Mellowmarsh

“Non-duality (Advaita Vedanta): The idea that the individual self (Atman) and the universal consciousness (Brahman) are identical. The illusion of separation makes us feel like we are searching for answers outside of ourselves, but the ultimate reality is that the questioner and the answer are both the same infinite consciousness. Self-Inquiry: Practiced heavily in schools of thought like Zen or by sages like Ramana Maharshi, this involves asking "Who am I?". The purpose is not to find a conceptual answer, but to realize that the "I" doing the asking is the exact same "I" that forms the answer, leading directly to direct spiritual realization. The Socratic Method: In philosophy, this is the idea that the teacher doesn't give answers, but asks questions to help the student draw the truth out of their own soul. It operates on the premise that the knowledge was already within the questioner's mind all along.”

“The real remains the same without changing. But everything changes in life, so the real, which the mind thinks is real, is illusory. The sages realised that the real in life is illusory, meaning, to the mind, that the real appears to be in life, whereas it is not in life as an actuality. ‘Neti Neti’ means ‘not this, not this’ or ‘neither this nor that’, to signify that ‘this’ or ‘that’ is illusory and not real. Illusory means the real exists, but the existence of real is illusory, to mean the real does not exist in the manner the mind thinks it exists. The illusory exists as a play of light and sound, which gives rise to a deception of reality. The real that exists in the world, including the world, is illusory because every atom of the real that exists is light. Therefore, the real that exists is an illusion of light and not an actuality. The sages have rightly proclaimed that life is a play of light and sound, without a real cause or effect, and that light, which has no real cause, reflects only illusory effects of reality. Therefore, the real or advaita cannot be known, taught, practised, searched or experienced. Only the illusory can be known, taught, practised, searched and experienced. To understand that life, as the mind thinks it is, is illusory is advaita, non-duality or absolute understanding. Life has gifted the mind only to man, so that he may understand his own mind. This absolute understanding leads to enlightenment.“ https://www.academy-advaita.com/en/

That which appears to control never controlled.

That which appears to distinguish never destinguished.

Of course you are God. You cannot not know you are God. The knowledge is already you being realised by you.

Do these different levels have their own ceilings?

OMG… I’m dying laughing at this one. ☝️

You wouldn’t be able to speak of separation duality without a mind. So yes, the mind must exist.

The scissors is a symbolic metaphor for the mind. Why are scissors called a pair when there’s only one pair of scissors ✂️ not two ✂️ ✂️ Rather perplexing is it not.

The two parts are whole in and of themselves. A whole is still a whole no matter how many times it’s sliced.

Duality must exist as a pair of scissors ✂️ exist. Scissors can be used to cut something whole into two parts, but scissors cannot be used to make the two parts whole again.

Talking snakes eh? I guess nothing is impossible with God.

Wow, I can imagine that right now in my minds eye. Thanks for the description.