Moksha

Hmm, it's been too long but I'm guessing the link wasn't working for me at the time. Thanks for sharing

Awakening as a direct experience is profound. But it doesn't guarantee perpetual vigilance. It is just the first step on the enlightenment journey. Learning to stay awake is the real work of spirituality.

Being and doing aren't mutually exclusive. Extremes exist where a person is mostly in the dimension of being (e.g., a reclusive monk) or in the dimension of doing (e.g., a single mom holding down 2 jobs while trying to raise her family). Aside from your role in society, some people are naturally inclined toward one dimension more than the other. I once heard Eckhart Tolle describe his predisposition for being, whereas his close friend Oprah Winfrey is highly gifted in doing. He has also differentiated these dimensions through the biblical story of Jesus visiting Mary (being) and Martha (doing). For most of us, it is a balance between the two. That balance may change over time, depending on where you are in our spiritual journey. The more grounded you are in presence, the easier it is to stay present while navigating the world of doing. Not only are you less likely to be possessed by the ego, but the quality of your work is greatly improved, due to directly channeling the Consciousness that you are. Creativity and energy naturally arise from presence. Insights will come to you more easily, and will guide your path. You can still plan for your career, hobbies, etc. but it is all about the journey toward those goals, independent of achieving the goals themselves. Whether or not you become a world-famous violinist, you can still genuinely enjoy each step toward learning how to play the violin.

@Vision You are doing it right. There is a maxim that every meditation is correct. There is no such thing as a failed meditation. Each sit is a step toward the truth that is within, whether it seems that way or not. Neuroticism is born from conditioning, and is the egoic impulse to seek happiness and peace in a relative world that can never deliver. Freedom is only directly realized. It is not an accomplishment, so much as an opening of your eyes after a long sleep. The journey is different for each of us. For me, it happened when I woke up. In that moment, when you see clearly, there is no neuroticism. You are entirely present, and are free from anxiety about the future or depression about the past. The challenge is to remain in this moment. As long as you are here and now, neuroticism cannot exist. Awakening is important, but so is developing the spiritual vigilance to stay awake. That is where meditation comes in. ?‍♂️

I get it. I spent most of my life in my head, despite having a spiritual side as well. It is the perennial battle between Awake vs. Asleep, Luke vs. Darth Vader, Consciousness vs. Ego. Opening your eyes is the simple realization that thinking is the barricade to being. I have seen that my thoughts never lead to happiness, peace, or love. They are a depthless cesspool that constantly threatens to pull you under, if you let it. Thoughts never let go, so it is on you to let go of them. When you do, what is left?

The spiritual journey is unique for each of us. The Bhagavad Gita mentions several paths, but above all, meditation: Meditation is superior to severe asceticism and the path of knowledge. It is also superior to selfless service. May you attain the goal of meditation, Arjuna! - Bhagavad Gita 6:46 For me, suffering was the path to awakening. It was only after I woke up that I started practicing meditation, as an exercise for building the spiritual muscle to stay awake. I recommend The Mind Illuminated by John Yates. It is one of the best sources I have found on moving through the meditation stages, until your mind is a still flame, no matter what storms are raging around you. Meditation helps with anxiety, depression, compulsiveness, addiction, and every other disorder of the egoic mind. It reverse engineers mental conditioning, and increases your capacity for staying present. Like any physical workout, it requires commitment and effort, but when you begin realizing the rewards, it becomes self-sustaining.

No doubt, eventually the human species will go extinct, or evolve into a form even more capable of Self-realization. But have you asked why Consciousness created humans in the first place? Why are "you" even here? Perhaps there is a purpose in existence, beyond the demand for perpetual gratification. Maybe the purpose is the profound realization that happiness is already within you, carefully hidden beneath millennial layers of biological and social conditioning. On life dynamics, have you considered that your view that humans are bound to a constant downward descent is informed by your own experience up to now? Who knows whether your personal downward trajectory will continue, or whether it will turn a corner into an entirely new direction that you never imagined? And what if it that has already happened for others? Sure, I am getting wrinklier and grayer, and eventually this form will die, but I suffer much less now. From this avatar's perspective, life is precious and worth celebrating.

By that reasoning, the entire human species would go extinct. Life is a roller coaster, with inevitable ups and downs. Expecting perpetual happiness, for yourself or for your children, is the surest way to guarantee unhappiness. Enlightenment eliminates suffering, but you still come into the world bloody and screaming, and death stalks every step until it takes you. Accepting the uncertainty, unpredictability, and transience of life is the secret to living lucidly, and realizing your ultimate nature, which is beyond happiness in the human form.

Spirituality is the inner journey to directly realize one's ultimate nature.

@Windappreciator Thank you, wish it had happened sooner and at a lower cost, but then again some of the best dramas are the bloodiest. ?

I understand @Blackhawk's perspective, and he is correct that conceptual proof that you are God is incredible. There's a reason philosophers across the ages have concluded that the only thing the human mind can know is that it knows nothing. Consciousness is tricky that way. It places forms of itself into a relative labyrinth, and laughs as we run through its corridors, looking for a way out. Eventually, we realize that the secret of escape is to let go of the conditioned mind, and rise above the labyrinth entirely. People search for conceptual proof of their divine identity, and it is a fool's errand. Awakening is beyond conceptualization. It is the direct realization of your ultimate nature as Consciousness itself.

@Terell Kirby ?

The fly in the holy ointment is that God created you for a reason. If there was no value to the journey of self-discovery, God would not have created you in the first place, nor would it have placed a veil over your eyes. God already knew it was God. Clearly, God loves you and wants you to discover your true nature, according to the plan of creation. So celebrate the journey. Enjoy every step of it. When you directly realize that You created all of it, you will laugh.

@Windappreciator The flame is steady more than not, in increasingly turbulent conditions, but not ready yet for hurricane force winds @B222 When you are present, in that moment you see clearly, insights arise as they are needed, and the quality of your work improves. You align with unconditioned Consciousness, which is your ultimate nature. Monkey mind does nothing but distract and diminish from your work. Conscious manifestation will always deliver more than unconscious expression. I see siddhis as little solar flares of Consciousness, but I don't rely on them. Cool when they happen, but also potentially dangerous if you make the mistake of identifying with them.

Children will test you, stretch you, strengthen you, deepen you, and bring you closer to the unconditional love that is your ultimate nature. I had brunch with my son today. He recently turned 21, and enjoyed his first mimosa. My daughter is at university; we also talked, and sincerely said, "I love you." Want to live lucidly? Embrace the challenges and joys of life, and children are one of the greatest gifts in that regard.

Feelings are more friendly, and also more fierce, than thoughts. They too can be a trap, if not seen clearly. If we chase them, like we chase thoughts, we again fall into a pit, but the landing is even bloodier, because the feeling pit is spiked. The secret is to stop chasing feelings and thoughts, and simply be. Both are born of the conditioned mind. Looking to be infused is another form of chase. Allow feelings and thoughts to arise and dissolve, without identifying with them. Develop comfort and confidence in the space within yourself, which is unconditional. Meditate and strengthen your spiritual capacity for vigilance. When you realize your ultimate nature, there is no longer a compulsion to chase, because you are already here.

Letting go of the need for certainty, whether through astrological calculations, religious beliefs, finding "the one", or pursuing any other false promise is the beginning of wisdom. Transience can never provide safety, and everything in the relative cosmos is inevitably transient. Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God. - A Course in Miracles The source of human suffering is our need for certainty, and paradoxically only by surrendering to the void of unknowing will you realize the certainty that is already here and now, hidden beneath the detritus of our conditioning.

Thank you, @lark and welcome to the forum ? Awakening is the temporary end of suffering, since in that moment you step out of the matrix, and see the suffering for what it is. The challenge for most of us is that our awakenings are brief, and are punctuated by long periods of sleep. Awakening is only the first step of the enlightenment journey. Thankfully, there are tools like meditation that build the necessary stamina to remain awake, regardless of the turbulence around us. The ego doesn't give up easily, and spiritual work requires profound sincerity and motivation. Gradually, you stay awake longer, and the cycle is reversed. Your life becomes mostly present, punctuated by brief periods of sleep. Rumor has it that there are even a few that have learned to live in a perpetual state of presence

The monkey mind grasps for certainty, which numbers offer, but ultimately fail to deliver. How can peace be found in numbers? Let me count the ways. And keep on counting until my dying day. What if letting go of the need for numbers is the secret to serenity?

@Javfly33 You are sincere, and that is a powerful weapon. But what will you do with it? Are you also brave? What if sincerity leads to the dissolution of your dreams? What if it takes you to the edge of uncertainty, and plunges you into driftless non-conceptualization? What if it demands ultimate disidentification with your thoughts? Are you willing to pay that price? Alan Watts has a beautiful book called The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for an Age of Anxiety Check it out. It is natural to be frightened of the abyss, but only by embracing it will you realize the truth. And when you do, you will laugh. Sit down before fact like a little child, and be prepared to give up every preconceived notion, follow humbly wherever and to whatever abyss Nature leads, or you shall learn nothing. - T. H. Huxley

I understand Krishnamurti's point, but maybe this man needed to meditate for 25 years to begin realizing the truth that is already within him. We each take our own path. There is no fast track to enlightenment. It happens when it is ready to happen. When the knocking on the door is loud enough, we finally wake up. Do we take credit for opening our eyes, or do we acknowledge the knocking for achieving its intent?

Why do you want to awaken? What purpose do you hope to achieve? What if awakening demands more of you than dissolution? Do you still want it?

Thank you, @Beginner Mind ??

It is about moving beyond nascent realization, and deliberately dissolving the bonds of the conditioned mind. Awakening is more than simply realizing who you are. It is also about realizing who you are not, and undoing the damage of your conditioning. Seeing that there is no "you" is a first step, but living lucidly requires the conscious surrender of your desires and aversions. If you are anxious, depressed, OCD, angry, or simply bored, you haven't yet eventualized the reality of your awakening. Proof is in the pudding. 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 there is a force within which gives you life seek that in your body lies a priceless gem seek that o wandering soul if you want to find the greatest treasure don't look outside look inside, and seek that. - Rumi 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. - The Dhammapada 6:85-88

It is the battle between the conditioned mind and your ultimate nature. People want to believe that awakening is the cure for all of their suffering, but it is only the beginning. Seeing clearly is beautiful, but ultimately it is about being clearly. Consciousness strikes the spark of my undoing, Catching in the kindling of thought, Consuming it to soot, intensifying, Crumbling the timbers that it wrought, Purifying fire ever rising, Burning through the ropes of my desire, Devouring the karma of my making, Soul wind stirring these flames higher, Scattering the ashes of my suffering, No delusion left, only the fire.