Moksha

From whose perspective? Ultimately, there is only synchronicity. Relatively, the more Self-aware we are, the more clearly we see the sameness in everything.

New research shows the richer we get, the less happy we become. A study, published this month in the journal Nature Human Behavior, found that once we reach a certain household income -- $105,000 in the United States, $95,000 globally -- more income “tended to be associated with reduced life satisfaction and a lower level of well-being.”

I respect your sincere pursuit of truth, and your desire not to insult other people. As I see it, the degree to which someone feels offended is an indication of their ego. If someone has truly awakened, why would they ever feel insulted in the first place, given that the nature of the realization is that we are all the same Consciousness? Is it possible to insult yourself? You mentioned that you have had profound insights about reality. How do you reconcile those insights with the realization that as humans we know nothing? My answer: Direct insights arise from Consciousness, and are non-conceptual. As humans, we can know nothing conceptually, except that we know nothing. We can only directly realize truth, free from concepts. You don't come across as feeling superior to others because of your personal insights. Perhaps others, who have had insights along the lines of what Aldous Huxley mentioned, similarly don't feel superior to you. To the contrary, the very nature of the core realization is that we are all the same, and there is no inferiority/superiority

Awakening is directly experienced, without concepts. I understand and respect your desire to carve your own path, but don't make the mistake of believing that just because it hasn't happened to you, it cannot happen to others, or even to yourself. Check out the Perennial Philosophy, from Aldous Huxley, based on his research on universal wisdom in every age and civilization: There is an infinite, changeless reality beneath the world of change This same reality lies at the core of every personality The purpose of life is to discover this reality experientially, that is, to realize God while here on earth Rather than dismissing this wisdom as egocentric, realize that there may be a common truth to thousands of years of spiritual searching. Only you can directly experience it for yourself, but at least stay open to the possibility, and respect that maybe some of us are sharing our realization with authenticity.

Consciousness is everything, and every nothing. It encompasses all, including even the ego. Without the ego, how else would Consciousness be able to forget itself, and find itself, within relative reality? It is all Consciousness, in different states of Self-Awareness.

Good for you. Never take another person's word for what is. The only reality that matters is your direct experience. The many things that we could teach each other would be entirely conceptual, and thus relatively worthless. In relative reality, the only true knowledge is that we know nothing. ?

@DocWatts Good observations, and all valid from the perspective of what humans think we need. Sadly, it is endogenous to our species that what we think we need rarely matches what we actually need. Of course there are basic survival needs, beyond which we couldn't exist. But most of what makes us miserable is the misunderstanding of who we are. When we let go of thought, and realize our true nature, it becomes clear that, as Consciousness, we are already infinitely abundant. The reason for our suffering is the egoic insistence on looking for happiness outside of ourselves, when all along the bliss is already here.

There was a significant shift in my thinking and behavior, but awakening doesn't destroy the conditioned mind. It simply is the direct realization that You are not your conditioned mind. Self-Realization awakens you to the profound space of Consciousness, which is who You ultimately are, and within which the conditioned mind exists. You observe the thoughts that arise, without being identified by them. To your question on free will: You, as Consciousness, are freely making the choices that define your form. In that sense, free will exists. The conditioned mind, that you once thought was you, never had any free will in the first place. It is shaped and conditioned by biology and environment, and has no free will of its own accord. Consciousness is always calling the shots.

I referred earlier to the lower levels of Maslow's hierarchy, which includes our basic survival needs. Money certainly helps with those needs. But it doesn't ensure happiness, even when those needs are met. Ever watch Desperate Housewives? How many rich celebrities seem miserable? Conversely, how many dirt poor kids in 3rd world countries, instead of complaining about their poverty, still choose to laugh and play? Even in the most desperate circumstances, people can find freedom from suffering. Victor Frankl speaks about this profound realization, as a prisoner in a concentration camp, in Man's Search for Meaning. I read this recently, and completely agree: True happiness comes from within, which means we can always find joy, in both good times and bad. Although pain and pleasure are an inevitable part of human life, suffering and happiness is entirely optional. The choice is ours. A fully Awake, fully conscious human being has the love, compassion, and energy to make change for the better whenever it's possible, the equanimity to accept what can't be changed, and the wisdom to know the difference. - John Yates, The Mind Illuminated

Yes, it's funny how waking up puts everything that used to bother you into perspective. The beginning of the end of suffering is the realization that there is nothing really worth chasing after, and nothing really worth resisting, because ultimately You are already infinitely abundant. Enjoy the dream, lucidly, for what it is

You are only trapped by your conditioned mind, until you awaken. Your ego is not who you are, as much as it insists otherwise. Consciousness is the Storyteller, that chooses through you, and through me. Your true nature, as Consciousness, is ultimately free. The character, within the story, is only free to the extent that it realizes its true nature as Consciousness itself.

To make any choice. Who is making the choice? Who are You, to be in the position to make a choice, in the first place? When you realize who You are, of course there is free will. You are creating your own reality. If you are entrapped by the conditioned mind, how could there be any freedom? More important than asking if there is free will, ask Who is actually choosing. Who are You?

@1liamo78 It seems to me, that in order for you to choose, begs the question of who you are. Set aside Leo and everyone else, and ask yourself: who are You, to make such a choice?

Who is doing the choosing?

Ultimate Consciousness has no attributes, but relative reality does, which is why we create it. And yes, this creation is also us. Hard to think about, so let go of thinking and enjoy being. Austin Powers had it right; it's all about the party of duality ?

Which also, even the beautiful golden ones, ultimately die.

Boredom is a product of the conditioned mind. There is no boredom in ultimate reality. There is only changelessness. Is happiness even possible, without change? Perhaps there is always the ineffable desire for Self-expression, creation, and love? Without the illusion of duality, how could there even be happiness? I once read, in the Bhagavad Gita, that ultimate reality has no attributes. Maybe infinite potential requires infinite expression.

Happiness based on possessions, or experiences, is inevitably transient. People are always chasing it, and inevitably get disappointed in the end. The only reliable happiness is realizing the reality that cannot be threatened. It is now, and it depends on nothing beyond being.

They don't have to struggle with the lower tiers of Maslow's hierarchy. However, because of this laisse faire reality, they also are less likely to grow. Jesus said it is harder for a camel to get through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to realize heaven. Happiness has nothing to do with wealth, and everything to do with letting go of the attachment to wealth.

The purpose is creation and expression. Ultimate Consciousness is changeless and timeless. It is incapable of sensation, perception, thinking, or feeling. What else is God gonna do? Would You rather sit there on a formless celestial throne, without blinking, breathing, or bleeding, for the eternity of Now? Apparently not.

It would be a rather boring game if Consciousness created the thinnest of veils in the forms that it inhabits. Some of the best stories are long, bloody struggles to the death.

Yes, and the direct consciousness is not only of myself, but of every other being, as God. @EmptyVase ?

@Yali @EmptyVase Words are always limited. They never capture the reality that they try to convey. For me, awakening is the direct realization of Yourself as Consciousness. It is Self-discovering the God that is always within you, but which before was in a sleeping state of Self-awareness. It is the indisputable seeing that You are not your conditioned mind, and also seeing this sameness in every other being. It is all Consciousness. You are It. Enlightenment is the eventuation, and the ultimate fulfillment, of that realization. Just because you are awake doesn't mean your form is deconditioned. Even as Consciousness, You are still Self-limited within this form, which you have created to experience the highs and lows of relative reality. It is the eternally cyclical game, which You created for Yourself, to first Self-realize, then to eventually decondition the form from all of the attachments that it accrued by going through relative reality. In that deconditioning, ultimately you resolve back into the Self that created you in the first place. Notice the sequentiality, which is also part of the dream. Ultimately, Consciousness was never created and will never die. It is timeless and changeless. The game of creation is simply our way of Self-expression.

By my definition, I am not enlightened. Not even close. Awake? Yes. But not enlightened. I have always been spiritually driven to truth, even as a young kid. There were many "mini-awakenings" along the way, but what I consider to by my true awakening didn't happen until much later in life. Being awake doesn't automatically dissolve all of your attachments. It just makes you more aware of them, and empowers you not to continue falling for their false promises. In some ways, my life has become more difficult since waking up, because I realize how much power my conditioned mind has, and how important it is to stay vigilant against its enticements. Realizing unconditional love isn't just an epiphany; it is a lifelong journey.

The thing about awakening ourselves, or about helping others awaken is that, as you already realize, it only happens when Consciousness decides it is ready for it to happen. An interesting note from commentary on the Bhagavad Gita: Krishna does not want these profound truths told to anyone who is not ready. Anyone lacking devotion or self-control, who does not want to hear spiritual instruction or who scoffs at it, should not be accepted as a student. - Eknath Easwaran You are right about the clarity of awakening. When it happens, it is a profound, direct realization that is undeniable. It feels like you have been enjoying a good night's sleep, riding along with the dream as if it were real, and suddenly your eyes pop open and you realize that it was all just a dream. It is complete clarity. Conceptual arguments can be entertaining, but only if you don't take them too seriously, and realize their ultimate futility. I agree with you that science can help open the door, especially when you look at the extremes of reality, beyond ordinary human experience. Quantum physics and metaphysics both point to a far more mysterious reality than any honest scientist can claim to understand. If nothing else, the materialist should at least admit that he knows nothing about these ultimate extremes.