Question A

The self-sacrifice we learned in eastern religions and philosophies in not healthy. We learned in Hinduism people believed in reincarnation. They were forced to live a certain way to reach a greater being in the next life cycle. And having "Bad Karma" will only bring them down. Living in a society like that will not let people act like they should naturally. However it did keep order in that society with the caste system. It is not wise to willingly give up our consciousness in search for a higher one. We learn this is Siddhartha. He spent 6 Years trying to find a higher one. But only to realize that the only way to break the cycle is to reach Nirvana. He wasted 6 years of his life to only reach a conclusion he had with him all along. So giving up your consciousness in search for a "Higher" one might just cause more problems for you.