Pierre

Sure, the Ego has deep subconscious roots. Otherwise you would just hear the teachings and BANG you'd be the most enlightened mofo on earth.

Ha ha, two hippie clowns criticizing an extraterrestrial psycho-vamp, very entertaining indeed!

@BeyondForm Hello, I'm the "someone else"! You're right, this nose thing can be quite an issue...it's one of the first objections people make: "but I can see my nose!" I'd say this fuzzy transparent cloud hanging in the middle of the world really doesn't look like a nose at all. Anyway it's not there when you look up, so it's just part of the outside scenery, and doesn't affect the space here. I've noticed long ago that I had these kind of flies, or grayish spots dancing on my cornea, and it really made me mad at first. I could only see that, and it spoiled the whole scene, especially when I looked at the sky. Well I got used to them, they don't bother me anymore. I'm sure it will be the same with your "nose"!

Let's face it, nowadays most of us make our own spiritual cocktails. Some deplore it, and stick to only wine, or only beer, or only whiskey. Well, maybe it's healthier, but I'll never know!!! Anyway, here is my own little recipe. I call it "Mystic Slasher". In a shaker: - A generous dose of Alan Watts (careful, the degree of alcohol is quite high!) - 25 ml of Advaïta Vedanta in its modern, balanced form (avoid the traditional, which is a bit sour, and the Neo, which is far too sweet) - Headless Way (amount to preference) - 2 teaspoons of Robert Pirsig's Metaphysics of Quality, for a nice, rich conceptual taste - 2-3 dashes of painful love stories to sharpen up the whole Shake well for about 20 years. Pour into a solid, if somewhat irregular, glass made of Mindfulness, Meditation, Yoga and Martial Arts. Finally, add some fresh-squeezed Adyashanti to give it a strong coherence and a beautiful shiny color. Enjoy. And go for the ride freely, no matter what happens. So, what's your recipe?

Wooops, my fundamentalism-alarm-system just flashed red. I hope it's nothing serious. Maybe it's too tightly set, I'll have to check...

@username I like you image of the glue. Well, it's exactly what I mean...It maintains coherence, but it sticks you to the ground.

I wonder if some characteristics that lie at the core of traditional spiritual institutions are not very counter-productive. For example, they need to have very definite features in order to maintain a strong identity and endure through time. This means particular and rigid theoretical views, precise rituals, a complex and nut-picking nomenclature, and of course the tacit (or often very explicit) claim that they are the best. How could they avoid a dogmatism that can only interfere with liberation? They also need to be veeeery progressive, and to insist on the superhuman difficulties of becoming enlightened, in order to justify a life-long engagement as well as a strict hierarchy...and this could well mean a postponement of liberation to the End of Time. Do you have some thoughts about these, let's say "sociological issues"?

Sure, Tai Chi is perfect. Your can also try more "external" practices, more concretely combat-oriented. They confront you with your emotions, boost your ability to focus, and help you to re-activate a very primordial, animal energy that will facilitate integration at a deep level.

When we realize that what we call "Ego" or "separate self" is just happening, like everything else, it starts to dissolve...

Well, I've just read a book about meditation by Ajahn Brahm, and it completely shattered my nice beliefs about "spiritual professionals" such as monks. So narrow-minded, dogmatic and life-denying that I just felt like shooting myself. I had always thought this kind of mindset was the privilege of conventional exoteric religion. Apparently not. Anyway, I understand better how they can get completely stuck.

@Venus I'm afraid you are getting very contradictory advice here...Welcome into the Spiritual Jungle! Some, like Leo, see a coherence and a continuity between personal development and spirituality. Some don't. It's the old problem of Works vs Faith. My line is clear: you can make great efforts, with the thought: "Maybe if I work as hard as the Great Sages of Old, I can get it in twenty years or in my next incarnation", or you can relax, be one with your experience, and enjoy life. Many people will see you as a hopeless hippie, but you won't care! Don't get me wrong. This attitude doesn't prevent you from meditating, reading, exercising, working, or taking care of a family. But there will be an easiness that will make these things much more pleasant and fruitful. In any case, the Path will unfold, according to your earnestness. Good luck!

Hello Venus, I've been stuck in this heartbreaking conflict for years! A part of you wants to let go and just be conscious, and the other fights back with all its might because it feels threatened. You'll have to surrender one day or an other, that's the Way, but you can't force it. Trying to let go is as much an expression of the separate self as trying to control life through positive thinking. I'd say "play it cool", and accept the conflict. Live it as consciously as you can, without trying to choose, and one day the jumping will come of itself. In fact, there's really nothing you can do...realizing this is "letting go". But the understanding has to make its way through layers and layers of conditioning. The guy who helped me a lot in this process is Alan Watts. You can read anything from him, but I'd recommend "The Wisdom of Insecurity", "The Way of Zen", and "Tao: The Watercourse Way". Or check his videos on Youtube! And of course, meditation. Allow the mind to relax. I hope this can help, and wish you all the best.

Ok folks, I'm going to share with you something very explosive. What if you could see, right now, WHO you really are? Wouldn't it be nice? In fact there's nothing easier. Very few people will acknowledge the value of that, because we want to remain humble seekers. Douglas Harding is one of the most strikingly original spiritual teachers of all times. He really made a discovery. Which is quite rare in the field of spirituality. To say the least. Here it goes: Right now, just were you are, can you see your head? There's a screen, a table, walls, a cat, lots of stuff, arms and hands, even shoulders, but there's no bloody head anywhere. Do this : with your finger, point to where you think there's a head. What does your finger point to? If you see a head, you're suffering from hallucinations. You might as well see the ass of a camel, and you should run to a psychiatrist. So what is there? EMPTY SPACE. Filled with all there is to see. And you ARE that space. It seems too simple and too obvious to be true . But it's an enlightenment experience. Of course, as always, it will take years of practice to really sort it out. Now, this will raise a HUGE battery of questions and objections, such as : - It relies only to sight. What about the other senses? - I can still see my nose, there in the middle. - What if I close my eyes? - I can see my head in the mirror, you moron. - It doesn't change the way I feel, or quiet down my thoughts, so what's the point? - If it's so wonderful, why isn't everybody talking about it on the marketplace? - etc, etc. This is not the place to answer all that. If you're interested, read Harding's major books: - "On Having No Head" - "Look for Yourself, The Science and Art of Self-Realization"

Reading novels about enlightenment can be very refreshing. These three have inspired me as much as any "real" teaching : Way of The Peaceful Warrior, by Dan Millman The Razor's Edge, by Somerset Maugham Siddharta, by Hermann Hesse What about you? Any suggestions?

Holy Lord Jeeezes, did you (or anything) get the Jackpot ? Bravo ! So what's this anguish about words and concepts and this forum ?

"Thus the philosophical people wanted to know just exactly what I meant by the eternal now, and why it should be of any significance. If they were told that it meant nothing because it was not a word, and signified nothing because it was not a sign, they would shrug their shoulders and change the subject, because all they really wanted was a construct of words. When the academically schooled philosopher asks for a meaning he asks only for another set of signs, and so ad infinitum. What is meaning as opposed to what has meaning never enters into his game. All such philosophers should play Vish. Each player is given a copy of the same dictionary. A referee draws a word from a hat, and immediately the players look it up, take a key word from the definition and look that up, and so on. The first player to get back to the original word calls out "Vish!" (vicious circle), and the referee checks his steps to be sure they are legitimate." "It might have been better if I had simply remained silent, or shouted "BANG!" Alan Watts, In My Own Way, pp.141

If you really want to stick to Buddhism, try Zen. They're the most straightforward. A mind to search elsewhere for the Buddha, Is foolishness In the very center of foolishness Ikkyu

@step1 Hello step1, here are the books that really got me on the Journey : Way of The Peaceful Warrior, by Dan Millman Zen and The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance, and Lila, by Robert Pirsig The Wisdom Of Insecurity, The Way Of Zen, Tao: The Watercourse Way, and In My Own Way, by Alan Watts The teachings of Arnaud Desjardins (don't know if they're translated) I Am, by Sri Nisargadata (transcriptions of questions/answers) On Having No Head, by Douglas Harding The teachings of Karlfried Dürkheim Une vie bouleversée, by Etty Hillesum (don't know the title in english) ; the beautiful and impressive day-to-day spiritual transformation of a young woman living under the Nazi occupation. The Razor's Edge, by Somerset Maugham Enjoy !

@Neo Hi Neo, well the cool thing is that it takes no time at all. And it doesn't depend on your mood or state of mind or energy or whatever. Just state that whatever you do, you carry an absence of head at the top of the body. You're looking out from this absence. Go on with all the stuff you do, meditation, etc. Just add this funny vision, without effort. Enjoy it without thinking about it.

Anyone interested in seeing the Self right now ? It's here.

Funny the amount of talk that Headlessness can raise. It's so simple and direct and clear that almost everybody miss the point. Of course it's childish !!! It has to be. Little children live in Reality, they've not yet built this damn solid entity in the middle of their universe. Please, give this Vision a chance, you won't regret it. Don't theorize about it, just LOOK. See my topic on the subject : "Blow Your Head Off !"

What's the place of pleasure on the Way to Enlightenment ? Sex, alcohol, food, smoking, coffee, TV, movies, video games, going out, etc. Do you refrain from it ? Do you bask into it in order to fully experience your being ? Are you quite light about it, without too much concern ? Do you try to find it in healthy stuff ? What's your experience ? "Swâmiji* gave me another priceless thing. It needed a guru of his stature to make this gift, and yet it will seem insignificant to you : he taught me that I had a right to all sorts of little daily joys. He had used a word that I've often shared with you, the word re-creation. Re-creation re-creates our strength, our capacity to confront existence, our fervor to carry through our sadhana as we still have efforts to make while spontaneity has not yet settled. Swâmiji had given all its nobleness to this word, and I accepted to make it a part of the Way as precious as meditation, fasting, division of attention to keep a presence to myself, discrimination between Real and unreal." * Swâmi Prajnânpad (1891-1974) Arnaud Desjardins, Pour une vie réussie, pp. 27-28 (my translation)

Are you sure ? I love alcohol, coffee and sweets, but they stir up my thoughts and emotions, and lower my awareness...

I'd fear the waking up at 3.45 am... don't you spend your day fighting sleep ?

@step1 There's a point where you have to go at it with a full heart. And that is not possible if you feel you have to achieve this and that in life. It's going to block you, and you will carry a load of frustrations, fears, complexes, and finally, anger. It depends on the intensity of your search. If it takes the first place, then no problem, the rest will follow, and very well. But if it's mingled with other desires and ambitions, you'll be in deep shit. Look at Leo, he achieved many things before getting into enlightenment work. He climbed up the ladder, and now it allows him to get at it full tilt. I don't know...where are you? Maybe you've suffered enough, and you're ready. You seem to have the right spirit.