VeganAwake

Definitely seems that way..... The impossible endeavor to use words to point at nothing. Always ends in "that's not it either"

I know what you mean, and it can come off as rude even. It's because so many people will habitually start turning what he's trying to point out into their own personalized version........and are typically way off track. He attempts to shut down those stories really quickly so the person doesn’t go any further down the rabbit hole sorta speak........but doing so can appear rude and disregarding........but he's actually trying to help! He's also trying to ensure that what he is pointing out doesn't get misconstrued or misinterpreted.

What's a farce?

Who remains here? Who's story and who's will to live? Who can't deny that? Can the so-called James entity be pinpointed? Is it the body? Where is the "As James" character exactly?

That's not enlightenment Your asking questions from a position of misunderstanding which will only lead to further misunderstanding

Nobody gets out of identifying as this needy self conflict either......... It just becomes obvious that it was an illusory construct from the start! Who or what recognizes it? Nothing! 😳

The self = conflict More love, more equanimity, more selflessness, more hope, more more more...... Conflict is the sense of selfs' middle name. It doesn't become satisfied. "The ego construct wants more money, more power, more love, more of everything. Those on the so-called spiritual path desire to be more spiritual, more awake, more equanimous, more peaceful, more enlightened". - Samadhi (Maya, the illusion of the self)

What is consciousness for you? Is it being self aware? Are you referring to all apparent reality as being consciousness? Is a dream or a thought or a hallucination consciousness also? Do you consider all living organisms to be conscious such as a flower or a worm or a mushroom? Is someone that's in a coma or brain dead conscious? What happens to apparent consciousness when the physical body dies?

Shake hands and hug with suffering and avoidance.

Everything is truth including writing about it.

There isn't a "me" hanging on or letting go. There just isn't a "me" at all period. It's a more subtle and on the surface realization. Anything that happens is the body. The self illusion is simply the experience of "I'm doing that" / "I thought that" me me me. There can still be attachments, body doesn't just immediately drop long-term habitual attachment like a light switch. Coffee, tea, sex, chocolate anyone 😋 Nobody is doing the body. Nobody is running the show. Nobody is witnessing. ❤️

Those 2 videos are hilarious. When I first started listening to Jim, I actually thought he had lost his marbles completely.

This topic/conversation reminded me of this interview 🤔

Yup, it never did......only seemed to. I'm not trying to question your understandings or anything brother.

Type 10 different characteristics you would use to describe yourself.

Exactly, no you to see it coming. Just apparent thoughts being identified with as "my thoughts" It's radical 🤙

This kind of self introspection can lead to some surprising realizations. What is the self? Where is it located? What does it consist of? Is it real? ❤️

It was intriguing reading these descriptions. It felt very personal and sweet. While I was contemplating and writing my own, it felt like I can sometimes be the exact opposite also. It feels like the personality is actually all descriptions and simultaneously none of them. This was one of my favorite videos of leo's back awhile ago now. It seemed very fitting for this thread.

Spontaneous Caring Logical Over analyzer Honest Helpful Crazy Thoughtful Blunt Anxious

If you were born and raised as a mormon in Salt Lake City, Utah, you would know how to ski or snowboard Your characteristics could have been a lot different.

Before or after morning coffee?

🤣 That was actually pretty funny! Thank you saliva

All these different characteristics are like opinions. Another person may agree, disagree, partially agree, partially disagree. These characteristics can also fluctuate to the point of not even being accurate any longer One person describes you as carefree, while another may say you worry to much. We might describe ourselves as compassionate while another may believe we are selfish and often disrespectful. Point is........these characteristics don't equal a real character. They end up canceling each other out because every person has a different way of describing another. No one is right or wrong, but when you get down to brass tacks, there isn't actually a fixed personality at all. The personality is like a chameleon, blending in with its surroundings.

Do you think close family and friends would agree with these characteristics about yourself?

Everything is an unknowable energy; planets, stars, meteorites, all living organisms, bacteria, cells, atoms, etc etc......... Within this unknowable energy aka: Everything, there can seem to become a sensation of individuality or self awareness. This sensation feels vulnerable and separate from the rest of the energy. It feels local, centralized, real and threatened. It feels the need to survive because that's all it knows, it doesn't know decentralization. Decentralization sounds foreign and scary. It starts learning/knowing things. Everything becomes survival strategy. Everything becomes relevant to its survival. It becomes it's own center of attention. (I'm) here and everything else is out there. (I) need to survive. Sometimes in certain physical forms, this centralized (I) energy can become disturbed. It can become decentralized for periods of time. During this disturbance, it can realize that it's not just localized to the physical form. It can realize that the entire experience of only being centrally located, was a misunderstanding. This unknowable energy seems to create a different path. It no longer gets centralized or localized the way it did before, because it has now experienced decentralization and it enjoys that feeling of wholeness. But simultaneously something else very interesting can seem to be recognized. It can seem to realize that its entire conscious experience of existing, either as centralized or decentralized, was completely illusory from the start. It becomes completely obvious that this experiencer of all phenomenon, past & present, was never actually there. It was all an illusion from the start. A very convincing illusion, but an illusion nonetheless. Enlightenment, awakening, samadhi, emptiness, absolute, this, nothingness, infinity.......... It's already the case It's already this way Nothing ever happened It's THIS!!! ❤️