CosmicTrekker

Good Video! I must admit, I too wasn't certain of what happens to consciousness during sleep. Rupert's explanations make a lot of sense, especially the view that the traditional model, which holds physical matter to be the most real, and consciousness the most unreal with the mind straddling the two is actually back to front. In his model, consciousness is the most real state (as experienced during deep sleep), and the physical world being a mental construct within the fabric of the mind. The reason why we don't remember stuff from the deep sleep state is that the mind is completely absent from that experience, and thus not capable of retaining memories from state.

I guess it ultimately depends on what aspects of religion or its dogma you're attached to. If you take religion as it is commonly understood, you'll see that there are so many inconsistencies in the narration/stories, that if you're serious about discovering the truth, then you'll automatically question those aspects and you should find your attachment to it to weaken and diminish over time. For me finding out about the truth (though I've not experienced it directly), was a huge relief - The truth felt complete and satisfying in itself and letting go of the dogmatic aspects of religion was very easy. Depending on how entwined the religion is in your social circles, expect some criticism or questioning of your view - especially from those in your social circle that are inclined towards a dogmatic interpretation of whatever scriptures they believe in.

Let Truth, Love and Beauty be your guide. These things are the pointers towards and ultimately part of that which you seek.

I'm a noob to the whole enlightenment phenomena, and though I have come across the concept previously, it wasn't something that I could get a handle on, until Leo started explaining this in his videos. Recently, I had a strange experience that seemed to have elements of enlightenment and I'd like to understand if this experience is related to enlightenment in anyway. It was the middle of the day whilst I was doing some DIY stuff at home. I turned my head to look at my pet lovebird sitting on it's perch on the other side of the room, and for a brief split second, I experienced, what I can only describe as a feeling of oneness with the lovebird - I was it and it was me. I could sense what it was experiencing, just as I experience myself day to day. There was no separation between 'me' and it. The experience was extremely brief and dissipated almost instantly, and I was left staring at the bird and the bird staring at me. I wasn't doing anything in particular that I can attribute this experience to. Has anyone had similar experience or know what it was and most importantly, is there anything that I could have done to sustain the experience for a longer period of time? Thanks in advance.

I understand (maybe incorrectly) that the true reality is something that is one undivided whole and awareness is something that permeates through that wholeness. This implies that all phenomena we label as dumb inanimate matter, is also conscious at some level; if this is the case, then is there a hierarchy of consciousness? If so, what factor(s) determine the level of awareness?

Thanks for pointing this out, it was there right in front of my face!

This is so useful, makes perfect sense, thank you. It feels like an obstacle has been moved out of the way.

I'm even more confused :). Nothing is all there is and it's the same as everything, then is there no such 'thing' as awareness? If so, then what is this thing that gives me the sense of self/awareness?

This seems to be counter-intuitive to what I've heard, namely that effort has to be made in order to detach 'yourself' from the observed phenomena. Out of interest, how are you measuring your progress?

Easier said than done. I'm struggling to develop a consistent meditation habit That's interesting, I think Erkhart Tolle had a similar experience that led him to enlightenment.