On a podcast, Alan Watts was talking about the myth of myself. He talked about how in western civilization we are taught to see through a spotlight consciousness, that is, focusing on one thing at a time. He talked about another consciousness he called floodlight consciousness, which encompasses all of who we are in totality. It shines from us, not on us. Put in Eastern mystical thought, he stated that we are all part of the larger consciousness and that when we die, we will live on by the "we" conscious. I suppose you could say that when I die the larger consciousness loses an appendage (me), but the consciousness continues.
This is very hard for me to wrap my mind around living in an individualistic culture. Does a person who lives in a communal culture have the same struggle? Is it easier for them to think of being part of a larger existence that the self is encompassed by?
If that is the case, would a person from a more communal culture having a hard time understanding "I"? Might he or she have a hard time believing the statement "God loves you", and think of it as his or her life only? Would it be easier for them to hear "God loves us"? Is it possible that when we attempt to convince a person that God loves them as a person, they are as mystified by the concept as I am thinking about floodlight consciousness?
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