UnbornTao

Checkmate, Kant.

The truth is already the case, so why not? Yet possibility is not the same as probability. For all it's worth, you can get enlightened while taking a shower or walking the dog, because it's not about the circumstances. If you truly grasp it, and to degree you do, then you can't not know it. By definition, it is direct, which is self-validating in itself. A single enlightenment won't dissolve all your ignorance, though, even though it is absolute and true. There's no room for doubt because you're there, in the same place as the consciousness, as if. It isn't a method, way, or technique. Circumstances can't do it for you, and there's no pill for it either. The only requirement is to stay open, to question, and to maintain the possibility that getting it is possible for you now. The mind will try to figure it out by every means available, but it will eventually hit a wall of uncertainty and impossibility - and that's where the possibility for a breakthrough is most ripe. Still, the potential for deception here is so high that it's almost guaranteed to happen. We can call awakening all sorts of things that are not it, so this trap must be taken into account. You must be honest with yourself about what it is you encountered.

@aurum What you call embodiment work, I simply call the work. If it's just an intellectual conclusion, it is just that - a figment of mind. A breakthrough is something else entirely - like the difference between drawing a meal vs eating it. It all boils down to making it real for you. I was trying to ground the conversation. A useful question to ask oneself is: What does my experience tell me about this or that? This shifts our focus to something more inmediate and tangible - something that is somehow more 'real' and objective - as opposed to what our minds concoct or believe. Consider this principle. If we regard perception as biologically based - which is a sensible take - then it depends on the body; as such, it is an activity, hence relative. Again, without a body, perception doesn't occur, wouldn't you agree? It's precisely the fact that you can see the screen in front of you that allows you to respond here; without the perceptive organ of the eyes, you couldn't be doing that. So what's going on here? Don't just say that consciousness is everything - it might be true, but it doesn't directly apply to this discussion. We're discussing what perceiving something is about. If you disagree, I'd invite you to clarify what exactly you mean by perception - and consider using a more accurate term for whatever it is you're refering to.

It sounds like what he's pointing at there is our ignorance of the nature of things in and of themselves. In my view, he's essentially saying that what we call knowledge is entirely based on how things relate to ourselves, which is distinct from what they are in themselves. For example, we perceive and make sense of objects, and this is what tends to fall into the category of 'knowledge' for us, while the being or presence of the thing remains unknown. The conclusion at the end is reasonable, but ultimately mistaken - that's where direct consciousness comes in.

Definitely.

Lying on the floor with your legs on the bed?

That's good to hear. Yeah, it's happened to me with most ultra-processed foods too. And don't forget legumes! If you like them, they're just as great once you figure out how to prepare them in a way you enjoy.

Keep it going! What is actually context?

Relatable. I did the same... for five days last week.

The franchise has lost a bit of its initial appeal to me, but I will still watch the movie at some point. I like the world, the visuals, and the taoist vibe. The story, I have no idea where it's headed.

Sure! Done.

We're such jerks.

@zurew You didn't feel like I addressed your points?

There's also the option of LMDE (Linux Mint Debian Edition). As far as I know, there's not much difference for the average user. Preferably choose a distro like Mint, Pop!_OS, or Bazzite over Ubuntu - personal recommendation. Essentially, the main choices come down to Debian, Arch, and Fedora-based systems. I dual-boot Mint and Windows.

Okay, thank you for sharing.

Please don't piss in your metaphysical soup. Which is to say, try to treat specific, relative topics on their own terms.

Oh oh, advanced topic.

In the context of this thread, if you followed Hinduism and believed in hundreds of gods, you'd be fucked. And overwhelmed. "Which one do I pick now?"

@Carl-Richard The gist of it, in my view: you assume, deep down in your experience, that it is not possible for you to become absolutely conscious, therefore your focus and concern is mostly restricted to exchanging one belief system for another. Hence why I shared the video. It's got to do with the way you tend to approach these topics, and what that "says" about where your mind goes. It's essentially trying to think your way to what's true. For example, the fact that you posted this on the Consciousness subforum and not on the Intellectual one, may be hinting at this relationship. Zen stick for you. You are hearing that as an invalidation of thinking or some such. Answers are irrelevant. It's an odd thing to say, but have you ever done some long or intensive contemplation? This 'impossibility' sentiment is common but not necessarily easily located. That's what I'm pointing to. Yeah, direct consciousness applies to absolute matters. Since we're mostly dealing with existential subjects here, we can't really "get there from here," so to speak. We could think until our heads exploded - and that would be a good beginning of this investigation. Use every tool available for the job, but be aware what each is for. And be clear as to what you're doing and why. You can't think your way to what's existentially or absolutely true, because a thought is just a thought - it's never the thing it refers to. Don't let the apparent simplicity of this fact prevent you from recognizing the principle underlying it. That said, there's real merit to activities like thinking, planning, feeling, intuiting, testing frameworks, applying attention, drawing on memory, observing without bias, experimenting, and so on - when it comes to relative matters.

@Sugarcoat Alright, thanks. You can always ask GPT about it. Good luck.