seeking_brilliance

@winterknight the universe has smiled upon me.... I've found two psychoanalysts in my insurance network! Now just to see which one can work around my work schedule...

Can't wait. But will.

Of I get it.... When there is realization that nothing is ever lost... Do the two realities of losing ~(infinity symbol) finding (S)elf, and knowing nothing is lost, coexist? But nothing exists.... Like what the hell?

@winterknight I'm noticing that the path of enlightenment seems to follow a trend of : finding myself > losing myself > finding (M)yself again. With a possible 'losing myself again' tacked on at the end. If there is such a cycle, does it ever end? Would I want it to?

@winterknight is there a difference between the brain of the human body and the mind of a human body? (if one were to pretend either of these things exist?)

Wow that was exactly what I needed, (not surprised...) Thanks so much!

@winterknight does memory exist outside of Maya, or is the correct answer: 'nothing exists outside of Maya (Maya doesn't even exist.)'

@Preetom pure gold, thank you so much! What's funny is that I'm sure I've heard all this before, but this is the first time this mind is putting it together and comprehending. I finally get self inquiry. I know exactly what to do now! @winterknight thank you so much for letting me hijack your thread for a minute... was totally worth it!

Or maybe he was giving a reality check to the poster ? jk... It's just my main reality check in my dreams and I usually have 6 or 7 fingers

@Preetom sorry, I edited my post a couple times, wasn't sure if you read the full thing

Unless you know for sure, you don't know. Doesn't mean it's not likely to be true. But to say you know it means you have to know without a shadow of a doubt. But how does one come to that conclusion when direct experience can't even be trusted when filtered by mind /ego?

@EvilAngel yes and it feels great. Doesn't stop me from contemplating, but at the end of the day it's refreshing to know that I don't know anything.

@Preetom ???? can't say enough thanks for that awesome description. So at least as a very basic exercise, I could just sit with the feeling of me in my head, not caring if it goes away or not, and eventually it may do so anyway because it will turn in on itself. Right? And if nothing else, I'm building concentration. And now I can see why I can literally do this anywhere, anytime, with zero effort

Wow, thank you for a very genuine post. I can only imagine being in a situation where you had to truly embrace death, but lived, how that could change you forever. As you say, you learned to embrace breath fully. I often go walking in a 90 acre park next to my house, and have had a few conversations with myself about what if I get bitten by a venemous snake or spider. At first just thinking about it would give rise to a sense of panic and anxiety, but consciously (ha!) calming my breath, I laid it out then and there that if it were to happen, and I don't make it to a hospital in time, I'd be OK with it. I'm not asking for it to happen, but it wouldn't bother me, except for the fact that I know there are others who would suffer a lot of pain over it. That's something I'm still struggling with. I also accepted death at the end of a somewhat bad trip, and years after have still noticed the effects this has had on my psychology and fear of death. How did you eventually overcome this fear of exiting that door, or was some kind of spell lifted? (just curious)

@Preetom ok, actually your method seems more complicated than just doing affirmations to convince subconscious, but then again, there's probably a reason the affirmations don't work as well like as you described. (I'm sure a combination of the affirmations and your proposed method couldnt hurt, and may be complimentary) But, OK let's say the I-feeling seems to be in head. I don't understand how to follow that somewhere. It just stays there. I can say, well it's not in my head because that's in my awareness, but the feeling doesn't move to another part in the body for me to follow. Just stays in head. So it doesn't feel like I'm getting anywhere. And I'm aware that the only reason it feels to be in the head is because it feels to be behind the eyes and between the ears, and where I hear thoughts, the the main senses, not including taste. But 'i' can't seem to break out of that feeling of being stuck in the head, with everything else that is felt in the body seems more like a peripheral.

Oh ok great well then I do do this throughout the day, reminding the thoughts that there's no thinker. Just didn't know if that was the point--to pretty much convince subconscious of this so that the thoughts that do arise might take on a less 'me-thought' nature.

Well I've had a glimpse or realization that was beyond just conceptualization but it's definitely not solidified in everyday consciousness. So I can see that self inquiry helps with that

I just don't understand the point in doing it when you already have seen that the answer is no one. Is it just to solidify this in subconscious or is there really some secret answer we are supposed to find?

Who's listening to who? Isn't this just a story being played out with no one behind the wheels? Who gives a crap if people want to listen to what he says. Literally who? Everything will play out exactly as it should, including your objections to this thread.

I guess it depends on your definition of ego. If you say the body is the ego, then in that context yes the "ego" would experience thoughts about feeling pain. Thats all pain is, is the thought about it, influenced by the nerve receptors that were signaled on a particular location of the body. But there are other definitions of ego, like the defense mechanisms the mind creates by means of evolution to protect itself. This would be more of a mind type thing, and the mind itself is a concept. You can't say, well it's in the brain, because you simply have no idea if that is where it is. You don't even know if you are operating from the brain, it just feels like it because you feel like you're 'up there' behind the eyes and between the ears. Then there's the thing that there is no 'you' to have a ego. You don't exist, there just seem to be thoughts about your existence. These will come and go, and change subtly and very drastically, all within about 5 seconds ( made that up). That's just to show how subtly and dramatically it will change in the course of 5 years. Or 10. Or 20. And that's all they do, they just evolve the story of you. One day, you might begin to notice that if you search for yourself, there will be nothing that exists in between the thoughts of yourself. Nothing to grab hold of and say, yeah, that's me. (talking about your current understanding of me). The one thinking these thoughts about myself. And then you may realize that the only thing that exists (in Maya) are thoughts about myself. You may still be utterly confused about where these thoughts of a self are coming from, but then again you may just not care anymore. Then you just let yourself enjoy them, no matter how they arise. And hopefully you will begin to forgive the thoughts for abusing you all these years, because it's not 'your' fault, because there is no you. They're not 'your' thoughts, they just appear exactly as they appear. Then you see that even the thoughts aren't too blame, because they have no control over how they appear. So they never abused you at all. And then there's the definition which Nahm gave, which seems to be the most used one on this site and refers to the dumbing down of infinity to experience finity.

@SoonHei thank you, that was pretty cool. So similar to becoming lucid in a dream.

@Mikael89 because it's a label we give trying to explain a certain nature of thoughts. These thoughts in particular are ones that seem to be protecting us from something that most likely doesn't need protection. We slap a label on that and call it ego, giving it one word to go by instead of having to repeat everything I just typed about it every time we want to discuss this phenomenon. However, there is no ego. You can't hold it. Can't see it. Can't hear it. You can only have thoughts about it. It is not an object, it is a concept. And concepts aren't real, they only point to something.

@winterknight is karma just cause and effect? I see cause and effect being like the clockwork of Maya. Seems to propel evolution. Not sure what we are evolving into, or why, or if it even matters. Wait... I can't evolve, can I? There is no I. And no Maya... But there seems to be a really cool movie on about it, and somehow it seems that I'm tuning in. (sorry for rambling, it's so exciting to have someone to talk to that has promised to answer all my silly questions?.... I promise not to take too much advantage of it? ??? you know the drill: please point out my errors)

Are you thinking right now? That's the question.

@herghly if you set a strong intention to remember your dreams, it will happen. Do this : Before you lie down, write in your notebook "I will wake up from my dream and remember it." write it 10 times if you want. Really feel that it will happen, and as you write it, visualize yourself actually waking up from a dream, remembering it, and writing it down. Yes, even if it happens at 1am. Then, lie down and go to sleep. As you drift off, repeat in your head like a mantra the same phrase you wrote in your notebook "I will wake up from my dream and remember it". Say it as many times as you can.... If you can drift off to sleep while doing it then great! But if not it will still work. Just repeat it like 20 times while visualizing that it will happen, and then roll over and go to sleep.. Doing this you will have a high chance of waking up in the middle of the night and remembering at least a portion of the dream you just awoke from. Write this down! The problem is, if this doesn't work the first night or so, people get discouraged and give up. Don't do that. It will work! Now, after you have woken up and written down your dream, as you drift back asleep, your new mantra will be "the next time I am dreaming, I will remember I am dreaming" this will help to spontaneously induce lucidity in your next few dreams. I also like the phrase "the next thing I see will be a dream" I personally have an iPad with a keyboard on it for easy writing down dreams in the dark.