Moksha

? It is beautiful. Letting go of the false promises of the conditioned mind, and directly realizing Yourself as unconditional Love, is the ultimate liberation. Curiosity isn't inherently imprisoning, as long as you don't cling to it for Self-discovery and validation. The cosmos is fascinating, and there's nothing wrong with enjoying its wonders, but true Self-knowledge is entirely non-conceptual, and can only be directly realized. All the best in your beautiful journey!

@allislove Your avatar name says it all ?

Nice catch! And perfectly apt. Consciousness "traps" itself, in order to experience phenomena. If there was no trap, there would only be changeless, ultimate reality, devoid of sensory experience. It is all Consciousness, in different states of awareness, intentionally.

True, but only from the Ultimate perspective. Just because a soul is on a journey of Self-discovery doesn't make it less real. It is only relatively real, but it is still real. It is an expression of, and therefore still a part of, God.

Realizing the addiction is the first step toward dissolving it. You're right about forcing yourself to change. It doesn't work, because it doesn't address the core issue. You are looking for happiness through experiences that can never provide what you seek. How many millions of lives have been wasted, desperately diving into one experience after another, only to realize that it never provides the fulfillment that it promised? As your intuition is telling you, the answer is to be aware. But aware of what? Most of us require a lot of hell before we finally realize that the chasing itself is the source of our suffering. This whole time, the answer is within. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to dive so deeply into yourself that you directly realize the infinite abundance that You already are. Everything with a beginning must also end. So let go of the transient. Discover the infinite, changeless, timeless Love that is your essence. Abide in You.

It might be different in Sweden, but here in the U.S., a B.S. degree in psychology is useless. If you want to make a career out of psychology, it is pretty much mandatory to get an advanced degree. Personally, if you are looking to help people with spiritual growth, I would avoid psychology entirely. Focus on the direct path of your own spiritual growth, followed by helping others with theirs. If you have a strong research focus, you could take the transpersonal psychology route, but that would likely mean getting a Ph.D. and working in an academic setting.

By my definition of enlightenment, it is a tiny proportion of people, and even they don't fully meet the standard, because they are still human. Enlightenment means "to be filled with light", which is the dissolving of every attachment, and perpetually being unconditional love. If what you are asking is why awakened people meditate, it is primarily because the practice strengthens their spiritual discipline, and makes it easier to swim upstream, against the current of their conditioned mind. Waking up is only the first step in the soul journey back to our unconditioned Self.

Some of the comments here are verging away from honest criticism to borderline personal attacks. Nothing wrong with providing feedback, but please ensure it is constructive.

The Little Prince is good. Jonathan Livingston Seagull is even better.

Most human beings are already insane. The whole point of Self-realization is to escape the asylum of the conditioned mind, and simply be.

More recent discussion on this topic here:

Maybe there's a negative correlation with loquacity and wisdom Ramana Maharshi: Ramana Maharshi's main means of instruction to his devotees in order to remove ignorance and abide in Self-awareness was through silently sitting together with his visitors, using words only sparingly. His method of instruction has been compared to Dakshinamurti – Shiva in the ascetic appearance of the Guru, who teaches through silence: One evening, devotees asked Sri Ramana Maharshi to explain the meaning of Shankara's hymn in praise of Dakshinamurti. They waited for his answer, but in vain. The Maharishi sat motionless on his seat, in total silence. Commenting upon this silence Ramana Maharshi said: Silence is the true upadesa. It is the perfect upadesa. It is suited only for the most advanced seeker. The others are unable to draw full inspiration from it. Therefore, they require words to explain the truth. But truth is beyond words; it does not warrant explanation. All that is possible is to indicate It. How is that to be done?

Fixed that for you ?

I appreciate what I've learned about conditioning and the human brain. When I read spiritual texts warning about behavioral patterns and attachments, I understand, as a scientist, what they are talking about. Even karma, from a behavioral and sociological perspective, makes perfect sense. Still, it is only psychology. Unfortunately, transpersonal/spiritual psychology doesn't get as much cred as some of the other specialties, but it actually comes closer to what I find interesting, and to what attracted me to psychology in the first place. Understanding human conditioning is helpful, but it won't get you any closer to awakening, until you are ready. The blindspot in psychology is that it is incapable of conceptualizing, analyzing, or measuring the essence of who you really are. It is the same limitation as any other science. Ultimate truth is beyond conceptualization, and can only be realized directly.

Yes, in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. In retrospect, wish I had studied Transpersonal Psychology/Spiritual Psychology. People like Steve Taylor have done some cool work, including objectively researching and documenting awakening experiences.

If someone had argued nonduality with you before you realized nonduality, what would your response have been? People only learn when they are ready to learn, and the motivation has to arise from within themselves. The best teaching you can offer is to simply be present. Do not share this wisdom with anyone who lacks in devotion or self-control, lacks the desire to learn, or scoffs at me. Those who teach this supreme mystery of the Gita to all who love me perform the greatest act of love; they will come to me without doubt. No one can render me more devoted service; no one on earth can be more dear to me. - Bhagavad Gita 18:67-69

Consciousness is funny that way. It has its own cadence, in the stories it creates. Tolle spent 3 years simply being, and then he felt a compelling desire, which he describes as arising from Consciousness, to get back into the world of doing, specifically to write a book. The same happened to me, except it was 7 months in my case. Most likely you are in the being phase, enjoy it while it lasts

More names

Teachers can, and often should, try to explain. Some of the wisest though, like Ramana Maharshi, use silent presence as the highest form of teaching. The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao; The name that can be named is not the eternal name. - Tao Te Ching, Chapter 1 Every name, even "infinite love", "Consciousness", "cosmic joke" and "Open Secret", will always fall short of direct realization.

Direct realization is devoid of conceptualization. Words cannot describe it, and it is foolish to even try. That is what I meant about self-inquiry. To you, it may seem as "just another mind story", and that will always be the case, until you experience it yourself. You don't become anything, because ultimately there is no you to awaken. You are already infinite Love, and the state change to Self-realization is just part of the Consciousness game.

Love and awakening go hand in hand. It is a path to Self-realization, but it is also the natural outcome of Self-realization. The Bhagavad Gita discusses karma yoga, or the path of selfless service, as one way to awaken. There are other paths, but regardless of how you get to the summit of the mountain, when you arrive, you will directly realize that Love is what you actually are, and you will see the sameness of Yourself in everything. There is merit in studying the scriptures, in selfless service, austerity, and giving, but the practice of meditation carries you beyond all these to the supreme abode of the highest Lord. - Bhagavad Gita 8:28 On your last sentence, developing your ego is the opposite of love. The ego is incapable of unconditionally loving itself, or anything else. It is constantly clamoring for love, but it never arrives, because it is a delusion. The only way to discover love is through truth, which requires letting go of the ego, and realizing You are already infinitely abundant.

As others have said, you can only answer this question by doing the work of self-inquiry. I can tell you that realizing nothingness is an important milestone along the path of spiritual discovery, because it dissolves the illusion of the self. If "you" continue traveling that path, you will eventually awaken spiritually to the God that you are, which is unconditional Love. But those are only words. They mean nothing to the conceptual mind, and can only be directly realized.

It is tough being a teacher; you can only point to the truth, but ultimately it must be directly realized within yourself. It is about learning to see your thoughts as something that arise within your field of awareness, but not as ultimately being who you are. When you are in nature, how do you experience it? Are you studying it with your mind, or are you resonating with the stillness that is in it? Tolle encourages people not to label anything, but to simply observe, appreciate, and feel nature speaking to your soul. A bird watcher may be conceptually caught up in the experience, categorizing which species he is studying, noting its physical and melodic characteristics, etc., or he can give his mind a break and feel the beauty of the bird, and how that sameness resonates with something deep inside himself. That inner resonance is who you actually are. It is the same Consciousness that imbues everything, and you can become aware of it within nature, and within yourself. Have you practiced any meditation, where the intent is to calm the mind and simple be? That is what Mooji means by "perceive the perceiver". Who is perceiving when thoughts arise? If something deeper within is capable of observing thoughts, as they come and go, without being pulled into their gravitational field, then that something must be beyond thoughts, and who you really are. Why does any of this matter? You mentioned in your original post that you want to reduce your suffering. Thoughts are the source of suffering, particularly identification with thoughts. If even for a moment, you are able to directly realize your true nature, that you do not have to be trapped in a conceptual prison, in that moment, you are free from suffering. Humans are so used to identifying with the conditioned mind. It is not easy so swim against the current of the mind, but it can be done, and the more you practice, the easier it will become. It takes courage, integrity, and ongoing commitment. Don't wait for some cataclysmic "AHA!" awakening, to give yourself a break. Find glimpses of happiness and peace, with each step of the journey. The more you learn to resonate within as Consciousness, the more you will feel the unconditional Love that you actually are.

What are you letting go of? If you're referring to the need for others to make you happy, you first need to realize that you are already infinitely abundant. That doesn't mean you stop loving people, though. Just the opposite. When you unconditionally love yourself, you will naturally begin to unconditionally love others. Why? Because you realize that there ultimately is no "you" or "them", and that we are all the same Consciousness. That realization of sameness is what Love actually is.

Eckhart Tolle has described boredom as essentially egoic. It is the conditioned mind complaining about the present moment, and demanding phenomenal excitement. He spent the first 3 years following his awakening sitting on park benches and simply observing trees and people, loving every moment of it. He estimates that his actual thinking compared to before awakening has reduced by 80%. Boredom is just one of the myriad forms of unnecessary suffering that our mind inflicts on itself.