Moksha

As I said, I'm not familiar with Leo's teachings. I don't criticize or defend them. If they resonate with you, great. If not, find another teacher. My point is that it is easy to get caught up in concepts, rather than seeing beyond them, to your true nature. If that makes no sense to you, no surprise. The monkey mind cannot make sense of ultimate reality. It can only be directly realized.

Maybe your interpretation of Leo's teachings is bs Seriously though, I respect Leo but am not too familiar with his teachings. I've seen 3 of his videos, and read a few of his posts on the forum. At best, any teacher can only point toward the moon. Only you can see the moon directly, for yourself. Once you realize your ultimate nature, questions dissolve. You are Light. The cosmos is a dream, and every question asked within it is ultimately meaningless. Words, concepts, beliefs, and even spiritual teachings, are seen as pale reflections in the pond, but they are not the moon casting those reflections. There's nothing wrong with asking questions, and trying to understand. It is part of the spiritual path. Just don't hang too tightly onto the need for conceptual answers. It is easy to get so bogged down by the monkey mind that you lose your way entirely.

Earlier, when I mentioned the vast majority of people who mistakenly consider themselves enlightened, I was referring to permanent enlightenment. True ego death is rare. For most of us, it is a process of chipping away at the ego over time. There are periods of freedom, like you experienced, but usually the ego slithers back out of the shadows when you least expect it. I've been studying "Dark Night of the Soul", by St. John of the Cross, and he describes this process with passion and deep personal insight. In his framework, there are actually two dark nights: the night of senses, followed by the night of spirit. The night of senses is fairly common for sincere spiritual seekers, but very few make it through the final night of the spirit. After the initial high of early awakening, there are periods of increasing darkness, which are deeply disconcerting, but also serve to dissolve the egoic self. This darkness is necessary to move us beyond the easy indulgence of spirituality, into the bone-deep realization of the nothingness of ourselves. It is only then, when you have suffered so profoundly that you want nothing but to be restored to the light of Consciousness that you once took for granted, that you release the ego once and for all. That final letting go is true enlightenment. It is not only the realization of our ultimate nature, but living in a perpetual state of light.

You are reality. Realizing your true nature is realizing reality. The realization is direct and non-conceptual, and couldn't happen any other way. Concepts are at best pointers to reality, but even the closest concepts are still a lie.

There are helpful steps you can take to prepare for awakening, including those you are already doing (meditation, pondering spiritual writings, etc.). The eastern mystics used the Neti neti method. The path to awakening is unique for each of us. Do whatever brings spaciousness to your life, and frees you from your thoughts. What I meant was not to get so caught up in preparing that you clutter your mind with a long to do list, rather than learning to let go of the mind. Awakening is simply the direct realization of who you are, and it is entirely free from thoughts. Preparation is important, but awakening happens when Consciousness is ready to make it happen. Enjoy the journey ?

As I see it (), what seems to be happening is not ultimately real. There is nobody verifying anything, only Consciousness playing the game of apparent separation. This, as it appears, is only a dream. The deep truth is that the dream is just a dream.

The brain tries to understand reality, but it can't. You're never going to get it, as long as you are trying to get it. So much thinking, thinking, thinking. Have you ever had the realization that you are not your thoughts?

@Adodd You will likely get more benefit from a single, longer session than from several shorter sessions. At least, that is what John Yates recommends in The Mind Illuminated. I would try both, and see what works best for you.

@VeganAwake And yet despite being whole, complete, and perfect, Consciousness contrives the appearance of our little selves. Apparently, the illusion is there for a reason

^^^ This. The Mind Illuminated was my introduction to meditation. It is all about developing the capacity of presence, beyond the clamoring of the conditioned mind.

Awakening is the opposite of questions. It is direct realization of your true nature, beyond conceptualization. If you find yourself asking a lot of questions, that is ok. Eventually you will let go of the questions, and realize the answer which is already within you.

Consciousness is the dream master. It appears, within its dream, as a you. Ultimately, there is no you, but Consciousness pretends there is. Enlightenment is the great adventure it tells itself, in which it gradually stops pretending to be a separate being, until the dream boundaries of the self entirely dissolve.

@VeganAwake Love the Adyashanti quote, thanks for sharing ⚡ The cosmic joke is that the more enlightened you become, the less of you there is to be enlightened. The personality becomes increasingly transparent, until there is barely any person left, only the pure light of Consciousness that you always are.

@softlyblossoming ? There are levels of awakening. Many people awaken, only to fall back asleep. Meditation is a powerful exercise in learning to swim upstream, against the current of the conditioned mind. Eventually, your awareness becomes perpetual, regardless of the turbulence of the dream. When meditation is mastered, the mind is unwavering like the flame of a lamp in a windless place. In the still mind, in the depths of meditation, the Self reveals itself. Beholding the Self by means of the Self, an aspirant knows the joy and peace of complete fulfillment. Having attained that abiding joy beyond the senses, revealed in the stilled mind, he never swerves from the eternal truth. He desires nothing else, and cannot be shaken by the heaviest burden of sorrow. - Bhagavad Gita 6:19

I didn't say God is a concept (the word is, but not the ultimate reality it represents). I said it's easy to conceptualize being God. People that have not directly realized their true nature as God often claim that they are God, but it is only a conceptual identity for them. You can't understand the taste of water until you actually drink it. Awakening rarely results in immediate ego death. You realize your nature as God, but this realization doesn't instantly dissolve your attachments and desires. It is only the first step toward equanimity. I have directly realized my nature as God, but I am still far from enlightenment, which is the permanent end of suffering. As the Buddha put it: Few are those who reach the other shore; most people keep running up and down this shore. But those who follow the dharma, when it has been well taught, will reach the other shore, hard to reach, beyond the power of death. They leave darkness behind and follow the light. They give up home and leave pleasure behind. Calling nothing their own, they purify their hearts and rejoice. Well trained in the seven fields of enlightenment, their senses disciplined and free from attachments, they live in freedom, full of light.

Equanimity is the letting go of thinking, as an identity. It is the dissolving of desires. Ultimately, it is saying sayonara to "I".

Where did I judge the enlightenment of others? Enlightenment is not only the realization, but the actualization that there are no others. When the boundaries dissolve, you are no longer you.

The jab includes myself, as I am not enlightened. It's easy to conceptualize being God, flattering even, but ego death is far more difficult and rare. It is the end of attachments and suffering. The vast majority of people that consider themselves enlightened are fooling themselves.

Proof is in the pudding. The more awake you are, the less attachment there is to form identity, to desires, and to the results of your actions. You become transparent, until you ultimately dissolve. People pontificate about being God, but if they still suffer, they are not fully awake. Enlightenment is equanimity.

My struggle with the spiritual process is the idea of me struggling with the spiritual process. The more translucent I become, the less struggle there is. The end of struggle is the end of me.

@RMQualtrough I agree, and in truth all words are poison (including these). The Upanishads say that "Words turn back frightened" when trying to define ultimate reality. Some are better pointers than others, but all words fail miserably in their attempt to describe the indescribable. The truth can only be Self-realized, directly.

If Consciousness is nothing, and the cosmos arises from and returns to it, then everything comes from nothing. The paradox is that everything Consciousness creates is also Consciousness, appearing to be other than it ultimately is. Like all language, the terms nothing and everything are equally misleading. Consciousness is beyond nothing and everything. It can't be conceptually captured. Instead of trying to understand reality, realize it.

For a long time, I avoided God as a pointer because it tends to invoke beliefs born of our conditioning. I use it more now, as awakening is ultimately a spiritual rather than conceptual realization. God is paradox. It is beyond everything and nothing, and is incomprehensible to the human mind. It can only be directly realized. For that reason, Mystery resonates from the Tao Te Ching, as does Tat from ancient eastern mysticism, which is translated as, "That." We can't know what "That" is, we can only realize it as our ultimate nature.

@Terell Kirby Great to hear! There's a French expression: reculer pour mieux sauter. It refers to taking a step back, in order to jump farther forward. Consciousness (i.e., the real you) is calling the shots, enjoy the journey

The ego is so sneaky, it can creep in as self-recrimination. It is actually my ego's favorite weapon. I've learned that Judging myself only makes the ego stronger. By all means, learn what keeps you present and what doesn't, but be kind to yourself in the process.