So much of what I have read here reminds me of the ancient Vedic texts from India.Their first realisation is that there is no god(that's a big call in India) The old scholars went into the forest and meditated on who am I. Going from one layer down to the next. One great realisation was that we are made up of the influence and experience of other humans .
Once that is stripped away......What's left is truly "I"'.
Interestingly, once that state could be attained at will, they often went back to their previous material lives.
Makes more sense than living in a snow cave in the Himalayas.....