eputkonen

@Breakingthewall Imagine you are dreaming now, you could still be insisting that separation is the case...failing to realize the entirety is one dream arising for one consciousness. Nothing in the dream is truly separate. You are fixated on name and form; and so can't help but to see separation. The "you" to open itself to infinity is an illusion and does not exist...it is but an imagined dream character never separated from omnipresent consciousness in the first place.

That is form that you are talking about that explodes and fragments, but Unity has always been the case...reality is a sea of energy. Some energy is in temporary form (like a whirlpool), but it is all energy regardless. Energy can not be created or destroyed...forms simply change. Energy alone is. Awakening/enlightenment is realizing there never was separation in the first place...separation and otherness are imagined.

The best teachers are repetitive because they stay focused on the main points. Ramana Maharshi just kept saying "who am I", self-enquiry, and abide in Silence. Someone once came to him and asked "who was I in my past life" and Ramana responded, "who are you now?" Zen Master Bankei is a favorite of mine and he more or less did the same lecture for over 40 years. He had villagers say, "you said this the last time you came here, so why are you saying it again?" and he responded, "that is because you still don't get it". (paraphrased of course). Eckhart Tolle's main point is being present. So if you live being in the present now, then you have nothing more to learn. If you still have compulsive thought, mental rumination, fixation on past or future, etc., then you still need his pointers (or others) about being present.

God is ever-undivided. It is the mind that fictitiously divides via thoughts...and one illusion the mind creates is that there are parts.

I found all 3 dubious and laden with misunderstanding.

Thank you for posting. First I have heard of it.

Story is the mental conceptualization that may or may not have anything to do with reality.

Yes, the idea of a "me"...a "me" with past lives....is just a part of the dream. Nothing in the dream is other than you...there is no one else in the dream.

@UpperMaster Enlightenment, awakening, liberation, and self-realization are all synonyms for the same thing.

I simply know there is a world being experienced...and I am That.

The brain just comes up with thoughts. Intent can focus them a bit, but environmental stimuli is what brings up a lot of thoughts too. It happens of itself like breathing...and like breathing we can intentionally inhale and exhale and feel "I am breathing" but the rest of the time it just goes on by itself. Clearly, there is more than thoughts...for there is plenty left when Mind ceases and there is no thought.

Everything is Self. The Mind does not really exist...it is the term used for the stream of thoughts. In the absence of thoughts, there is no mind. However, the illusions we have of a "me" or separation or etc. are created in thought and so the Mind is a focused on topic. It is only our own beliefs, concepts, etc. that create the illusions and suffering. Spirit may be used as an equivalent term/pointer to Self...just like other equivalent pointers are Brahman, Consciousness, That, what-is, etc. It is what is...and there is nothing outside it. And so thought is of it. But if you split what-is into Spirit vs Mind or Spirit vs Matter, that's just the illusion of separation.

First I will define awakening/enlightenment, so you know what I am talking about (and opposed to more general uses of the words). Enlightenment is a sudden, non-conceptual, and visceral insight or revelation that dispels ignorance and shatters illusion regarding who/what you are and the nature of reality. The insight instantly shatters the illusion of “me” and the illusion of separation or duality. The "me" can never be believed again. This is the same as Self-realization or God-realization...for in Advaita / non-duality the realization includes "Aham Brahmasmi" or I am Brahman. Did you lose/increase your interest in certain areas? Spirituality has been a favorite topic since I got into it, but after awakening, the interest has solely been drawn to nonduality. Dualistic traditions with a path and somewhere are no longer interesting. That is because those paths all involve a "me" and bettering the "me" or a "me" trying to get something. There is no "me", so talking about the "me" is not much interest anymore. All other aspects of life seem to remain the same in terms of interest. How did it affect your work/life purpose if at all? Awakening shattered the idea of purpose. Life does not inherently have a purpose, we imagine purposes for things. So I no longer need a purpose and am perfectly content without a purpose. But life goes on as play (and play is something not done for a purpose but simply for its own sake). I play going to work, I play paying the bills, I play married life, etc, etc. This is an inward attitude really, so outwardly there was no change. For example, awakening did not affect work life. How did it affect your relationships with "others"? From the perspective of this body-mind, awakening had little to no effect on my relationships with others. However, my wife tells me that this is the easiest relationship she has ever had. I make no demands on others...I expect nothing...and I know all relationships will end one day and so I am non-attached. Other changes would be that I don't take part or add to drama, others can not control or manipulate me, etc. So others who want to "test our relationship" or otherwise control/manipulate would not be satisfied. That being said...none of my relationships with others really changed. For example, non-attachment is not apparent to others and so they don't know I am non-attached. The inner attitude changed, but outwardly there was no change. What challenges do you face knowing your true nature whilst living "in the dream"? There are no problems. Enlightenment/awakening happened in 2005, so it has been over 15 years. I do not recall any challenges I faced due to knowing my true nature while living "in the dream". Enlightenment/awakening does not impede or make it difficult to live in the world. I am not other than the dream...it is all Self/Brahman. The dream/life game may have challenges, but challenges are what makes playing games fun.

If everything in life was exactly the same...body (same DNA) and life experiences...then both would have the same understanding, misconceptions, ignorance, conditioning, etc. However the body and the experiences the body are not who you are, so the conclusion "it would reveal this life experiences = who you are" is incorrect.

This is being asleep and dreaming and as a dream character in the dream asking, "how did life/we all originate?" The answer is the same in both instances, it all arose from Consciousness. There is only Consciousness and there will only be Consciousness.

Selfless means ceasing to refer to the self...and other (i.e. other than "me"). It does not mean putting others above, because that would require a reference to a "me" to put "others" above or below. The truly selfless cease thinking about themselves. Self-referential and self-centered thoughts cease. People might call a lot of actions selfish...especially if their view of selflessness is "putting others above your human needs". So such a person might call any action done that does not put all others first "selfish". It does not matter what people might call selfish...they don't really know the "motivations" (so to speak) of others...assuming they even really know what selflessness is. Say you are at a tea party and the host has brought out a tray of various expensive-looking desserts...just enough for one for each person. Most would realize it is not being selfless if you rush in to get the cake that you long for, but it is also not being selfless to wait until everyone has already chosen and just accept whatever is leftover (the idea being let everyone get what they want and I will take what is left). Both wanting to be first and putting everyone else first (i.e. wanting to be last) are both being self-referential and self-centered.

That is an incorrect conclusion based upon a fixation and attachment to the body's sensory point of view and conscious awareness.

My wife and I are watching "Yunus Emre: Journey of Love" again. This is her second time and my fourth time. Yunus Emre was a Sufi/dervish during the 1200s...same time as Rumi (Rumi was about 30 years older)...and in roughly the same geography (Konya, Turkey). Anyway, Netflix used to have the series, but not anymore...it is still available on Youtube at... Season 1 - www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFCxIHnP1BCXx-0XWjt8wbkksuPBoi9pL Season 2 - www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFCxIHnP1BCXlN9ebS0ehHEBJsOCLCsVM In Turkish with English subtitles. A great series with dervish/Sufi teachings mixed in...and a subtle focus on nonduality (i.e. Unity as it is called in the series). I thoroughly enjoy it and thought I would make others aware of it. Also, here is the trailer.

Ego is just a thought. It is just thought that created suffering and all that you describe. The tenacious illusion of "me".

@Iksander Yes, no purpose...life is play.

Another version of the Hsin Hsin Ming by Seng-ts'an - https://bitly.com/hsinhsinming

@cervid Realizing nonduality is not about an experience. Having the experience of Oneness or Self is not enlightenment/awakening. It is about the insight/revelation that shatters the illusion of "me"...and the "me" can never be believed again. However, once you have an experience, it is easier to recreate or have a similar experience...but that is not the point of awakening. Awakening is not making a passing experience permanent in some way (which is impossible).