To address the ‘ultimate’: for many people this may come across as meaning god, or life, or the end-point of human existence, but there is a point where stances on this ‘greater’ meaning become irrelevant. Many people, disillusioned by the actions or histories of the religious and spiritual institutions of their day, have reached this point. From a pragmatic point of view, from the perspective of inherent usefulness to solving human problems, the informing mythology becomes secondary to the actual impact of current stances and actions. The question is always ‘what is best for the situation?’
In theory, Christianity has its notions of charity, which in many ways are quite real and evidenced. This forms the fundamental ground the faithful operate on – charity of time, charity of money, charity of spirit. It is highly noble. But of course, in practice, results are varied. Buddhism has its notions of selflessness that individual practitioners strive to embody but in practice again, there have been problems. Islam literally means surrender and no one needs reminders about the conflicts there.
From a pragmatic perspective, many teachings found in these religions point to removing the relative concern for one’s self from the equation of ‘what is best?’ Again, the range of dynamics found on the spectrum is very diverse – on the one hand, sublimation of one’s ego is a classic sign of being in a cult, on the other you have some marvelous acts of humanity. It is interesting to note the direction corporate thought leadership has been going – again, removing the self from the equation, whether it’s the no-longer-being-the-bottleneck approach of Tim Ferriss, the push for emotional intelligence, or concepts of level 5 leadership. The message is clear in both directions: recognize and transcend the reference point of individual ego. They make use of a different context to achieve the same point. Another would be losing yourself in the music, concepts of flow. Removing the concept of self changes the dynamic of self-reflection into something much more dynamic, inclined to act, act beyond our primitive instincts of selfishness and egocentric behaviour. By egocentric I mean supporting the story of us, the individual I’s. Not narcissistic or arrogant behaviour. If you are sitting around all day thinking about yourself, the things you would like to do, the things that make you happy, the things that upset you, your thoughts are, by definition egocentric.