Moksha

Truth can only be known at the level it exists. In the cosmos, reality is relative. There are no absolutes on the cosmic stage. Do you know of any? Space, time, matter, energy, and motion are all defined from the perspective of the observer. Einstein saw it. Science is a powerful tool for comprehending relative truth, but it cannot prove anything higher than itself. To realize absolute truth requires absolute evidence. Where would this evidence come from? Clearly, not from relative facts. It is only possible from the absolute. You ask for unique value. The closest you can come to that is the appearance of unique value, when the essence of the absolute realizes itself within a particular form. But the uniqueness of the form is only an appearance. If ultimate reality is seamless and unchanging, how can anything be unique? Only the appearance of distinction is possible. When the absolute is realized, boundaries disappear. Even self-realization is only an appearance, but it is the closest comprehension possible to ultimate reality. The final step of enlightenment is letting go of the idea of enlightenment, after first having attained it. I wholeheartedly agree that life is here to be experienced and enjoyed. It is amazing to contemplate the evolution of forms during the 13.7 billion years of the cosmos. Each step of the evolutionary process has been experiential and therefore purposeful, but ultimately the direction has been toward developing the capacity for self-awareness. You could say that experience is the immediate purpose of creation, and self-realization is its final purpose. With every mass extinction on the planet, life has returned at a higher level of consciousness than preceded it. When the highest level is reached, the game is over and everything begins again. This process is realized by mystics in every spiritual tradition. As Aldous Huxley summarized: The Perennial Philosophy appears in every age and civilization: There is an infinite, changeless reality beneath the world of change This same reality lies at the core of every personality The purpose of life is to discover this reality experientially, that is, to realize God while here on earth So what is the catch that keeps Consciousness/God/Brahman from instantly realizing itself, and thus solving the riddle before it has the opportunity to experience it? The proof can only be directly realized, and at least on this planet, this realization has only recently become possible in the briefest blink of an eye. The vastness of creation stretches backward, far beyond what any mind can conceive. Do you grok 14 billion years? I wish there was a way to directly show you, but like anyone else, I can only point to the reality which is beyond you and me, and the essence of us both. Neti neti will get you there, and if it doesn't, suffering will. Although it is described in all traditions, the Hindu tradition is as close as any I've seen. As with every tradition, there is the surface interpretation, which is relatively meaningless, and there is the deep interpretation, which attempts to describe the ultimate. In Hindu myth, a Day of Brahma is a period of explosive expansion aka the Big Bang, where prakriti are divided into gunas. Each Day lasts for 1,000 yugas, which equals 4,320,000,000 years. It is not literally true, but when you look at the deeper meaning it resonates: The Day of Brahma ends after a thousand yugas and the Night of Brahma ends after a thousand yugas. When the day of Brahma dawns, forms are brought forth from the Unmanifest; when the night of Brahma comes, these forms merge in the Formless again. This multitude of beings is created and destroyed again and again in the succeeding days and nights of Brahma. But beyond this formless state there is another, unmanifested reality, which is eternal and is not dissolved when the cosmos is destroyed. You are asking the most important question, which is who you are. Now go and find out

It seems you have already begun the Neti Neti journey, by questioning and discarding whatever cannot be known. When you have tunneled through the conceptual debris that you have piled upon yourself, none of which is true, at the center you will realize yourself. The character is an extension of the coder, in the same way a ray of light is an extension of the sun. You could say it is the sun, but not all of the sun. The essence of the character beyond the pixels that form its shape, is the coder, but not all of the coder. One knows the coder is within the code through direct realization. It is the only knowledge possible within the game, the resonance of the coder awakening within the character, and tracing its essence back to its origin. The entire video game is the creation of the coder, and the purpose of the game is fulfilled when the coder realizes itself watching it through the screen.

Welcome, @Patang. It's funny how the hero returns home at the end of a treacherous journey, realizing that the treasure he so courageously sought and fought for is already within. Then again, had he known then what he knows now, there never would have been an adventure to begin with ?⚔️?

Hope this is helpful. I came across it earlier today, from Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj: The seeker is he who is in search of himself. Give up all questions except one: "Who am I?" After all, the only fact you are sure of is that you are. The "I am" is certain. The "I am this" is not. Struggle to find out what you are in reality. To know what you are, you must first investigate and know what you are not. Discover all that you are not -- body, feelings, thoughts, time, space, this or that -- nothing, concrete or abstract, which you perceive can be you. The very act of perceiving shows that you are not what you perceive. The clearer you understand on the level of mind you can be described in negative terms only, the quicker will you come to the end of your search and realize that you are the limitless being. You seem to be realizing intuitively that ultimate reality cannot be described. God, and every other word, inevitably falls short. People sometimes fall into conceptual traps because they don't realize this. At best, the mind can only say what reality is not. You see your true nature through direct realization. When it happens, you realize that it is beyond any beliefs, words, or spiritual texts. As the Upanishads say, "Words turn back frightened." I like your video game analogy. The key for the character is to realize the coder is within its code, but the coder is not confined to its code. After awakening, what you perceive is you, but you are not all that you perceive. For some reason, I'm on an Einstein kick this week. As he said: Nature shows us only the tail of the lion. But I do not doubt that the lion belongs to it even though he cannot at once reveal himself because of his enormous size.

@Nilsi Feel free to criticize Leo's teachings, but personal remarks about him or any other member of the forum are inflammatory and unnecessary. Renunciation is a proven spiritual path in both eastern and western traditions, but it is only a path. There are other paths to the summit, and regardless of the path taken, it is no longer helpful once the summit is reached. Seeing truly frees you to fully engage with the phenomenal beauty of life, without being entangled by it. Sometimes people benefit from sitting in the solitude of a cave for a while, until they are ready to emerge with rested eyes. The only people judging them for doing so are blindly chained to their own wall within the cave.

It is the seeing of the seer, the almost avatar whose eyes perceive the formations of phenomenal reality but whose light arises from the infinite well of itself.

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There is a third way of "thinking", beyond disidentification from involuntary and wandering thoughts. It is purposeful creation that is born of your ultimate nature, and is directed toward a specific goal. You don't know in advance what the answer will be, but you focus awareness on the question without imposing thought. In the silent sanctum of pure mind, a solution arises. This is how Einstein, who was a poor student but also a brilliant mystic, realized relativity. Words and language, whether written or spoken, do not seem to play any part in my thought processes. The psychological entities that serve as building blocks for my thought are certain signs or images, more or less clear, that I can reproduce and recombine at will.

God can be a triggering term, especially for people raised in a fundamentalist religion that ensnared them within a crystallized belief system. I avoided using it for a long time, but find myself returning to it as a pointer to the miraculous and mysterious nature of life. Enlightenment is letting go of all identifications, including identification with the concept of God. It's the Neti, Neti approach to inner realization, where each layer that is not you is peeled away like the skin of an onion, until only the unnamed essence remains. You can enjoy the benefits of this wisdom, as it seems you have, without needing to conceptualize it. Whether it is called God-Realization or simply Realization doesn't matter. The litmus test of your insights is the extent to which they motivate you to release phenomenal addictions, and not only allow but celebrate the universe flowing through you.

Meditation is not anti-thinking. To the contrary, it develops the discipline for proactive thinking. Most of us are entangled by our thoughts, as if they define our ultimate nature. When you are centered in awareness, you no longer identify with your thoughts, but are able to direct them with intelligence and creativity far beyond what was possible before. That is what I meant earlier about killing the elephant vs. learning to ride it where you want to go. The brain is an amazing beast when it is tamed. All true creatives, including Einstein, understand how to operate from this inner space of mystery which is who you actually are. The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed. - Einstein

I didn't start meditating until after awakening, but better late than never

Creation is the appearance of dualities. Within relative reality, all attributes have extremes, including joy and suffering. Each extreme necessitates its opposite. For God to experience pleasure, it must also experience pain. In its ultimate state, God is beyond attributes. It doesn't appreciate or not appreciate. Nor is it any kind of -ism, which are ideologies built from beliefs. God is Love. Not the phenomenal emotion, but the unconditional seamlessness beyond the dream.

Guilt is one of the ego's favorite weapons. It is guaranteed to keep you trapped within your mind. Not only is it unnecessary, it sabotages your ability to be in harmony with your ultimate nature. It is amazing to spend so many years flailing yourself for faults, only to realize that tossing the scourge into the fire is the truest path to freedom.

Recognizing thought patterns is the first step toward disidentifying from them. Rather than thinking about what you are thinking about, observe the thoughts without judgment. Eventually, they subside and become a murmur compared to the cacophony they used to be.

Meditation isn’t about killing the elephant, but about learning to ride it where you want to go.

Morality is not about judgment, which is the relentless hell of the conditioned mind. That doesn't mean actions have no consequences. Whatever stone you cast creates ripples, which return to you in kind. If you want happiness, live in harmony with the conditions that create it.

Here, I believe we are talking about the same thing. Your description of seeing a tree without labeling it is a good example. When you let go of the mind's insatiable craving to identify, differentiate, and judge it is easier to see the sameness of your ultimate nature in all beings, even in a tree. You are asking whether this seeing is pragmatic. It is, to the extent that it informs your approach in life. If you try to shape the universe to your will, you will continue binding yourself to misery. If you release obsessive attachments to desires and fears, and allow the energy of the universe to flow through you as the gift that it is, you are on the path to freedom.

You’re talking about God-conceptualization, not God-realization. I agree philosophical pontification is a waste of time. A lot of that happens on these forums. Awakening to your ultimate nature is not ideological or conceptual. It is direct realization, the resonance of light with itself, entirely free from thought. In that moment, there is no you, only pure being. In this light, attachments dissolve and suffering recedes. Peace, creativity, and joy are abundant. How could it be a waste of time when it flows beyond time. It doesn’t make sense to the mind, nor can it because it is not born of the mind. It is the direct unspoken language of God.

There is nothing more valuable in education than teaching people to avoid the perils of the human mind. Unfortunately as you say, the vast majority of teachers are as trapped by conceptualized reality as their students. Who is going to teach the teachers? Spirituality is ultimately an individual journey to non-individuality. If the student isn't ready, not even an awakened teacher will make a difference. Still, you can plant seeds that may sprout later in the person's life. As a parent, I wish I realized and taught my young children what I see now. Maybe it would have helped them, but then again you can really only teach by being who you are. Words are distractions except in rare cases where people are ready to see beyond them, to the reality they point toward but can never adequately describe.

I used to demonize the ego, until realizing that this was just a subtle example of the ego sadistically preying on itself. Bad ego! The secret to escaping the ego is not to fight against it, but to realize your true nature beyond it. We demand the impossible of the conditioned mind. After decades of sewing together a Frankenstein of fantasies and fears, we set it loose upon the world, demanding that reality feeds it what it wants, or else! How ridiculous is that? Expecting the cosmos to comply with your so-called needs is the definition of insanity. Instead, why not learn to comply with the cosmos? When you are in this flow state, life pours through you effortlessly like rain. We spend so much energy clinging to experiences we like, and resisting those we don't. What a waste of an otherwise beautiful dream.

A good man knows who he is and who he is not. He trusts his intentions. He places himself neither above nor below others. Serving them is the same as serving himself. He lives unconditionally and unapologetically. His value is realized within, and is unswayed by people's opinions. His work flows from him like the rain of a ready cloud. His rest returns the rain into the sky. He is not magnified by life, nor is he diminished by death.

Realizing transience in yourself and everything else in the cosmos messes with the deepest constructs of your mind. I have gone through periods where this realization sinks in, and my mind recoils in self-defense. It feels like being consumed by a vertigo vortex. You realize this is just a response of the psyche, which is deeply programmed for survival. Centering your attention within, beyond the clamor of feelings and thoughts, restores equilibrium. Meditation has helped enormously, to the point it is no longer a problem. You can realize this with every other entity. Seeing beyond the illusion of transience to the same ultimate nature in all beings dissolves apparent boundaries. There is only love, which is another word for seamless being. It is profoundly beautiful.

If you are exactly where you should be, why would you want to "pursue something new"? Enlightenment reveals that there are no shoulds or should nots. There is nothing to pursue, or to avoid. The desperate attempt to do so only leads you from yourself. When the light of your ultimate nature is unleashed, it supernovas, banishing apparent boundaries and revealing the same you in every being. You emerge from the cave and see clearly that the cosmos is a phenomenal playground, which can only be fully enjoyed when you are free from the shackles of yourself. These are not poetic platitudes. They are a map, pointing to the territory. They are trying to show you the incomprehensible being that is within, waiting to be realized. When it is, life goes deeply beyond sitting on your ass and blissing out. Every ticking moment of apparent time is too precious to waste in a voracious desire to perpetually "realize more". Here's an exercise that may help. If an oncologist told you that you have terminal pancreatic cancer, and will die in 30 days, what would you do differently than you are doing now? Take that realization and live it. It's not just a hypothetical thought experiment. Make the most of this moment now. Some day it will be your last, and the adventure of the dream will end.

Enlightenment liberates you to lucidly live the dream. Creativity, intelligence, and love pour through you and elevate every experience, whether it is farming tomatoes or researching quantum mechanics. Life is less about choosing the right thing to do, and more about honoring the moment regardless of what you do. You may feel guided in a certain direction, but whatever you do will be meaningful because you are entirely present and grateful for it. You see the miracle that the cosmos is. If you are bored or dismiss life as an empty illusion unworthy of your attention, these are telltale signs you aren’t enlightened.

That it worries you proves you aren’t a narcissist ?