Moksha

The body senses, and the mind perceives. Thoughts and feelings are byproducts of the body and mind. All of them are bound to relative reality. The Buddha compared it to walking through a bazaar, and getting a pinch of this spice, and that, bundling the spices into a unique dish, each of which comprises a particular human being. Beyond the body and the mind, there is only Consciousness, which created the body and the mind, to experience relative reality. Being is sufficient to itself, and yet, for some reason, Consciousness continuously creates the dualistic world of sensation, and attachments, and eventually, the letting go of attachments, reabsorbing itself into itself. Lion King, the Circle of Life, on the meta scale.

Consciousness in its ultimate formless state has no fear. Many of the forms Consciousness creates also have no fear, because they aren't evolved enough to feel emotions. The more awakened you are as a human being, the less fear you will feel, because you directly realize your identity as Consciousness. Nothing that is ultimately real can be threatened; only things that are relatively real suffer and die. Fear is just another form of attachment. The less attached you are to relative reality, the less fear you will experience, and the more free you will be.

@neovox I just finished Being Ram Dass. He talks about the transformation after a severe stroke, and how as he got older, it was the ultimate spiritual practice to simply love, despite his limitations. If you haven't read it, highly recommended. All the best on your health issues ?

To nobody in particular: Why is it so hard to understand that You created this reality for a reason? Why the craving to end it, when it is You that created it, in the first place? It sounds egoic, like you need to prove something to someone. If you are actually awake, why prove anything? Just enjoy the dream that You created, and honor it for what it is. Life has value. Consciousness created it for a reason. Celebrate it and make the most of it. Dream lucidly, and Be within the dream. ?

The guy never appealed to me. I care about integrity, humility, love, and wisdom. Not to discredit any insights he has given to others. There is no universal guru. Well, maybe a very small few...but not Tony Robbins

The ego loves to chase goals, which are always outside of itself, including the goal of enlightenment. Somehow, every goal, once achieved, is a disappointment. Nice insights on simply being present. Nothing else is needed. Less thinking, more being.

You can't go wrong with Eknath Easwaran. I have read his translations and commentary, on both the Bhagavad Gita and the Dhammapada. His insights elucidate the wisdom of the books themselves. On your question, perhaps the answer is not to read passively, in your downtime, but to Consciously contemplate. I don't know of a primer on how to do this, but can only speak to personal experience. I read a few verses at a time, providing plenty of space around the verses, and let the words simmer with my soul. I highlight what speaks to me, and keep a database of the passages that are most personally significant. It is more of a deep dive than a splash. Quality over quantity. If you feel the words as you read them, and resonate as you read, you will grow spiritually in the process.

Hey @Joshua Pryor, welcome to the forum @Nahm has a great list of meditation practices.. One of the most recommended meditation guides, which I am currently using, is The Mind Illuminated, by John Yates. Hope that helps!

Having read the bible several times (including the painfully endless and meaningless dynastic histories, like Chronicles, OMG), the purest and most inspirational, for me, are Job and Psalms from the Old Testament, and the gospels (Matthew/Mark/Luke/John) from the New Testament. The key to wisdom through Christianity is the same as through any other religion. Take the direct path of the mystic. St. John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, and Meister Eckhart are great examples of mystic Christians. You can discover the same essential truth through eastern books of wisdom, like the Bhagavad Gita and the Tao Te Ching. Bottom line: the Truth is already within you. These books only point the way to who You already are.

That suffering is only necessary, until it isn't, and the end of suffering is the realization of unconditional Love.

@insideoutlove It's all about the journey ?

No free will for the "individual" since the "individual" only exists in relative reality. Ultimately, it is all about Consciousness, expressing itself freely and infinitely.

It sounds like you have already realized It is a journey, milestone to milestone. Few of us reach the point of being permanently awake. We will get there. The secret, as I see it, is not to worry about enlightenment, but to enjoy each step along the path. Each timeless moment, when we are present, is infinitely precious, and worthy of celebration.

I agree. My first thread on this forum was about free will. The question itself is a trap. It implies individuality. When considered from the ultimate perspective, there is only free will, expressing itself infinitely.

"Self-worth" is so short-lived. A wave on the ocean, your self will, far more quickly than you may hope, resolves into the ocean from which it arose. You are so much more than your self. You are the very ocean.

Hey @Findus, I can relate. I have a background in psychology, and for most of my life have been keenly invested in spiritual insights and growth. My 2 kids are your age (20 and 22), so caveat emptor It doesn't really matter, at the end of the day, you will find your own path. I read something this morning that resonates with what you are asking. Simple, but powerful: Light the lamp within. - Dhammapada 18:238 Realize that the lamp is inside of you. Light it, and follow where it leads. None of us can tell you what to do, but the answer is already there, within you. Instead of asking what is "The Way", consider that the answer may be different, not only from one person to the next, but from one stage of each person's life to the next stage. The Way, for you, is to light the lamp within yourself. Connect with the Consciousness that you are. When you are present, the path will be clear, and it will be customized to your needs. There is no reason you can't move forward on the path of doing, while deepening your awareness of being. Consciousness has its own cadence, and sometimes it emphasizes one over the other, but most of the time people are both being and doing. The being will empower the doing. The doing will honor the being. They go hand in hand. My advice is to deepen your spirituality first. Not saying to drop out of Uni or anything, but that is the most important step. Once you are connected with You, everything else will fall into place.

Welcome to the forum For most of us, awakenings are followed by sleep, and then more awakenings. As I see it, enlightenment is the final awakening, where there is no more sleep. The deepest, most true, realization is that there is only Consciousness. You/me, awakening/sleeping, living/dying are all dualities that dissolve into the ultimate reality that is Consciousness. Consciousness creates these states, within itself, to experience the sensations of relative reality, only to return to its essential, unchanging Self. It is the infinite, inevitable expression of creation and destruction, within that which cannot be created or destroyed.

Reality, as most people understand it, frays at both extremes. As this article illustrates, there is no such thing as objective reality in the cosmos. This is true at the quantum level as the article discusses, and it is true at the macro level, when considering the relativity of spacetime. As humans, our ordinary experience is deceptively narrow, which is why Newtonian physics dominated for so long. This doesn't mean the cosmos is an "illusion", in the sense that it doesn't actually exist. Relative reality is still real, just not objectively so. Only ultimate reality is objectively real. It is changeless, infinite, formless, and beyond space and time.

Awakening is direct realization of Your true nature as Consciousness. Just because it hasn't happened for you yet doesn't mean it won't

@illbeyourmirror ? and welcome to the forum

Awareness of Self as Consciousness destroys the sense of personal doership. It is the realization that ultimately, there is no doer, just Consciousness working through forms to experience relative reality.

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The human doesn't choose to awaken; the Being within the human makes the choice.

You are God, so of course You have free will. Whatever happens in Your life is what You choose to happen, including awakening to Yourself.

Words cannot accurately define the indefinable, but my definitions: Awakening: Consciousness, within a form in relative reality, becoming aware of itself as ultimate reality. Enlightenment: Consciousness, within a form in relative reality, perpetually remaining aware of itself as ultimate reality.