Key Elements

@Prabhaker Seriously? Yikes! I didn't know that. Well, you get my point. My point was we don't know who had enlightenment experiences and who doesn't if they are too humble to say it or write it to the general public. At least Martin Luther King didn't do that.

@Prabhaker I didn't say that. I said: Gandhi lived like a monk and spoke like a monk. He may not have had an enlightenment experience. That's ok. He probably understood what it is. Plus, he may have been too humble to even write down his experiences if he even had any. Who knows? Did you know Martin Luther King was a friend to Thích Nhất Hạnh? He's considered an enlightened monk. Martin Luther King nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize, although he never got it. In other words, we don't know what's going on in people's personal lives. Enlightenment is very personal. It's between you and God. In other words - You and You, not you and someone else.

@Prabhaker I like Gandhi and Martin Luther King a lot. I consider them as enlightened. You don't need an enlightenment experience to become enlightened, although it helps.

Was Osho enlightened? I heard he was, but how he incorporated his enlightenment experiences into his life is interesting. He's different. Different ppl incorporate their enlightenment experiences differently.

The surprising thing I'm seeing is, the countries that are suffering the most, gets pushed forward the fastest. The gov of China does realize its big mistakes. It used to take property away from wealthier home owners, pre WWII under Mao, and now giving it back - too late though. This is due to making everyone equal wealth under communism. Now, it's banning cars with odd digits off the streets on certain days to reduce pollution. Cars with even number digits get banned on other days. (Stage green aspect) But, of course, individual ppl in the general public develop faster than a gov. I wouldn't be surprised if many reach the Buddha stage (turquoise stage) faster if a gov is harsh/adverse on them. Remember what happened to Martin Luther King?

The funny thing is, I'm in Hyderabad. I only made 2 friends who I could relate to on spirituality - one is from New Delhi and the other from China. They were both here. We kept in touch. I have not made a friend here in Hyderabad in which I could relate on a spiritual level - at least not yet. When I tell my friends something new, they are willing to listen and I learned a lot from them.

I didn't say that praying to Jesus is wrong. I was talking about something else. All things are possible, even in the worst circumstances. We are still living in a world of infinite possibilities. You just got to find a way - whether or not you're tactful.

@Prabhaker Let me give you other examples. Christian crusaders used to come into ppl's homes and arrest and kill ppl if they didn't see Jesus as a prayer stand (pooja). So, what happened? The so called "pagans" used to put Jesus and Mary as the main characters in the middle of the prayer stand, and around them are other characters such as other "pegan" gods and goddesses. The crusaders only saw what they wanted to see and left ppl who were tactful alone. What's wrong in doing this? The crusaders had a biased default position - so their own minds trick them. Very tactful. This is what I mean. Even in one of Leo's video, he mentioned Ox's tail in a subtle way. I had to look it up - very tactful, and I liked it. The Ox Herding story told by Shinzen Young was tactful. Hidden messages. In summary, some people are just not ready to hear certain things; there's only anger and ego in them when they hear wisdom.

@Leo Gura Everything in this life is interconnected. That's why I said that in that way.

@Leo Gura I'm thinking the main objective in this life is to live life to the fullest and to experience Truth. To do this, you got to have a life purpose and go on a Hero's Journey. That could induce Truth. In summary, this is my take on it.

Yes, similar thing happened to Thích Nhất Hạnh. I'm not talking about fighting. I'm talking about being more tactful. A skill set hides things - like spirituality.

So, yes, it probably makes Shaolin monks more tactful. Tibet may be doing spirituality and other stuff too openly, and that's why the gov feels threatened and got rid of them.

But, I was wondering if they are being more tactful in doing that. You know that monks have rankings. I'm wondering about the top masters there knowing about enlightenment / spirituality and not telling it to the novice monks or lower ranking monks bacause they are not ready to hear it. Of course, if they are actually hiding it from the novice monks, they are probably hiding it from the gov.

@Prabhaker China - I really wonder what's going on there. Why did they do that to Tibet and keep the Shaolin monks? (hmm..) Could it be because Shaolin monks are much more tactful? Hiding behind the Kung Fu lies hidden enlightenment 'secrets' among top masters. Hiding from the gov. I know of a guru who does not tell the student more stuff about spirituality unless the student is ready. I met monks who appear pretty tight lipped too. I wonder if this is the case.

Do you watch Ralph from Infinite Waters sometimes? This clip really caught my attention - about being a "lighthouse."

Not everyone. I work with children. I can't stop thinking about them. I see different personalities. If you are different, you get a chance to trigger a (positive) spark in them (as a role model).

@Leo Gura I saw 2 lawyers during networking here in Hyderabad giving a pitch to startups. They said that they were giving away permanent US green cards to anyone who can invest (1 million dollars) in two hotels in New York (forgot the names). Looks like you could "buy" your way in. Yes, you're right about the "drunk uncle" idea on spreading stage orange capitalism.

@Seeker_of_truth There are still many who say, "He is not of my religion," and just do their pooja at home and that's it. Hopefully, that will change. I think there is some hope in the younger generation. If they are aware of their environment and destruction of it, they could get past that.

Oh my, that will destroy the environment, right? I already saw Jubilee Hills a new section in Hyderabad built and now they are going beyond that and made new communities like Gachibowli and Kothapet. Concrete contrete everywhere. Fewer trees. I like prominent gurus like Baba Ramdev. Hopefully, they will help guide the mainstream. I love his toothpaste - Dant Kanti. His natural products and simple lifestyle speak to the public. I sure miss Sai Baba.

@Prabhaker Yes, I agree with the materialistic part. Both sides have the wrong impression of each other. If I say I'm from the US, mainstream thinking in India would get the wrong impression of me, the individual. The same goes for the other mainstream society and probably any mainstream society. A lot of categorizations and assumptions are there. That's the material world. Mainstream relates on material, and even that is flawed. There's the wrong assumptions in clothing.

@Prabhaker Hey, I get what you're saying. Well, then the thing to do is not to become a dogmatic pointer if you want to incorporate truth into your life purpose. For example, Eckhart Tolle isn't dogmatic. Ralph from Infinite Waters isn't dogmatic. Teal isn't too. Teal is very open. She exposes a lot to the general public. That's why she gets criticized a lot. That's my impression of her. The other two - their truths are more hidden.

I like the idea of incorporating truth into a life purpose. Why not? It's beautiful. It's the most motivational. It makes life meaningful. I'm a bilingual teacher. In one of my more advanced workbooks, I could tell a story in some way in both languages on spirituality. @Dodoster Well said!

I have not read this book by Eckhart Tolle but found an interesting review on it. Here it is: Please feel free to let me and others know more about Eckhart Tolle or the book if you like.

This is true. I agree with you here. Leo gave an example in one of his enlightenment clips. He said that it's not possible to describe an orange (fruit) to a person who has never tried it. You could say that it's in between an apple and lemon, but it won't work. Nevertheless, we could still try in creative ways - like writing a book or doing art or something on it. It will leave clues.

I would say one of the reason why it's so hard to talk about Truth if you actually have some experience with it is because of projections. Some people may tell you that it's incorrect and list a hundred reasons why. So we walk around not saying anything and find some other way of saying it. Like, writing a book in third person.