Archen

@cirkussmile But your profile picture is a vegetable

There is a quote by a man named Elliot Hulse which i feel applies here. "We come to the earth whole, but humanity shatters our whole and we lose our parts. Our journey in life is to remember and find these parts, and become whole again."

@see_on_see what book are you using?

Hello everyone, I was recently told by Leo in another form that Kriya Yoga and psychedelics are the fastest way for me to "awaken." I have an understanding of what enlightenment is, a stage of being one with all and realizing you are absolute infinity (you can read more about my perceptions in my first post.) But what is Kriya Yoga? I've read online its somewhat a deeper form of meditation which focuses on channeling the Kundalini Spirit which resides in your spine. But to people who have actually done it and had progress, breakthroughs and enlightenment experiences with it, what is your advice and how did you go about doing it? What books and websites do you recommend, and what have you learned and experienced? I am very interested and want to pursue it I just want to have accurate information and research before hand. Thanks in advance

@Leo Gura Hey Leo, this state you describe as enlightenment is similar to what I believe it to be as well. However, I am quite young relative to many of the users on here and I am a novice with meditation and I have never done any psychedelic so I do not feel as if I have experienced it yet. Deep down I tell myself we are all one, yet when I look in the mirror I still see "me" as a separate entity from the rest of reality. Excuse my arrogance but would you read my post and tell me if my perception of enlightenment is accurate and if not, in what places am I mistaken?

Good afternoon everyone, my name is Trent and I am seventeen years old. I am currently working on a book which has a main theme of nonduality, being one, and the corruption caused by the ego. The setting is a Lord of the Rings/Skyrim like world, yet all many of my own ideas. Some background about me before I share my excerpt; I have struggled with bipolar depression since I was about fourteen years old and it has been both a blessing and a curse. Throughout the struggles and suffering, especially around the time my grandmother who I was very close with passed away, I was at my worst which included suicidal attempts. During this time I became fascinated by the mind and conscious and my curiosity led to me looking deeper into it. It was about this time I found Leo's videos and they altered my perception of what reality is, and they have vastly helped me grow by recognizing many of my own evils and my mistaken view of fragmenting myself from reality rather than accepting the wholeness which we are. The excerpt from my book I will share is about a demon named Aviramus telling his story to a man named Archen. I will not share the complete context so that my ideas are not stolen and that it leaves what you read open to interpretation. I am more than happy to hear your thoughts and perceptions on my writing as well as improvements I can make. What I wrote I have experienced myself. Is this what it means to be enlightened, or am I mistaken? Is the experience which I have had similar to any of yours? Without further ado, here it is. "I was ever so weary after the battle which had lasted days, how many I cannot remember. Even with two Antipodes I was still mortal, so I ordered my undead to guard me while I rested. I collapsed, surrendering to my dreams. I had never been one to dream often, but the Antipode of Ignorance allowed my subconscious to roam free. In my dream I was in a black room which went back in every direction beyond my vision, chained by my legs and arms so that I was raised above the ground, vulnerable as a blind deaf man in battle. I saw the ghosts of all my brethren which I had brought back in undeath surround me, screaming at me, cursing me to damnation. ‘Why would you slay and exploit us, Aviramus? You wish to save us, but perhaps it is you who needs to be saved.’ ‘You claim to be enlightened and our liberator, but if you were whom you claim to be you would not murder your brethren to gain power.’ ‘Ostracizing yourself on Grandeyus you scrutinized and judged us, but at least we did not give ourselves up to the temptations of the Dark Creator!’ Their curses made me tremble and ache with guilt and pain, the very feelings deep within me which I had dreaded confronting for so long now confronted me, and there was no deliverance.” Tears fell from Aviramus’ eyes, plummeting to the ground scalding where they landed. His breathing became heavy and his jaws clenched, he felt horrified simply recalling the corpse of memories from long ago. The King’s gaze returned to Archen, and he reluctantly continued his story. “As the shadows within my nightmare continued to attack me, I looked at them carefully and realized they were not the literal spirits of my brothers, but phantoms created by my ego to break my mind so that I would succumb to him. All the guilt and anguish which had burdened me for so long, I realized it was all within my mind. I broke the chains with newfound strength and roared into the infinity that is my mind, refuting my ego which had plagued me for so long. ‘Crawl out of your corner, fiend! You wish for my downfall, so come and finish it once and for all!’ All the ghosts of my brethren recoiled and hissed, fleeing into the darkness. For what very well could have been an eternity, the silence was ever so loud… anxiety consumed me, for I did not know what would ascend from the depths. Silence…silence…silence. At last, I could barely begin to make out a silhouette creeping from the murky depths, getting closer and closer. The being was identical to me yet did not consist of flesh but rather blackness, blackness so intensely ebon that the surrounding darkness appeared light. The only things which were not black were his eyes, smoldering scarlet, so imbued with hatred that it could be tasted, a taste which cannot be described with words. It stared at me silently for a moment, before speaking to me. ‘Confusion, blindness… deluded by desultory fantasies of saving those whom you merely think you care about- why do you burden yourself with such trifle endeavors? They are of no benefit to us, nay, they are helpless, ignorant. They are not like us and they never shall be. Your quest is in vain, no one can be saved, not unless we save ourself. We were damned from the start when you gave into the deceptions of Father. He does not love us and he never did! He made a mistake sundering man and we both know it, do not deny it, for we are one. I would not say these things if we did not believe them. We are better than all, our power unmatched. Let us seize the remaining Antipodes and overthrow the Shade, and then we can overthrow Father, yes, we can show him the mistake which he made and then we can recreate the world in our own image, a place of eternal sanctuary. There shall be no suffering, no misery, no anguish! Why can you not listen to reason? Why do you not understand, despite all the obvious evidence?’ I felt astonished, mind-blown. These were all my deepest, darkest desires, the things which I had pushed away and ran from for so long incarnate. But I had pushed them away for a reason, had I not? This was the lower consciousness part of me which had chained me down for so long. Now was the time to break these chains. ‘Put your selfishness aside! You say we, but these desires are not mine. They are yours and yours alone. I can tell that your sole purpose is to survive and why would it not be? Corrupting me from within all your existence, poisoning the mind. You are but my subconscious which has festered into a being, but you are not real. You are nothing! Attempting to fragment me from the rest of reality, deceiving me from the truth. You cast aside our brethren as if they do not matter, but why can you not realize we are all one? It is you who does not understand despite all the obvious evidence!’ ‘Deception… you speak as if you are the victim, ah the irony! You speak of being one, but you refuse to accept me. You demonize me but forget a very important piece of information. You were the one who was fragmented and locked away! You were the evil of a man which Father saw as unworthy! No matter what you do, your blood will always be that of a demon, the shard of the soul which Father did not want to corrupt his precious world! You have opened my eyes Aviramus. You are the only deceiver here, you are the one who has chained me down. Now is the time for me to break these chains.’ ‘Then let the chains be broken!’ I roared. I pounced upon the shadow and the floor which had been beneath us shattered, as we fell into eternal darkness sealed in each others grasp. Our eyes were locked, and in his eyes I saw myself and all the things which I had hated about myself and the world. ‘Do you see the things which have haunted us? Do you now see what I tried to save us from?’ ‘Nay,’ I replied. ‘I only see a being who could not become one, a broken shadow who put himself above the rest.’ ‘Then let us separate forever, and leave this reality of damnation!’ It shrieked. Simultaneously we seized each others necks and mercilessly snapped them. The last thing I remember was seeing both our bodies separated from our heads falling into infinity. My point of view was no longer from my eyes, but from far above. The barriers of language make what I then felt difficult to explain, but I will try my best. There was no I. All the things in reality; every human, demon, tree and stone, all the water and fire, animals and insects, the stars and the suns, bliss and sorrow, were all that there was, is and ever will be. I awoke where I had been when slumber consumed me, and looked around with new awareness. I was no longer me, rather I felt as if I was all. My love for everything had increased infinitely, for finally I had realized we were and are all one. Finally, I was enlightened. Archen, many perceive enlightenment to be the absence of emotions. These people have been deceived by higher powers who tell them that wisdom comes from suppressing their natural feelings, and they say these things because this makes them easier to control. True enlightenment is a level of awareness which allows you to acknowledge your emotions for what they are. Pleasure, pain, and neutrality all are impermanent, and subject to inevitably fading away - if you choose to let them. However, many people do not see it that way. When they allow themselves to be strangled by the tendrils of emotion, they drown in it and feel as if that current feeling is all that there is. Look at your brother. He has become so consumed by hate that he no longer realizes it is all in his mind, but rather thinks it is all there is, and he believes that by slaughtering everyone they will be liberated from his self-conjured reality of never ending agony. True enlightenment is obtained when one realizes this, and becomes disenchanted to these emotions, realizing they do not have to be controlled by them, and in turn become dispassionate. They are then released from the chains of their ego which have grown over time, and they have finalized their place in this life. They no longer wish for conflict or support certain factions, for they know that everyone is one being, and by hurting others, they are hurting themselves. They realize they are no longer a fish in the ocean, but the ocean itself."