Moksha

The noise of suffering is unnecessary, and we can rise above it, even with the dream. It becomes a distant whisper, unworthy of attention. Life, even at this altitude, can still be noisy at times. Pain, loss, and death are inevitable, regardless of how serenely we accept them. But it is more of a white noise, staticky and strangely comforting in its equanimity.

@Breakingthewall ? The radio will turn off, when the power goes out. Until then, is the noise all that bad, given the alternative? Following this form, there is endless silence, a blessing and a curse. For now, I choose the noise. It is scratchy like a vinyl record, imperfect but unique, compared to the soundless, depthless void that follows forever.

@Breakingthewall I hear you. Fear is the superglue of the ego. What if, realizing its proclamations are the source of suffering, we allow it to recede into the stratosphere? Barely audible radio chatter. Let it go all day long, from a distance of 10,000 feet. Why engage with it, when it has never brought you peace? The demon is comforting with its familiar phrases, but it is still a demon. Its promises of certainty are false. Let it rise into the sky, away from the attention of yourself, and eventually... ?

@gettoefl These are the questions I asked myself. How can something be free, when it is the product of conditions that created it? Free will is a comforting concept, with apparent utility in the relative world, but is it ultimately real? The answer to the question is not found within the dream, but upon awakening from the dream. Then, looking at the dream character so concerned about its free will, all you can do is laugh.

The conceptual distinction has limited utility, and is unlikely to catalyze Consciousness awakening to itself. Not to say that teachings are unimportant, but ultimately it is about direct realization. You can study the Bhagavad Gita for decades, but the concepts mean nothing until you are ready to let go, and Self-realize the encrypted message in its pages.

Hard to say if it is bravery, or desperation. Probably both. When the suffering is intense enough, unclenching your death grip to the conditioned mind, and falling into the void of yourself, suddenly becomes the most sane option.

Everything is Consciousness, in different states of Self-awareness. It has the capacity to veil some of itself from the rest of itself, and the veil creates the illusion of "higher" or "lower" Consciousness. Ultimately, there is is no higher or lower Consciousness, just Consciousness telling the story of seeing itself as such.

I see materialism as just another belief system, a religion in its own right. Any devout believer, whether theological or materialistic, will reject the non-conceptual realization of reality. Consciousness can only be directly realized, and until it happens, it will be dismissed as nonsensical. Which, of course, it is

A question that occurred to me as an undergrad, and led to a shallow discussion with my behavioral psychology professor, followed by decades of not knowing the answer, until it was directly realized: Does free will exist, and if so, how? What, beyond the derivative physical and social conditioning of my experience, makes me free?

Being raised in a highly conservative religion, and even embracing it despite the damage, I am not amazed by the unconsciousness of others. I have been there myself, sincerely believing that I knew the truth. How can I judge others for being as unconscious as I was? Funny thing is, despite the self-sabotaging beliefs, I still had breakthroughs of pure non-conceptual realization. I'm sure the same is true for many people with religious beliefs. It is a journey, right?

@Breakingthewall I hear you, but is it actually a religion if the direct realization is that reality cannot be conceptually understood? If there are no beliefs, how can it be a religion? Self-realization is non-religion. I'm not disparaging belief systems, per se. They help many people get through life, but at some point they can become self-defeating if they are clung to, rather than let go of. They are useful in the sense that people need to believe, but only until they no longer need to believe.

@Kykeon A noun is a name assigned to something that appears to be cohesive, regardless of reductionism. In relative reality, nouns fray at the micro- and macro-levels. Most linguists would agree that humans fit the definition of a noun, but most linguists aren't philosophers The point of relative reality is that there is no objectivity. Energy, mass, and time vary, depending on the perceiver. Not only are there no objective nouns, there are no objective verbs, adjectives, or anything else. Within the web of Maya, it is all relative and reducible.

Religion can have some benefits, but there is always a catch. You cannot awaken through beliefs, only through direct realization. The more engrained someone is in their beliefs, the less likely that they will be willing to let go of the mind, and realize that it is a cesspool of self-fulfilling suffering. For that reason, I see religion, and all belief structures, including spiral dynamics, as more of a hindrance than a help.

Chasing mystical experiences is the least likely path to realizing them. Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. Instead of chaining yourself to the result of your actions, learn the art of being in the present moment, regardless of the results. Presence is its own reward.

Nothing can rise higher than its nature. As a human, you are bound to the limits of humanity. Even dreaming lucidly doesn't dissolve these limits. If you want to be an Olympic gymnast, no matter how gifted you are, you have to do the work. Consciousness has no limits, but that is a blessing and a curse. It cannot rise higher or sink lower, because there is no directionality in its ultimate nature. It can only dream about change, and the dream characters are inevitably bound by the limits of the dream.

Forget the doing, for the most part, and learn to be.

Letting go of distractions and desires, what is left? The sages did this, through the Neti neti process of Self-inquiry, like peeling an onion. After letting go of "this" and "that", the reality at the center of it all is Consciousness itself. Inquire into yourself and you will see.

Who is believing in God? It is all God, in different states of Self-awareness. There is nothing outside of God, to believe in God.

@Kykeon Do human beings fit the definition of a noun? Within relative reality, of course they do. Relative reality is like a pinball machine of causes and effects. From the ultimate perspective, it is all Consciousness, and the dream of nouns, verbs, and adjectives dissolves.

The senses are higher than the body, the mind higher than the senses, above the mind is the intellect, and above the intellect is the Atman. Thus, knowing that which is supreme, let the Atman rule the ego. - Bhagavad Gita 3:42-43

There are nouns, but only in relative reality. A noun is the subject of a verb. Ultimately, there is only Consciousness, which is the eternal object.

Beautiful. If I may suggest, let go of belief, which is bound to concepts, and see that love, grace, unconditional acceptance, and sacredness are already here and now, not as an external deification, but as an internal realization.

To see God 24/7, nothing is required other than to be present 24/7. Are you willing to let go of the distractions, desires, and delusions of your life in order to see the face of God? Forget 24/7, just do it in this moment, which is ultimately all there is.

I hear you. Intellectualization will get you nowhere. The question is whether the message deeply resonates, regardless of the messenger. I have read one of his books, and have seen a few of his videos. I'm not a cult follower of Alan Watts. What I have heard resonates with what I have realized. Given that, I don't care how integrated he was as a human. It is all about the integrity of the message itself. Alan Watts is not a lone voice in the wilderness. I recently read Being Ram Dass, and see a lot of parallels in his experience. He experimented extensively with psychedelics, but ultimately moved beyond them. They were only a temporary medicine. I had thought of psychedelics as a spiritual path, and now he was pulling that conceptual rug out from under me. From the place of oneness where Maharaj-ji sits, psychedelics are just a fragmentary shard of a vastly deeper reality. He showed me they are a limited window, all the while reflecting back to me the deeper place of love within myself… These medicines were known in the Kulu Valley long ago," he said, "but yogis have forgotten about them." He said psychedelics could be useful if you took them in a quiet, cold place and your soul was turned toward God. "They allow you to come into the presence of Christ, to have darshan, but you can only stay for two hours." It was good to visit Christ, Maraj-ji said, but it was better to be Christ. "This medicine won't do that," he continued. "It's not the true samadhi, absorption in God. Love is a much stronger medicine."

Alan Watts saw clearly. His ability to integrate his realizations is another question, but does it invalidate the wisdom of his teachings? I don't care how successful someone is in their integration. I care more about the resonance of the message itself. If the teachings are true, they have intrinsic value, regardless of how successfully they are modeled. How many prophets do you know that have been perfect?