UnbornTao

I suspect it might have been intellectually-induced, in other words, by what he does with his mind--at least this may have contributed. You can be open and at the same time grounded on accurate or objective perceptions, without the latter you're more likely to float in abstract and airy-fairy worlds and notions. If one pays attention, the actions that preceded such episode can be tracked down, for example by superficially indulging or engaging in an idea.

@Javfly33 Wasn't referring to stretching the body and doing breath exercises, but the other part.

@Javfly33 You fell into wishful thinking. Be honest about your experience.

@Javfly33 OK, contemplating what life is from scratch is a better endeavor.

It is a story coming from an Indian cosmology. It claims that someone who is thought to be "advanced" is believed to continue to "function" after death. Fantasy aside, what it is essentially saying is that someone died.

I wouldn't engage in fantastical thinking.

It's a Breaking Bad meme.

"Jesus Christ Marie, they're minerals!"

This one. We assume that being alive is the same as knowing what life is.

Get the nature of life first

In that case "to personally understand a fact" may be a more apt expression. "Direct" may better be used for existential matters and breakthroughs, in my view. If direct means (is being defined as) the thing itself, I assume that doesn't pertain to the relative domain.

"Sanity is a function of mind; what's true is true already." - Anonymous.

@zurew i might elaborate and engage with your points, but the essence is what I wrote above.

Directly grasp is used when referring to kenshos or absolute matters. That apple assertion sounds weird. You might say you concluded, inferred from facts, believe, etc. but I don't know whether one could directly grasp the health of foods or relative matters. Yes, we can easily fool ourselves. Certainly in my estimation most people are describing relative things (experience or state) when attempting to get across their presumed awakening. The bottom line is that this breakthrough (which is rare) can't be accurately communicated so it must be validated for oneself. After all, someone like Gautama might have been hallucinating, deluded, lying. To be clear I'm not claiming to know my nature--I've had a couple of what I consider to be glimpses, into who I am. This is a trap. We would be analyzing the finger instead of looking at the moon. What if we call it blueberry jam? Whatever we have of the absolute is not it. Yet, a metaphor: everything within the ocean is the relative domain. Now, imagine an infinite ocean and it would be the absolute. Being is what is. Experience is indirect and a function of perceptive organs. Direct experience is a misnomer: it is being the thing contemplated, recognizing its nature as not different from your own. I actively avoid talking in a way that feeds fantasy, so don't take these too seriously. This is another way to say that intellectual understanding doesn't mean you actually get it--and this distinction isn't clear to many. What's true? That's the gist of it.

It is empty inside. Dad joke of the day.

Stinks

Why not one of the latest M4 or M4 Pro MacBook Pro's? If you are okay with macOS and aren't going to game on it, in terms of power/efficiency, durability, and especially battery life, they're great. Also, long term software updates. But it'd have to be one with 24gb of unified RAM--it's presumably quite efficient too. I'd also consider the path Windows is going down with the invasive AI, spyware, etc.

"I'm naked on the middle of the street right now and I'm not even on LSD".

Exactly

No lasagna for you.

Low quality post. If you'd like, start a new thread but this time being clear on what you are trying to get across.

Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Good question and a better one to ask oneself: What is greed?

Effectively, in this case no. That's what is meant by direct. The realization is the beingness of it; there is no separation. Is is you now. Therein lies the mystery. Why it occurs is just that it somehow occurs. Some people might spend their lifetimes meditating without getting very far, while another might comprehend it without much prior work or intention—or with no previous training at all, like Ramana, though he is an extremely rare case. Go figure. Then again, “why” might not apply; it’s us getting ahead of ourselves. What is it? (I’m talking about the realization itself, not the thoughts about something called “awakening.”) You're still considering it as something. It is no thing, nothing, not nothing, something, everything, all and neither. It exists in the domain of paradox. One can't grasp infinity through the mind. As a game, try to think of infinity. Now, notice everything your mind comes up with is not and can't possibility be, it. The best it can do is imagine, "lots and lots going on forever." This is a notion and as such, relative. Oh, and just to be clear, that doesn’t mean you can’t say anything about it—that’s what language is for. So, if you want a definition, it’s becoming deeply conscious of the absolute nature of you and existence. And there's no substance to it so in truth nothing to be explained. You can articulate shifts within your experience and perhaps the impact it had on your mind, but these are secondary to it, and seem as varied as there are individuals in the world. There is no position to be had. Either one grasps it or does not. Where the work needs to happen is within your experience. What we think of it makes no difference and is standing right now in the way of us wondering about it. Here, we’re having fun chatting. We find ourselves unconscious of our own true nature. Why? We just do. Everything we do occurs within the "dream", so it itself can't produce an experience of waking up. Who does? You. As we exist within it, everything we have is our experience of the dream. In this state, we encounter a paradoxical fact; everywhere we look, ourself isn't to be found. And yet, it seems that having the intention to wake up opens up the possibility for it to occur. That is contemplation. Is the event of waking up caused by what preceded it within the dream? From within the dream, it might appear that way. Having awoken, though, whatever action was thought to be the catalyst, is recognized to have been part of the dream. Independent from all that, somehow "you" woke up. Have you heard of the koan Mu? That’s the ultimate “answer,” and appropriate here. Mu

@Razard86 Edited my response above a bit. All you talk about is relative.

@Razard86 Too much "this and that" and asserting things. Things like "there is more than one absolute" are BS. It is clear to me that is not coming from a breakthrough. You can take it as it is.