In Eastern mysticism, the renunciation of the self and unity with the world are considered the secret to true happiness. The Iranian poet Hafez said:

Between the lover and the beloved, there is no barrier.

You yourself are your own veil, Hafez, step out of the way

Buddhists believe that the self is not a real entity, and suffering arises from attachment to the self. There is a strange symbolic teaching in Zen Buddhism that says, "If you see the Buddha, kill him." This means that when the mind constructs a concept of a transcendent being, even the holiest one, it hinders the ability to see the truth. In Vipassana meditation practice, it is recommended to make unbiased observations of feelings, thoughts, and perceptions to find that they are not the “self” but, rather, incidental. In these practices, the ego is destroyed by looking, not by suppressing. Likewise, Taoism teaches that problems arise when the ego interferes in matters.[1]

The series "Pluribus" opens with a premise that serves as a stark thought experiment: A decoded extraterrestrial signal, revealed to be a DNA sequence, is synthesized into a virus-like agent. Upon its accidental release, it infects all of humanity. Those affected emerge from a brief seizure seemingly unharmed, but stripped of their individual identities, tastes, and........

© Psychology Today