Moksha

Knowledge is a figment of the mind. It is completely conceptual. From the ultimate perspective of infinite Consciousness, what does knowledge even mean? It is nothing but a trap, to keep people from directly realizing who they are. The reason for the multitude of books in the infinite cosmic library is not to teach anything. It is to enjoy the storytelling, which is life itself. Without stories, there is no experience. There is only timeless, changeless, nothingness. The stories arise from Consciousness, they are infused with Consciousness, and they resolve back into Consciousness. They serve a purpose, and they are divine in their own right. Instead of dismissing life as a meaningless illusion, it is wise to realize, and celebrate, the reason that life exists.

Permanent awakening is how I would define enlightenment Even once your eyes are perpetually open though, the level of luminosity tends to fluctuate. Consciousness has its own cadence, and it provides more illumination when it is needed. Even the most enlightened gurus don't always shine with the same intensity. Also, as I believe you recognize, seeing clearly is only the first step. Living clearly is what it is all about.

Define awakening. People can awaken to the unreality of reality on psychedelics alone. Do you want more? Ram Dass took psychedelics for years, but didn't experience a deeper awakening until he met Maharaj-ji, whose love awakened him spiritually. Do you still want more? Even after these awakenings, there is always karma to burn. Attachments to be dissolved. Even-mindedness to be developed. Unconditional love to be realized. Nobody, not psychedelics, nor the best guru, can do this for you. The spiritual work can only be done by you. Why do the work? Because, despite the difficulty of the journey, lucid living is so much better than the inevitable suffering of conditional survival.

Maybe it will help you to consider that the story of @Javfly33 is no more ultimately real than the story of your mom or of your friend. If the story of @Javfly33 is not who You really are, why feel lonely and apathetic as @Javfly33? Perhaps the story of @Javfly33, the story of your mom, and the story of your friend, are all not only told by, but also part of You. Skepticism of the experience of others is always warranted. Never take anything as truth beyond your direct experience. I can share with you that I Consciously see the sameness in others that is in myself, but what does that mean to you, really? It is spiritual babble, until you see it for Yourself.

@abrakamowse True, and there is the Christian quandary of the holy trinity. Jesus taught that he had a Father, and also said that he and his Father are One On the Bhagavad Gita, I highly recommend the translation by Eknath Easwaran. You don't have to read the commentaries, which precede each chapter, but they provide valuable context, and are worth contemplating, in their own right.

Leo is speaking from an ultimate perspective. There is only One. From a relative perspective, there are infinite others. You are other. You are also One. You are one character in one story. You are also the entire cosmic library, created and contained by God. The mind likes to think categorically: I am this, or I am that. This is the trap of solipsism. The mind is incapable of understanding how all of this and that can be contained within, and mysteriously still be part of God. If you want to understand it, beyond the mind, read the Bhagavad Gita, or any other source that opens your spiritual eyes. It is a wisdom that surpasses conceptual understanding.

Well said. Consciousness is infinitely more profound than any of us can comprehend. And yet we still try to comprehend it with the mind. It's human nature, I suppose. I think of it as a cosmic library, filled with stories on every shelf. Choose just one aisle, walk along it, read every story you come across, and you will never reach the end of even that one aisle. Now extend the aisles infinitely, in all directions. Consciousness isn't just the author. It is isn't just the character in the story. It isn't just the reader. It is the library itself. Beyond even the cosmic library, it is the divine space in which the library resides. It is constantly writing, reading, immersing, realizing, and being Reality. You are just one character in one book in that cosmic library. You, and the other characters that share your story, are worthy of honor. When your child is born, rejoice. When your mother dies, mourn. Who cares how incomprehensibly vast the library is, and how microcosmically small your story is? Love your story and celebrate it. You, and the your loved ones, are created by God, who is Yourself, after all.

? Waking up is the easy part. Living unconditional love, by allowing your attachments to be eaten by the fire, one by one, is the real work. The Phoenix only rises from the ashes. Here's a poem I wrote a while back that continues to be my reality, but the burn is good ?: The Bonfire Consciousness strikes the spark of my undoing, Catching in the kindling of thought, Consuming it to soot, intensifying, Crumbling the timbers that it wrought, Purifying fire ever rising, Burning through the ropes of my desire, Devouring the karma of my making, Soul wind stirring these flames higher, Scattering the ashes of my suffering, No illusion left, only the fire.

Your instinct is guiding you well here. I share your cynicism of solipsism. It is duality parading as nonduality. If You are the Source of the cosmos, and everything out there is just an illusion, then You have created a duality between You and the illusions that you create. Nonduality goes beyond solipsism. It it the realization that everything, including the infinite variety of forms that You create, is mysteriously part of the same One. The waves of the ocean are still part of the ocean, however transient they may be. Don't dismiss life as meaningless, as so many solipsists do. God is all, including the journey of each soul back to its Source.

Dude was brilliant, everything I've heard from him was spot on.

Alan Watts famously said that when you get the message, hang up. Psychedelics can open your eyes, but then you have to do the work. If you keep listening to the message, without acting on it, you are trapping yourself into a compulsive loop. Instead, be the message.

Monkey mind alert ? Maybe, just maybe, we can't understand how nothing and everything are synchronically possible, beyond our monkey brains to comprehend.

Love is the opposite of loneliness. ?

I'm no Zen master, but my key takeaway is simply this: "No Mind".

I would tell him to trust his soul, and let go of every belief.

Alan Watts, Ram Dass, Eckhart Tolle, and quite a few others whom people consider to be enlightened have resonated, if not identified, with Buddhism. I see it as a portal, rather than a belief system. It is simply the recognition that we are not our conditioning, that the mind is the source of suffering, and that we can be free from suffering, even within relative reality. As with any philosophy or religion, discard the beliefs and realize the core insights. As Aldous Huxley found in his review of world philosophies and religions, there are 3 core truths with which all agree: 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

Enlightenment is freedom from ego. Anyone that thinks Trump has no ego doesn't understand what ego is. Honestly, I feel sorry for him. The human is likely beyond redemption, at least in this life, but if you look past that, his Self is the same that all of us is. Enough politics though, or I will need to self-moderate and move my post to the appropriate forum

Mysticism it the pathway to spirituality. Your true nature is Consciousness, and mysticism is the journey of Self-discovery. There are no concepts involved, only direct experience as Consciousness itself. I can't speak for Leo, but Consciousness is completely unconstrained. Imagination is just another word for creation, and creation is the game Consciousness plays. It is the ultimate storyteller, and what you think of as "you" is just a character in the divine story.

Welcome, @Mythos! Mysticism is less of a worldview, and more the path of directly realizing reality. It is nonconceptual, unmitigated, personal realization and resonance with the divine. There are mystics across most religions (Hindu, Christian, etc.), and the difference is that they trust their direct experience above any external authority.

Thus the quotes.

Religious beliefs vs. Spirituality. Conditioned mind vs. Consciousness. Ego vs. unconditional Love. Specialness vs. Sameness. Transient grasping vs. Being. It's your story, choose the telling.

Isn't it funny how it always resolves to Love? I would spend time with the people I Love. I would eat the food that fills me with Love. I would feel the music that inspires Love. What is the common denominator here? ?

My first thread, when I joined the forum, was on free will. The ego is an illusion. It has no more control than You allow. It is a disjointed bundle of energy that saps You of Yourself. Give it control, and it will make you suffer. Deny its lies, and you will be free. The "choice" is up to You.

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For me, the catalytic insight was that my conditioned mind has always been the source of my suffering. I saw my ego for what it truly was. I knew, beyond doubt, that my ego could never be trusted. When I directly realized this, I pried my fingers from the ledge that I had been clinging to all of my life, and fell into the void. It was a freefall away from "myself", and the Love that is my true Self caught me, and has kept me safe ever since.