Aethereus

Looks like most of us have some serious consciousness work to do instead of just thinking about this

Great insights everyone, you really woke me up. Especially @Truth Addict nailed it.

@SoonHei That said a lot. Thanks very much!

@SoonHei What you're saying makes perfect sense, but only if everyone has consciousness. On the one hand you can say that since Mike has consciousness, so do his roles (Bob&Sam). But on the other hand, in my experience as "Bob", I have no evidence of "Sam". I'm trying to figure out how I can know wheter others have perceptions aswell. Because in my experience they are no different than a moving rock, as harsh as that sounds

I want some serious thoughts on whether other people exist (have consciousness) or not. Here's mine: What I'm perceiving are appearances of other people and I have no evidence of them being conscious. On the other hand, I have no evidence that I am the only conscious one. I'm not deeply involved with enlightenment but I kind of understand that my ego, my sensations and anything "outside" of me is all happening inside my consciousness. But that only reinforces the feeling of loneliness and of life being no different than a dream. I hope I'm naive and mistaken, but if not, then this is damn sad. What's the point of connecting with others? Of supporting them? Or even interacting at all with them? It's confusing when enlightened people try to help others while they say that they don't exist. Extra brain puzzle for you: if all I have is my perception of you, then all I can do is be guided by you to find the truth by myself. What could such guidance be? Merely taking your word as truth would be no different than believing a person in my dreams. Again, I hope I have arrived at false conclusions. Keeping my mind open, hit me.

That said a lot. Thanks very much

I understand. However when I become conscious of my thinking, it either stops or turns into a mess. Quality thoughts often come when I'm not fully conscious (i.e. daydreaming) so how do I account for that?

This spoke to me directly. Thanks a lot.

How does one strike the balance between being and thinking/doing? It seems to me that conscious thoughts and even unconscious ones (daydreaming) are necessary to function and achieve stuff. Yet I read in a book that what you learn in meditation must infuse your daily life. If that means that you should be mindful 24/7, then that's damn puzzling.

I'd really appreciate to hear your experiences or at least your opinions on this technique

Like the others said, go at your own pace, don't push yourself too much, it will be much less painful if you allow thoughts and emotionts to just pass (be detached from them). This is how you face your fears: cut through the nonsense your mind creates and go straight for what you want. Stay calm, be loving, be alive.

I'm not a psychologist, but I doubt whether they would give any real growth. Maybe they will fix your mood but sooner or later you must face the problem

I haven't done any enlightenment work but I have worked a lot on my psychology so I'd really like to be in a situation like yours because your situation is getting closer to enlightenment (atleast so I think.) Also yeah that workout analogy seems very accurate

@Buba fear of the unknown. You need to keep meditating despite that in order to grow. In fact, keep living your entire life normally despite this fear instead of being absorbed by it. You can keep functioning normally AND do spiritual work. The fear is the unnessecary thing that makes you feel dysfunctional

I was thinking the same. I'd be grateful if I were in his place, despite the pain. And yeah, he can't stop. The seen cannot be unseen