Moksha

Identifying with your career choice, or anything else, is egoic. It is not who you actually are. Living lucidly is realizing that ultimately, there is no individual identity. I advocate celebrating the dream, and the character within the dream, while realizing that it is only a dream. It is the best of both dimensions. You are free to enjoy the dream, without being bound by it.

Identity is ego. If someone is truly awake, they see through an omnidirectional lens. Sub Ek...it is all One.

It's actually deconditioning. Your mind has been conditioned to look for happiness outside of the Self for your entire life. Meditation counters that. Instead of allowing the currents of the mind to pull you under, develop the capacity to remain present, regardless of what conditioning throws at you. Swimming upstream dissolves the ego, and it becomes increasingly desperate. It's like the Wicked Witch of the West melting when dumped with a bucket of pure water. ? The ego will throw your deepest shadows at you, hoping to snag your attention and steal the energy of the Self that has sustained it. See it for what it is, and let it dissolve. What is left is who you are.

Spiritual teachers who identify as a spiritual teacher are not true spiritual teachers.

When this is seen, the game is not over. It becomes less serious, and more fun. Lucidly living in the relative dimension of sense perceptions, without identifying with them, is the true purpose of the game.

I agree. Consciousness has an overall upward trajectory, toward Self-realization, within the dream. Any good dream requires drama. Dualities within the dream demand balance. They are opposite ends of the same stick, and when you pick up the stick, you inherit both. Within the dream, there can't be order without chaos. Overall though, Consciousness trends toward awakening. It is its primary purpose. When the cosmos finally awakens to its true identity...? The dream cycle begins again, and microorganisms swim in the sea of relative reality.

@Endangered-EGO Unfortunately, when it comes to the West, you're right. In the East though, teaching nonduality goes back thousands of years. I see a spiritual tsunami coming for the West, with an overall trend toward greater Consciousness. That said, like most paradigm shifts, there is a struggle between chaos and order before society finally grows. The West has been pretty chaotic the past few years People like Eckhart Tolle and Alan Watts have migrated Eastern wisdom to the West, in a language that many people understand and embrace. My hope is that the overall upward trend will continue. Tolle believes it will, but time will tell.

Psychedelics aren't necessary for enlightenment. Some people have benefited from them, but many sages attained enlightenment through meditation and deep introspection, without drugs. Depending for the rest of your life on an external catalyst for internal growth sounds like an attachment.

⚡ Being is knowing.

@Endangered-EGO As I see it, meditation is less about technique, and all about integrity, courage, and resolve. When intent is pure, it will slice through dogma like butter, and reveal the true Self. Yes, wouldn't it be valuable if this was taught in school. Meditation vs. math?

@Endangered-EGO The maxim is that there is no wrong meditation. I agree. There is value simply in having a consistent meditation practice. The beauty of meditation is that its quality matches what is needed in that moment. You learn to observe the shenanigans of the mind, without being drawn into its drama. The ego doesn't go down without a fight. I see meditation as judo, rather than karate. It's all about allowing without engaging, until the ego exhausts itself through its insatiable, narcissistic need to win. Eventually, it collapses and the energy that it stole from you is restored.

@Endangered-EGO Definitely not restricted to meditation. I didn't even begin serious meditation until after I reached the Dark Night stage Some people meditate in order to awaken, but in my case, I meditate in order to survive awakening.

Thanks for the link. Lengthy, but insightful, and although framed in a meditative context it is consistent with my life experience.

Conscious insights are directly realized, beyond conceptualization. They are not thoughts; they are direct knowledge. Because they are direct, you can't verify them from others, only from the Self within.

As I define it, deep insights are truths that arise from Consciousness, while faith may or may not be true.

From the ultimate perspective, everything in the cosmos is a delusion. However, from the relative perspective, insights and awakenings are real. If everything is Consciousness (and it is), then even the dream forms that Consciousness creates are also real, because they are still Consciousness. As the same fire assumes different shapes When it consumes objects differing in shape, So does the Self take the shape Of every creature in whom he is present. - Katha 2.2.8-10 Consciousness assumes the form of everything it creates, and resides within each form. It has the capacity to become aware of its seamless Self, even within that form. That realization is what insights and awakenings are.

What if the secret of not suffering is not in arriving at a destination, but in realizing the serenity of the Self in every step? When you hang your happiness on some future state, you are bound to be disappointed. Fulfillment is only realized where the Self resides, which is in the hidden cave of the heart. The wise, realizing through meditation The timeless Self, beyond all perception, Hidden in the cave of the heart, Leave pain and pleasure far behind. Those who know they are neither body nor mind But the immemorial Self, the divine Principle of existence, find the source Of all joy and live in joy abiding. - Katha 1.2:12

Yes, you are real and everyone around you is equally real. Most of us know this intuitively, but what does it mean? Consciousness is everything, including all that it creates. You are Consciousness, in a particular form of Self-expression. I am Consciousness in a different form of Self-expression. We are all Consciousness, expressing itself in myriad forms. Whether you are awake or asleep doesn't make you more or less real. Your level of Self-awareness is important, but it doesn't change who you are. Your ultimate nature is always Consciousness. People sometimes dismiss Maya, or relative reality, as unreal. It is still the same Consciousness, but in different states. Is H20 less real as ice, than as liquid, or as vapor? It is all the same H20, in different states. To paraphrase below, know H20, know all. Regardless of its state, it is still and can only be H20. Consciousness creates forms to experience sensation, and within those forms it is still Consciousness. Regardless of whether it is asleep or awake, it is still real and it is always Consciousness. Can there be anything not known to That Who is the One in all? Know One, know all. That through which one enjoys the waking And sleeping states is the Self. To know That As consciousness is to go beyond sorrow. Those who know the Self as enjoyer of the honey from the flowers of the senses, Ever present within, ruler of time, Go beyond fear. - Katha 2.1.3-5

The Buddha sought enlightenment for the same reasons you mention. He saw the transience of existence, and that true happiness cannot come from the world of change. He sought to understand the reasons for suffering, and how to overcome suffering and attain peace. The ego doesn't want to be enlightened. It may pretend to seek enlightenment, or even claim to already be enlightened, but the truth is that enlightenment is the death of the ego. Renunciation refers to letting go of your attachments to the world, because you realize they cannot make you happy. The path to enlightenment is the willingness to develop equanimity, or in other words discovering happiness through the Self within, rather than seeking it through the senses. In the secret cave of the heart, two are Seated by life's fountain. The separate ego Drinks of the sweet and bitter stuff, Liking the sweet, disliking the bitter, While the supreme Self drinks sweet and bitter Neither liking this nor disliking that. The ego gropes in darkness, while the Self Lives in light. - Katha 1.3.1

Awakening happens when you are ripe for it to happen. You can't put a timeframe on it. For some, it happens at a young age, and for others it may not happen at all. It is a direct realization, not an accomplishment. It is profound, beyond conceptualization. No amount of study will wake you up, until Consciousness is ready for you to wake. That said, there are important steps you can take, meditation and renunciation being key among them, to prepare yourself for awakening. The Self cannot be known through study Of the scriptures, nor through the intellect, Nor through hearing discourses about it. The Self can be attained only by those Whom the Self chooses. Verily unto them Does the Self reveal himself. The Self cannot be known by anyone Who desists not from unrighteous ways, Controls not the senses, stills not the mind, And practices not meditation. None else can know the omnipresent Self, Whose glory sweeps away the rituals Of the priest and the prowess of the warrior And puts death itself to death. - Katha 1.2:23-25

Cessation points toward waking up. It is ending the dream of the separate self, and realizing the seamless Self. In other words, it is Love. The Self seems to move, but is ever still. He seems far away, but is ever near. He is within all, and transcends all. Those who see all creatures in themselves And themselves in all creatures know no fear. Those who see all creatures in themselves And themselves in all creatures know no grief. How can the multiplicity of life Delude the one who sees its unity? - Isha 1.1.5-7

Consciousness is ultimate reality, manifesting in relative reality. It is the undying sun, and its infinite rays. The foundation for manifestation is always the present moment, not the future. Jesus said, “Whenever you pray for something, believe that you have received it and it will be given to you.” (Mark 11:24) - Eckhart Tolle

Ultimate Consciousness is beyond space, time, and separation. There is no directionality, and thus no raising or lowering in the ultimate dimension. In the relative dimension, where beings are born and die, raising "your" consciousness simply means realizing your ultimate nature. It's like having a lucid dream. Even within the dream, you realize that the dream is not ultimately real. The character is not ultimately who you are. The all-knowing Self was never born, Nor will it die. Beyond cause and effect, This Self is eternal and immutable. When the body dies, the Self does not die. If the slayer believes that he can kill Or the slain believes that he can be killed, Neither knows the truth. The eternal Self Slays not, nor is ever slain. - Katha 1.2:18-19

As I see it, the angel is teaching him that his suffering is self-inflicted. The guy is the angel, he just doesn't realize it yet. It is all seamless. Consciousness has a way of slapping its dream characters around, until they finally have had enough. When that happens, the guy sees the sameness of himself in everything else, and he laughs. It was Consciousness, all along.

@Raptorsin7 Seeing the difference is a good first step. Sometimes people chase after mystical experiences, as if they will heal their suffering. Siddhis and spiritual insights are more of a distraction than a cure. These experiences heal nothing, because they are still bound to the dream of the little self, and reinforce the idea that there is something to be healed. Freedom from suffering has nothing to do with experiences, and everything to do with simply being present. The Self, which is who you actually are, is hidden inside and waiting to be realized. Instead of seeking specific states, find the Self within.