Matthew Lamot

It depends on what you want, what angle you are looking at this from, and what path you are on. There are different paths, methods, and theologies pertaining to the wide net that is consciousness work. If you were to listen to me, I would suggest that you are on the right path. Your business here with this world is coming to an end, and your I thought is being drawn more into its source. You might even be close to Self-Realization if this is the case. I myself am close to this, but I still have many vasana's (tendencies of mind) to resolve before I'm ready to permanently rest as ever present awareness. Nobody knows how long you have been doing this work, you might be at the end of a very long journey and yet only be in your early twenties or even in your teens. There is no age restrictions to Realize the Self. From a Self-Actualization POV people will say you might be depressed, unadjusted, who knows? I'm not following that path, so I have no information for you. I am certain that some people, and Leo, will be able to give you POV on that side. But if you're ready for Self-Realization then this might be the turning point for you

Don't we all? Suffering is created by the I thought. The only time suffering will end is when the I thought is permanently destroyed. That takes a while, until then the path is the goal?

I'm confused, because the desires should evaporate almost instantly as the I thought is seen, or the emotion driving the desire is felt fully. Maybe there is another way? I'm even more interested in this discussion now!

This is a nice practice. Yet again, it's a completely different path, based on Trantric teachings which I guess transforms subtle energies? I'm not quite sure about it because it's not my thing, I know that mixing techniques can be counter productive, using a technique here, a technique there without using them in the context of their respective paths leads to confusion. Something I know not a lot of guys are fully conscious of. How to use them all together so they compliment each other? That I don't know, and would be interested in finding out. As far as I know I assume it is best to stick to one thing and tread one path at a time, even one path per lifetime?

Self Enquiry as the bulk of the practice is quicker and more direct than meditation. The two practices are diametrically opposite! Self Enquiry is letting attention rest and sink back into the Self (becoming aware of being aware). Meditation does the opposite and encourages (most of the time) that attention be fixed on an object which moves attention further away from it's source. Meditation is good for dealing with the object of emotion by watching the duality of the I and the emotion, but when that is done attention should rest back in awareness. The difference between the two methods are worlds apart, and you can verify the difference in your experience now if you force attention on breath vs. letting attention sink back into it's source. The feeling is completely different. I guess I'm pointing out the difference between SE and general meditation, which is important, because if you are genuinely interested in enlightenment then SE is what you need to do, because meditation does not do really do the job. Meditation is generally good for state training, but it does not permanently destroy the I thought

@Orange I also forgot to mention something else, something important! Something you can begin to work on immediately! It is a quick fix, in the sense that it is instant, but it is also a very healthy long term way of dealing with issues and the "ego". Too much thinking (getting lost in thought) is a problem. You can verify this for yourself if you begin using self-enquiry as a method, but I'll give a little overview now. Too much thinking can be a defence against feeling. It can be a way of off-loading feelings, or avoiding feelings, discharging feelings in order to feel a kind of pseudo relief. This might be a reason for your over-thinking, it may not, I don't know, just throwing theories out there that you may consider at some point. When the thinking stops, or is not indulged in anymore, there is a time of silencing of the mind and then sometimes an emotion reveals itself acutely. This is what the mind had been working overtime to avoid, it was too much so the mind tried to cover it up. This is the time to switch practice and begin to focus on an "object" - the object being the emotional feeling It might be uncomfortable, even overwhelming, but if it can be worked through properly then good things will happen, trust me This is the time to notice who is the real problem. The problem is not the feeling itself, but the one doing the resisting. Just noticing that and taking the side of the feeling is enough to start to evaporate the feeling. Also, part of the identity that was keeping the thoughts and feelings locked in also dissolves. You will know when the problem has resolved itself, you will no longer get lost in the dream like nature of the memories and the attachment will be gone. I think this will help

Nisgargadatta, Ramana Maharshi and Papaji were all Self-Realized, but they had different personalities. The Self never enters the stream of time. It would not be the infinite Self if it did. I guess it informed these men in some way?

@HereNowThisMoment Don't think about it too much. If you want some feedback? (Why you're here I guess?) You're going into ego mode with all that wondering, trying, second guessing, attempting to manufacture authentic personality. Become enlightened, then the control and neurotic factor won't be there, all there will be is the Self expressing itself via your unique and original finite mind.

You're not going anywhere. Where would you go? You have existed independent of time. Before Abraham was, I AM. Sleep well!

Good Night

Take an hour. Relax and watch this movie. Then come back to this thread for more videos.

The reason you think about a guy is because since the day you were born you were treated as an individual object who had to grow up to take responsibility. There is nothing wrong with that, but in the process of creating this self, you forgot who you really are, pure uncompromising love for all things, because you are the cognizant space that allows all things to be. This is happiness, to Realize the Self permanently and be done messing around as this fiction is true happiness

Yes. But it's not an attitude, it's an inquiry into the true nature of you. Who is there all the time since day one of your life? What part of you has never changed? Therefore has never left you, abandoned you, let you down, judged you? If you look into the nature of the witness, you will find that it CANNOT resist, because it always already allows all things to be. Get in touch with that, and flush out the identity and you will discover what happiness really is about. Happiness and power have never left you, ever!

You both must realize that YOU are the resistance. At the root of your thoughts and feelings is an imaginary self, when looked for cannot be found anywhere. When that is seen then the problem ceases to exist. What's left in the absence of unhappiness?

Stop seeking happiness and see what happens. The downside now is I have given away the secret, because of the female need to know a secret lol! So its going to be harder to do, because as soon as we turn this into a practice to "get rid" of misery, somehow the misery knows and sticks around.

Every opportunity where unhappiness arises is an opportunity to become happy. We just need to know the proper techniques and philosophy that brings this about. I advocate Advaita Vedanta, and Self Inquiry, because it is the only path I know to gain true, durable happiness and liberation. But I wont sugar coat it, or infantalize people by spoon feeding other pious platitudes that dont work. They dont work because I have been there and know first hand that ultimately there is no real happiness in those attitudes.

It's not pessimistic. Youre jumping to conclusions. What I'm saying is that seeking and resistance is the route of unhappiness. I didn't say there is no happiness. I said the human being (individual self selse) is the problem that keeps us from true happiness. So, as I'm talking to the human being, it's far easier to be direct and honest and deprive the self sense of its false hopes (that never come true, because the more solid the I is the less chance of happiness) There are people in the world with less dense self sense, those are happier in relation to those with a strong I Get it?

Happiness is not a game, it's not an attitude. The acceptance of what is already will relieve a lot of your pain instantly, and I mean instantly. Only acceptance brings relief. Practice that and you will start to see that you are an illusion keeping unhappiness locked in. The self sense is the only problem here.

I don't know how many times I've been reincarnated. I'm in no rush. That has relaxed and obliterated a ton of neurosis to begin with - just accepting that there is not much I can do to solve my problems other than be patient and practice my way out of this existence. I have also been where you are, so I know what it's like. This is why I said that there is no happiness as long as were seeking it. It's not a mind game either though, of just trying on different attitudes. The human being as it is will never be happy, not in the sense that Self Realization brings. Yeah, there are pleasure, but these will always never be enough.

I'm already thinking in timescales of "lifetimes".

If you can read my history of posts (which is not that long) then you might muster the will to practice it.

A quick (and life long) fix is to do Self-Enquiry. There is a bulk of text on my history, and s ton of videos that give you a detailed, and not so detailed overview of this practice. It's all laid out like an instruction manual for a microwave oven, the deep shit is there if you want it, plus there is a quick-start module to get instant results in twenty minutes. Instead of putting your attention onto thoughts (objects), become aware of the screen that the objects appear on. Focus on that instead of getting involved in the story. Keep doing that until the peace, happiness, bliss and unshakable self esteem that arises from letting your attention sink into its source becomes a million times more attractive than the memories. It's the most simple and most effective thing you can do in life.

Thank you. Although, I responded to this, so I did incorrectly assume that you wanted to play beach volley ball with the deep answer. I could give you quick fixes, if I knew that's what you were after. The mistake I made was posting here in the first place, and I intuited that. My mistake was ignoring my intuition and letting this game continue, I invited your passive aggressive response. That is my fault

I apologise, I made a wrong assumption and that is wrong of me. I'm sorry

Let me give you a clue to the practice. The desires are fine. There is no need to rid yourself of these feelings. The secret is to rid yourself of yourself, and then the feelings evaporate into thin air. Until next time, and then you do the practice again. You need to adopt the attitude that you have no choice about which feelings manifest in your life. Notice that you is a resistance to the feeling. Put your attention on you and keep your attention on you until you begin to see that the very notion of you is the real problem. The moment you see this directly, you will begin to dissolve and the feeling will begin to evaporate. But the key is that you must observe how you are the resistance problem that that your real self (pure ever present awareness) and its true nature is unconditional acceptance. Ever present awareness cannot be anything BUT total acceptance of all things, so the "problem" is you, the individual self sense.