Moksha

Lucid dreaming, bro

Ultimately, there is no "I" imagining everyone else's thoughts and emotions. "You" are no more real than the rest of "us". Believing that "you" are the only reality is solipsism. Waking up is the dissolving of all boundaries.

Do you want honesty or philosophy? I prefer honesty, which is that nobody knows what happens after death. Eastern philosophies favor reincarnation and ultimate reintegration, but that is just another belief. The only reliable truth is directly realized, and being free from conceptualization, there are no beliefs associated with it. Ultimate reality simply is, and life/death is the story we tell ourselves. Near death experiences are about as close as you will get to understanding relative reality, and they suggest temporal continuity, in some form. I find "Return from Tomorrow" by George Ritchie to be more credible than most, and also love this:

Aligning relative reality with ultimate reality is the greatest challenge, purpose, and reward of life. It is easy to claim that you are awakened, but the proof is in the existential pudding. Do you still suffer? Are you afflicted with desires, aversions, boredom, laziness, and anxiety? If so, you have not yet reached the end of the enlightenment journey. That destination is ultimate freedom, and it is only realized within. As I have said, I have only one purpose: to make man free, to urge him towards freedom, to help him to break away from all limitations, for that alone will give him eternal happiness, will give him the unconditioned realization of the Self… Again, you have the idea that only certain people hold the key to the Kingdom of Happiness. No one holds it. No one has the authority to hold that key. That key is your own self, and in the development and the purification and in the incorruptibility of that self alone is the Kingdom of Eternity… You are accustomed to being told how far you have advanced, what is your spiritual status. How childish! Who but yourself can tell you if you are beautiful or ugly within? Who but yourself can tell you if you are incorruptible? You are not serious in these things. But those who really desire to understand, who are looking to find that which is eternal, without beginning and without an end, will walk together with a greater intensity, will be a danger to everything that is unessential, to unrealities, to shadows. And they will concentrate, they will become the flame, because they understand. - Jiddu Krishnamurti

You don't have to jump off the cliff to realize that you are only jumping into yourself

Localization doesn't exclude realization. It is possible to see the sameness in everything, and in every nothing, even with the dream. That seeing is the actuality of awakening.

Bingo. Love this quote from Michelangelo: The sculpture is already complete within the marble block, before I start my work. It is already there, I just have to chisel away the superfluous material.

Eckhart Tolle's advice is moderation. If you can have a glass or two of wine and stop there, go for it. If it leads to a deluge of drinking, don't drink at all. Addictions are antagonistic to spirituality. They are bondage, when what you really want is freedom. Rather than asking whether alcohol inevitably inhibits spirituality, ask whether it is addictive for you.

Direct realization, and developing the spiritual discipline to remain present, regardless of what happens in the external world. You don't become a world class bodybuilder through drugs and self-affirmations. You hit the gym and work hard, over and over and over again. Gradually, you develop the muscle to lift heavier weights. Meditation is not as much about awakening as it is about increasing your capacity to stay awake. The Buddha compared it to swimming upstream, against the current of the conditioned mind. Unless you are freakishly spiritually gifted (~ the top .00001% of humans), enlightenment will be a lifetime journey. Good news is that the destination is less important than the journey, and you can learn to enjoy every step.

This is the same question that the Buddha asked nearly 3 millenia ago. He noticed the inevitable transience of things. Everything that is born must also die. You have a choice. Either resent the transience of your existence, or celebrate the preciousness of it. Would it be special, if it lasted forever? Realizing your mortality is the insight that will make every moment precious. Celebrate every step of the journey. So much better than doom-spiraling into inevitable oblivion. Spoiler: Your ultimate nature is beyond time

Anxiety, depression, OCD, and other mental disorders are products of our biology and our conditioning. Most humans suffer from these plagues in some form or another. The beauty of meditation is the diligent practice of deconditioning, and the deepening realization of our ultimate nature. We become less triggered by what happens outside of us, and more connected to the infinite wellspring of Consciousness, which is who we actually are.

Perhaps there is a pointer here, and an opportunity for self-reflection?

If you believe you are Leo's mod, you aren't self-actualized. When you realize you are Leo, and Leo is Trump, and Trump is Gandhi, you have taken a step toward self-actualization Welcome to all the new mods! ?

There is no "more" or "less" from the ultimate perspective. It is all Consciousness. Love is simply the realization that everything is made out of the same raw material, which is Consciousness itself. You and I look different, live in different places, and love different people. But ultimately, we are the same Consciousness, expressing itself in infinite ways.

Welcome to the forum, @blueplasma How do you define love? Love is infinitely more profound than the human emotion. Love is the seeing the sameness of yourself in everything else, and the sameness of all others in you. It is the ultimate reality that all of us are fundamentally the same Consciousness.

Any pain associated with the spiritual journey is inherently egoic. Since most of us still have egos, it is normally a dark night of the soul. The ego doesn't die easily. Once you see the ego for what it is, you will laugh at the joke you played on yourself. Ultimately, there never was a "you", and the pain was just a dream.

Amen. Emptiness is incomprehensible to the ego, as is infinite abundance. It dissolves the illusion of specialness, which is the one thing the ego cannot let go of. Blowing out the candle of the mind is opening yourself to the solar flare of Consciousness, which is a hint of who You always are.

Interchange internet with life. Everything you have said is equally true of both. Nothing, on the internet, or in life, should be taken too seriously. Honored, loved, respected, sometimes yes. But spiritual seekers tend toward being too serious, rather than being too dismissive. Love it, but beyond loving it, realize you are the love that is all of it.

From the ultimate perspective, there is no "highest" and no "lowest". There only "is".

Take what has meaning for you, at this moment in your life. Disregard everything else. What you disregard now may have profound meaning in the future. This has proven true for me. The insane suddenly makes sense. Go figure

From my interactions with @SoonHei, I feel he would read this thread, share some insights, and maybe crack a joke, to remind all of us that the spiritual journey is not about debating concepts, and is all about love. Here's to honoring your memory, and applying your wisdom, Champ. ?

One of the first things I read as a kid, that resonated with me then and still does: Believe me, every man has his secret sorrows, which the world knows not; and oftimes we call a man cold when he is only sad. - Longfellow I don't know what drove @SoonHei's decision, but will miss his insights, and am sorry for his wife, his children, and his other loved ones. On this forum, sometimes we get so caught up in philosophy and spirituality, and forget to honor the reason we are here in the first place. It is a soul journey, and ultimately it is nothing about concepts, and all about Love.

@Corpus Yes, all definitions are self-limiting. I am using the term as Tolle and others have defined it. I'm not a medical doctor as you are, but from the spiritual perspective, the rarity is not of Hawkings' particular condition, but of his capacity for choosing not to be defined by it.

You can't force someone not to suffer, any more than you can force them to wake up. Hell, you can't even force yourself to wake up. It happens when it happens.

With the exception of the above, I agree with what you have said, which I would call pain rather than suffering. Suffering is not about speaking, and is all about resisting. Tolle describes meeting Stephen Hawking, and the profound sense of self-acceptance that he felt, when Hawking looked into his eyes. Despite his severe disability, Hawking had accepted his condition, and moved beyond suffering.