Ananta

@Saumaya GET OVER IT... hahaha!

@Saumaya Marcus posted Faceless path (below)...does it look like a teaching? Not to me. "* Spend time on you own, in solitude. Get to know yourself, and see that knowing yourself is equal to knowing God. * Interact with nature, animals and humans. Just interact with ordinary people, discuss life in an innocent and joyful creative way, and be equal with anyone, don't seek out for authority in others or in yourself"

I second that! As far as Nahm and stopping the rape, but he doesn't know why. ugh. I would stop it because it's adharmic behaviour that causes needless suffering to another human being, even if the apparent reality is ultimately unreal. It still exists "now", in the present moment.

@Saumaya The point was there IS a teaching and it's called Vedanta. It teaches Self-knowledge. If you apply, contemplate, understand the teaching you will Self-realize, that will lead to assimilation of Self (awareness), as you. Faceless was saying it couldn't be taught. I'm saying it can. That doesn't mean you will realize and assimilate, because that depends on your application, contemplation, etc. Just like you can be taught Algebra, but that doesn't mean you will be able to apply it. If you don't know anything about Vedanta, then perhaps you shouldn't comment further.

@Saumaya That wasn't my first post to him in this thread. Go back and look. The one you say we're are saying the same thing I used the word "obviously", to infer "agreement". You good now? Also, people can alter posts using the edit button, so that's possible too.

What is your malfunction? Lol. I only responded when he said you couldn't teaching Self-knowledge. Now your butting in with your 2 cents, as if I attacked him.

@Faceless I'm convince you'd prefer peeps to go off in a cave with no teaching what-so-ever. That's not gonna work in this day and age.

"Mugging up"....bahahahahaha

Obviously the teaching has to be understood and contemplated.

Self-knowledge is exactly what Advaita Vedanta teachers teach. You don't know what youre talking about and I say that as respectfully as possible.

Thank you! Thats right. It should not and frankly can not be killed. It's just a thought. How do we kill a thought? It's the I-thought, but it's a different kind of thought, in that it thinks, it's a real seperate entity. Once the understanding that "I" am awareness and not the ego, is firm in the intellect , that's when the ego (I- thought) also realizes that although it "apparently" exists (it's just the I-thought), it's actually unreal (dream/illusion), ....but it doesn't "die", its needed to function in this "apparent" world. Actually, I hate talking about ego, because of all the misunderstandings revolved around it. The closest the mind/intellect can do is infer regarding the reflection of pure awareness in the sattvic mind. That's why it registers as the thought of limitlessness, even though the ego claims it as an experience when it comes back. However, this is unmistakable or it is for me. There is no doubt, that that is what I am. If it's belief? Then, so be it, but as you've said before all the ancient texts support this, as it's revealed wisdom/Self-knowledge that is thousands of years old.

Yes, It's called a sattvic (still/calm) mind. Awareness can "reflect" within a sattvic mind and the intellect will register a thought of limitlessness and recognize that pure awareness, itself, is the formless fundamental reality of all forms, including the mind itself. This is what they call Self-realization. Which is different from assimilation of the Self (capital S), that's another topic.

Basically, it means awareness. It's the intellects inferred description, if you will, of the indescribable. Anyway, then BE reality. That's the point. Have you had any spiritual epiphanies yet? If so, have you gained self-knowledge from the experience? Self- knowledge can be gained without an epiphany though, by using a teaching, such as Vedanta. The self-knowledge I'm referring to is that you are actually awareness (or nothingness), not the apparent person you have thought you were and what that means.

Bingo! However, once you fully realize you are not the "action figure" you appear to be and know yourself as limitless, conscious, existence and assimilate that knowledge, then your preferences and desires aren't as strong and then you can either do them, not do them or do something all together different. You are no longer bound by "binding" vasanas.

This reminds me of the saying- "At the first level on the path he saw mountains as mountains and rivers as rivers. On the second level of the path he saw that mountains are not mountains and rivers are not rivers. And at a third level he saw once again mountains were mountains and rivers were rivers."

@Laymen Just off the top of my head, Id say, if consciousness happens within the brain, then what would be the fundamental reality of the brain (body)?

Omg, I laughed so hard when I read this...

I had this same issue in the past. I smoked for many years, then vaped for 6 yrs. It seemed as though one part of me hated it and another loved it. It was an internal battle. Anyways, my teacher said it was do to vasanas and which ever is strongest wins! So, if your vasana to smoke is stronger then your vasana for health, then it's a difficult condrum and the vasana to smoke will win. Vasanas can be neutralized though, if that's the case, then you could resist the need to act on them. I quit nicotine completely a year ago. So what are vasanas? "Vasanas are a bundle of tendencies or desires which drive man to think, feel and act according to the nature of the vasanas. Thus, it would be perfectly right, to say that a man is what he is because of his vasanas. Vasanas create desires in the intellect. If the person does not use his discrimination but permits the desire to ‘gain strength’ or to ‘take root’, the intellect passes it on to the mind where the desire produces agitations. Emotions and feelings become so strong that the body is then ordered and forced to carry out actions to satisfy the desire!" Extracted from “A manual of Self Unfoldment” by Swami Chinmayananda, pg 173

((Hugs))

@Outer bahaha! That explains it!

@Outer +1

Exactly! I wasn't going to mention the PM's or I wouldve done that yesterday, but in this thread he was saying he's above arguments, etc and peeps here deserve to know the truth. That actually he sends abusive PM's to posters while he's posting how much he loves everyone.

Also, someone just PM'd me and said you PM'd them today telling them they are ignorant, etc. Case closed. Your an idiot. Carry on.

No, you'll just PM the poster. Like you did yesterday to me, to inform me you think I have an attitude, that I should hand my life over to a teacher and how my independent thinking isnt good for me. Anyways, I'm over it, carry on, but please don't PM me again with your crap. Thank you

Thoughts, feelings, emotions, sensations, etc are subtle matter (or energy), therefore part of the phenomenal world.