I think sometimes when people get caught up in a purely emperical world-view, they miss the big picture. They miss the point of it all. They try to find the objective truth of reality, independent of self, as if self is something that is completely separate from reality. Yet the scientific community themselves will say that we are the product of what we came from, evolutionarily speaking. We, then, work under the same fundamental principles reality works under. When you really delve in to the assumption that people who take the self aspect out of it, as if we are nothing, you see that it sounds more religious than a spiritual world view. They say that their world-views have nothing to do with reality, or truth. This is to make the assumption that our minds work in ways that defy natural law. This is simply not the case. Whatever it is that the universe functions through, our minds, and our evolution, works through too. This means that self-exploration is equally valid to emperical evidence. Our minds, who we are, are working under the same essential principles that all of reality is.
Can I make an effort to relate to you on a human level? We're both human beings, after all. Well , you know how sometimes we can be dishonest to ourselves? It's possible to commit an exaggeration or embellishment, either to yourself or out loud, and be fully aware what you're thinking or saying is simply not firmly grounded in reality. Usually these kinds of tiny lies make us feel good. We do this all the time. Do you do this? I'm guilty. I personally think everyone is. I'm just curious if you would ever admit you talk out of your ass at full gallop while being aware, on some level, that you are talking out of your ass? You may be wondering why I ask. Well, I've read a lot of your posts. I'd like to share something to you about me. I think the most important thing, is honesty. It's hard to be honest. Honesty has a lot to do with understanding reality, because if you're not honest, and you're at the mercy of your emotions, you will fail horribly at understanding reality. You will simply bask in the great feelings of thinking you understand reality, or perhaps the version of reality you've come to, using flawed methodology, particularly strikes your fancy. Perhaps obscurity and mystical talk is fun, because no one can really argue with it other than saying you're not making sense or saying you're full of shit. I'm not sure if you care at this point, but I still care about having a meaningful conversation. But the problem is, when someone says something like "Our minds, who we are, are working under the same essential principles that all of reality is." I get the feeling you're not talking about gravity or neurology or something we can all understand. And if you're not talking about that, then I have no clue what you're talking about. It gets worse, because I'm pretty sure you don't have a clue what you're talking about either. Consider the scenario objectively.