1. That “I” never existed is not to say that nothing exists, nor is it to say that Greg doesn’t exist. What it is saying is that Greg as perceived by the thinking mind does not exist. That Greg is only imaginary, a fabrication of mind that is no more real than the details of a memory.
2. True, conditions that give rise to a memory are real, but the content of the memory is not. In the same way, the content of the mental image, the promise of Greg is not real. Because the content of that mental image of Greg was promised to be real and to exist, and that content is now known to be illusory, it can be said that Greg does not exist. The promise was empty. “I” is an idea in the head, a mental concept, and that is all. So “I” only exists in so far as the idea exists.
(Greg, Gateless Gatecrashers)
I need to investigate more closely what these sentences really mean.
Re the first statement, it seems it is implied that there are two "Greg"s,
a. "Greg" without being thought.
b. Greg as being thought in the mind.
It seems it's implied here that (a) is real while (b) is unreal. Right?
What would remain from Greg without being thought, and would that be Greg? can it be named, or would naming be irrelevant since naming is in the past (memory)?
Re the second statement "conditions that give rise to a memory are real, but the content of the memory is not."
I couldn't grasp this completely. If conditions that give rise to a memory are real, how come the content of the memory is not real? What is meant by "real" here? DE??
Does the statement mean the conditions that give rise to a memory are "factual", but those facts are not part of our DE in this moment??
But even if they are not part of our DE, they would still be "real" as long as they reflect reality correctly, truthfully.
Smth might not be DE but its content might be empirically true.
I'd be very glad if you could clarify these points.