lhamilt18

Just being, man. That's all there is to do. There's no purpose or meaning. If there was one, it'd be way too limiting anyway. Just enjoy the ride as much as possible!

I also still contend that the quote from Buddah I've provided above applies to what i'm saying here. asking about the material (or lack there of) of reality is akin to asking what the material of the archer's bow who shot you is made of, given you are in a state of suffering. its simply not necessary to know (albeit intellectually) answers to such questions because your given situation remains true regardless of the state of those absolute truths

@Joseph Maynor right, except I'm not talking about conceptual understanding. i'm simply talking about the desire to "know" answers to such questions as "what is the origin of the universe" or "what is reality composed of"

@Serotoninluv yeah my experience was quite jarring and unexpected. I was in the middle of a shift at work and all the sudden boom. There I was floating in the vast sea of existance just realizing "man.... There's not a damn thing that can be said about this" lol it was kind of uncomfortable but only lasted a few minutes which is why I refer to it as a glimpse.

@Leo Gura I see. I'm in an interesting position then because my glimpse of liberation showed me basically that there are no questions to be asked. Since then I've been listening to Osho speak about enlightenment and his particular saying "life is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be lived." Has resonated with me. Now when I wonder about such questions it seems more like an excercise than anything and that I am simply creating the problem which wasn't there in the first place in an attempt to solve it.

@Leo Gura well I guess your point about the answers to these questions not being answerable verbally or intellectually most applies to the point I was trying to make. To me at least it seems that the ultimate answer is no answer, and that in the end there are no questions to be asked, since language always obscures and makes the complete incomplete; and that really there is only Being to be experienced, and nothing can be said about it

I just wanted to make this post to point out something that I've become aware of recently. It is actually not required to inquire into questions such as "what is reality composed of" or "what is the origin of reality/conciousness" on the path towards enlightenment/liberation from the "game" of life. In fact these questions usually are distractions for seekers. The reason they are distractions is because 99% of us simply do not know the answer. It's one thing if you become concious of these things during a deep psychedelic trip, fine that's now true for you. But unless you've had an experience like this, any talk about such questions are belief based and ultimately speculation. The reason I'm sharing this is because after watching a few of Leo's videos on absoulte infinity, what is conciousness etc. I found myself believing him, which as we know is counterproductive in enlightenment work. My point here is that if I'm absolutely honest with myself, the question of what is happening in reality ultimately is irrelevant and I truly don't know the answer. And you shouldn't become frustrated because you don't know. In fact, admitting that you don't know is far more significant than coming to know something. It's also apparent to me, that the activity of becoming concious of metaphysical truths during deep psychedelic trips is again--tangential to becoming concious of your own nature and liberating yourself from the cycle of suffering which goes on in most people's lives. I've had glimpses of enlightenment without psychedelics, and I have heard accounts from others about their liberations during which no facts about what absolute reality is composed of were revealed to them. There's a parable that Buddah says about man who is wounded with a poisoned arrow. "It's just as if a man were wounded with an arrow thickly smeared with poison. His friends & companions, kinsmen & relatives would provide him with a surgeon, and the man would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know whether the man who wounded me was a noble warrior, a priest, a merchant, or a worker.' He would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know the given name & clan name of the man who wounded me... until I know whether he was tall, medium, or short... until I know whether he was dark, ruddy-brown, or golden-colored... until I know his home village, town, or city... until I know whether the bow with which I was wounded was a long bow or a crossbow... until I know whether the bowstring with which I was wounded was fiber, bamboo threads, sinew, hemp, or bark... until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was wild or cultivated... until I know whether the feathers of the shaft with which I was wounded were those of a vulture, a stork, a hawk, a peacock, or another bird... until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was bound with the sinew of an ox, a water buffalo, a langur, or a monkey.' He would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was that of a common arrow, a curved arrow, a barbed, a calf-toothed, or an oleander arrow.' The man would die and those things would still remain unknown to him." The wounded man asking for information about the archer who shot the arrow is akin to asking about metaphysics truths when the answers to such questions are largely irrelevant to our liberation from suffering.

These questions are actually largely irrelevant to one's liberation. You can be completely enlightened without knowing a single "metaphysical" truth ie. What is reality composed of, where it takes place etc. Maybe you can have a deep trip and come to "know" some of these answers. But until that happens you'd just be speculating and at the end of the day it's not even necessary in the path towards enlightenment.

Try mindfulness meditation which is nothing more than witnessing. You sit with eyes closed and simply observe all that which is in your concious field. Think of it as "open monitoring." This includes but is not limited to thoughts, sensations and emotions. You simply observe without judgement or resistance. This is different from doing.

If I were you I would just accept whatever is true in my direct experience. Feeling like life is meaningless? That's okay. Don't feel like doing anything? That's okay too. Whatever you resist, persists. So as long as there's no resistance to these feelings they will eventually disappear. Remember that awareness is like the magic sauce. There's no need to ask questions about why you're feeling how you're feeling. The answers won't help. All that's needed is that you observe what's going on within to the fullest of your ability. Eventually the negative will melt away and the positive will be enhanced. Trust in awareness and observe, observe, observe without judgment or resistance. Wish you the best

It's not like you can just say "hey I think I choose to become enlightened!" It's not really a choice. If you're on the path, you're on the path. so in a way you're right, "wanting" to become enlightened for the sake of the accomplishment is not only foolishness, it shows that you're not ready for it and that's totally fine

No prob ^__^ same to you and good luck!

Exactly. The core of this work is about becoming liberated from the suffering which comes along from the "game" of life. (Btw this doesn't mean renunciation of life either.) There's a parable that Buddah says about man who is wounded with a poisoned arrow. "It's just as if a man were wounded with an arrow thickly smeared with poison. His friends & companions, kinsmen & relatives would provide him with a surgeon, and the man would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know whether the man who wounded me was a noble warrior, a priest, a merchant, or a worker.' He would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know the given name & clan name of the man who wounded me... until I know whether he was tall, medium, or short... until I know whether he was dark, ruddy-brown, or golden-colored... until I know his home village, town, or city... until I know whether the bow with which I was wounded was a long bow or a crossbow... until I know whether the bowstring with which I was wounded was fiber, bamboo threads, sinew, hemp, or bark... until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was wild or cultivated... until I know whether the feathers of the shaft with which I was wounded were those of a vulture, a stork, a hawk, a peacock, or another bird... until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was bound with the sinew of an ox, a water buffalo, a langur, or a monkey.' He would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was that of a common arrow, a curved arrow, a barbed, a calf-toothed, or an oleander arrow.' The man would die and those things would still remain unknown to him." The wounded man asking for information about the archer who shot the arrow is akin to asking about metaphysics truths when the answers to such questions are largely irrelevant. Surely I enjoy Leo's content which addresses such questions, but at the end of the day his information is mostly coming from trips on 5 Meo DMT. So while he can be absolutely convinced on the truth about conciousness, for me and you it is just speculation untill we have a similar experience.

Hi friend, congrats on your new found spirituality. Just remember that all the ups and downs are part of the journey. That's what helps me put things into perspective. Also, even tho it's great that Leo got you to question the materialist paradigm, it's not enough to simply believe him or anyone else for that matter. Just be honest with yourself on every aspect in life. If something doesn't feel right, that's okay. Admitting a state of not knowing is actually way more important than coming to know something. A lot of metaphysical questions such as what is reality composed of, what is the origin of the universe are actually irrelevant to your suffering. Just go by what is true in your direct experience right here and now in the present moment and you can't go wrong. Hope this helped

@jwkspeck I was just about to say that haha I was typing: "I mean guys, isn't this the classic problem of Duality at work again? If you're positing that reality is either meaningless or meaningful, beautiful or terrible, it all smells of ego to me. It's probably both and neither right? And even my above comment itself falls into the same trap and on and on..."