Alexandre

Is that state what the mystics call Samadhi? That's interesting... It's another way of seeing enlightenment: instead of looking at it as the losing of boundaries, it can be interpreted as the expansion of the "boundaries of I". I think that is the kind of thing that just an enlightened people may know haha That's so nice... I had an interesting experience as well, during my first retreat at a Zen monastery (what they call sesshin). I think that it was not an enlightenment experience, but it was quite remarkable to me... I was in the middle of a meditation session, with a lot of pain in my legs. Suddenly, I felt that all experiencies that I was perceiving (thoughts, sounds, pain, etc...) were in the same level. I was aware of my thoughts in the exactly same way that I was aware of my pain and of the sounds around me. And for a briefly period of time my pain did not felt as "my" pain, but just "the" pain. All of the elements in my awareness were just there. My level of identification with sounds, pain and thoughts was the same. It didn't last long... but after that, I felt a great feeling of happiness, compassion and peace of mind. It was a very nice experience for me. And as you said, "the negative ceased to be negative", because the pain in my legs were no more bothering me... How long do you think that your experience last?

As a part of reality, the body-mind system would be connected to the source of thoughts, feelings and counsciousness. Those can exist without an ego. The illusion, in the other hand, would be the thing that claims ownership over them. Yep, I agree haha... I feel that the need to identifying with things its just the ego choosing another mask to hide behind. I do connect with my body during mindfulness meditation sessions, and I think that it is a good idea to increase awareness... You said about "thinking my way" to this state... I feel that no matter what we say, we would not be able to grasp the things that we are trying to grasp with words... Words are more conceptualization, and the more you conceptualize, the more you lose the connection with reality itself. But... Even a person who is enligthened and have realized oneness can't be aware of the things that a bird is aware, right? I really don't know some of the actual implications of such realization... Thanks for the answers!!

Hello everyone! At the present moment I’m bothered with a question. The problem is that I don’t know who is the ego and who is not. I accept that the sense of an entity called “I” is an illusion. I can understand that there is no “master behind the scenes” who rules and controls the actions of my life. For me, the sense of “I” is an emergent property of the body-mind system. As an emergent property, it does not have existence itself – that’s why it is called illusion. The illusion is created by the intricate body-mind system (which is part of reality) and it takes thoughts (which are also an illusory emergent property) and claims control and possession over it. I am aware that we have no control over our thoughts and over our actions… And the interesting fact is that, although I understand and accept the illusory nature of that “I”, I can’t free myself of its modus operandi. The act of writing a question to this forum is an egoistic driven action. It represents the need of reason and logic, the “everything in its place” feeling that is typical of rationalism. That’s why the state of not knowing that I am right now is so painful (for the ego, of course). There is no logic and reason in reality itself. Contradictions are created and are only a problem for the ego. My question is: why not identify ourselves with the body-mind system? This system is a brute natural element of reality, so it is a part of the whole field of reality. In the “Neti Neti method” video, Leo told us to seek for that element, that “thing” that have always been constant in our entire lives. Of course our body and mind changes throughout the course of our lives, but why is that a problem? Reality itself is a constant flow of change. Our body-mind system is changing all the time, so is reality. That is why the biological system is a part of reality. And about awareness… Who is being aware and perceiving reality? I think that we can only be aware of things due to process of the body-mind system. Can we still be aware of external world things when the body-mind is turned off? For instance, can we perceive the sound of a bird when we are dead? I don’t think so… Therefore, why not connect ourselves with the body-mind system as a part of reality itself? I am not talking about the “I” feeling who wants to control things…. Because if we truly link ourselves with the biological system we would instantly surrender to reality. The biological system is influenced by all of the “external” things in the environment, so the only “choice” that is left when you accept this is to surrender yourself to this constant changing reality. Deep inside I feel that it is possibly one more of the many masks of the ego, so here I am searching for help haha. I would appreciate anyone who wants to help me… Thanks!!