Moksha

Eckhart Tolle describes a scene he once observed in a park. Two geese got into a fight, and it was pretty fierce. Then they moved in different directions, and flapped their wings ferociously to get rid of the excess energy. Guess what? They were back to swimming side by side, no blaming, no complaining, no grudges, just being.

Animals have integrity; they don't do battle with a complex, conditioned mind. They live in the present moment, and aren't plagued by anxiety, depression, and all the other sufferings that come with the illusion and clinging to past and future. Humans are more evolved, which is a blessing and a curse. We are capable of creating more karma, positive or negative, due to our capacity for Self-awareness vs. Self-denial.

You aren't going crazy. Just the opposite, in fact Nothing in excess, including enlightenment. It is an upward spiral of awakenings, accompanied by ego battles, because the ego knows that truth will destroy it. Continue your spiritual practice, staying present as much as you can, and realize that the battle has just begun. The bliss will be followed by dark nights of the soul, like a train moving through a sequence of tunnels, punctuated by soul-searing light.

Happiness, based on attachments, is always temporary. The question is not, "Am I happy?" but "Can I sustain this happiness?". Humans chase happiness, and sometimes find it for a time, but inevitably they lose it, because they don't realize that the chasing is the curse. Relative reality is unavoidably transient. The only enduring happiness is found through unconditional Love, which is God, which is You.

You do it by being Consciously present, not identifying with your thoughts, and allowing insights to arise naturally. By livewire I mean a direct, living connection with Source. Consciousness has a cadence, and will guide "you" if you let it.

It is all the same Consciousness, manifested through a multitude of forms in different states of awareness, but seamlessly One. When you look through spiritual eyes, you see the same Consciousness in everything, including trees. Our sense of the holiness, and wholeness, with trees goes back to the earliest primal gatherings in sacred groves.

When you are livewired to Source, channel it. When your brain begins to melt, take a break. The wisdom, as always, is the Middle Way.

@GreenWoods When the Buddha taught that "all effort must be made by you", he wasn't referring to the conceptual awakening that people sometimes experience on psychedelics, or in other ways. He was talking about the deeper awakening, which is the opening of your spiritual eyes, and the lifelong journey of letting go of attachments, and manifesting the unconditional Love that is the essence of who we are. I'm reading "Being Ram Dass" at the moment. He conceptually awakened through extensive experience with psychedelics, but it wasn't until many years later that he woke spiritually when meeting his guru, Maharaj-ji, and even then he spent the rest of his life integrating the implications of that awakening. The Buddha had it right. Buddhas, drugs, or any other external processes can only show you the way. Ultimately the path of enlightenment must be walked by you.

Is light a particle or a wave? How much space does an electron occupy? How is awakening possible if there is no you to awaken? The mind loves to categorize, and is incapable of understanding paradox. It is easy to oversimplify reality by saying there is only God, and everything else is an illusion, but even that oversimplification becomes a duality, and fails to capture the incomprehensible paradox. It is called a Mystery for a reason. Reality is infinitely more, and infinitesimally less, than people are capable of understanding. Instead of constantly grasping with the conceptual mind, Be.

Reality is layerless, yet it includes all layers. It is formless, yet it includes all forms. It is nondual, yet it includes all dualities. It is nothing, yet it is everything. It is God, yet it includes all of God's creations. It is beyond the capacity of the mind to comprehend, and can only be directly realized. Lord of the gods, you are the abode of the universe. Changeless, you are what is and what is not, and beyond the duality of existence and nonexistence. You are the first among the gods, the timeless spirit, the resting place of all beings. You are the knower and the thing which is known. You are the final home; with your infinite form you pervade the cosmos. - Bhagavad Gita 11:37-38

Awakening only happens from within, when the aspirant is ready. No teacher, however great, can force someone else to awaken. At best, they point the way. All the effort must be made by you; Buddhas only show the way. Follow this path and practice meditation; go beyond the power of Mara. - Buddha

Thank you, and right back at you ?

Different gurus for different aspirants. There is no universal answer. Find the guru that speaks to your soul.

@acidgoofy The translation, and commentary, by Eknarth Easwaran are sublime.

Your dad is as real as you are, brother. We are not only the ocean; we are the waves on the ocean. The waves usually don't last as long as we might like. My "dad" died in December. We are born, and we die. But underlying it all, is God, who is You, and who created the waves that "we" are. Don't listen to the solipsists. It isn't just the ocean. It is also the waves. ?

Do you want to understand Consciousness, or would your rather realize Consciousness? If the latter, it doesn't get any better than the Bhagavad Gita.

Everything happens for a reason, but rarely for the reason you think. Your ways are higher than your ways.

The only blind spot is inauthenticity. Be true to who You are, in this moment, and you are golden. You don't have to be perfect, or ultimately Self-realized. Just be honest, and real. ?

@mandyjw ?

Observe. Has your monkey mind ever given you peace, for more than a moment at best? Realize that your thoughts are not You. They are clouds that come and go. You are the Sky.

Hard to choose, but I would have to say Van Gough. I've seen his paintings around the world, and have been deeply moved by many of them. I remember one time they had an exhibit in my home town. I found a painting of his, shortly before his death, and it captivated me to such a degree that I couldn't pull myself away from it. My two kids were young at the time, and they kept asking me when we could finally move on, but it caught my soul, and refused to let go.

Wake gently out of that good night, This me, forever You, and burning bright; There never was a was, but still it seemed, So real when I was me, within the dream. ?

It was part of You the whole time, it just didn't realize it

Never had your foot fall asleep on you?

Liberation is just another word for Awakening.