Moksha

There is nothing wrong with darkness, as long as it isn't mistaken for enlightenment. Rejecting concepts, labels, and old ways of thought is a critical step. However, it is not the same as directly realizing God.

There is value in it, but it is still navigating in darkness. You realize the darkness, and can enjoy the spelunking, but it is not yet enlightenment. When you directly realize God, the exploration becomes a sideshow. It is less about exploring, with your eyes closed, and more about loving, with your eyes open.

Don't dismiss it as a belief. It is a direct realization, absolutely free from thought, or any other sense. It is the opening of the third eye. You see God, and directly realize the nature of God, which is infinite light and love. You are right that truth can only be realized from within. However, there is wisdom in considering the teachings of the masters who have already attained enlightenment. They cannot force you into truth, but they can point you toward it. Only you can open your third eye to see.

Realizing that you are not your mind is a crucial step, and my intent isn't to dismiss it. The mind is the ultimate distraction, and this needs to be recognized, before waking up is even possible. Still, this recognition alone is not enlightenment. Enlightenment is not merely letting go of the mind, and realizing that you are not the mind. It is not even realizing that there is no you. It is much deeper than this. Enlightenment requires opening your spiritual eyes, and directly realizing God. That is when you are filled with light, because you understand that you are light. Words cannot explain it, but you will know when it happens. You will see God in you, and in everything, and the boundaries between all things will dissolve.

You see that this is all there is. You have not yet seen this. That seeing requires opening your spiritual eyes, and directly realizing God. When you do, you will understand why the masters teach that God is Love.

I resonate with you. Since childhood, I have had the blessing, and the curse, of a highly curious mind. I can't help but hope that some day metaphysics, quantum mechanics, and spirituality converge into a cosmic model that explains everything. I love people like Donald Hoffman, Eben Alexander, and Dean Radin, who are scientists working toward a unified model. That said, I agree that there is a danger here. The Buddha saw it, and I believe this is why he refused to be distracted by it. Ultimate truth cannot be conceptualized. Even the best model will only be a map of the territory. The trap, which I have seen with some of our own brothers and sisters here, is to mistake those aha! moments for awakening. Awakening is the direct realization of God, absolutely free from thought. It is easy to mistake one for the other, until you have experienced both.

It is not whether he has faith, but what kind of faith he has: Every creature is born with faith of some kind, either sattfic, rajasic, or tamasic…Our faith conforms to our nature, Arjuna. Human nature is made of faith. A person is what his shraddha is. The atheist can do all the required practice for a lifetime, but his realization will be limited by the nature of his faith. The sattvic perform sacrifices with their entire mind fixed on the purpose of the sacrifice. Without thought of reward, they follow the teachings of the scriptures. The rajasic perform sacrifices for the sake of show and the good it will bring them. The tamasic perform sacrifices ignoring both the letter and the spirit.

What if truth is love and divinity? Do you at least acknowledge that just because you have not realized this yet, does not imply it is not true? Of course, you have to stay true to your own vision. I have seen your vision, and moved beyond it. I am pointing to a higher place that you may not yet see, but am hoping that by having the conversation, it will plant a seed that may bear fruit later in your life, or in the life of someone else that is reading this. All truth must be internally recognized. However, that realization can be inspired from others that have already seen. Your truth is only as good as your source. I don't know who you study, but I learn from the greatest masters. I realize truth through the teachings of Jesus, the Buddha, Augustine, John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila, Meister Eckhart, Patanjali, and Vyasa. Their words are a flood of light that fill me with the direct realization of God. Do you want to see more than you currently see? The pointers are here, if you are willing to open your spiritual eyes: [I experienced] the direct, total awareness, from the inside, so to say, of Love as the primary and fundamental cosmic fact…I was this fact; or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that this fact occupied the place where I had been. - Aldous Huxley Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. - John the Evangelist They see the same Self in a spiritual aspirant and an outcaste, in an elephant, a cow, and a dog. Brahman is present in every act of service. This supreme Lord who pervades all existence, the true Self of all creatures, may be realized through undivided love. - Bhagavad Gita For hatred can never put an end to hatred; love alone can. This is an unalterable law. - Buddha One who is injured ought not to return the injury, for on no account can it be right to do an injustice; and it is not right to return an injury, or to do evil to any man, however much we have suffered from him. - Socrates A human being is a part of the whole, called by us “Universe”, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest – a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security. - Einstein Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. - Rumi

You are describing your direct experience, not mine. I directly experience love and divinity, and I see it in everything. If you will only ask yourself, if there may be more than what you currently see, there can be an opening to a paradigmatic panorama shift.

Love this, and I agree 100% that unrelenting honesty, sincerity, and courage are required. Ultimately, it is about seeing clearly, and systematically dissolving those things about "you" that offer temporary satiation, but fail to deliver enduring happiness and peace. Saved this for last, because of synchronicity. I just read this today: The Buddha never indulged in metaphysics. His concern was relentlessly practical: life is full of suffering, the cause of that suffering is selfishness, and selfishness can be removed by practicing the Eightfold Path. Anything else is a distraction. On what lay beyond the impermanent world of ego and change, his attitude was simple, "First go there, then you will see for yourself."

Enlightenment is more than a cheap neon sign, advertising that "I told you that this is all there is, so tada!". Dude, you're not casting much light on anything. I'm not trying to be rude, but this is solipsism 101. It's not even close to the whole truth. You refuse to recognize the divinity infusing you, me, and everyone else reading this right now. Enlightenment is directly realizing that you are an expression of God, and actually devoting this expression to dissolving everything false about "you", until the only thing left is pure God. Do you still have attachments? Do you still suffer? Do you love unconditionally, yet? This is a journey, not an event, and it is lifelong. It is about making your personality translucent, so the light that you actually are, is able to shine through more clearly. It is learning to fully love (not the emotion, the divine essence) yourself, and everyone else, because you directly realize, and celebrate, that we are all the same.

All words, devoid of purpose, joy, gratitude, love, divinity. You have lost your mind: congratulations. Next step: find your soul. Therefore, having been born in this transient and forlorn world, give all your love to me. Fill your mind with me; serve me; worship me always. Seeking me in your heart, you will at last be united with me. - Bhagavad Gita 9:33 By love He can be gotten and holden, by thought never. - The Cloud of Unknowing The light of the body is the eye; if therefore your eye is single, your whole body will be full of light. - Matthew 6:22

@electroBeam As I see it, the advantage of being a higher state of Consciousness is that you suffer less, and love others more. Recognizing that there is no "you", and there are no "others", is only a partial realization. God is in the human form, illusion that it is, and for that reason, it deserves to be honored.

Not just different, there is a progression in states of Consciousness that Ramakrishna is pointing to. Everything is just an illusion though, right? Be the bestana illusion you can be

Jnana is the first step on the path of knowledge. Bhakti and Karma are the wise applications of this knowledge, or the love of God and of everyone else. Some of the people here have taken the Jnana path, and concluded that they are now awake. They have not yet learned Vijnana, or to cook on the fire of their knowledge. One who has merely heard of fire has ajnana, ignorance. One who has seen fire has jnana. But one who has actually built a fire and cooked on it has vijnana. - Ramakrishna

Who do you think the Atman is?

Do you understand that nonduality includes everything and every nothing? It is not just transcendent, unmanifested reality. It is also infinite discrete dream selves, all of which are infused with the same God. God is what is, and God is what is not. Dismissing yourself or myself as empty illusions, with no inherent meaning or purpose, ignores the reality of the Atman. Each self is worthy of honor in its own right. Each of us is the Atman, which is the direct manifestation of the infinite God. We are all one, we are all the same, and we are all holy. For you, it may be just a word. When our spiritual eyes open, we directly realize that God is Love, and we see God in everything. Don't confuse the Love of God with human emotion; it is infinitely pure, transcendent Love that can only be directly realized and resonated with, as the essence of who we are. Telling people that they are an illusion, with no purpose or value, is not helpful. Jesus taught selves to love one another. The Buddha taught selves to learn not to suffer. They saw more clearly than most of us do, and they valued these "illusionary" selves, which some on this forum insist on dismissing as meaningless.

Loving them wholly is loving them holy, and is the same as loving yourself.

It is a broader reference, not directed specifically at you. I removed the reference to drugs, if that doesn't inform your insights. I am addressing the general sentiment from some in this forum that there is no you, and by implication, that life is empty and nothing matters. I stayed silent on this out of not wanting to argue, but now I'm seeing people affected by it, and am choosing to speak up. People new here read limited knowledge like this, and lose any sense of hope or purpose in their lives. Some have left the forum because of it. How is it possible to love yourself or any other self, when people only see that there is no self for them to love? How is there a place for love in a world where everything is an illusion? Where is the morality or meaning in this view? We are not only dream forms. We are also Atman. You are a child of God, and so am I. We are all the same God, expressing itself infinitely. When you look at yourself in the mirror, what do you see? When you pass someone on the street, what do you see? When you contemplate a tree, what do you see? Are your spiritual eyes open enough to actually see the God that is in you, and in everything else? The Mystery of God runs far deeper than some seem to understand. God is not only outside of the dream world, God is infused into the dream world. That is the meaning of Atman. Nonduality is everything and every nothing. That is the wholeness and the holiness of God. That is why love matters.

I read your other post, and again encourage you to trust your own insights. You referred to feeling the energy of yourself. Have you experienced this as Consciousness? Are you able to feel the Consciousness in others, not only through their eyes, but through their entire being? There is no better instruction manual on Atman than the Bhagavad Gita (especially the translation and commentaries by Eknath Easwaran). Read it Consciously, and it will fill you with light.

Another perspective if you care. Trust the instinct that drove your question. His view is spun from self-dismissal millennial thought, and utterly lacks ancient wisdom. Likely he has never read the Bhagavad Gita, the bible, or any of the other ancient texts. All thought, no soul. It's impossible for him to love himself, or anyone else, because he sees everything as empty illusion. He has trapped himself in a conceptual puzzle with no way out, because his spiritual eyes are closed. Your question is the path to your own insight. Realizing that we are all one is a good first step, but don't fail to understand the Atman.

Holiness has the same etymology as wholeness. It is realizing the divinity in everything and everyone. Primitive mystics had sacred circles of ancient trees, where they would meet to honor the holiness of their connection with nature. There is a lack of holiness in much of modern "enlightenment". They are so lost in pursuing truth that they have forgotten the spirit that defines us and gives life meaning.

#rodney king.

If to enjoy even an enjoyable present we must have the assurance of a happy future, we are “crying for the moon.” We have no such assurance. The best predictions are still matters of probability rather than certainty, and to the best of our knowledge every one of us is going to suffer and die. If, then, we cannot live happily without an assured future, we are certainly not adapted to living in a finite world where, despite the best plans, accidents will happen, and where death comes at the end. Seeking security in insecurity is insanity.

For me, healing happens by containing Consciousness. The light inside of us begins to dissolve the threads of our suffering. I have realized how life has shaped this personality, deeply in ways I never knew before. When you embrace the inner light, and allow this polishing of your personality, you realize yourself as absolute love. I see my young self with joy now. It feels integrating. I don't know if this helps, but thank you for the question.