cetus

@Costa7 Do you mean looking directly at the sun? That is very dangerous of course without the proper eye protection. Maybe I misunderstand what you mean by 'sun gazing'? Most of the damaging rays from the sun's light are beyond the visible spectrum of the human eye. You could be doing damage without even realizing it. Answer 1: Damage to the eyes from sun exposure can take two forms: short-term damage and long-term damage. Short-term damage ("solar retinopathy") occurs when a person stares directly at the sun, and is a result of too much ultraviolet light flooding the retina. In extreme cases this can cause blindness, but is so painfull that it is rare for someone to be able to stare at the sun for that long. Typically, eye damage from staring at the sun results in blurred vision, dark or yellow spots, pain in bright light or loss of vision in the center of the eye (the fovea). Permanent damage to the retina has been shown to occur in ~100 seconds, but the exact time before damage occurs will vary with the intensity of the sun on a particular day (clouds and haze can weaken the sun's rays) and with how much the viewer's pupil is dilated (decongestants and other drugs will dilate pupils). Obviously, no one has done a study to measure the exact time before damage or blindness occurs, but doctors collect information after events like the 1999 solar eclipse, when people who stared directly at the sun for several minutes went to see their doctor. In one study, about half had permanent damage. Short-term damage can be easily prevented: never look directly at the sun. During sunsets, when the intensity of ultraviolet light is lower due to scattering, avoid looking directly at the sun for more than a few minutes at a time. Sunglasses and camera filters do not prevent short-term damage, and may make it more likely by dilating your pupil and/or allowing you to stare at the sun longer without pain. Long-term damage is also caused by the effects of ultraviolet light, and can result in cataracts (cloudy spots on the eye lens), corneal sunburn and growths on the surface of the eye. This type of damage can be the result of a lifetime of sun exposure, and the effects usually don't show up until people are in their 50's or later. Long-term damage is harder to prevent, especially in people who spend a lot of time outside. The best prevention is to wear sunglasses that block UV light (both UVA and UVB).

When in meditation the thought 'I am' disappears. When the thought 'I am' disappears, so does the world.

Reality is created from the single thought 'I Am'

@Principium Nexus

@Socrates Reality is the substance of reality. Reality just happens within itself. Reality has up's and downs as it ebb's and flows_____and all the while it comes and goes. Your question inspired a moment of contemplation and to write something to share. Whatever reality is made of, enjoy it while it's here.

@Ilya If it is true, I wonder what effect consciousness may be having on the findings of particle behavior at CERN. Just something to consider.

There are entities which are in the world, and which act on people. They are here, around us at all times. In daylight, however, it is more difficult to perceive them, simply because the world is familiar to us, and that which is familiar takes precedence. In the darkness, on the other hand, everything is equally strange and very few things take precedence, so we are more susceptible to those entities at night.

@Leo Gura Are Trolls Real? 8 pages worth? If they weren't before-they are now! They've been given life.

Maybe these words of Nisargadatta can help you. That is the reason he said them.

@username No, I haven't academically. I do hope that someday science can find a connection between conscionseness and Qm. Maybe through string theory, Calabi-Yau manifolds ect. Who knows what the future may unlock.

@ElisabethWhenever someone mentions QM and consciousness in the same sentence, Bohm always springs to mind. Whether there is any real meat on the bone there or not you can decide. Bohm discusses this in much more depth in other interviews, while this was just a quick overview. I can say one thing about the man, he wasn't afraid to think outside the box. For whatever it's worth.

@Elisabeth This would be the perfect introduction.

Do you want to travel or don't you? If so you must first purchase a ticket to ride. *Cash and credit not excepted. haha You travel every night now when you sleep. The difference is whether your consciously aware of it or not. If you could be aware of it you could create any world you choose. It is Thought = Form. BTW-your already all of it. You just don't know it yet.

Wouldn't what is truly false also be truth?

@Sheeba Sounds like a taste of ego death. And the first taste is always the most bitter. After this initial blow it gets easier. Maybe now you understand why it's said this work isn't so much about gaining something as it is about getting rid of something-(ego). That depressed feeling your getting is the ego's doing. See how much ego is exposed now? Surprising, isn't it? And uncomfortable too. We've all been there before so it's completely understood what your going through. If you would have done more work on the ego by now, Leo's new video would have sounded like a piece of Heaven to your ears. I'm not kidding you! It would be a complete 180 from what you experienced. Or rather I should say 'your ego experienced'. The good news is that since you are a 'newbie' you won't be getting into this work with huge misconceptions about enlightenment. That in itself puts you ahead of the game from the start. The most important thing you can do now is drop all resistance and just allow everything to be as it has always truly been. Rest in what is- like your floating down a stream. Letting go is a huge aspect of this work. Practice letting go and you will see that nothing changes in reality but only the way it's viewed.

This is what I have up now. The other 2 I've used also

@How to be wise How can people who know what enlightenment is become enlightened?

That's not a good idea.

Waking- sleeping - and the sense of presence are all temporary states that have come upon me. I am not these states. Nisargadatta If you take it all the way, you see there is really no one to "truly believe it's not me". That would be just another state, albeit an expanded one. There will ALWAYS be more work. That's just the way it is. And it will continue until nothing remains.

The silliest part is, it's all an illusion. Like Pavlov's dog salivating over non existent food at the sound of a bell.

@harisankartj No you won't die. Your glimpsing through the illusion of the ego and the ego is fighting back by defending it's territory by causing resistance. You'll laugh when you see through it all, guaranteed! But life still goes on. And it's not like ego completely disappears overnight anyway. Even after an awakening you have lots of "shadow work' to do. And something always remains of the self too but it's seen just a tool to use when needed but not the master of it's domain. Humble is good. This does take surrender. Surrender and having trust in something much bigger than you will pull you through.

@harisankartj Ego death is the humbling of the self. If anything you would become more of a servant to the world in one form or another. And for the proper cause. For some that maybe for the first time in their life because they now see things from an awakened perspective. Before ego death they may have only viewed the world through the eyes of their ego and that was their only real motivation. You know what I mean?- that "what's in it for me" perspective of the world.

There is no real solution for the ego/self as it exists within time. What you are suggesting is hiding an imaginary head in the sand by keeping it preoccupied.

@Afonso Maybe your due for a massive energy fart. You know what they say-better out than In.

@MattP Eventually it all collapses into a singularity beyond time.