WelcometoReality

You are having horrible thoughts and ideas that are thoughts about thoughts that become real in another reality which make those thoughts seem even more horrible. My advice is stop listening to those thoughts. They might come and you have no control over that but you don't have to listen to them. u can simply focus your attention elsewhere. If they become sticky and demands attention I would recommend doing some body work of somekind. That tends to break the stickyness to them and they will start to lose momentum.

@Strangeloop Could you describe the void some more and where are you in this experience?

@Terell Kirby Holding on seem like the human condition whether it is an identity of being human, consciousness, nothing or God it isn't the same as realizing it.

@Gabith Thanks for sharing. ? Yes we are living in our own subjective view of reality based on all those things you talk about which together could be called ego. I think you got your definition of ego pretty much the way I would describe it as well. I'm curious about how you would describe your view of what reality is alittle bit more in detail? ?

Might be time for inquiry into these thoughts about becoming unconscious and the fear. Are they true?

@machiavelli Sounds from what you are describing as the ninth jhana cessation. The breathing does not completely stop but it decreases in frequency. But it might feel that way. See more info here: https://www.dhammawiki.com/index.php?title=9_Jhanas Fear is the doorway.

@catcat69123 it's quite common to have energy releasing in different areas of the body, especially from the chakra points during meditation. If energy is releasing from your third eye focus ur attention there and let it release. Let the body guide you and don't try to achieve certain states.

@Thought Art Yes that's a healthy way to look at it. It isn't really true until you experience it for yourself and if you want to experience it you examine what you actually are experiencing right now.

@ArcticGong Martyrdom can be hard to pinpoint on a certain consciousness level. If we use spiral dynamics as the tool to point to certain consciousness levels, I would argue that there probably has been martyrs on every stage except for perhaps beige.

How are you going to become self-less?

I don't know if such a place like hell exist. I'm not saying it doesn't exist. I can imagine that thinking you might go to hell for living the way you want to live feels like hell. Visions of hell reminds me of jesus seeing satan in the desert and buddha seeing demons under the bodhi tree. Could their visions be related to yours?

So you are questioning whether hedonism is the right thing for you and if that isn't the right thing, what is?

Yes detachment gives intimacy. Which is not something one might think before experiencing it. The example that comes to mind is if you're attached to someone you are at the same time afraid of losing that person so you might pretend to be something your not in order to keep that person in your life. But then there is a wall of falseness between you and that person. The same thing can be said about giving demands to that person. That person might pretend to be something its not to keep you in his/her life.

@Dodo There's nothing wrong with a hedonistic lifestyle. If you're happy with that then I say YOLO. Go for it! ?? Is there any reason why this question is coming up for you right now?

I would describe Attachment as a fundemental part of ego. Attachment to thought, feeling, your family, friends, other egos, spiritual teacher. Could be anything. When there is no attachment there is detachment. Indifference is more of a closing of the heart. Shielding oneself from feeling. Often from feeling hurt by others.

Then I think we mean the same thing.

@The Buddha I agree with what mooji said in the video. What do you mean with this game? The ego arises but is seen for what it is. There is no identification with it so it falls away. It's about seeing the egoic movement. Of course the identification to ego might still happen like Mooji said it's not a problem. It's about closing the gap between the identification to it and the seeing and discarding it. The lesser the gap between identification and seeing is the less ego tends to arise. No problem for the liberated being since the gap is so small it is as if the was no ego.

No there isn't a way to work through it. It's a complete settling into it.

@The Buddha I mostly agree with what your saying. I do however use different terminology than you. The way I define suffering is believing your thoughts. That is basically what suffering is. An enlightened being that which you call guru I presume will still experience bodily pleasure and pain. He/she will still have a preference to experience pleasure than pain but he/she will not experience suffering which is the thought about the pain. If I understand you correctly, that which I call preference you call ego. I however use ego in a different way. Ego to me is that which avoid pain and seek pleasure. Like you said: Is that ego you mean? Because you also wrote this: You seem to say that the guru both has and hasn't got ego but maybe I'm misunderstanding you, can you please clarify what you mean?

It's not bad. It's only the way that ego works.

If you are constantly trying to be in the bliss or trying to get back into bliss then that's a trap because it's the ego chasing feeling good. The way out of it is seeing it for what it is and let it go. I wouldn't worry about it though.

Only if you get stuck there.

An example from my own experience would be that I was a calm guy, I never got angry at anything. That was what I got told from a young age and that had become part of my identity. When an awakening happened this identity dissolved and after a blissful tranquil period there was alot of anger that came up. The first reaction was that there was something wrong. Awakening should be about love and unity, right? So I started seeking love and unity and suppress the anger. After another awakening the anger started to come up again. This time I could see what was going on. I stopped suppressing the feeling of anger and instead started investigating it. What I discovered was that the negative emotions are the expression of beliefs. The anger came up because I believed that things were the way it shouldn't. I might get angry at my child because she SHOULD listen to me. Because I'm her father so I decide what she SHOULD and SHOULDN'T do. When I then inquired and saw the underlying belief the anger lost it's momentum. Check out Byron Katies the work for some more guidance into inquiry into beliefs. So there is ego on the level of identity on top of the level of beliefs which are tightly fixed to emotion.

@roopepa I really liked the books. One of my favorite teachers for sure. @tatsumaru Yeah a Logical conclusion isn't enough you also need to align yourself to truth and that is removing the false. Which he also talks alot about in his books.

@math159w It's better to focus on one or the other imo. Because somewhere along your enlightenment journey you might find yourself in a place where it is impossible to push yourself to do anything. Maybe the energy you put in to creating a life purpose just falls away and that would be a waste. If your top priority is enlightenment then focus on that and then if you feel the need to find a life purpose you can do it.