Key Elements

Well, it's not easy to consider a wife beater as an "enlightened man," even though his words may be articulate and pointing to the truth, which he got from his awakening. His actions are the complete opposite.

Well, I never said to be attached to any questions. So, I never said that anything I said was ideal. The truth is detachment, not attachment. So, the question wasn't ideal. Bottom line: the ego doesn't have to keep going on a tangent in this life.

Why? Labelling? It doesn't matter whether or not the person is into strangeloops. "I choose not to play video games today." "I choose not to be a psychopath today." There are ppl who are born psychopaths who are aware of themselves and choose not become one. It's hard to do this. To me, these ppl are more enlightened than most ppl. (Btw, I'm not a psychopath. ) I try to choose to go with the flow so I could do things effortlessly "without freewill" or choice. Sometimes, I have to learn my lesson properly to understand and make the right choice. I remember making a choice and going on a tangent for a long time. Btw, I just came out of that tangent. I hope.

I agree that everything is already said and done. All stories and all maya are already over in the end. Everything ends in peace. However, why do you want to keep going in the strangeloop (reincarnation)? That's why we have choice. Do you want to do well in this story?

Yes, I agree with what you said here. I did say earlier in this thread that there is a difference between choice and freewill. Within this Maya (to love realm), we do have choice because life is a school. Other awakenings may have indicated to you that life is a school. You do have a choice to do well in it or not. Let me just point out that the awakening coming from God (No-self) isn't maya. It's truth. No-self isn't maya. It's an indication that you're transforming into maya.

Yes, correct. There is this maid (servant) with six daughters and one son. The youngest is the son. She and her husband kept trying for a boy because they wanted a boy. They paid more attention to the boy's education than the girls'. The youngest daughter, who was working alongside her mother as a maid, told her boss that it was her fate to end up in this situation when the boss asked her if she wants to further her studies. This girl was 13. However, in this duality (Maya), one has choice. Many ppl rebelled against their parents, as you know. Your karma may be not so good, but you do have choice to get out of it no matter how hard the situation. Just be aware of the consequences if the girl rebels against her parents or not. Both choices could result in horrible consequences. Heck, some ppl escape from North Korea. It depends on how you look at it when you finally plan and make that choice. Are you going to go with the flow (singularity/white, black hole) or just give up? I heard that in the hell realm, you don't have choice. You're embodied in this ego that knows only how to suffer. But, we're not talking about hell realm. Earth is the to love realm according to the awakening. You could choose love and reduce suffering instead of more ego and suffering.

This thread reminds me of this video: Shifu has a choice to train and believe in the Panda, but he doesn't have the freewill to control Panda's awkwardness and who he is. Just like he doesn't have control over the tree being a peach tree, but he could control where to plant the seed.

Yes, of course. I could understand that during an awakening there is no choice or freewill. But, in duality, when you're embodied in the ego, it's not either this way or that way. You don't have to choose to be more towards ego -- unconscious, unaware, unadjustable, etc., etc.

It's far more complicated than that. It's just like saying does duality exist? Of course it does. Does non-duality exist? Yes. Both exist. It's not either one or the other. Which is better? There's no better or worse. Of course, I could think of someone I respect. Again, there's far more to it than just saying, "I have no choice but to respect this person." How do I respect him? Do I just call him up whenever I want? Of course not. He is busy with his own life. He has a life, a successful / high conscious one. So, I respect his space. That's my choice. Do I call ppl I don't respect? Nope, of course not. They go their way, and I go my way. What is the way to gain respect? Choose to find your purpose and do that. Respect will gradually come. You don't have to choose this. You could also choose to sleep all day and never find it.

You don't have to believe that you're a delusion machine just because someone else points it out at you. Believing that you're a delusion machine comes from someone else's beliefs, and you have a choice not to get suckered into it. The question is, are you even aware that you're getting suckered into it? That wasn't my point. Prove to you? The point of this work is not to prove to anyone anything. If the person has an awakening, the job is to become a pointer/teacher. If you do not like or understand what the other person is saying, it's time to move on. (Note: we're supposed to be having constructive discussions, not debating or name-calling. Nonsense debating and name-calling are against forum guidelines.)

"When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. When the student is truly ready, the teacher will disappear." -Zen I do realize that the teacher doesn't have to be a person and the only pointer. There could be profound indications that came along with the awakening. (Eg. Opening of a Brahma Kamal Flower)

I said this before. In fact, I said it to Leo. You can't just lump everything together and call it one. Nope. If you do that, there is no need to use that word to describe something. Yes, there are paradoxes to everything, and meta meta meta physics, as Leo puts it. So, yes, there is a difference between choice and freewill. It's just like there is a difference between nirvana and enlightenment. But, that's for me to know and you to find out (j/k :P). Seriously, start looking within to find the answers. Not every profound question could be answered in a post.

Hey, know what, there is a difference in the definitions of choice and freewill. Go figure this one out.

I have a bi friend who had a straight roommate who he had a crush on. He told me that he was very attracted to him. Since he knew that the straight roommate was very open-minded, he ended up telling him that he had a crush on him. The roommate didn't feel odd; he understood. But, before the bi friend told him, he was concerned about losing his friendship. He valued their friendship, and so he was sort of begging him to please be very open-minded and try to understand.

@Beginner Mind did you choose to graduate from high school? That was your choice. There is always something inside of you giving you a wise direction. It's up to you to act on it. Yes, of course, this can lead to awakening and enlightenment.

Yes you can make a choice. A turning point is always presented in one's life. It's up to you to decide if you want to take that turning point or not. If not, you'll probably be stuck in the same routine and mindset. There will not be a deeper impact in your life and others' life.

@XYZ all your questions could be answered if you start taking steps on your life purpose. Remember, it's your choice to incorporate non-duality or not. I see nothing wrong with survival. Some ppl in this world are born in the wrong place at the wrong time. They have very little to no advantage in life. So, they grow up into criminals and terrorists because of misguidance. They are so dependent on their rigid mindset--stuck in their own world. However, a horrible background isn't an excuse for the crime. No one accepts that. Life is testing you all the time. At least you're an adult and you're here. You have a choice. You don't have to agree with everything, but you do have tools to do further research on how to improve your life and go beyond that. Spiral Dynamics and Maslow's are great tools to use as a guidance for your life purpose. Hey, let's stick to the original topic.

I said the same answer here.

@XYZ ok, so what are you going to do about it to contribute to resolving such issues? Have you started working on your life purpose? The deeper you go on your life purpose, the more you'll realize that you could use your life purpose to have an impact. Life purpose can be powerful after non-duality/enlightenment since it'll be aligned with your life and you could share it along with your contributions. But, I'm just saying. You could either start to do something about it or not. It doesn't matter if you incorporate non-duality/enlightenment or not. If you do incorporate (non-duality/enlightenment), I would recommend the person be careful and tactful of how it's done. Many will misunderstand and think it's just an escape. It's not. If you have experienced an awakening, one of the first things you'll probably notice is that life is not about suffering. It's about love. So, how will you contribute to that?

@Keyhole @Serotoninluv ✌️❤️✌️??

Yes, look for profound clues. But, you know what, the clues that were presented to me were the least expected. I wasn't looking.