dorg

In the initial stages meditation is contemplation to the extent that you are focused on something. Focusing on something is easier than focusing on nothing. However once you start 'seeing' or intuiting that your essential (true) nature is nothing or more correctly no-thing, then meditation becomes just being that. The form of meditation one 'does' depends on 'where one is on the path'.

The next stage of evolution is seeing that the absolute and relative are not separate.

@Etagnwo @Anna1 Thank you.

Could you please substantiate what I bolded.

This is low consciousness politics.

As consciousness evolves it becomes more caring and aware of the consequence of its actions

That was just paraphrasing your post.

I have. And that is the whole story. Very well put in Ken's book.

Just ending duality is not the whole story.

The assumptions you are making apply at a certain level of consciousness, but not at a higher or deeper level. Suggest you read "A Brief History of Everything" by Ken Wilber.

That's funny, I play hide And seek, not hide Or seek. Great First post @WindInTheLeaf . Welcome.

@StrivetoThrive Detachment does not mean dissociation, you are still associated with all that is going on in your life; you shut nothing out, all is experienced/allowed/accepted, even loved. You know that all that happens is just a play of form, meaning essentially nothing (we put our own meaning on everything). Hence there is essentially no judgement, no good/bad, no right/wrong - you are living at and as the intersection of the opposites; a good practice is to stay there ; this is what I understand your therapist means by presence.

@Ether I am not trying to guess your thoughts, I am seeing your attitude (which is the result of thought)

@Ether See, people give you advice which you asked for and then you find something not right with it or them.

He knows you better than you know yourself. You are not even aware of the energies you are still putting out here - as Torkys tried to explain to you.

The only condition to change is the condition your mind is in, ie from ego-mind/false-mind/love-hate-mind/ambivalent-mind to true-mind/love-mind/higher-mind/bliss-mind/enlightened-mind/constant-mind/clear-mind. IOW you are not here to change conditions, conditions are here to change you, ie the mind you are living in and as.

Is this a poll for the ego or the higher self?

Every thought has an opposite thought so they cancel out.

@Sirius Let life be your guru. IOW, surrender to life. No personal preferences, likes or dislikes. Be open to it all. This is loving the guru. And when you apparently fail, apologize to the guru for not paying enough attention, not being devoted enough. How will this be any different than having a personal guru? No guru will put up with your personal shit; s/he will always be in opposition to that; will undermine that relentlessly. This is the nature of a relationship with a guru. S/he is showing you what real love is. You seem to think that all your ups, downs, quitting, confusion, failure, etc would not occur with a human guru. All that shows is that you are not respecting (loving) your existing relationship with life enough, not going along with it's wishes, finding fault with it, etc - and so highly likely that you would do the same with a human guru, thinking you had not found the right one for you, or one that does not understand you or... Stick with life, it will guide you if you let it, are open to it, don't have 'an attitude' towards it.

I don't have a TV and usually listen to the midday radio news (15 minutes on National Radio - Public station here in New Zealand). I find not having TV helps not getting involved in the drama.

Seeking or ignoring are the wrong choices, they are going back into thought, into the dream. The only 'choice' now is to 'locate' the openness and be it - do a sort of turnabout, or movement from being the seeker or ego to being openness. It is a movement from seeking, ignoring, letting go, to a kind of 'holding on' to openness. Locate and hold on. IME this gets easier with practice. Once you have seen the openness seeking or ignoring is only done by ego and you know you are not that. As you say, that hurts. You are no longer the ego! You can see the ego trying to pull you back in! The ego becomes your friend, it shows you what you still need to let go of to stop being pulled back in. With best wishes,

@Shan In my experience it is better to 'break' meditation in order to 'take note' of an insight. I mean isn't that the reason you are meditating, to gain clarity... And if an insight arrives due to increasing stillness it will be something important to realise for further clarity. IME looking at the insight is not actually breaking meditation, it is rather deepening it, and meditating or 'seeing' greater depth or clarity. Best wishes,

@Vladimir You are expecting a bit much if you think that all your troubles will be washed away in some big event. Emotions are caused by going into thought, so to 'heal' emotions is to not be involved in thought/belief. You are obviously still heavily invested in thought/belief. Suggest returning to the cushion and self inquiry in order to 'reduce the distance' between being and where you are, ie between openness and lost in thought.

It is totally true that everyone is responsible for their own happiness

@NoSelfSelf Normal life is living in memory.