Shanmugam

Osho was just gossiping.. He himself said that.. . What you read in his books are gossips he made for long hours. I think you can resonate with everything which is posted in this thread:

Osho's methods were unconventional and it is very easy to misunderstand him... This reminds me of another discussion we had once. He was just making sure many people get what he says and his message reaches many people. So, he played many tricks. I have explained a few things in the first part of this Quora answer: https://www.quora.com/What-is-your-viewpoint-on-Jaggi-Vasudev-in-comparison-with-Osho/answer/Shanmugam-P-12.

Yes.. Sadhguru talks about many things that he understood from Osho's books..

The concepts like pradhana are not mentioned in the modern days.. They were very popular at the time of Adhi Shankara. Brahma Sutras, a very important text in Advaita Vedanta refutes the views of other schools and Shankara has written a detailed commentary on it. I have mentioned just a little bit about it in my book but not as an entire chapter. What Samkhya considers as Purusha is not a human being. It is consciousness minus everything else.

yes..

"If the absolute created the relative, how come it did so? " Your question is about a basic difference in the metaphysical theory between Advaita Vedanta and Yoga Advaita Vedanta argues that matter and relative reality came from consciousness. The logic it provides is this: How can consciousness arise from something which is not conscious such as matter? Yoga and Samkhya argue that world came from unconscious principle called Pradhana. Consciousness is eternal and unborn. There are multiple conscious beings (Purushas). Consciousness could not have created matter because attributes such as 'doing', 'action' etc cannot apply to consciousness. Because consciousness itself doesn't have any attributes. according to the Samkhya school. I will actually go with Buddha here. When Buddha was asked any metaphysical questions he would answer with the parable of the poisoned arrow: It's just as if a man were wounded with an arrow thickly smeared with poison. His friends & companions, kinsmen & relatives would provide him with a surgeon, and the man would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know whether the man who wounded me was a noble warrior, a priest, a merchant, or a worker.' He would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know the given name & clan name of the man who wounded me... until I know whether he was tall, medium, or short... until I know whether he was dark, ruddy-brown, or golden-colored... until I know his home village, town, or city... until I know whether the bow with which I was wounded was a long bow or a crossbow... until I know whether the bowstring with which I was wounded was fiber, bamboo threads, sinew, hemp, or bark... until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was wild or cultivated... until I know whether the feathers of the shaft with which I was wounded were those of a vulture, a stork, a hawk, a peacock, or another bird... until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was bound with the sinew of an ox, a water buffalo, a langur, or a monkey.' He would say, 'I won't have this arrow removed until I know whether the shaft with which I was wounded was that of a common arrow, a curved arrow, a barbed, a calf-toothed, or an oleander arrow.' The man would die and those things would still remain unknown to him I don't know the answer for what created what, but it was never a problem to end my own suffering.. .

very funny and true! Correct! The distinction between absolute and relative is not yet clear for many people in this forum.. Everything is illusion in the absolute level.. But you can't isolate something in relative reality (dream reality) and call it as an illusion. @MarkusSweden John has a dream. In the dream, he sees a mirage in a desert but thinks it is water. He goes near and realizes there is no water. Was the water real? No! because he realized in his dream that it was a mirage. Was the desert real? No! Because the desert only existed in the dream. But the desert is real in the dream in relation to the water. Is John real? No.. John thinks he is John while he is neither a body and mind. But still, John is real in relation to his next door neighbour Peter.

When I say 'growth', I am talking about any kind of improvement made in anything, even though the 'growth' personally doesn't matter. For example, everytime I post in this forum it gives me a good training in articulating things. Just because I have been posting in forums and Quora, I am able to convey certain things in better way than before.. But still, there is no craving for such growth at all! Everytime I post something, I just make sure I write it as clear as I can. It is just that I am living my life with fullest potential, doing what needs to be done each moment. In other words, I am playing the role in the existence without any resistance.. Problems and challenges are always there in life. But just because there are problems, it doesn't mean that there is also suffering. You can solve problems in your life without actually suffering because of those problems. The kind of problems can range from a simple crossword puzzle to anything that is way too complicated. The expressions may differ from person to person. Nisargadatta was a simple shopkeeper leading a very simple life. But he was also very direct in his approach towards enlightenment. When it comes to spiritual path, the questions starting with 'what', 'when' 'why' are not really important... The question that starts with 'how' is important. 'I realize that I am trapped; how do I get rid of this trap'?... The problem in discussing things about post-enlightenment is that people would never really get it. A mind living in duality can never grasp non-duality intellectually. People have made non-duality way more complicated than it actually is, because of too much philosophical contemplation about the nature or the experience of non-dual reality. "My second question is, do you have a sense that you've 'figured out' everything? Or do you feel that anything can happen in any moment and you can never know whats right up the corner but yet you've found peace in this insecurity.." There is uncertainty about millions of things, which do not matter in anyway... Uncertainty is a threat to the ego. One of the gifts of enlightenment is the ability to live with uncertainty. But it is not insecurity. This is another example of how a mind living in duality tries to interpret the nature of non-duality. The question itself has a false premise that uncertainty is insecurity. In fact, it isn't even uncertainty for me! It is just how life is; there is zero resistance to anything that happens. And there is complete freedom, peace and acceptance...

@Joseph Maynor No.. You can call him with any name you want! By the way, I think you are probably aware that the word 'Buddha' just means 'the awakened one'.. Anyone who is awake is a Buddha. When we say 'the Buddha', we are specifically talking about Siddhartha.

I do whatever I do when I feel like it.. Whatever that happened in the last one year, I planned none of it.. I never knew I would even write a book. I have thought about writing a book about Jesus. But I have no idea when I will start writing it.. It may or may not happen.. I have to do a lot of historical research about that. But I never have a fixed agenda.

@Ether Yes.. keep witnessing

You are doing the right thing! No doubts... Craving for enlightenment is also a craving... That is the final trap. Enlightenment is here and now... You shouldn't be worried about the teachings that are given to absolute beginners... Beginners are told to strive for enlightenment, crave for enlightenment and to do something about it. Once they are progressed to a certain stage and are ready, that is when they say "Your craving for enlightenment is actually what is stopping from enlightenment. You are already enlightened. It is here and now. You cannot do anything for enlightenment. Just let go".. You have to focus on witnessing. I guess that is what you are already doing. Did you listen to the full video that I posted about witnessing?

When it comes to history, no one can be 100% sure. We can only reconstruct a hypothetical past based on historical method, which is something that historians use. So, in reality, no amount of historical reference can really reflect the past exactly as it happened, scene by scene! There are many myths and stories about Buddha. Whatever historical information we have about Buddha has been made available by historians based on historical method. Buddha was living with his monks all the time, who had renounced the world. The whole point of enlightenment is to take a vacation; you get a permanent vacation from your thought story which allows you to enjoy each and every moment without worries!

After enlightenment, Buddha was traveling from place to place and giving discourses.. There was no need for him to do formal sitting meditations after enlightenment. In fact, whatever quality is there in deep meditation is always there after enlightenment...

This is what most of the people think.. But this is not correct! Read this: https://nellaishanmugam.wordpress.com/2017/09/21/buddhism-and-vedanta-are-the-same-a-detailed-comparison/ I wrote it mainly for hardcore Vedantins.. So, it may sound too theoretical. But I have clearly explained it in my book too.

@StephenK Go through the whole conversation in the following thread. Many things have been discussed there:

@StephenK Also go through the following two articles.. They are very detailed: https://nellaishanmugam.wordpress.com/2017/12/05/what-is-spiritual-enlightenment/ https://nellaishanmugam.wordpress.com/2017/12/20/is-spiritual-enlightenment-known-or-experienced/

No.. but path and practices are different from wondering how enlightenment feels like.. I still have explained as much as possible regarding many things.. I will bookmark some threads soon so that you can refer to them.. Anyway, the answer to the first two questions you asked is really not that important and not that complicated as well. Don't overcomplicate about it too much. It is very simple.. 1.The object exists only as a mental representation in your mind.. You see something, and you are conscious of what you have seen, that experience is in your memory; if you think about that memory, then you are just looking at a mental representation of that object. Thats it... 2. What is this 'I'that you are talking about? That is what we are trying to see here... When the false self is lost, what is left is the true self. And that is all there is.. 3. Awakening is your true nature.. When you are living in duality, that's when it is altered. And enlightenment is permanent. When you are realized, you will see it yourself.. 4. No psychological suffering.. 5. I would define love as your true nature.. when the sense of separation is dissolved, there is acceptance and forgiveness..

Yes buddy.. thats right

Kalama Sutta is my favorite sutta from Pali canon... I have it in the sidebar of my blog and also in my Twitter profile.. . The simple summary of it is the following: I have elaborated each and every line of it in detail in my book, by quoting the similar topics in Psychology

Such questions have been repeatedly asked in this forum. Words cannot really convey the experience of non-dual reality. Intellectually wondering how enlightenment feels like is not going to help.. :) I have conveyed many things already as much as possible. I will bookmark some of the important threads soon. To be honest, what it feels like now is something that I could never imagine when I was seeking, even though I came across different kinds of explanation by different people. That is why I am saying it is totally fruitless.

Ok.. Joseph doesn't reply directly so often.. He replies to posts by editing his previous replies.. So, make sure you check his previous posts..

I am aware of all the criticism about Osho.. Is that what you mean?

I am just trying to make you laugh, since you sounded a little serious... Didn't you find the image funny? If you are calm and honest, that's great... Why would I stop you from being calm and honest? I would wish that the calmness and honesty doubles for you every moment .. I am trying to get you into some friendly conversation with me at this moment.. But looks like I am not being good at it..

Laughter is not sensual pleasure... Laughter is a part of everyday life.. It is needed often to reduce the seriousness in one's life. Laughter is the best medicine is not an exaggeration;