Thanks for bringing this up. Rational materialism is a powerful frame, but it is not complete in and of itself. "How can the self be anything but the collectio

Thanks for bringing this up. Rational materialism is a powerful frame, but it is not complete in and of itself. "How can the self be anything but the collection of patterns, behaviors and memories" -- all those things, patterns, behaviors, and memories arises, and will eventually passes. Only awareness remains. You can test this empirically for yourself (though not necessarily for other people). It isn't that there is a hidden potential self is finally activated. That true self was already present before the conditioning started, and is still present. I am not speaking metaphorically.