abrakamowse

The Buddhist advice is watch your thoughts but not to engage with them. You mostly become aware of everything, a car passing, people, sounds, etc... and thoughts, but like if the thoughts were like any other thing on reality. Thoughts are also part of reality, you don't have to engage in their meaning. Just observe as when you observe a tree and let them go. I am glad that you found a way to meditate more confortable.

@Aware I have a question, if the earth is really flat. Does it have an end? How does that works? I think that @WaveInTheOcean was talking about that the boat should fall on the edge, if it is plane it must end somewhere, and boats should fall on that edge. It has to be like a disk, right?

@WaveInTheOcean that was awesome from you! It's hard to do what you just did. Nice!!! I am also learning from all this thread. :-)

@Wormon Blatburm Check the video that Rali has uploaded. He talks with a guy from India (I think) and he talks about that. They say that there's a range of awakened people, some want seclusion from the world, others want to get involved in the world and share their knowledge. There's a great range of enlightened people, with different approach to enlightenment, maybe their message is directed to some kind of people that can resonate with it. Who knows? This is the video

Mummified Buddhist monk 'still alive after 200 years and is nearly a Buddha' http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/mummified-buddhist-monk-still-alive-after-200-years-nearly-buddha-1486570

I was in the hospital, I had a nervous breakdown and it took me a lot of time to recover. But I learned there seeing other people with problems like me, that the cause of the problems were their identification with their thought process. From what I learnt from that experience is that a lot of mental illnesses are caused because of our denial of reality, our non acceptation of reality. I learnt from talking with patients and with other people with problems like mine, there were people who was suicidal, others with delirium of persecution, I was depressed... and I understood that if I continue thinking in that way I was going down. So I began to study self actualization and there I learnt about meditation, etc. And that freed me from that thoughts. Everyone must understand that thoughts are not ours, we think that thoughts come from us and they are us... so if we think something crazy we think we are "sad" or "a failure" or we are useless... we are not that. The thoughts are useless... But of course, having all the society telling you otherwise is hard to overcome sometimes.

Got you!

How do you know when it's your true self who's talking or the ego masked as spiritual ego or the ego that "understand something" or some kind of ego disguised as true self?

Yes, that's what I was thinking. Matthew 7:5 made me not to try too much to tell him or insist, because I know his ego will defend and he's a good friend of mine. I think he may be thinking I am crazy Lol... "Matthew 7:5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." I am the hypocrite

@Aware He's in my native country, we write in e-mails and we have those chats via e-mail. I will try to ask him. But I know he will say that this is how it works, he thinks that matter is there, that is not possible that matter is created because we believe in it. He thinks there's not an awareness or a soul, spirit... he thinks that from the cells on the brain, neurons, etc... there's thoughts, and if the matter dies there's nothing but the world continues... he understand that we are a composite of cells, atoms, whatever. But he thinks that life arose by random chance.

And you know what? I used to say that to a friend who is extremely materialistic. He thinks that everything comes from matter and we talk about that sometimes and I told him that we are not a body, we are a composite (as you said) of different elements that we call body. And now it was like I didn't do the connection, thanks!

Thanks!!!! I got it now! It's clear but is like we are blinded by our beliefs.

This means like you said about distance... distance is not distance (distance is an idea) therefore we create distance in our mind/concept, etc... But here awareness is talking, from the awareness point of view And here in the illusion distance is distance (because we think there's something) therefore not distance? I don't get that part.

@Emerald Wilkins Cool!! :-)

You should do a video about that @Emerald Wilkins sounds interesting, I didn't know about that.

When I was 16 I was really attached to the idea of "me", it never crossed my mind to think I don't exist. I need to pass a lot of experiences (even an emotional breakdown and therapy) to understand what was Buddha, Jesus and others talking about. Maybe is not your case, but I wanted to share that just in case. Question: What do you think about what Buddha said that you have to stop desiring to end suffering?

I was thinking than previous to awakening it's safer to detach from everything. Otherwise you think you are your thoughts and that's a big problem. You can think you are going crazy, when there's no one to go crazy.

@Ariel I think you are too young. At your age I read a book about Buddha. When Buddha said that all the suffering comes from desire, that we had to stop desiring... I was like... WTH???? If I have no desire I won't achieve anything in life. Now I realize that Buddha was right, but you need to live that experience to assimilate it. I am 47 now.

Thanks @aware!!! Very enlightening post!!!

All well really, but because I didn't know what was happening to me I thought I was going crazy. So I went to the hospital and they sent me to therapy. It was helpful for me, because I was working a lot, and because I am an immigrant I don't have family here in USA, I was alone, and they showed me how being lonely without social interaction can affect me. So now I am more sociable, I did some more friends and really meditation helped me a lot to stop listening to my head. And Leo was very helpful showing me that enlightenment was about seeing reality as it is. So I began to focus more on what I was doing instead of thinking what I am going to do, what did I do, how, why, hehehe... the mind is the one that is crazy and we can observe its craziness. :-) Now I feel that my mind can do whatever it wants, like an spoiled child and I just will observe it. And in my case, I read the bible a lot, the bible has many hidden meanings for enlightenment. For example I know now that the psalm 23 was written for this kind of spiritual tests. "Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." But you can know that when our true self (God/Consciousness/reality/etc) is with us, the ego (evil) can't affect us. Let us know how are you doing. Forget the experience, just say thanks for it, all experiences are positive because it makes you grow spiritually.

I had a crazy experience too and I ended in a psychiatric hospital with a nervous breakdown. Now I now it was my ego trying to come back with a lot of strength. I wasn't prepared for the experience and it was some years before I knew about Leo, I didn't know anything at all. Now a know anything but at that moment I knew less than anything. Just relax and stop paying attention to thoughts as usual. I think is the Ego trying to stop the inevitable, the ego death.

Maybe I need to watch some of your videos about "physical sensations"...

Thanks @Leo Gura , I am so blind. I keep forgetting things I already now. I need to remember myself.

Just words, neither is "it" nor "he"... it/he doesn't exists.... John 8:44 "You belong to your father, the devil (it/he/ego), and you want to carry out your father's (ego) desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies."

He can't... but if there's a body it cannot "see" that there's nothingness. Maybe my question was bad formulated. Unless the body is nothingness.