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@winterknight Many sage talk about awareness in deep sleep (not lucid dreaming). Do you experience this? If so, what can you tell us about it? For example, Jan Esman describes it as "waking up in his sleep to bliss out for thirty minutes or so." What does this awareness entail? Is there any content to this awareness and if so are they sense-products? Additionally, you mentioned that in deep sleep, the Self is experiencing unconsciousness. I always preferred the term "unmanifest", as in the Self is experiencing the unmanifest in deep sleep. In your view, are the two terms interchangeable?

When you die, will you walk towards the light or turn away?

Haha fascinating isn't it? There is no "me" either. That is yet another conceptualization. Simply do away with all these and see what remains. This thing you call "me" is only an abstraction. You are IT.

Krishna/Jesus/Buddha/Allah whom to worship? The first one sings. The second one wants you to be yourself. The third one is silent. The fourth one wants your complete surrender. Either one will get you enlightened... ...as long as you have faith.

@winterknight What insight can you share about "one-ness"? I have begun to perceive the physical world as a contiguous entity rather than divided up into parts. This includes the body which is the source of the dominant sensual perceptions. I have realized that all separation are rooted in associating thought-forms to "things", and that were you to be fully present you will be unable to perceive separation no matter how hard you try. What else have you seen? How has prolonged perception of the world in this manner affected your day-to-day life? Do you find yourself more perceptive to subtler perceptions?

Being enlightened, the mental constructs that uphold psychological trauma/disease gradually fall away.

I believe what you are talking about has to do with one type of Samadhi when the individual can be in a trance-like state of no-self but remembers his last thought when he comes out of it. Ramana Maharshi briefly talks about this in his book "Be As You Are".

@mandyjw Just try and connect with your direct experience, specially with your inner energy field. Focus your attention on this instead of the mind. The idea is that the mind, being fed less and less energy, will stop being able to hog your entire awareness and is replaced by inner peace and stillness.

@MM1988 Lets rank consciousness like this: 1. Self-realized 2. Mind-realized 3. Sub-mental The first one is blissful. Depression really cannot survive here. A large portion of people at the second level are depressed. Even if they are not clinically depressed, they are not at ease due to the inner sense of separation and abandonment (that they might not even be conscious about). To quote Thoreau: The masses of men live lives of quiet desperation. 3. The third one is very difficult to reproduce in (socialized) human beings outside of extreme cases where an individual's psychology is utterly fucked with. It's hard to know what you mean by "higher than average" but unless you are enlightened then you can most likely be depressed. Although I assume as you feed the mind less and less of your energy then the lower the chance will be.

@Baotrader Please try and connect to your inner body. Just try to feel the life sensation inside, it's very simple. Do this every day, and try and focus on it rather than the content of the mind. It is not difficult and it will end in you feeling an immense amount of joy and peace inside. Forget about being enlightened etc. and just do this. Being able to feel inner joy like this can easily overcome all the negativity in your head space.

@Mada_ When I was 17 I spent most of my energy chasing tail. 10/10 would do it again.

@Baotrader Please don't do it.

The mind God speaks again. Maybe we can have another 50 page thread discussing the man. Please don't take me seriously

@winterknight Yes, It clicked. All I can say is that this is much more profound than I could ever imagine yet was always present. As if I just chose to not see it. Peace, gentle joy, no I. I am not the body, not the mind, not anything and simultaneously everything.

@winterknight When inquiry is made into the source of "I" it is nowhere to be found. There is also the realization that the "I" is simply another label put on phenomena. So it itself is an illusion. At this point, the realization dawns that nothing can be said about enlightenment. There is no longer a seeker, neither is there seeking, because those are also concepts. So the only thing that seems appropriate is silence. Additionally, the worldly functions which were previously thought as being the actions of the "I" are seen to be autonomous, entirely out of the control of a "driver" who drives the body. Is this the "state" the texts and the sages refer to as Sat? Is this enlightenment?

@winterknight Thank you. Most valuable.

@winterknight What is your approach for achieving a dead mind? Is your approach for isolating the "I" thought 'inquiry and discarding thoughts'? If so, how difficult is it for you? Did you notice your mind getting quieter and quieter with each successful attempt or is it still as challenging as it was in the beginning? Basically, is there an element of practice makes perfect in inquiry?

Ego death is such a dramatic term. The whole "scene" surrounding it is what makes it so hard to achieve. All it takes is a quick inquiry into your direct experience. It's easy to conceptually understand how thoughts are not reality, so they are very easy to discard. The same applies to the senses because they themselves are concepts. Same with emotions and the body overall, and ultimately same with everything else. At this point all that is left is for the seeker to realize the "I" itself is yet another concept and let go of it. What remains is pure consciousness, or Sat, and that is the Self. Everything else is complications. But don't let me stop you.

@Vinnie Yes reality is wholly Conscious. @Hellspeed The senses are mostly a matter of awareness rather than pure consciousness.

The question does not arise if the Self is correctly realized.

@SriBhagwanYogi Well judging by The Power of Now I can say that Tolle is in fact talking about the Self and real enlightenment.

@Elysian Good to know. Never managed to do it with breath-work. Regardless, if as you say one can let go of enough to "just be" then only that will suffice.

I maintain the position that use of words is often necessary for helping others. Regardless I do understand your point. As for definitions, the Self (denoted like that with a capital S) is synonymous to God, reality, truth, pure-being etc. in the context i was using.

True but you have to factor in practically. You are teaching someone something that is for the most part outside of their direct knowledge and they are only receptive to dual language so you have no choice but to use words. . Additionally, to throw you off a bit, you inferring duality from anything has more to do with the hold your concepts have over you than anything else. Hehe

Mankind's to-do list: 1. Be