Moksha

True, not only for people who haven't naturally awakened, but moreso for those who have. I've found that even when the ego is clearly seen for what it is, intentionally attempting to deconstruct it is sabotaging. You can't bootstrap yourself into oblivion. The most difficult obstacle I've encountered is my will. If I believe something to be true, I deeply try to align my life with it. It's stunning how insidious the ego is. It will turn even the purest intentions into a self-sustaining hell. I've learned the grace of surrender. It takes a higher power to pass through the inner gate. It's all god, but dissolving the ego requires unlimited god, loving the essence of itself still entrapped within a form. No matter how realized you are, you can't break free from the illusion while still within it.

Astute. ⚡I call it shrewd spirituality. It's been a difficult lesson for me to learn. When you directly realize truth, it is so undeniably clear and compelling that the natural tendency is to shout it from the rooftop. Look inside! God is always here, just LOOK! Don't get lost in imagination, it is not who you actually ARE! After studying the masters, I've begun to realize that truth is only as useful as the readiness of the person being taught. It has to be scaled to a resolution that can be currently comprehended. If the print is too fine for a set of eyes, it is ineligible and easily dismissed. Maharshi knew that direct self-inquiry was the clearest path, but after teaching people in silence, and realizing they couldn't hear the silence, he learned to scale his teachings according to the level of the learner. I remember studying Nisargadatta and shaking my head at a rare comment that didn't resonate, until I realized he was intentionally adjusting his message for the current audience. Jesus said that he gave them milk, because they weren't ready for meat. At times, I've shared truths (passages from teachers more enlightened than me) that are absolutely bursting with light, only to have them completely overlooked by most people reading the thread. You can encourage people to look beyond the words, but that means nothing until they actually see. When it happens, the message becomes deeply meaningful, but until then it is an empty pointer. Maybe this is why fast path techniques, like psychedelics, raise a red flag for me. With proper guidance, patience, and intentional integration they may have enormous potential, but I observe so many people treating them as a spiritual shortcut, or mistaking them as an end rather than a means. They rarely allow the absolute to dissolve their ego, and set them free from the illusion of themselves. Attempting to convince others of truth they aren't ready to see is foolhardy. It only encourages them to dig in their heels or worse, to harm themselves or others, because they lack the spiritual maturity to wisely apply what is being taught. Teaching only begins by realizing truth, then it becomes about realizing the readiness of the learner. You love them unconditionally, regardless of their current stage of understanding, realizing that they are essentially you.

The same god carves its path to realization in infinite ways. We are all god, losing and finding itself within its dream. Edited: Sometimes silence is the better choice.

You won't be awake until you directly realize god, and you will continue to suffer until you stop identifying with your ego. All of your imaginary adventures only tighten your attachment. This is the fundamental insight of spirituality, and it will never make sense to your mind. The Perennial Philosophy appears in every age and civilization: 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 - Aldous Huxley *taps the mic* This is god talking through its form, trying to awaken itself in another form. It's awfully quiet in here.

The ego is god, lost in its imagination. Until it directly realizes itself and lets go of misidentifying as a limited mind. We are the same god, experiencing its imagination through apparently different forms. Look inside and see. For those that follow your teachings, as the most awake person on the planet, maybe you can share your insights about the value (or not) of ego death?

Ego is god believing it isn't god. Enlightenment is god lucidly realizing itself, within its imagination.

@Understander Deepening moves awareness beyond the level of ideas to direct integration. It takes the absolute inward, toward itself. Eventually there's nothing left but an empty portal, through which god lucidly experiences its imagination. Ego death is the final enlightened state within the dream. @Leo Gura I wonder if you will ever see the ego in yourself, or do anything to dissolve it. As long as I'm here, I will speak the truth as I see it. If it offends you, ban me. Or ask yourself who is feeling offended.

@Carl-Richard Dreams within dreams? Imagination is inherently relative. Look at the conclusions of quantum physics, which are just another way for the absolute to realize itself, within its imagination. How could the cosmos be absolutely real, if time and space depend upon perception? Eventually as the dream unfolds, science and spirituality converge into truth. The cosmos is constructed on the scaffolding of false dualities. Every apparent dimension (life/death, cosmos/void, existence/non-existence) necessitates its opposite. It's the illusion of separation, where there is none. Solipsism, Infinity of Gods, Alien Intelligence, and Absolute Insanity are ideas. There are no true ideas, only some that point more clearly to the absolute than others. Your observation about the relative reality of insights, whether on psychedelics or otherwise, is spot on. They are unconfirmable, and inherent to the dream. Insights are only useful to the extent that they dissolve the idea of you.

It is being, free from the delusion of doing. Absolute reality is changeless, timeless, and effortless. The awakened sages call a person wise when all his undertakings are free from anxiety about results; all his selfish desires have been consumed in the fire of knowledge. The wise, ever satisfied, have abandoned all external supports. Their security is unaffected by the results of their action; even while acting, they really do nothing at all. - Bhagavad Gita 4:19-20

@Bazooka Jesus @Razard86 @Leo Gura Are You Not Entertained?

Directly deepening awareness, free from conditions, is beauty. It is true awakening, and it destroys the ego. It demands the highest cost, but also delivers the greatest reward. Exploring imagination is fine too, but if you lose awareness within it, you will continue to suffer. It's all relative, until you realize that the relative isn't real.

Some day you'll say the same about alien intelligence and infinity of gods I do sincerely wish you the best.

I remember joining the forum, and in my first thread being scolded by Leo for referring to the nonduality "theory". How dare I put the two words together, as if nonduality could be anything but TRUTH? Lesson learned: look to yourself for TRUTH.

There's always more to imagine. It's the nature of the dream. Realizing how it is created does nothing to dissolve suffering. Realizing yourself does.

I agree. Awakening is realizing who you are, and for most people it happens over and over again. Enlightenment is remaining awake within the dream. Lucidity deepens the more you dissolve. @Water by the River The challenge of marketing spirituality is that you constantly have to oversell yourself. Your paycheck is only as good as your latest, most profound insight. What comes after nonduality > alien intelligence > infinity of gods? Instead of selling water by the river, teach people to draw living water from within themselves.

When you awaken, you realize that everything is an illusion, including even awakening. It's a dream, and the absolute chooses whether or not to experience it lucidly. It can do so, without suffering, and it's by the path of direct realization. If you just look within you, there is a brilliance that spills over every boundary. LOOK.

If you truly believe that, why are you pursuing awakening? I understand your skepticism, but do you see that it is actually possible to see? Seeing has a price, but it's rare that the absolute decides to actually pay it.

What is realization, if not seeing reality for what it actually is?

So nobody you've met lives according to the reality of their realization? That proves nothing, except that you've been surrounded by false mystics. They are the rats. Look for integrity. Suffering is not inevitable. Even a small step toward realization proves this. If you've learned directly, to suffer even a little less, you have deepened your realization.

If someone realizes that they are PURE CONSCIOUSNESS, why would they continue acting as if they are not? Why identify as a human, and continue slaving after desires and running from fears as a human, if you truly realize you aren't human? Direct realization attenuates the magnetism of imagination. The quality of the dream is commensurate with seeing it truly. It loses its power over you, because you realize who you actually are. @Danioover9000 I'm referring to suffering, or the pursuit of false desires and fears, not to pain. Jesus was crucified.

Consciousness has everything to do with the quality of your life. The more unconscious you are, the more you pursue desires and avoid fears, which only causes you to suffer. Why would anyone truly awake continue to believe that external desires will make them happy, or external fears will hurt them? Their behavior proves they aren't awake. Awakening is a profound and fundamental shift in how you engage with apparent reality.

The deep truth necessary for integration is direct realization of who you are, and disidentification from who you are not. Once you truly see this, beyond the conceptual level, attachments naturally dissolve. It isn't beyond the ability of the absolute to lucidly live its dream. Telling yourself that your insights are so profound that they are beyond integration is self-deception and stagnation. The proof is in the pudding; true spirituality enhances the quality of your life. It isn't necessary to perpetually suffer, in order to survive.

@ardacigin Realization is integration, and freedom from suffering. The more deeply you realize the absolute, the less conditional life becomes. There's no shortage of people (including spiritual gurus) claiming to be awake, but liberation from desires and fears speaks louder than words. Why would god, realizing itself, return to the illusions that it once misidentified with?

Why does it matter whether an insight is true, if you don't integrate it? You can chase insights your entire life, and continue suffering in delusion, or you can integrate the truth of who you are and become free. Attachments are bondage, and lead to suffering. If you don't realize this, you aren't awake or AWAKE. I'm not a Buddhist, or a believer in any dogma, including nonduality.

@ardacigin The key with insights through psychedelics, as through any other practice, is integration. When attachments are placed on the practice itself, either by clinging to the experience or by demanding results, it hinders rather than facilitates awakening. Insights are only useful to the extent that they dissolve attachments.