Just a bundle of impulses

Nearly everyone has an aspect of themselves through which they ought to be able to see how there is no self. The character we like to think we are invariably can not live up to its own image. Anyone who has been a nicotine addict will know how two contradictory impulses can exist side by side. The person who hates smoking and the person who loves smoking are contradictory. People often have various threads and through denial are able to allow these differing parts to co exist. Righteous catholic priests who are predatory paedophiles, upstanding policemen who go home and beat up their wives, the green vegetarian who enjoys a bacon sandwich. We have a character, a person we tell ourselves we are, ( and we always believe we are good and believe our own press) . We find ways to justify even our worst actions. Given that we now know there is no self, just a bundle of impulses and urges, this should no longer be a surprise. Drug addiction, cigarette addiction, bulimia, anorexia, are all conditions that reveal the truth of how we operate.