Inliytened1

Reality is an Infinite Mind. You are a finite mind. I am a finite mind. We are finitudes of Infinity. But simultaneously we are Infinity. Infinity = God.

Relatively speaking the chair is not the table That is a duality. It is created so there can be such a thing as a chair and a table. But duality is created within non-duality. Form within formlessness. So from the Absolute perspective all must collapse into One. So yes duality is ultimately identical to and IS non-duality. I think we are saying the same thing no? Therefore God is splintering itself. The parts are still God but simultaneously creating the illusion that it can be something other than God. But that is simultaneously still God. In that very illusion though, it IS something other than God or it wouldn't be an illusion. But the illusion can be shattered. You can't escape that! If you say you can escape that then you are stopping halfway around the circle.

In this dream we find ourselves in the illusion is that consciousness exists in the brain and our culture ate up the illusion. The Truth is that the brain is within consciousness

But the chair IS the table. It is a strange loop, or paradox because of the self reference problem. There is no where to go. Duality into non-duality into duality into non-duality forever. Forever. To Infinity. There is only One.

@TrynaBeTurquoise sweet. Thanks for the share.

Yes studies show that they can help addiction, depression, etc...excellent input.

@Arcangelo nice job on 8 yrs man congrats. I don't like the term alcoholic the way they use it in AA because it tends to have the connotation of the person being broken. These are addictive substances. But yeah - the longer you stay away from it the less you obsess about it. When you stop caring or thinking about it then it has no meaning. @Forrest Adkins it seems in your case you seem to be around it on weekends and then you are like fuck it..it is fun and feels euphoric. I don't get the impression you obsess about it during the week. But yet in that moment when you are presented the opportunity - you stop thinking about the potential ramifications or the guilt you will feel afterwards. You are feeling good in the moment so you aren't able to see it. So for now as @Nak Khid stated - stay away from these situations until you really have no desire for it anymore to the point where if you got into those situations you could easily say no thanks.

I think it's a great metaphor. All of reality can be found by simply looking at your hand. Reality, from a relative, formed perspective, is merely a shift in perspectives. All there really is are perspectives. One can observe the finger and see it from the perspective of a finger, and then one can shift perspectives and see it as the whole hand. The is still the world of form. The Absolute is the absence of perspective - it is pure isness or pure potential. Beyond the grasp of the mind.

@Forrest Adkins i know this feeling exactly. It is like a tug of war between two parts of yourself and it is pure suffering. Ultimately you will need to reach a point where the negative ramifications of your drug use will become so strong within you that the side of you that wishes to align with Truth and purify your defilements will win out. The devilry side will merge into this and fade but it will not die easily. That is purification. Good luck my friend. Tools for this are to become content in just Being. Go meta and realize that materials and substances are hollow and imaginary. They are providing an illusion of happiness when in fact it is just an illusion. They aren't even real. You can be happy just Being. This is easier said than done. I still struggle with this even though i am conscious that it isn't real. Become conscious of triggers. Realize when triggers arise and trigger your desire for this hollow egoic stuff and try to go meta and let the good side of you talk yourself out of it. Look at long term rather than the short term hollow high drugs would provide. Keep drilling this into your mind. Keep yourself away from potential triggers. Perhaps find friends that stay sober. Also it does get easier the longer you can go without substances. Cravings diminish. Good luck again.

@Nickyy agreed @sumire i think if you contemplate enough you will see that maybe you identified duality as something negative and associated it with the devilry of the ego. Perhaps because you were so focused on the first half of the circle - non-duality, that maybe you then created this identification or association in your mind.

@sumire welcome to the forum and great question - I'm sure you will get a lot of replies! The way i see it is that you need to be able to seamlessly shift between duality and non-duality because ultimately they are One. And i do not consider an intimate connection with another ego inflation or an ego defilement. Just because from the Absolute perspective it is One does not mean you can't have meaningful relationships in the realm of the relative. Both duality and non-duality can be embraced Ultimately it's up to you - there is nothing wrong with being by yourself either.

@Nahm fantastic.❤?

@Rigel ??

Hard to say, everyone's experience is different so what is normal? Perhaps it will pass. I sleep like a log so i can't say...You may have a talent for lucid dreaming - there are many posts about it in the forum.

@Fede83 awesome! You only have yourself to thank ❤?

They are virtual partitions in consciousness. Some are smaller partitions and some are larger. And some partitions can expand themselves some can hack the OS and access the whole drive

@Wonderer great job this is transcending your ego - being free of it and not a slave of it. Transcending the ego requires higher consciousness and going meta - being aware and catching your ego behaving in a certain way mechanically and then countering. It's very counterintuitive

I have discovered this to be very true as well. I had a mystical experience once right on the forum while talking about it. Of course the guy i was talking to couldn't believe it as he was a materialist but it is what it is

@SoonHei ❤❤

That is still a division between form (Mind) and formlessness (the Absolute). Ultimately it is One. But yes God has it's own perspective in form.

@petar8p ❤?

Look at this way guys. Nothing is real unless you imagine it to be..because there is no physical reality. There is only mind stuff. And mind stuff is nothing fundamentally. That's infinity for you. And its a paradox at its very core because there is no core. Our minds will try to rationalize this until the cows come home and we will keep going in circles. Requires an awakening to really grasp. Why? Because you ARE it! You ARE infinity! You just have to become conscious of it.

Right. The Self with a capital T is imagining all of this. Your small self has a smaller subset of imagination but fundamentally it works the same way. If you stop imagining your grandma right now - since she is merely an idea - she literally does not exist anymore from your perspective. If you as God (the universal Mind) stops imagining or "kills" off the idea of your grandmother than she stops existing other than as concept or memory in your finite mind. It can imagine anything it wants into or out of existence.

@Cody_Atzori i understand this quite well. After experiencing non-dual states and existential realizations into the nature of reality - duality becomes awfully mundane. On the other hand try to stay conscious that duality is still non-duality and can be looked at from a different perspective. If you make this adjustment you will see the beauty in duality and no longer see your current day to day stuff as mundane. Then you can regain passion for it and finish up school. At the same time you can begin working towards whatever life purpose you ultimately want - whether its being a Sage or something else - in tandem. Good luck ❤

I will use the word Truth. But God and Truth are synonymous. It depends on where along the path that person is. There are different realizations (i.e awakenings) or facets of Truth that one that pursues Truth can have. But the key here is that Truth is not a belief. It is actuality or isness/being itself. One who has had direct experience of Truth does not look at it as concept or belief. It is prior to all of that. On the contrary, the atheist has the belief or worldview that God doesn't exist while the theist believes there is a God. Someone who pursues non-duality but hasn't had direct experience of it should be careful not to take it on as dogma or belief either, but instead should work to find out for themselves. Thus do not take what any of us tell you about Truth to be Truth itself, or to take it as a belief. The key lies in a direct mystical experience of it. I hope that helps.