Preetom

I never said anything about Jim I was sharing my opinion on how most people aren't really interested in this work.

@Joseph Maynor Most people would never even consider the possibility that they could be something other than their cluster of thoughts/feelings/sensations and really inquire into it honestly. It took me like 3-4 years just to educate myself and get my head around what Enlightenment is and the radical possibilities conceptually. And I still feel I'm just getting started to understand. But the good news is, the more educated I become the stronger my resolve grows for this work. So the hundreds of hours of listening to Leo and others, reading at least a dozen books on Enlightenment for 4-5 years wasn't a waste. And yet I could be understanding wrong and deluding myself Tell me how many people will actually keep up this wild goose chase for 4-5 years just to get some 'knowledge' which isn't really bringing you any gains right now. Most people want 'immediate relief' and modern society has done very good job providing it. When you're living in a self-actualizing bubble, its very easy to forget what most people are into. But the good news is, the more chimp the society becomes, the more suffering there is which is kinda forcing more and more people to wake the fuck up

@Charlotte It could be many things other than arrogance as well. Its only words on screen after all and you can read them with hundreds of tones and moods. The same text induces fear in some, the desire to start verbal war in some, the desire to agree and glorify it in some, the desire to self reflect in some etc. If your orientation isn't right, its so easy to get busy with distractions and get hurt. I know I should be taking this advice myself.

makes me wonder...are these RSD guys really getting enlightened or they are just so cunning to realize that their dick and face are getting too old to keep up with the thousand fucks per year.. what if all these spiritual talks are just a new turn for their careers knowing that they can use their 'silvertongue' to repeat some flowery new age stuff to keep people hooked?

@Shanmugam I've always been curious about how an enlightened being makes decisions and acts it out. I'll try my best to make the questions as straightforward as I can. Thanks in advance 1) How do you make a decision? suppose you see someone here saying something from his ignorance and you decide to state the truth. Does that decision pop up and you find yourself typing simultaneously without any gap of self reflection? Or there are multiple possible thoughts like ''I can either reply to this forum or I could go out for a walk. These will be the pros and cons of this decision so and so...'' and then you 'choose' to type your answer knowing that the other possibilities got 'sacrificed' so that your current decision could be manifested. 2) Are you 'mindful' in all the waking hours? 24/7? like feeling every single of your breath or feeling the body as a whole no matter what work you are doing? Or do you get 'spaced out' from time to time like everyone else? like you keep looking at computer screen and an hour passes by without you even being conscious that you were alive 3) Have you ever somehow become 'conscious' during deep sleep? 4) When you are dreaming, does the knowledge that you are not the body-mind still keep intact? Or is Enlightenment only for the 'waking' state and you totally identify with your dream self no matter how much enlightened you are as long as the dream lasts? 5) Is there any doer-ship involved all throughout the day? Or you just 'see' everything happening by itself while your focus lies on the self/consciousness/the background?

Find out what you are missing.. https://youtu.be/QY19rcu7Oh0?t=1m21s

Can you do mention anything in life you do whose end goal isn't happiness? I'm curious

@Nahm Agree with you 100% tho. Its shocking how the mode of perception shift in seconds when self inquiry hits at the 'right place'

@Nahm Recently I'm finding Rupert's words unbelievably direct and potent. A 10 minutes video almost produces the same aliveness of an 1 hour self inquiry meditation.

Recently Leo revealed that probably the greatest obstacle to Enlightenment is the deep seated materialist paradigm. I wish I knew it 5 years ago lol. It takes wisdom just to start appreciating what is being said in this statement. Anyway, contemplate on this quote of Nisargadatta Maharaj (from the book ''I AM THAT'') to loosen the grip of materialist paradigm little by little. ''Q: Surely there is a factual world common to all! Maharaj: The world of things, of energy and matter? Even if there were such a common world of things and forces, it is not the world in which we live. Ours is a world of feeling and ideas, of attractions and repulsions, of scales and values, of motives and incentives; a mental world altogether. Biologically we need very little; our problems are of a different order. Problems created by desires and fears and wrong ideas can solved only on the level of the mind. You must conquer your own mind and for this you must go beyond it.’’ Some important pointers (SAVE YOURSELF DECADES of FRUSTRATION): 1) Educate yourself PROPERLY about Enlightenment. Watch Leo's recent advanced self inquiry video and Enlightenment introductory videos dozens of times if necessary until you conceptually 'get' this. One of the greatest dangers is learning about enlightenment in pieces from youtube mini videos, blogs, random books. I remember wasting 4-5 years bullshiting myself thinking that I was getting enlightened when I was reading Tolle's books and other flowery/inspirational words (No disrespect to Eckhart!) all the while not even knowing what I was really after. I think the reason you 'seek' and remain restless is not because you're over conceptualizing but rather you're NOT interested in it enough. If you truly started to get the ground rules of this work, you'd automatically reduce seeking and start the actual practice. If you're looking for temporary solutions from mini clips of various gurus or still think Enlightenment is another trophy to be put on your showcase then just forget about Enlightenment and stop wasting your time. You're only gonna delude yourself more and more. 2) If you're pursuing Enlightenment through Self Inquiry then THIS IS THE HEART OF THE MAIN WORK. Stage 1: The process is called Self-discrimination. ''Right now, who is aware?'', ''Who is the perceiver?''. Inquire into these questions relentlessly both through sitting meditation and all throughout the day whenever you remember it (+ solo retreat). Discriminate between what YOU ARE (the witnessing presence) and what you are NOT (All your experience aka perceptions, emotions, thoughts). Actively negate everything you are NOT. Remember, whatever you can 'point' to is an object and it is NOT YOU, no matter what the state or thought maybe. This is where the REAL Enlightenment work taking place. You're healing your mind from the addiction of clinging/identifying with 'objects' and turning it inwards....slowly 'convincing' it that THE SELF is not an object. Do this for a few 100s of hours Stage 2: Self discrimination becomes Self abidance. It is when you've finally given up the expectation of finding yourself as an Object. This is the advanced level self inquiry where you are NOT searching for anything but rather just resting in Being, resting in total observation...until a discontinuous jump/Enlightenment occurs. ''Am I Aware?'' can be a powerful question to cut through the seeking of object and returning to Being instantly. Be totally interested in the 'experience' of being aware. See through the belief ''I AM This or that'' and just rest in ''I AM''. Its a relaxation of your attention from a particular object. In this stage sudden enlightenment can happen. Might take 1 minute or 1000 hours or more. But have faith in the process. Trust that resting in your being and not seeking to find yourself as an object in 'an objective world' is the best thing you can do on your part to get Enlightened. The rest in upon grace Stage 3: The embodying of your Enlightenment which will continue until the death of the body. In a nutshell, it is the unifying realization that what you negated earlier as objects are nothing but Being and made of the same substance as you. In fact ONLY THE SELF EXISTS. No body/brain/thought/mind/ego/world. Your nature of perception/experience and response will keep embodying the Truth and undergo transformations until the last breath (if you are sincere and open to it of course). Anyway, stop worrying about this stage now. I think the biggest mistake many Enlightenment teachers make is talking from their embodying experience AFTER Enlightenment. They sort of forget what a cunning bastard their own minds were and how much they bullshited themselves and so they forget to warn the students about this. You get easily tantalized by their flowery words and loose sight of the actual Enlightenment work that needs to be done. And then what do you do?? You start 'believing' them and live your life on what Adyashanti calls ''a steady spiritual junk food diet''. And BOOM!! 20 years of life is gone WORDS of CAUTION: DO NOT TRY TO SKIP STAGES. IT WILL ONLY BACKFIRE AND MAKE THE JOURNEY EXPONENTIALLY LONGER. IT WILL WEAKEN YOUR VISION AND KEEP YOU STUCK IN A RUT. If you are new, at first invest few months just educating yourself+building meditation habit. Then start the ruthless Self-discrimination process (Stage 1). When you've started this practice, you're not seeking for more accurate 'theory' anymore. Books/Lectures can only inspire you and keep you on the path. Words of Ramana Maharshi/Nisargadatta Maharaj can be powerful pointers for this stage. If you've been doing self inquiry for a while and can intuit the folly of this 'material world' and fairly convinced that you can't be an object, then move on to the Stage 2 (Self abiding). You should feel a genuine desire for truth by this point. So things like how long will it take to be enlightened or weather it will happen or not will slowly stop bothering you as you get acquainted with Being more and more. Rupert Spira can be an excellent teacher starting from this stage. PS: I AM NOT ENLIGHTENED. Its just that I find totally irrelevant posts made by many people here who remind me of myself. They are totally wasting years of their lives trying to gather the bits of pieces here and there from heresay. I hope this post can awaken at least 1 person from his/her delusion of getting enlightened just through reading Tolle/blogs/videos (Once again! No disrespect to Eckhart. I love him!! ) and playing video games. If not, then it will be here as a reminder for myself

@MarkusSweden Now we're getting into the heart of the matter! Thanks for the reminder. I can see how I am wasting my time here ''The best teaching is in silence'' But who really buys that?

Further notes on materialist paradigm

@Epiphany_Inspired I think I read this in a book of Shinzen Young. One of his friends told him ''Gosh, its so hard to do this work. But its way harder not to do it.'' Once you are conscious enough to see that what you call 'life' is nothing but a big, fat layer of suffering and lying to yourself, there is really no choice. I mean, what are you gonna return to? Hang in there

There might a 3rd stage called embodying Enlightenment which keeps on refining the nature of experience/perception and response. It continues until the death of the physical body

@Dan Arnautu THIS!!!! Hope these 2 quotes will guide you in the right direction. Being an unconscious hardcore workaholic myself, I can testify that we usually outgrow our routines. From my experience I can tell you that its a critical point of your life. If you try to get back to that same, previous, workaholic routine, you'll backslide even more. The better alternative would be sticking with keystones habits like exercise, diet, meditation, sleep, basic study and guitar practice. Then enjoying the free time of the day contemplating and resting in silence, self reflecting and getting used to the not knowing..all the while being gentle and loving yourself. Eventually new inspirations and visions will fill up those 'empty' moments

The 'human problem' described in less than 10 minutes

Here are some points worth exploring 1) Wim hof breathing sets followed by push-ups provide energy burst right in the moment. The brain/body fog and clutter seems to go away. 2) I think I first heard this from Tony Robbins. ENERGY BEGETS ENERGY. Stay physically active all throughout the day. Don't sit at one place more than 30 minutes straight (expect for contemplation work). Make 5-10 minutes of mini exercise routines. Do that 2-3 times a day. It can keep you energetically active all throughout the day. 3) You are going through a wonderful transformation in your life from inside out. So be patient. The body-mind mechanism is adjusting with the new, healthy inputs you are consciously taking. 4) Cut all unnecessary thought. The more mindful I get, the more I realize how much horseshit I fantasize throughout the day thus deplete energy and go in a downward energy spiral.

@Afonso thanks man! I'll cure the shit out of my anxiety with this technique~

@Max_V Some strategies that help me with fear or shock during inquiry. 1) when fear arises, go metta. Ask ''who is aware right now?'', ''To whom does it arise?''. Try to come back to your 'senses' rather than being sucked into a negative thought spiral. 2) Understand that the very fear is arising 'in' awareness, experienced 'by' awareness and 'is' nothing but awareness itself! This whole thing is a strange loop. http://non-duality.rupertspira.com/read/the_way_of_beauty 3) Know that you'll feel a LOT better after this storm passes. I set up a 3 day retreat at home doing over 25 hours of self inquiry. At one point there was tremendous fear and I literally disidentified from it all. There was fear and I was totally untouched by it, sitting there laughing silly, unable to find a 'me'. It lasted for about 5-10 minutes. That was the 1st time I had an actual taste of what it truly means to 'witness'. A taste of self realization. After the mini retreat, my anxiety and the notion 'I exist as a body' diminished to a great extent for a week or so. You'll feel a lot better after these energies are played out. Hang in there man!

@BobbyLowell 1) Stop judging/blaming yourself for judging. See that its not your personal problem but a general condition of humans. 2) After you accept that fact, start observing your judgmental thoughts objectively without trying to stop or change them when they arise. Or, ask ''To whom does this thought occur?'' and shift your focus from thoughts to start an investigation for the 'perceiver'. 3) Conscious breathing or mindfulness practice as much as you can all throughout the day helps a ton! 4) One day, discover yourself without judgmental thoughts. All the best

@Slade Other than his own narratives, in my opinion, Leo's top strength is actually showing the fuck up every single day...for YEARS. If anyone does that, becoming world class at something is only a matter of time. Make your life purpose your whole life. Practice and research a lot... relentlessly...day after day. And one of the most important is to become super openminded. Be willing to go wherever or do whatever your purpose demands of you to do in order to expand your art...things others may haven't ever imagined. If your purpose requires you to run around naked in streets jiggling your titties, be openminded to explore that possibility (just like Leo probably would delve into anything to find the TRUTH or improve his craft) ''There are some questions that no one can give answer for you. Keep practicing steadily and the answers will come to you at the right moment'' - Zen Guitar

@John Iverson Here are some points that I'm yet to grasp the Truth of myself through first hand insight. Try contemplating on them First of all, "The trees, objects, chairs, tvs etc.'' that you mention are 'Thoughts' RIGHT NOW if you are actually NOT perceiving them directly. Of course those Thoughts die the moment you stop thinking about them...long before you physically die. Now, Thought = Mental image/sound or combination of both. Emotions are the feeling sensations generally associated with thought. They have 2 sides. 1) The Story they create and convince 'you' to cling to them. 2) Their ACTUAL Reality..which is 'just' mental sound/image/feel when you are experiencing them NOW. Second of all, Your "The trees, objects, chairs, tvs etc.'' and My "The trees, objects, chairs, tvs etc.'' are two totally different worlds (even if we both are perceiving the same "The trees, objects, chairs, tvs etc.'' ). Your personal world dies with the death of your perception and so is mine. Whatever we perceive is our personal world. There is no objective "The trees, objects, chairs, tvs etc.'' out there. Third of all, what you REALLY are or the SUPREME never dies. Its timeless, birthless, deathless and bvkjlzbgvuazbgdviuBZJVlbadsuvb . So after things come and go, the SUPREME alone exists as if nothing ever had any reality of its own. Hope these pointers guide you in the right direction. And finally I wanna share a very very important principle for enlightenment work that I heard from Leo's video. ''Whatever that is not happening right now, in your direct experience, is NOT real'' Keep this principle constantly in mind and keep doing consciousness work. Your question if things exist or not irrespective of you, cannot be verbally answered. Don't you see the limitation here? Are you here to believe someone else's words for granted? Have a direct grasp of the TRUTH yourself. Happy sitting alone and contemplating

If I am totally honest here then I have no choice but to confess that I only come to this forum when I'm NOT practicing properly (AKA lost my path) If I am at peace...I mean TRULY at peace, at flow state...then things called 'others', 'future', 'world', 'good and bad', 'fear', 'forum ' etc really make no sense and can't induce any attraction. I guess this forum can only be a good entry point and maybe a good place for help in critical, dire roadblocks

@Nahm Thanks each and every one of you guys. I love you!! Life is so fucking beautiful. Yeah I'm confused and feel bad sometimes. Yeah fear overflows my heart from time to time. But it still is awesome. The mystery and mindfuck are the treats. YAY!

Reading Nisargadatta, what I understand is that... BEING = The sense of 'I AM' Now this 'I AM' is a bit tricky. The 'I' here is a thought/fiction. But the 'Am' is Truth here..your very presence so to speak. You can never think/feel yourself to be ''I am not''. Cause there is always the 'I AM' Now this 'I AM' is not enlightenment. Its the highest state in duality before you shift into enlightenment. This is the whole game of self inquiry...whatever arises, you question ''To whom does it occur?'' and you come back to this sense of 'I AM'...you sense the Awareness that is aware of this 'I AM'....then one day/now BOOM! I don't know shit after that ^^'' PS: Someone please correct me if I am misunderstanding here