But there are other mystics also to which ecstasy is translated into visions. The void of the imagination often comes from a critical attitude, from choosing indifference and repression. Other mystics get rid of their visions by plunging into action.

On the other hand, there are mystics who accept and embrace their visions. They find them useful, something that they can learn from in order to develop spiritually. Visions can thus serve to explain the ambiguous, confused states of mind. Thus, they are the expression of ecstasy's utilitarian sense. At any rate, the analogy of the work of the imagination with the process of a vision-creating into the mind of a mystical person is quite interesting. Delacroix says that the state of ecstasy is first and foremost a state of mind that wants to impose itself onto the human spirit. Regardless of any elements that are stranger to the nature of contemplation itself, visions can be regarded as the expression of ecstasy's lyrical element. Because visions can satisfy a mystic's deepest tendencies and spiritual desires, they are cultivated and searched for.

Many people have the tendency to associate music with a certain interpretation, a science, an object. We are meant to search for meanings and intelligibility. In a chaos of impressions, we are looking for a certain map to get oriented. And because it does not pertain to chaos, music can direct us towards certain clear schemes. And instead of remaining immanent to the music, it can rise in front of the human spirit like a sort of symbol. Whether we associated music with visuals or not, one thing is for sure: all arts are interrelated and interconnected. And through the work of the imagination, they can be used together to enhance our aesthetic perception.

The Ecstasy of Music

The effects of music on humans are perceived differently depending on the individual but one thing is certain: music will remain of heavenly origins!

In his book entitled "The Psychology of the Art", Henri Delacroix makes reference among other things to music and its effect on people, or rather explains what different people say music does to them. They refer chiefly to classical music, to symphonies in general. Delacroix says that Diderot in his "Letter about the Deaf and the Dumb" describes in a very precise and refined manner certain intense, violent and deep feelings that music may arouse in some of its listeners. Diderot claims that in music, the pleasure of the sensation depends on a certain peculiar disposition not only of the human ear, but also of the entire nervous system. Thus, according to Diderot, there are certain people in whom the fibers may oscillate with such intensity, vigor and vitality because of their encounter with musical harmonies, that they may feel as if they were dying of pleasure.

Diderot also poses some rhetorical questions regarding the intense way in which music can touch the human soul, as compared to other forms of art. It’s quite unusual for such an imprecise and arbitrary means of artistic expression to have such strong impact on people’s state of mind and spirit. In this respect, Diderot rhetorically assumes that the explanation for this phenomenon would be that music does not actually present objects, it deals with sounds, and therefore it allows people’s imagination to manifest more freely and openly. Or perhaps because we need to be shaken up a little bit in order to be impressed, music has a stronger impact than painting or poetry.

Camille Mauclair, the author of "The Religion of Music", gives a more precise description of this kind of ecstasy caused by the impact of music on our minds and souls. The effect of music on people is referred to by Delacroix as a sort of delirium of the infinity, as a kind of charming, depersonalizing experience that causes us to forget about our mundane, day-to-day life and take a plunge in the musical realm, somewhere outside ourselves. Mrs. Mauclair says that the quality of the sound can both drive someone crazy in a positive way, and calm down the spirit. She says that to the spiritual love for good quality music, she also adds some sort of violent, nervous drunkenness that feeds on sounds as if they were alcohol.

Others consider that the impact of music on its listeners can be viewed from a different perspective. Instead of the violent, passionate pleasure some claim to feel when listening to certain musical pieces, others refer to the fact that the very intensity of spiritual passions can raise the human mind to a kind of serene insensitivity, to a certain high level balance which is above and beyond any feelings of joy or sorrow. Thus, the state of spiritual ecstasy is a kind of neutral state of mind. The ecstatic state of mind of those utterly impressed by the beauty of a musical piece can suppress both joy and sorrow in a sort of neutralized perception.

The emotional rhythm or tone of a certain musical bit can actually bring someone to a real day-dreaming kind of mood. This can be accompanied by the mind’s association of the sounds with certain visual images, created of course by the power of one’s imagination. Although they may not follow a certain logical or chronological order, such images can present themselves under the form of certain landscapes, or something like pictures. The listener can thus remember certain things from his past, or can dream about the present or his future. This is what music can actually do to one’s mind. Such ideas are usually typical of those belonging to Romanticism. Romantics considered music to be the supreme art, which was able to touch the very essence of things. Delacroix says that such people may interpret the exuberance and magic of music as a sort of fusion with the absolute, or as a sort of disappearance in the absolute.

Fear of Failure Origins

It can come from many sources but fear of failure is usually an enemy we have to fight at one point or another in our lives.

Some psychology experts, in their explanations regarding the phenomenon of neurosis, made reference to Kafka's "The Trial". In this novel, Kafka introduces the theme of existence's absurdity. In short, in this novel we are presented with a character who asks the guardian of the law to let him enter. The guardian tells him that this thing was possible, but not at that moment. He also said to the protagonist that if he really wanted to go in, he should go in without caring for his presence inside, to ignore him. But that he should also remember that he is strong. So the man sat down on a chair and began waiting for permission to go in. Tens of years thus went by. On his dying bed, he asked the guardian why no one else wanted to go in apart from him. So the guardian replied that the man was the only one expected to come in, and that he could now shut the gate.

Many of us can recognize ourselves in this character that condemns himself to stay with his own life. Desire supposes confronting ourselves with the risk of being refused. For some people, the very first life experiences are so painful that they go for a passive attitude waiting for someone else to give them the possibility to exist. There is nothing more damaging to one's self-esteem and self-trust than infantilizing parents, who are incapable of giving to the child the illusion of the power to control something. Martin Seligman, one of the founders of positive psychology, elaborated the theory of the so-called learnt incapacity. What these parents had in common, the psychologist noticed, was that they all believed they had practically no power to act on their own destiny, and nothing could get them out of this mentality.

The American psychiatrist named Irvin Yalom said that in order for us to decide on something, we have to give up on something else. And we also need to realize that we are the only ones who can act on our own life, we are the ones to decide and have to take up this hard responsibility. In this respect, neurotic people sort of refuse to take up this responsibility, that of assuming their own life and remain some dependent kids deep down inside.

The psychoanalyst by the name of Jacques Arènes concludes after having listened to his patients that the very first and most powerful obstacle for someone's self-accomplishment is the fear of failure. And this fear usually manifests itself by negative judgments such as: "I am not good enough to succeed, I'm too stupid, it's useless to try it's not my style or type", and many other such assertions. In order to get rid of the fear of failure we must also rid ourselves of any fixed idea such as for instance, considering that we would only be happy when we meet the perfect partner or when we get the perfect job, when we have the perfect house and become perfect parents and friends, so on and so forth. The thought that we will one day achieve these perfect things makes us inactive, especially if they are fed by those close to us. Arènes stresses the idea that even if we are the makers of our own destiny, that we choose our path in life, there is heavy load put on us by the entourage. It's very hard to keep on trusting yourself when no one else around trusts you, or when you come from a family of anxious people.

And among the most frequent causes of fear of failure and lack of self-accomplishment we can include the difficulty in finding out what we were born for. In this respect, Jacques Lacan says that we were programmed to mistake our own desires with other people's desires. We tend to absorb our parents' expectations who want to live through us what they couldn't live themselves. Because of that, many children take on these desires and ignore their very own and end up complaining about a never-leaving sensation of inner void.

What is an Out Of Body Experience?

An out of body experience also called as OOBE or OBE is an experience in which a person has a feeling of leaving his body and observing himself and the world from outside his body. Out of body experiences are also referred to as astral projections.


Who experiences an Out of Body Experience?

Studies have shown that about 10 percent of the population experiences an out of body experience once in his lifetime. It can occur to anyone and at any situations. Majority of the people experience an out of body experience while they are sleeping, resting or dreaming. Others may experience it when ill or while under the influence of an anesthetic.

Some people may experience an out of experience when drugged or medicated. A person may also experience it when he is near death. Such cases are referred as Near Death Experiences or NDE’s. Recent surveys have reported some cases in which motorcycle riders experienced an out of body experience. They found themselves floating over the motorcycle observing the own body and still continued to ride.

How does an Out of Body Experience occur?

All out of body experiences don’t occur spontaneously. Some people get them induced as desired by using various techniques. They even make a note of the things they undergo while experiencing an out of body experience.

But the experiences of the people who have undergone induced out of body experience are different from those who have undergone spontaneous out of body experience.

Majority of the people who undergo induced out of body experience feel that they are still in a body but a body, which can be altered according to their wish. But most of the people undergoing spontaneous out of body experience find themselves disembodied. That is they feel that they are outside their body and looking at their own body from the outside world.

Why do some people experience an Out of Body Experience?

Researches are still going on to find out why do some people experience an out of body experience. Some of the researchers suggest that an out of body experience is nothing but a simple illusion, which is brought about by an abnormally functioning brain. While others suggest that it is mediated by the area of the brain called the angular gyrus.

Some even say that an out of body experience may be experienced as the consciousness and body are separate entities and therefore can exist without each other.

Some people consider an out of body experience a psychological phenomenon. They say that the people may be creating or building up the experiences from the previously learnt things or stored memories. For instance a person may have watched a medical program and when he is hospitalized he may experience the same things that he had watched.

Each person experiencing an out of body experience has a different point of view. Some people say that they feel light and peaceful while other say that they get afraid as they think that they are dying and will never return to their body.

Notebook

"Who am I? And how I wonder, will this story end? . . . 

My life? It is'nt easy to explain. It has not been the rip-roaring spectacular I fancied it would be, but neither have I burrowed around with the gophers. i suppose it has most resembled a bluechip stock: fairly stable, more ups and downs, and gradually tending over time. A good buy, a lucky buy, and I've learned that not everyone can say this about his life. But do not be misled. I am nothing special; of this I am sure. I am common man with common thought and I've led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me, and my name will soon be forgotten, but I've loved another with all my heart and soul, and to me, this has always been enough. 

The romantics would call this a love story, the cynics would call it a tragedy. In my mind, it's a little bit of both, and no matter how you choose to view it in the end, it does not change the fact that involves a great deal of my life and the path I've chosen to follow. I have no complaints about the places it has taken me, enough complaints to fill a circus tent about other thins, maybe, but the path I've chosen has always been the right one, and I would'nt have had it any other way. 

Time, unfortunatley, does'nt make it easy to stay on course. The path is straight as ever, but now it is strewn with the rocks and gravel that accumulated over a lifetime . . . 

There is always a moment right before I begin to read the story when my mind churns, and I wonder, will it happen today? I don't know, for I never know beforehand, and deep down it really doesn't matter. It's the possibility that keeps me going, not the guarantee, a sort of wager on my part. And though you may call me a dreamer or a fool or any other thing, I believe that anything is possible.
I realize that odds, and science, are againts me. But science is not the answer; this I know, this I have learned in my lifetime. And that leaves me with the belief that miracles, no matter how inexplicable or unbelievable, are real and can occur without regard to the natural order of things. So once again, just as I do ecery day, I begin to read the notebook aloud, so that she can hear it, in the hope that the miracle, that has come to dominate my life will once again prevail. 

And maybe, just maybe, it will."

Universality of Truth

There are billions of people living on this planet earth, and probably trillions more living in other regions of the universe or in other universes. There are millions and millions of differing opinions, ideas, experiences, and so forth. Is there anything that is common to everyone, irrespective of their personal experience or different ideas?

Some people hypothesize that there is no common basis of understanding or experience, and that basically everything is made up according to one’s own like or dislikes. They say that everything is a matter of personal preference. Some people say the Truth is just what we make it up to be, and that just as beauty is in the eyes of the beholder so also is truth in the eyes of the beholder.

This form of thinking is rooted in individuality, and is not uncommon in a culture that bases itself on the ideal of rugged individualism. Each of us is, after all, unique and one of a kind. One, who contemplates deeply on this uniqueness of the self, comes to realize that there is a world of difference between being unique and being individualistic. A unique person is truly one of a kind, whereas an individualistic person is quite common and ordinary. Individuality is the quality of ego, whereas uniqueness is an inherent quality of the soul-self, the pure consciousness.

 Ego is the false identification of the conscious self with the mind and body. The soul-self, or pure consciousness, is consciousness devoid of ego expression. When we are really not in our ego, we experience directly the beauty of life, and that experience is always unique, it is always ever-new, and it is not possible to copy that experience in the memory or find a substitute for it. On the other hand, when we are in our ego we intuitively know that our experience is limited, and the mind and ego then react by attempting to cover up our lack. Ego reacts by asserting itself and claims dominion over the mind, which it uses to manufacture images to prop itself up. Ego-individualistic-self-confidence is a very poor substitute for the soul confidence (aatam-vishwas) inherent in the state of pure awareness (aatam-stiti). In fact, it is no substitute at all, because there is no substitute for the state of imageless awareness, the state of pure consciousness.

By its very nature, ego does not let us experience the universality of Truth, because to do so would negate the existence of ego. But of course, ego wants to believe it knows everything, so it creates its own Truth, because to know the Truth makes the ego feel important and powerful, even though the truth it knows is not the Truth at all but only its own images. This is why ego holds onto its images, including its images of universality.

There are many, many religious preachers, pundits, prophets, and profiteers but very, very few real teachers and tellers of Truth. No one can really tell you the Truth unless you are ready to hear it, which means no one can teach you the Truth unless you are ready to learn it. Emotional maturity and the desire to learn are both prerequisites.

We become emotionally mature when we begin to realize that the whole world does not revolve around us. The less self-involved we are, the more fit we become for self-realization. Every insight we have into the real nature of our being increases our desire to learn more. The time comes when our desire for Self Knowledge outweighs all other desires. Eventually we are ready to hear the Truth from the lips of a True Teacher.

The Truth-teacher is a facilitator and not a dictator. He or she simply facilitates the truth-seeker in the search for Truth. A true Guide will guide you to look within your own self and discover by direct perception your own True Self.

It is not possible to see clearly if our perception is clouded by our misconceptions, images, and false knowledge. As long as we are holding onto our ego we will remain confused and unhappy. We need to drop our ego by letting go of our images and begin with a clean slate. As the Zen meditation says, We need to empty the picture filled with mud and water, so that the fresh water can be poured into it. We need to empty our mind of all our preconceived notions of Truth in order to learn the Truth from within. When we drop our ego and images we become simple, humble, human beings, who are eager and earnest to get to the bottom of the matter and experience the Truth directly.

Everyone who has had a taste of divine bliss, a taste of Truth, knows without any doubt that is absolutely real and far beyond the realm of mind, intellect, and ego. Everyone who has had an insight into the Nature of Truth, knows unequivocally that this Truth is Universal and has nothing at all to do with individuality, morbidity, mortality, and immorality.

People who are individualistic, people who are depressed and morbid, people who are dying every day in selfishness, and people who are living immoral, fiendish, degrading lives do not know the real meaning of this beautiful human life. They remain asleep in Ignorance and continue to suffer in the duality of their nightmares and fantasies until they awaken to the still small voice within, the whisper of their own soul beckoning them to return home to their True Self, to reclaim their inheritance of Supreme Ecstasy and Divine Love.

Truth is not in the eyes of the beholder but in the eyes of the True Beloved. When we look into the eyes of the true Love of our Life (that is, when we have the perception of the vision of Eternity), we forget our own small self and experience directly the Supreme, Divine, Universal Truth.