eputkonen

@Shakazulu Suffering has been normalized to the point where it is often unrecognized...and many don't believe it is possible to not suffer. So either the soul matures (as you said)...or the suffering increases to the point of becoming unbearable.

The infinite...the absolute...is all there is. You are creating artificial separation (level of separation) by saying there are levels of embodiment...as if you could be other than the infinite/absolute in its entirety already. You can not embody more of the infinite/absolute...you are the infinite/absolute in its entirety already. Enlightened or not-enlightened...what does it matter to the absolute/infinity? Absolute/infinity plays each part in the play...but neither distinction applies to absolute/infinity, which is beyond distinctions.

The "you" that is trying to get past, to surrender, to get close to nonduality...and resisting....that "you" is an illusion. Nonduality is all there is...even now.

words and translation - http://zouve.com/forum/lyrics/hindi-lyrics-and-translations/4331-akhiyan-udeek-diyan-lyrics-english-translation-nusrat-fateh-ali-khan

For the second question, fast...sudden...complete...no going back. For the first, there is no who having fun...there is just having fun. Don't get caught up in the conventions of speech where a noun must precede a verb.

Nonduality and enlightenment are just fun to talk about...so why not be here?

If a child is playing being a reporter with a stick as a microphone and asks you a question into a stick and moves the stick to you for an answer...the child had a will to seek you out and ask you questions...but it is still play. Not for any purpose or reason. Why do you assume that my answer implies being far more passive...just living life and people started asking them questions?

The Buddha taught not because of meaning or purpose or cosmic value. The Buddha was not made or caused to teach. It was simply play. The play involved sharing his experience and insights to see if it could increase happiness and end suffering. He was not sure it could be taught. Your question is actually quite similar to a Zen koan...why did the bearded barbarian come from West? This is in reference to Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen Buddhism, going to China from India. Why did Bodhidharma go to China? You are going the wrong way if you keep trying to assign egoic reasons for needing to do something. Rather, the answer is simply that...when it rains, water flows downhill.

Toby, enlightenment has been mythologized quite a bit. It has also been said that the enlightened are aware of all their past lives. Assuming you are on board with ultimately nothing is separate...nonduality...advaita, there is something to ponder and question. All major states of consciousness (waking, dreaming, sleeping)...you are referring to are of one body/mind. All the past lives too refer to one individual. If there is no other or separation, then why would having more awareness of this specific body/mind really matter? Are you constantly aware of every inch of your skin...consciously...all of the time? Do you fantasize that one who is enlightened would be? There may not be conscious awareness of every inch of your skin every second, but don't believe there is a lack of awareness at any time for any piece of skin. Prick it with a needle and you instantly are aware of it. That is the Unborn mind - as Zen Master Bankei put it. It is not a matter of conscious awareness, because there is much the subconscious will notice that the conscious mind does not. Do you believe that there is no subconscious mind for one who is enlightened and it is all conscious? It is not a matter of being aware...you are that Awareness. Even now, when you wake up in the morning you say you slept very well. Part or even much of the night was deep dreamless sleep, but you say you slept very well. Why? Because you were aware. You never cease existing in the middle of the night. How do you know? Because you were aware. You might learn to be consciously aware...like a lucid dreamer...even when dreaming knowing it is a dream and keeping awareness. You might even learn how to do this in deep dreamless sleep. But do not make it a requirement of enlightenment. As it pertains to one specific body/mind...and you are really the All/Oneness, such a skill is not really needed. It is kind of like the sun...as long as there are no objects (planets, etc.) there is no light to be seen. A sun with nothing around it is just in blackness. In deep dreamless sleep, there are no objects...so it appears to be void...nothingness. And so it is experienced as nothing for me. I have no interest in gaining some skill in being consciously aware of nothingness for hours on end. I also have no interest in gaining the skill to know all of my past lives. I am not really this body/mind...or conscious awareness. I am all awareness...conscious, subconscious, superconscious, etc. What you are asking about has no relevance to enlightenment (IMO) - and is over focusing on the body/mind when you are Oneness/Everything. It is over-focusing on some kind of "me" that retains conscious awareness. Enlightenment is far more about realizing there is no other (seeing through the illusion of duality) and the cessation of suffering. You are the one shining the sun...whether you are conscious of it or not. You don't have to be conscious of it all, nor is it a requirement of enlightenment to be conscious of it all.

What about deep dreamless sleep? Is it your experience to be aware in deep dreamless sleep?

@Enlightenment , doesn't sound like true nondual revelation if there is a "me" that can go into and out of "that non-dual perspective". Why would one then try to go back into delusion and try to believe what has been clearly seen to be falsehood?

Duality is an illusion...it is just a thought. What you experience now is nonduality. After "achieving nonduality" - which I guess would be equivalent to seeing through the illusion of duality - would not mean the world looks any different (by the eye). It is just understood differently...what is lacking is the belief that anything is separate. Once the illusion of duality is seen through, it is never believed again. So there is no going back or losing it.

The mind is normally silent. I guess what you could call mood fluctuates around contentment, peace, happiness, joy, bliss, etc. There are moments when there is a feeling of more or less bliss, but I don't demand that there is always bliss. When I am most down (so to speak), there is contentment...which is not considered very low by most standards. Normally, I am just happy and at peace. I do not judge when I feel bliss as a better moment than when I don't feel bliss. Bliss or not blissful...doesn't matter. Just content and at peace either way.

Not intellectually...more in the gut or intuitively. People claim to intellectually understand many things, but when the rubber hits the road in practice or day to day life...they show they understand nothing. For this reason, I say intellectual understanding is BS. What I am talking about isn't so much mental as kinesthetic...you feel the truth...and ignorance, illusion, and confusion disappears. You see and understanding dawns. I am pointing to a deep understanding...far deeper than superficial intellectual understanding. You know in your bones.

By seeing through the ignorance and illusions of the mind. Only with understanding will you cease holding on...so you have to look at it, dive deeply into it, experience it completely, and in this understanding may dawn. If you are holding and carrying, then you are already stuck due to ignorance and illusion. So you can only investigate it and understand what you are doing. You will know it is gone when the memory of it no longer holds an emotional charge. At this point, you are not suppressing anything...but you are not trying to not think about it...instead it doesn't come to mind because it really is no longer charged. The charge keeps it stuck...and then it recurs in thought and you feel you are carrying it. Part of the process of loosing the charge is to fully experience it...because it was not fully experienced at the time and instead repressed, suppressed, escaped from, denied, etc. It is in trying to get away from it that causes the stuckness. The only way out is through...you have to go through it fully. Fully embrace and accept the happening. However, understanding can be such that you never hold on in the first place, never suppress it, and may not even see the happening as traumatic. Ultimately, all this is tied to a "me" and "my story"...all suffering is based on a "me"...and so if the "me" shatters (due to enlightenment and seeing through the illusion of duality)...then there is no suffering and nothing to let go of (because it was never held onto in the first place).

Suffering is the mentally created agony...above and beyond just the physical pain experienced via the nerves of the body. Suffering is self-created and self-inflicted. No one likes to suffer and would rather not...the enlightened just understand how it is self inflicted and cease doing that to oneself. Understanding is such that you just don't create misery for yourself...let alone resist or deny events and so carry the 'trauma' for years to come or the rest of life itself. It is only in ignorance that we make ourselves miserable...and worse, we often don't realize we are doing it to ourselves and claim others are responsible. It is not as flippant perhaps as "oh well, that happened, lol"...but what is the point of making yourself miserable after the horrible event has passed? Why continue to create agony and suffering when it has passed? Will that in some way change what happened? Of course not.