Inliytened1

Its just isness or being.. it just is itself. There is no where else to go. There is no place outside of it. That's what you are you just dont know it.

Being/Oneness is formless minus form. Currently you are form but your within formlessness. You can become only the formless by losing the ego or form. That is a non-dual or mystical experience.

@ColdFacts Very astute. But you cannot grasp Infinity, oneness, from within it. Meaning you are a finitude of infinity. You are a part of the whole which places you within the whole. Anything you grasp will be dualistic. You cannot grasp non-duality with duality. You must become infinity. You must become the Absolute. This takes a mystical experience...you cannot get their with rationality or logic or the finite mind. The true nature of reality is irreducibly mystical. Its not made of a bunch of dumb atoms. Don't take my word for it, discover it for yourself.

@Shaun if its what i think it is..and its almost like a dissolving feeling...i call it Being. Some call it Kundalini.

@Bill W This is fantastic. If all of us can embody these things in our every day life the world would be so much better. One thing i would add is to gain the ability to jump between perspectives. If you disagree with someone - step back and take their perspective for a moment. There are probably very valid reasons or at least to the person as to why their perspective is what it is. This understanding of other perspectives can lead to great wisdom, understanding, and compassion. Afterall there are only perspectives in Reality. Reality is subjective not objective. And you can't change someone else's perspective, you can only offer your own if they are willing to listen. Likewise they can offer their own to you. In the end It is up to the person themselves what their perspective is.

Nothing wrong with profound statements resonating with you. But if all you are doing is obsessing about them then that is your probably your ego trying to flip things around on you so that you become stuck in a trap and never actually align with Truth. So go meta on these thoughts and proceed with your meditation and spiritual work.

@Aakash i like it

@Andrewww can you give me some examples of so called profound statements?

@seeking_brilliance ahh i got ya..yeah it is amazing how strong the illusion is. How it feels so real. It wouldn't be a good illusion if it wasn't LOL. We feel separate from universal consciousness yet we are One.

@Pouya thoughts come regardless. Try not having a thought for more than 30 seconds.

@seeking_brilliance As@Consilience stated they both arise in consciousness. There really isn't a body or a brain. Its just consciousness. You are a section of universal consciousness which is also capable of thinking and feeling.

@lmfao pretty powerful stuff.

Thats understandable. I was an atheist my whole life. But you are a Materialist also as you still believe your awareness is happening inside your brain. And that's fine too...but let me ask you...do you meditate? Are you open minded enough to see if maybe Agnosticism may not be the answer? Also these are not Leo's or mine..there are plenty of Awakened people out there.

@Truth Addict ahh Truth...ya know for some bizarre reason you are the only Materialist around here i like (besides Coldfacts)...so I'm going to ignore that in the hopes that you being here on this forum means there is a part of you that wants to grow and gain wisdom - and not just try to tell others what they did and did not experience.

Here's how it works..and Leo feel free to disagree but this is what I've experienced and learned over my 48 yrs - and i believe suffering played a huge rule in my Awakening experiences. The ego doesn't want to suffer, not purposely of course. It want's pleasure. So it goes out and scours for resources..gets money..women..sex..etc etc. But what happens is this counter intuitively leads to suffering..because ultimately what the ego thinks will bring happiness does the opposite. The ego is completely selfish and cares only for itself. Now, even more counterintuitively, this very suffering that our own ego caused us now actually leads to spiritual growth and alignment with our True self. It causes us to become more conscious and we start to become conscious of what is really important. Through this process we are slowly purifying ourselves of the Ego's devilry. So its like a vicious cycle. Our ego will still want pleasure, which leads to suffering, more consciousness, then cycle repeats. But slowly you begin to transcend the Ego and maybe even have an awakening experience if you are lucky enough to stumble into spirituality and start meditating. This is exactly what happened to me. Now, with all this wisdom you can actually harness suffering and that's where retreats come in. In this way you are consciously trying to invoke suffering rather than having it happen inadvertently from the Ego's stupidity. Again this is my story and Leo you may completely disagree.

@Leo Gura That was my point..if its deluded its survival. Truth is very counterintuitive to the Ego. For example you go against your own ego's desire for pleasure and make plans to go on a 30 day retreat with intentions to suffer. But your ego immediately kicks in and tries to talk you out of it. Even during the retreat your ego will be trying to delude you. But you will feel the suffering at some point - and that is not delusion. Just as feeling Love can be not deluded. That suffering will align you with Truth even though your ego fought you the whole way. Its very counter intuitive.

@Norbert Lennartz The hard part is watching out for the ego's traps..falling for your own mind's self deception. An example of that is what Leo mentioned - letting the ego co-opt your pursuit of Truth and distort it into its own devilry. So it's tricky work.

@Leo Gura yeah but then they're not truly aligning.

@Pouya It's really the same thing yes. Its thoughts you aren't aware of..which is what subconscious mind means. It is a distinct part of the mind, yes..but at the same its still all one mind. Just like the finger is distinct but still at the same time the whole hand.

That would mean that going on a 30 day solo retreat is to move you away from Truth. See, something that aligns you with Truth can't be a survival strategy. Because Truth means the dissolution of the Ego. Doesn't matter if its a thought or an emotion. It's bringing you closer to Truth / Death. Anything that moves you away from Truth is Ego / survival strategy.

@Shaun you are consciousness itself but knowing it conceptually and becoming conscious of it to the point where it triggers a mystical experience is another. So just keep meditating you have plenty of time. No rush. You are already Infinity right now.

I see what you are pointing to..our very existence as the ego is survival. Every thought we have is survival otherwise we wouldn't be having it..we would be dead. So you are right from that perspective. But lets talk about survival strategy not just mere survival. let's take suffering...that's something we feel but we aren't consciously thinking it. But notice that it's not a survival strategy.

Your ego has a subconscious mind..sure..but what is the ego really? No different than asking if your coffee table exists. Its all part of the content of this dream we are in. From within the context of the dream they exist.

@Shaun ok..but thats..an answer..really contemplate that. That entity you think you are.. behind the eyes...how can that be an experience. That's like saying you are your thoughts or you are your emotions. That entity you think you are..how can that be thoughts or emotions? They are just what they are..thoughts. emotions..experiences..thats what they are..that's not what you are.. Thats how this works.

So lets assume its the body you identify with. Now you can rule that out because if we cut a part of your body out you would still be you. That's how you do self inquiry..you rule everything out, not just conceptually but becoming conscious that those things aren't you. You do that until something hits you.