UnbornTao

No, you!

Because I'm sure you guys aren't AI - for now. That's among the many other good reasons already mentioned.

Easy there, Socrates. You have a point.

They would have to clarify what exactly they "experienced" in each case but yeah, that's possible too.

Great to hear, keep kicking ass out there.

I meant that you being God is complete hearsay - not only for you, but for most of us, even for those who believe this point doesn't apply to them. You are you - what's that really about? That's the question to focus on.

What good does believing in hearsay do? You could be a pear, for all you know. Find out for yourself what you are, your nature. This involves enlightenment work.

@TheGod My pleasure.

For the journaling section? That could be interesting. Available only to registered users, perhaps.

@Loveeee Buddhist Mosquitoes.

Does the tiger believe in you, though?

I don't know. I seem to have a natural aversion to many of them - except ants and some others.

"Come kitty, who's a good boy?"

I'd have shat my pants, probably. Not a big fan of insects in general.

Masturbating by the river.

True. I've begun noticing how the mind immediately shies away from considering the reality of death - not the notion or idea of it, but the present, constant possibility. And of course, not as a general or abstract thing, but as something deeply personal and intimate. My death now. The thing with "enlightenment" is that it's unlike other pursuits, yet at the same time, a real possibility for you as well. We might still think of it as another form of coping, or simply more of the same, a philosophical, abstract diversion of a sort. But the point is that such understanding transcends life and death. Anyhow, prior to that, I think that having a negative relationship to death is virtually inevitable. The Buddha grasped this sense of death, and it probably drove him with an urgent desire to transcend life and death altogether. So we could do the same, although it is unlikely to happen.

It depends on your goals. What are you up to and what do you hope to achieve with the practices?

A thought may sometimes unsettle you and make you uncomfortable - not necessarily in a way directly related to health - and yet still be accurate or effective. For example, as a training exercise, you can actually imagine having a very heavy ball buried underground, chained to your waist, pulling you toward the earth. If you manage to make it real in your own mind, your nervous system will respond accordingly, even though the whole thing is entirely invented. The thought or notion serves to align you with a real principle. Even though it isn't true in any sense, it works. In that sense, it fulfills its function - and may therefore be considered high-quality. Just a thought.

Is this the spiritual way of saying, "You're all stupid except me"? Open to what, specifically? Is this whole mental framework coming from a memory or a conclusion drawn from a state you experienced on a trip - or several? The point would be that you can't chemically alter your way to intelligence either, if I'm understanding your use of the term correctly, because it's not a function of time - in either case. I'd say the only thing it requires is consciousness. And fortunately, it isn't anywhere else but here. It doesn't require a new experience or for something to change, since we're seemingly trying to talk about the absolute. If you mean something relative, then that's a completely different matter.

I had a Misinformation Awakening.

You like talking in riddles, but thanks, I guess.

@Leo Gura Didn't you say that your consciousness is influenced by chemicals, that "psychedelics already produce higher consciousness than enlightenment," and that brain activity and consciousness are totally related? Hmmm...

Right, that's why you had to come up with that vertical and horizontal BS - to set the way for the subsequent argument. That's "process." The premise is wrong. Drugs, by definition, are completely indirect. You are still referring to states and experiences™️. Take a look at the assumptions behind terms such as "highest peaks", "baseline state of consciousness," "buzzing being", "geared towards", and even "consciousness" and "infinity."