SkyPanther

*nod* well, or unwholesome, or unskilled. But here is something else to think about. Sometimes you may fail to reach your goal because of society, culture, genetics, experience (or lack thereof). This is not your fault, and you did not choose any of it, and ultimately why things like "free will" are illusory. All experience is subject to a cause and effect chain. This is why most spiritual paths that have to do with Enlightenment (Buddhism/Hinduism), tend to have a different definition of "free will", that in the lense of compatibilism. Determinism, and Free Will entwined to be something else. You are free to choose, but your choices are colored by the options you have, and some of those options are determined by circumstance that are outside of your control.

It seems to be about paradigm shifts in how you respond to culture, and relativistic "truths" and concepts that humans deal with.

It is arbitrary, or relative. What is a waste of life to you, may not be a waste of life to someone else. I think that "metrics" of a wasted life or not, is ultimately up to the person that is living it. We create our own purpose in life, so saying "it's a waste" is arbitrary in that instance. If there was an ultimate "purpose" than you could make a case of something/someone doing something that is a waste... but since there is no set "purpose" a "waste" is all dependent on the person and the life they themselves perceive as not reaching some purpose or goal they set for themselves.

It's a realization I had. The "I" is a conglomeration of different parts that takes on the illusion of a whole entity. Wasting your life is an interesting notion though... mostly because one can also see that no deed, no matter how "empty" is a waste. All effects are started from some cause, and so nothing is a "waste" in the grand scheme of things. It can be perceived as a "waste" by the culture/concepts you surround yourself with however. Some people think being a Monk/Yogi, and sitting and meditating your whole life is a waste because you add nothing to the economy.

I like "Twim" meditation; Twim stands for Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation. It combines Vipassana with Samatha, and uses either breath or Metta as the focus. It is the meditation the Buddha taught to his followers. More about it here:

This may not totally fit you because this is from a Buddhist perspective, but it does deal with Family and their ideas of "Brainwashing" and enlightenment work. This is on retreat (the guy in the white is there on retreat). Meditation is about "brainwashing"... you are removing all the concepts and "trash" that society has put in your head.

Naamusty!

A simulation of how the neural networks work in the brain:

Death should not scare you; because nothing is dying but an illusion of the egoic self, and an organism that was not "you" in the first place.

I know this was not for me to answer, but there are some interesting things about this from the perspective of science: Quantum Theory Proves That Consciousness Moves to Another Universe After Death http://www.learning-mind.com/quantum-theory-proves-that-consciousness-moves-to-another-universe-after-death/ Orchestrated objective reduction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchestrated_objective_reduction Shadows of the Mind: A Search for the Missing Science of Consciousness http://www.amazon.com/Shadows-Mind-Missing-Science-Consciousness/dp/0195106466 Panpsychism http://www.iep.utm.edu/panpsych/ Indra's Net https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indra%27s_net These are scientific theories and on the edge of science stuff, and mainly having to do with Quantum Physics. And some of the research and theories are being made by some heavy hitters in physics, for instance Penrose, who worked with Hawking on black holes. If this is accurate, it would "jive" with rebirth which interestingly, is actually part of almost every major religion (before they became religions). Rebirth is part of the three main religions in the East (Jainism, Buddhism, Hinduism), but also part of Gnostic Christianity and Judaism.

This is why I say Buddhism/Hinduism is not a religion (unless you make it one), and why you do not need faith to know enlightenment. What he is basically restating is what Tolle has also said. At the start of "enlightenment", you stop seeing things as "other things", and your labeling mind quiets down a lot. The mind you get when you are meditating and focusing on something becomes the pseudo "default". You are just in your mind, and it is quiet. When you stop labeling others, you also stop labeling yourself (unless you want to). It will not be an obsessive loop. Some other things to think about, is that this is all from a point of view of rationality (which may or may not be correct) and has been intentionally secularized (which is coloring it with a certain view). The brain's neural network does not explain conciousness, or why we are conscious of qualia. The secularization is understandable though, this is probably to make it palatable for people that are not interested in the more... "mystic" parts of the path. And it is the only way to make it unbiased, as he spoke about at the end of the talk. Was an interesting video, thank you for sharing!

Hmm.. there used to be a button that let you delete your account, but I cannot seem to find it now, maybe it was disabled.

It depends on the mind and why you are killing yourself. For instance Jains kill themselves by starving themselves to death (Sallekhana), but they do it, usually, at the end of life. "When death is imminent, the vow of sallekhanā is observed by progressively slenderizing the body and the passions. Since the person observing sallekhanā is devoid of all passions like attachment, it is not suicide." In most of cases killing yourself will not bring you to enlightenment. Because the reason you are doing it is most likely tinged with hatred(of self), greed and delusion. If you have attachment to not being, or being, etc... that will obscure enlightenment. Now, have there been beings that have gotten enlightened that way? Maybe(depending on their minds/reasons)... but it is really, really rare, and not something anyone should consider if trying to reach enlightenment.

It's complicated, and no.

Because you are thinking there will be in independent "you" that is conscious after enlightenment. Is the wave of an ocean independent of the ocean? Or does it arise out of the ocean and go back into it again, only to arise again? When you light a candle with a match, is the fire that leaves the match the same fire that is on the candle wick? Enlightenment/nibbana means "extinguishment of the flame". That is even the conciousness is unbound. But some "awareness" of now still exists... but you won't perceive it as an independent awareness... It is just the awareness of existence. It is also difficult to explain with words. That is why a lot of enlightened people are just silent. A nice way of putting it that I heard recently... If you are asleep and I ask you are you asleep, if you answer "yes" than you are not actually asleep. Silence in that instance is the right answer.