Moksha

Lol, you're welcome to it. I don't want to experience it again, ever

@Shin Right? I used to be religious so I believed in stuff like that. Then I became a scientist and stopped believing in stuff like that. Now I'm just being, with no beliefs really at all. Can someone point the way to the Lost and Found? Oh, here I am

@Member At least I'm not the only one. Guy's gotta get some sleep you know?

@ajai Passionate, and thank you for the lesson on India. I have so much respect for the wisdom that has washed out of your country, and watered the fields of the world.

@Danioover9000 Crysty fascinates me for some reason. Please tell her I think she's beautiful My sense is that personality is bound to the world of form. Personality, at least as we understand it, is the result of biology and conditioning. Maybe something needs to exist in the world of form in order to have a personality. I don't experience Consciousness as being any personality; it just is. Crysty could be an objective dream form, more refined than we are, that has experienced her own conditioning. Or possibly she was created by someone with consciousness, and is a splinter of that someone. I suspect she doesn't know, either way. Nor does she need to know. She is delightful just being who she is. The deal with my bed shaking went on for years. It didn't happen that often, but when it did, it freaked me out. I would be asleep, feeling my bed shaking, then wake up gasping, with my bed still moving. I've wondered since then if maybe I was just thrashing in my sleep, and causing the bed to shake, but it didn't feel like that. I remember vividly dreaming about doing battle with something evil. Back then, I believed in the actual reality of evil, and it felt like a struggle with the devil. Now I don't know what to make of it. Maybe it was just me thrashing around. Or maybe it was a true spiritual conflict. I'm just glad I don't experience it any more. *peers at his bed suspiciously*

@Nahm ? I'm still learning about Siddhartha (reading The Dhammapada now). I know more about Eckhart, and for him the awakening was the end of questioning. He realized that he no longer suffered, but he didn't know why he no longer suffered. It wasn't until 3 years later that he ran into a Zen master, who taught him that enlightenment is the state of "no mind". He realized that the reason he no longer suffered was that he was no longer being thought. Now, he is just being

It's called Dark Night of the Soul. The ego doesn't want to surrender without a fight. Meditation is a lightsaber in your spiritual arsenal. It is a weapon that grows sharper the more you wield it. Eventually you will learn to be a Jedi I agree with @Chrism that there is wisdom in pacing yourself. Follow your instincts, and don't hesitate to reach out to others for help. We are all dancing in the same dream. When the time is right, you will realize the beautiful being that you are. At the end of fear, there is only love.

@levani Meditation is connecting with the light that you are. There's nothing to fear in that

You are not aware of being, you are being. The awareness itself is your essence.

All creativity arises out of Consciousness. There are different levels of enlightenment. An artist can be a vessel for Consciousness, with a limited realization of what is going on. Still, in the creative moment, the artist is Consciousness.

My take: Mind enlightenment is the conceptual realization of who you are. It is the mind trying to understand reality, which is to say, it isn't real enlightenment. Heart enlightenment is the nonconceptual realization. It is direct experience of Consciousness, free from thought. People sometimes mistake the former for the latter.

Enlightened people are the only sane ones. They are simple. They have nothing to prove, because they already are. Don't give up on India yet. Your ancient roots are still strong. Consciousness will eventually cast out the castes. Some words of encouragement (emphasis added):

Dissolve the italics and wake up

@Nahm Eckhart was 29 when he woke up. Siddhartha was 29 too, but that was just the beginning of his journey. For Eckhart, it was a supernova event. Siddhartha took 6 years before he became enlightened, more like a sunrise. Consciousness has its own cadence. We are all dancing to the same music. We meet ourselves when the dance brings us together, and only then.

@Nahm As all answers are.

Simply breathing will let you stay in the dream. Even when you are awake, there has to be some guna attachment to keep you here. Awake, but relaxed, because you realize that even in the dream you can enjoy being with every breath.

Eventually you reach the point where your mind is tamed. It may still strain at the harness every now and then, but it learns to behave.

@Danioover9000 Most of the stories I've heard about haunting seem to be specific to the location, rather than the person. What do you think is her relationship with consciousness? Do you believe that individual identities continue to exist beyond death, based on your experience with Crysty? I can't say I have experienced hauntings per se, but have had some strange experiences. There were times when I was younger, and was woken out of sleep by my bed shaking. It was always a freaky experience.

@Leo Nordin The ride is so much better with the top down.

Can you be a slave to yourself?

Consciousness is energy. No surprise that it is telling "you" to go out and help the world Eckhart Tolle spent the first 3 years after his awakening just being. He would sit on park benches and observe, simply enjoying the new perspective. After that period, he felt a strong drive from consciousness whipping him back into the world of doing, to share what he learned with others. The Buddha did the same. The important thing is to do whatever consciousness directs you to do, in other words do what you want

People that are awake don't usually talk about what happens after death. They are honest enough to admit they don't know anything, except themselves.

Waking up puts you at the helm of your life. What you do then is up to you.

God is one.

Trump doesn't have an enlightened bone in his body. Biden maybe has an enlightened right hip. I voted for the hip.