Ishanga

@Princess Arabia Time is not an illusion per say, I wouldn't put it that way.. There is Only Now, there is really no past and future, but there is memory and imagination, and the Mind is super attached to these two things, it draws from them considerably for the avg person living the avg day to day, work, sleep, reproduce, family then die sort of life... Only for those that Strive for it realize that Life is always Now, its a super Realization with Intense Awareness that the priority of Life is Now, not as a Thought or Teaching/Ideology, but true Realization.. You still use the Memory to become Wise from and the Imagination to plan things out, you need these faculties if You are here and have a Body and Mind to Use, if You isolate and become a hermit you can drop those things and just live within Your Inner Awareness... All of it is REAL, its is just that it is not what we think it is, Thoughts are Real, Emotions are Real, Body is Real, its just these things are limited and not exactly as we think it is, once You become Realized then You will know, no one can tell You what it is, You have to experience it for Yourself...

@Inghetata Hi, I've been involved with Isha since 2011, have been to the USA Ashram iii 2X and did my IE program with Sadhguru in Detroit in 2012.. I did some minor volunteering at iii when I was there, it was a Great Experience, back then I didn't want to live there but being a bit older now lol it would be a nice place to live, they have apartments of all sorts!! Other than the Brahmacharya program they have at the ashram in India, I don't think they have "Enlightenment" programs at Isha. The Brahmacharya one is very hard to get into from what I understand, it takes total commitment. But I'm sure there are some Enlightened Individuals/Swami's there for sure... Sadhguru's wife did Mahasamahdi so that was something else... I think he wants ppl to stick around here on Earth to try to save the planet, and make it a better place....

@AtmanIsBrahman No they cannot!

Some are not ready for it, give the normal avg person 100 million $$ and they will be broke in 5yrs, they can't handle it on all levels of their being, same with Spirituality. I like to use the analogy of Young Souls and Old Souls, the Old Souls are ready for it, the Young ones are not.. Probably has allot to do with their Karmic Makeup!!

Since we are using Language here, we cannot talk about Enlightenment/Spirituality directly, because it is not logical in any sort of way, so we use metaphors, examples, generalizations of behaviour and states of Beings/Experiences... Enlightenment is a Human Beings Highest Potential and Possiblity, Experientially that is.. There are ppl that are at a higher level of Human Mastery, they know the Mechanics of what it means to be Human and can access it fully (Sadhguru is one example of someone alive today, he consecrates and builds temples, Initiates people in person and not in person, displays Siddhis, and is always laughing!), they are Enlightened as well but have more access, this is probably due to many factors, their Karmic makeup, reason why they are here and so forth... Normal Enlightened Ppl from what I understand do not stay Embodied when it happens, they merge with the Grand Consciousness/Oneness realm, no Individuality remains.. But the ones that are really close, like Tolle for e.g, they are Saint Like, they have minor Siddhis, are Joyful of their own nature, have some basic knowing, and can be teachers per say... While Embodied and close to Enlightened states, each one is also Unique, they still have personalities to use to communicate with others, some may withdrawal from society and choose isolation, others are Householders, could be your neighbour, you can tell easily...

@Creatorbeing There's two fundamental forces at play for us Humans, the force of Self Preservation, of building walls around us physically and mentally, self protection, survival instinct and such things, then there is the force of Boundlessness, to be absolutely Free, Open and Alive.. The 1st force is born into us, we just have to learn the rules of the world/society we are living in, procreation is a part of this... The 2nd force has to be strived for, sooner or later via the Desiring process (gain a goal what happens? Another goal is made and if that is achieved what happens? Another goal and on and on it goes) You will get bored of the way things are right now, you want to be more than what You are right now, unless Your in a war like environment where everyday its about survival.. Desire is the same as Life, its not about wanting more, its about having it all, being totally Free and Complete, Boundless in nature and experience, this is Enlightenment, when touching this dimension while still embodied you feel Great Bliss.. With all this we need to Accept what is as it is right not, this stops the Stress Response I think, but just b/c you accept doesn't mean You want things to be this way, acceptance just allows flow and ease to come into Your Life, just imagine no stress response, what would this do for You? It will bring You into Peaceful Experience as a natural consequence, then now the foundation becomes stable, and You can go for more possibility and potential/intensity in life experience (not talking about gaining more $$, fame, wealth, status or success)..

@James123 Its hopeless Man, ppl like Breakingthewall, they are like Top Level Down ppl, absolutist types, everything they say is in circles... Yes to get to a point of Realization one may need a practice, but once there then they can drop it off or do less of it, Sadhguru only does a 20 second practice to balance his energies in the am he says, that's it, some need more though, its all relative...

@r0ckyreed I agree with what You wrote... Its very discounting to say that I do not exist and am an imaginary thing in someone else's perception or whatever, lol, its so strange to read this stuff.. Yes yes you took some drug had a grand experience of Oneness and God and all that, but guess what, you came down to reality and to a normal sort of perception, so what does that tell You? The Drug had something to do with it, all it really showed you is that there is a Potential within You, that the normal perception can be enhanced into a more Grand Perception, this is fine when You interpret it as one and then the other, but to discount the normal perception and everything that goes with it (there is Me, then there is You and the others and the cities and nature and planet bla bla bla) as complete imaginary lllusionary non existent, its really crazy if You ask me... Death should be thought about, Your Mortality should be contemplated, because when You realize Your Body and Mind will not exist someday then it makes You want to do the right things, not stupid things, there is a difference, I'm not going to tell what that is because its best learned via experience:) By the way I'm a huge Rocky fan too, Carl played Apollo like no Other, the perfect person for the perfect part, Great Actor, Cool Guy!!!

"I don't want any of Your Dreams to come True, I want things that You could never Dream of to happen to You" - Sadhguru

Illusion or Maya means that things, or whatever it is still exists, but not as we think or perceive it too be.. Body and Mind are real, Thoughts are Real, but none of that is You, so a space has to be created or realized, what is Me and what is not me, then all is well, Enlightenment is on the way,, No matter what a teacher or Guru says, some say no practice is needed, just realize, others say you have to practice then realize, the first question or inquiry should be can I do this, can I just realize it? If not then practices are needed to clean the slate, take the garbage out, and then realization happens, some don't need to do this, this is determined by the Karmic substance of that particular person, Ramana M didn't need much practices, his karma is the reason why...

Just starting another Thread, to not derail another one.. OBLer says in response to a post I wrote - "@Ishanga No He (Leo) doesnt Claim that. Where does he write such things? I think you have some phantasy about enlightened people. Even if you are high conscious you can suffer like every human from stress or whatever. Yes high conscious people will probably not suffer from lower consciousness issues like obese and addiction. But they will not be immune against all kind of things like cancer, pollution of environment or if the body lacks energy." In all his video's he claims to be of a higher Consciousness, that he is in this space and is sharing his advice on how other can get there, most due to his psychedelic experience of being God, Omnipresent, Omnipotent and such things, yes he has done other more traditional practice but they didn't give him the intensity of experience the psychedelics have.. Now for me what does it mean to be Conscious? It means I have Free Will, or more of it available to my Awareness and ability to Utilize in my life, that means on a basic terms no Stress Response, which is the cause of many health problems, so it takes care of itself...Suffering is a CHOICE, Pain will happen in life, situations will arise that You do not want to have happen, but Suffering it is basically non Accepting of what is, resistance to what is, we can choose to accept or resist, its an aspect of Free Will and higher Consciousness. Also, one has Clarity to perceive Reality as it is, with no judgement or prejudice attached to it, yes we need to Discern what is safe or unsafe, healthy or unhealthy for our survival to go on day after day, but with higher Consciousness in our Awareness day to day, we judge less based on the conditioning of our Minds, Ideologies picked up, Teachings and past Experiences influencing how we perceive life Right Now, this doesn't happen as much and has less affect when in a Higher Consciousness Awareness.. If OBLer is correct, then what is the point of Higher Consciousness in a Human Being, if You still can Suffer, have bad health, and lack energy and so forth? No point in my book if we still lack no control over our health, and state of Being/Experience...

Yes story is everywhere, Your truth once communicated with Me is just a story and visa versa, no problem with it, its just that a story is not your reality..We can learn from others stories but its limited to mostly survival level of living, or it can create a sort of curiosity or inspiration to inquire more about it, the problem is that it can become too Intellectual, Intellect divides and separates, so it can only go so far using intellect, sooner or later this story we all hear has to become a Reality for Us internally, thus we have practices that are not intellectual in nature.. In Martial arts, when I was teaching I could explain it to the students how to hit someone with their fist from 1" away from contact point, but they could not actually do it, so we had drills and training to develop this short power, and then how to apply it, and they learned via actually doing it step by step, this is how it is done with most everything, same with Spirituality, first listen to the story, see how it resonates with You, then some Intellectual tools (living Now, acceptance, Responding vs Reacting), then some good practices and away one goes...

Yes Agreed, the word Consciousness has dual meanings, there is your Individual Consciousness, more like a sort of Awareness, Alertness and Clarity towards Reality, Reality that is within and around You, then there is Consciousness to mean the foundation of all Existence, what was there before Creation, Before the Big Bang and such.. As Humans we have the most ability of all Life on this planet anyways to Realize or have a "High" degree of Consciousness and Realization, which is Unity with everything and everyone that is living and alive...

Well a sort of consciousness, or karma awareness of sort still goes on, its in the energy, etheric and bliss bodies which encapsulates the Life that is within You, the karmic substance is the glue per say that keeps it all together, this is technical i know, but that is what is going on. Your Karma is stored on many levels, without it physicality is not possible, so that is always with You until you dissolve it, that is part of the process of Enlightenment, you have dissolved it, which is why most ppl that reach Enlightened states no longer exist in that moment of realization, they dissolved their karma and the body drops, the life merges with Oneness and no more individuality, unless Your a Guru and have a mastery over all this stuff...

Sadhguru talks about this, if You have mastery over Your Body alone, you will control 30% of your destiny, body and mind 60%, if You control the Energy system You will have 100% control of Your destiny, even after physical death you can control which body to be born in, if You want to come back and so forth, so its all a matter of how Conscious one is.. Free Will for me anyways has to do mostly with How I want to Experience Life, Joyfully or Miserably, an accident can still happen, any situation outside of our body can still happen, how I respond to it is 100% my responsibility and choice, that is the only control You will have and its available for Most all Human Beings, you just have to strive for it, its not a Fantasy as some may think or say:)

This is just a certain perspective from a POV of Consciousness, as we all have and are in many ways limited by. I try to be open about it, yes fundamentally in the highest sort of way You are correct, there is no control or nothing to control in the Oneness realm, because there is no physicality to control, no mind and such things...but on this level of existence were we are, there is control because there is physicality, mind and such limitations, on this level we have Free Will.. The Body alone is designed for Health naturally, but we have a Mind that is connected with Body, Stress is resistance to What is, that is from the Mind, what we are, Life/God/Source, is not the Body or Mind, we use these tools to function on this Earth/Duality world, but we can have Enlightenment which is Realization of "We are Life" not the Body/Mind, with this comes our truest potential, with that comes natural Health, no resistance to Now, in this there is no control, but until then we have to work at it, strive and seek it (there is no seeking once there) and step by step have Free Will to have what we should have Naturally...

Don't be concerned with "Understanding" Reality, its too complex and at the same time simple, paradox galore, don't try to become "Enlightened" or "Awake", drop all labels and concepts, this is a huge problem today for ppl involved with the Spiritual World, way too many labels, concepts, ppl promoting concepts and talking too much.. Just gain some Clarity, Reality will work itself out, and that might mean a car is heading Your way, you have to have Clarity to see the car is heading towards You and You make a choice (Free Will) do I want to get out of the way or stay where I am, that is all there is too it, with Clarity life becomes a game, it is lived at Ease, which doesn't mean a Easy Life, but You go Untouched by it, Your Inner Nature is now in Your hands, then see what happens to Life and Reality and How You Perceive/Experience it...

Existence just is, this is Top Level sort of Existence, the realm of Oneness, Completeness, Consciousness in the sense that it is the fundamental before Creation happened, but there is Creation, in that there is this and that, forms of variations, inanimate, animate forms, so all of this is layers upon layers of existence, with the top level as mentioned as the essence of it all, Humans can experience this at the top most level of Experience, that is Enlightenment or what we call it..,

What is the difference btwn someone claiming they are Not Enlightened or someone claiming to be Enlightened?

"Pressure" is self created, it doesn't exist unless You create it, and he claims to be above all of these sorts of problems the rest of humanity suffers from, so its not an excuse, plus he is doing what he loves, creating his own creations and expressions, that is the point of it all, most of us are not doing this, we work jobs we don't want to do to pay bills and survive, so I don't believe in these sorts of excuses of pressure. What it is in simple terms is he is suffering his success, just like people suffer their failure, its no different, its a sign that he has not reach a level of Consciousness that is really high or useful to go to ones highest potential and possibility, what some call Enlightenment... Sorry for getting off topic, will be my last response on this subject:)

This is all because of Unconsciousness. Are most of us here to work 9-5 or 12 midnight to 8 am to pay bills? No, this is not our destiny, or reason why we are here, but we stay in this sort of Awareness for many reason, one is conditioning...Wolves have limits, yes they can be domesticated and become a bit more than a wild animal, but when their stomach is full they are complete, for a Human when their stomach is full (Good times) then there are 1000 problems/challenges to face, life is not complete for them, so that is the difference, when one's Awareness comes into play then that is the game of Life, what do You do when the Good times are here, become Weak or Conscious and live a to one's full potential and possibility! P.S Kristnamurti was Anit Guru while being a Guru lol!!

How does a man that claims certain states and knowing get burn out? Its just coming up with content and then creating video, editing, I know its not the easiest career, but its easier than what I do day in day out for sure...Just playing Devils Advocate here, I hope he is well and getting healthy, he for sure has contributed to the Spiritual Community no doubt with his sharings and forum creation here..

I think my post was justified because he was consistently making video's, and now has stopped for a few months, plus he did a few 30 day retreats contemplating but got bored so what did he do, take psycedelics...Like I've done with others, I do research, I researched Leo, and I just said it makes "One wonder", I'm not making outright claims that I know what is what with him, because I don't, but it does make one wonder, which is fine since he is basically a public figure in certain niche ways... I would be easy for him to nip speculation in the butt, make a statement, as ppl here are wondering why he has stopped making vids, recently he said "health problems"..make a more specific one and that will stop it...

Well it may not be the end of Suffering, if Your messed up in the head at the time of death, then that will be your state of being in the afterlife, it could be a long time till being reborn happens, and to continue into another life and go thru it too end up suffering some more, lol, this does not sound too good to me, especially with the way the world is going now, I feel a bit sorry for ppl with young kids...

Leo the creator of this forum, he's not old by any means and is having "health" problems and no longer does video's even though he has over 1mill subscribers and had a passion for sharing, you have to wonder what all those trips did to him, I do, and I think it for sure effected him, he may never admit it...Just imagine thinking Your God, in Bliss Love Completeness mode a few hundred times over a few years, how do You go thru normal life afterwards without having to deal with that sort of intense experience?? I don't know if he has normal spiritual practice that he does on the regular, I hope he does...