Moksha

Bluntness only bothers you if you believe that you are you

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Angels and demons are only relatively real. Enjoy the story, but realize it is just a story.

Happiness doesn't come from thrashing your thoughts and sumo wrestling your emotional shadows. The more you engage with them, the more power you give them. The secret is not to identify with them. Let them appear, let them be, and let them go. Don't let them pull you into their undercurrent. You are the ocean, and they are flotsam.

For me, the difference between awakening and enlightenment is this: One who has merely heard of fire has ajnana, ignorance. One who has seen fire has jnana. But one who has actually built a fire and cooked on it has vijnana. - Ramakrishna It is not so rare to see the fire, but cooking on it takes true intent. It is the dissolving of attachments to transience. Enlightenment is the "end state" in which a being has become nearly translucent, before dissolving entirely. Like a wave cresting, and returning to the ocean that created it. Are the most enlightened beings the best teachers? Not necessarily. Some have moved so far beyond the delusion of individuality that they are unable to speak your language. Look for a guide that resonates at a higher frequency, but still within your bandwidth. When the resonance discrepancy resolves, find a new guide, until you have climbed to the summit of yourself.

Too much knowledge is only dangerous if you mistake it for actual knowledge. If you think you know anything that matters, don't think again. Everything that matters is directly realized.

Many experiments like this have already been conducted, and science has yet to reliably demonstrate the replicability of supernatural abilities in a controlled setting. The closest evidence I've seen are accounts of near death experiences, where the individual was able to provide information that wouldn't have been possible otherwise, for example: However, even these accounts are case studies that only suggest the possibility of the supernatural, rather than proving it under controlled settings. Absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence. Scientifically, it's impossible to prove something doesn't exist. You cannot accept the null hypothesis, you can only fail to reject it. The problem is that science is testing phenomena which, if they do exist, are beyond the normal parameters of human existence. Who can say these phenomena follow the same rules? To the contrary, the closer we get to the extremes of the cosmos, at both the micro- and the macro-levels, the less reliable these rules become. As Einstein showed, at the extremes of relative reality, the rules of science break down. Reality becomes subjective, and is entirely dependent on the perceiver. It's like a fish trying to prove there are no beings outside of the ocean, when the fish is bound to the ocean, and unable to see beyond it. Instead of chasing scientific proof, self-inquire. Consciousness, ultimately, can only be directly realized. Awakening is not a scientific exercise. It is direct Self-discovery.

@Endangered-EGO You're getting there, just remember that everything in the Universe is only relatively real. Ultimately, there is no time, no space, no differentiation, and no change. The Universe arises from, and returns to, ultimate Consciousness in an infinite cycle of creation and destruction. Think of ultimate Consciousness as being the depthless ocean, and the Universe as the waves that rise from the ocean and return to it. It is all the ocean, but the waves are only a transient surface expression.

Are you referring to the universe, or to Consciousness itself? The universe is the creation of Consciousness, but it is not ultimate reality. I like this analogy from the Bhagavad Gita: There is nothing that exists separate from me, Arjuna. The entire universe is suspended from me as my necklace of jewels. The universe itself is in a constant state of flux. It has been compared to the human breath, with the outflow being creation and the inflow being destruction. The sages talked about this thousands of years ago, before the Big Bang theory was formulated. Ultimate Consciousness has no attributes. Any attributes are only imagined within the world of form.

I love this. Don't chase enlightenment, as if it is a magic wand that instantly erases all of your suffering. So many people fall into this trap. The chasing itself is a hamster wheel, when what is needed is to get outside of the cage. Instead, be present in this moment. Forget about offenses of the past, or anxieties about the future. Just be, and celebrate the beauty of this. What else is there?

What is instinct, other than something that arises from a deeper part of ourselves, beyond the conscious mind? The will of God, as I see it, is infinite expression, and the love of creation. Ultimate reality is changeless, so creativity is only possible within the dream. Therefore, Consciousness dreams.

That's the catch, isn't it? Relative reality is bound by Self-imposed constraints. If a siddhi, or any other expression of Consciousness, happens outside of human range, it is not the character in the dream making it happen. That's what I meant when I said earlier that "you" and "I" are siddhis, in a sense. We are solar flares of Consciousness, just like siddhis are. Can a dream character have a superpower within the dream? Sure, as long as the dreamer imagines it to be so.

If ultimate reality was never created, it cannot be determined. It is the uncaused cause. Everything that is created is determined by it, how else could it be otherwise?

Science can only predict phenomena within the narrow band of our existence, and even then not perfectly. If siddhis, or any other phenomena, are outside the razor-thin range of human experience, the best science can do is shrug. Don't get me wrong. I love science. It is the most reliable tool we have for surviving in the dream world of individuality, but then again who is surviving?

You got it ⚡ Suffering is the result of trying to control the uncontrollable. No worries though, Consciousness has your back.

I actually attended a cool Van Gogh exhibit this week that was built within an old Masonic temple. Freemasonry has been around for several hundred years, and like other religions/societies is just another self-indulgent structure of social power.

It's even more profound than that. What if you, as a human being, are just another siddhi? Is what you do, as a human, really within your control, or is Consciousness calling the shots?

How do you quantify relative reality, when by definition, it is not objective? The mass and velocity of a given object are not reliably quantifiable; they depend entirely on the perceiver. We tell ourselves that the cosmos can be quantified, because we live within such a narrow band of reality that we rarely see evidence to the contrary. Einstein recognized relativity, but was unable to discover a unified field theory based on the scientific method. Ultimately, it is all Consciousness, in different states of Self-awareness. That fundamental truth cannot be proved by science, and is beyond conceptualization. It is only directly realized.

As a scientist, I hear you. But let's be honest. Science is great for predicting outcomes, within the narrow band of human existence. What happens beyond that band? The more you stretch it, the weaker it becomes, until it finally snaps. Einstein realized this. At the extremes, Newtonian mechanics start to fray. Instead of an objective cosmos, we realize that reality depends entirely on the perceiver. Given that, what can we say about siddhis? Sure, we can try to replicate them within a lab, but what does that prove about reality, at the extremes of human existence? Science doesn't grok ultimate reality. Direct realization is the science of Self-awareness

Not quite The conditioned mind controls you, as long as you are asleep to your ultimate nature. When you wake up, the mind becomes a conduit for unfiltered Consciousness. In either case, you are still Consciousness, just in different states of Self-awareness.

The Mind Illuminated provides a practical, systematic approach to mastering meditation. It is one of the best resources I have found on the subject. If you want to be in a perpetual state of presence, strengthen your spiritual muscles through meditation.

@AriSujan Here you go, if you're willing to put in the work. Monkeys don't tame easily.

What if the mind is simply a steed? Maybe the conditioned mind can be tamed, not merely as an ape in a circus, but as a conduit to Consciousness itself.

@Windappreciator The only surety is Self-realization. Everything else is monkey mind.

Conceptualization will get you nowhere, except...more conceptualization. It is the snake eating its own tail. Awakening requires the courage (some might call it desperation) to let go of the conditioned mind, and simply be. It is often born of suffering. You can ease the path to awakening by developing discipline through daily meditation. Learning about enlightenment is nothing. Practicing the path to enlightenment is everything.