kieranperez

Good on you for seeing both sides of the coin. I definitely swung my pendulum 180 degrees as a former blood thirsty Christopher Hitchens/San Harris type of atheist. I really do forget having that worldview and I tend to lose compassion for them because I forgot that that only came about in me because that was all I was ever exposed to in life. Takes good self reflection to keep that in mind.

@Matt8800 if you think I’m here to discuss beliefs of what’s is Absolutely true then you are mistsken. I’m not here to talk about culturally tied belief systems of what is Absolutely true. There are different relative interpretations which can serve as pointers but that’s it. Not to mention I interpret all of those pointers anyways. I do not care what my beliefs are about the Absolute nor yours. No interpretation of the Absolute is true. We can describe for an infinite number of years and they will all miss the mark. It cannot be described. It cannot be symbolized. It cannot be perceived. It cannot even be experienced. If you wanna go about trying to go about becoming conscious of the Absolute through relative experiences, be my guest. Have fun. I’ve contributed to this post what I feel was necessary. This is going nowhere. Take what you serves you. Toss the rest.

There is no such thing as “objective existence”. As far as the relative world goes, all there is is subjectivity. Of course. Again, because you covet experience more than the Truth. This is a common thing many people struggle with if what they seek is liberation. They covet the ignorance and clinging to their own experiences more than truth. That’s not shaming experience. It’s awesome to have experiences of deep compassion with friends and loved ones. It’s awesome to provide contribution to the world that fulfill you and what not. That doesn’t negate the issue though that many people struggle towards liberation because of their attachment to the illusion of experience which doesn’t exist fundamentally. That’s not disowning or poopooing experience. That’s calling it what it is. At the “bottom most point” there is no why as to why actions are being done. Fundamentally that’s a false dilemma. There is no action nor doer, much less a reason as to why there is either. You can interpret what I’m saying as not putting any value on the “physical realm” but at the end of the day, if we’re going to talk about consciousness work and enlightenment and the Absolute and nonduality, I can’t go around pretending that such relative matters have any existence from the Absolute if that’s what we’re here discussing using relative dualistic and inherently assumption language. That doesn’t discredit them. It’s putting them in their proper context in being honest about the matter.

In order to create any real change towards say a more fulfilling life or create any sort of significant change or transformation there has to be a submission to what’s required. What may be required though may not be something you necessarily want to do. If you or I wish to invent something that’s effective tit cannot be ineffective. With that said, if we’re clear on our own top values, wouldn’t it be safe to say that our top values are also our own top principles we can submit to to help facilitate a real change? For example: Let’s say I realize that my top value is Truth. So I’m really passionate about seeking what is actually true about anything, I’m curious about life and all that cool stuff. However... I have a pattern of low integrity, laziness, lying, etc. Couldn’t my top value in this case not only help me to give me a pointer of not only what I want to pursue but how I can live my life? So if my top value is truth, being in integrity with such a principle would probably involve speaking the truth, telling myself the truth, putting my ass on the line and actually doing what it may take for me, whatever that is, to realize what’s for myself what’s true in my own personal investigation, etc.?

@Matt8800 you’re not understanding my point. Watch your projections of me. Experience does not fulfill you or anyone. A beautiful sunrise or sunset may make you feel something truly profound, however it nonetheless passes and goes. Siddhis of people levitating, walking on water are nonetheless childish and immature pursuits if you one fancies themselves seekers of truth and liberation. If you wanna chase an infinite number of different temporary experiences, by all means, do that. Call it what it is though. Wisdom comes from knowing what’s true. Not chasing experiences. Most people who are fascinated by siddhis are really just looking for more experiences and ways to be special. ‘I too can be like Jesus and walk upon water!’ Whether it’s walking upon water, reading minds, levitating, even healing, these are distractions if your goal is the truth. I also never said nor claim rejecting the physical world. As a caveat, there is no world, much less a physical one. What we call as world is yours/our/my mind. If your goal is liberation that’s what you are going to have to realize at the end of the day. There is no world, you, people, etc. and you gotta be able to surrender all of your attachments to that. If you wish to pursue “full liberation” - I personally don’t really like speaking in such terms but for the time being let’s go with it - you are going to have surrender all experiences. Assumptions there is such a thing as experience, attachments to experience, that there is one that experiences, the pleasure they come from certain experiences, etc. Why do you think I’m the story of Buddha, after attaining and developing advanced stages of yogic practice and earlier enlightenment experiences he still sat down in front of the Bodhi tree still unsatisfied in determination towards transcendence of life and death? Because all experiences are temporary. Relative. He wanted freedom. Not attainment. He couldn’t be satisfied until he was free.

@okulele I do something similar the problem though is that from the contraction and the struggling to breathe, all my attention is caught in my head. It feels like I’m squeezing air past my torso to get into my diaphragm. That’s the best way I can put it as far as what it feels like. My back shakes, my shoulders contract and tighten and shake, and my awareness stuck in my head and can’t stop thinking to the point where I drive myself both crazy and actually exhausted. Mind you, this happens in a matter of a minute or 2. Im not even out of shape is the thing other. I’m not some 200 or 300 pound guy. I’m 6’0” 135 pounds and can run 15 miles out the door no problem. I don’t expect necessarily want some quick fix but god... really? After only a minute or 2? I literally can’t meditate. It makes keeping integrity with a meditation practice feel impossible and demoralizing. @Leo Gura any suggestions? I’m still doing research but could use some leads if you got any

+1 to Leo - be mindful of your nondual blabber and talk. It means nothing. Talk is cheap.

You nondual keyboard warriors are adorable lol @Consilience dude I’m not here to answer everyone’s comments. I plan on trying to do Ralstons fall workshop and would like to do the 4 weeks but that depends on how much money I pull for this summer gig Im working 70-80 hours a week for. So I don’t know.

The happiness that’s a result from awakening is a result of freedom. If you’re seeking truth as a means to try and live a better life then yeah have fun trying to do it that way. Knock yourself out and see where that goes. If you care about the truth enough that you want to know even if it kills you and may “make your life worse” regardless of outcome then yeah you’ll probably have a better place to stand. Were answering this in relative terms so understand no matter what answer you or I give it’s all irrelevant. Nothing you or I say can explain the Absolute. “Ego” is a relative activity that has no existence in itself other than an illusion in an illusory word, none of which exist Absolutely. We’re answering this in a relative philosophical frame about something Absolute so all of this again is still going to be wrong and bullshit at the end of the day. Do you see a mind sitting around somewhere to transcend? So long as you assume you’re stuck or ever were stuck in a relative world there will still be the illusion of mind. Realize there is no world and is no mind. Saying you want to truth to be happy is as partially true as saying you want to seek the truth only for its own sake... in yet still... all of that is also false since it’s based around a person who wants to be happy and that one that I has no Absolute existence.

@Nahm As far as your story goes. First off, i would suggest you don’t go around trying to solve other people’s problems. Be mindful of being nosy of people’s issues. Further, understand still what it is that actually occurred. You can have all these alternative experiences of mind but that still is all stuff you imagine in relative world. Find out what’s absolutely true about mind is and what experience is. Glad it helped though.

And the reason we do that is for survival.

Anything you think about enlightenment, nonduality, whatever we wanna call this is at the end of the day WRONG. None of it at the end of the day is fundamentally true. If we’re gonna talk most accurately about what’s Absolute we would either have to admit that anything we say at the end of the day is all bullshit babble or we shut ourselves up. Nothing you think is the Truth. TRUTH is the point! If you care about usefulness then the pursuit of truth ain’t the right path. If you care about the truth regardless of whether or not it’s of use, them the pursuit is definitely for you. Anything we say about nonduality is mental masterbation. There’s a usefulness to it in order to pursue, but at the end of the day it is nonetheless all hogwash.

Siddhis have nothing to do with enlightenment. If you want more sugary unfulfilling experiences, go ahead. If you want truth and truly care about truth, the moment you have a full blow siddhi like experience you’ll realize just how silly it is. Siddhis may come in the relative world as a result of freedom from the illusion of a body and a mind and that you are that but I can promise you, if that’s what you want out of seeing the truth, then you’re just spinning your wheels. So what if you could walk on water? How is that any better than walking on pavement? You can meet yogis who have what some may call “profound” siddhis but are no more enlightened and free than the rest of the population.

@electroBeam you fabricate “other perspectives”. All perspective collapse into the subjective. Anything you perceive is something you’re inventing, fabricating, projecting, and imagining. To notice an angry person, you have to create that anger and create that even as an internal state while simultaneously not be aware that you are generating that. You’re projecting the illusion that there are other people and placing importance in them. All of that is something you’re generating unconsciously. You believe in other people because you assume their existence, not to mention that there’s the belief that they’re separate from you.

More sugary experiences. More distractions.

Thanks (: The funny part is I’m starting to sense the utter irony of such a phrase like “expansion of consciousness”. Relative states of consciousness are cool but the unchanging truth of what I can feel Consciousness is unchanging, empty, and totally silent. That which includes all relative states of consciousness. I feel I’m moving towards more towards freedom of that which has always been free.

What do you mean? Thanks man. People like you and Ralston have been truly instrumental in putting not-knowing into the right context. Not-Knowing is moving towards more freedom and more towards being able to stand and look with clarity where I already am rather than through taken for granted assumptions. You’re more in touch with your own direct consciousness and experience. It really puts the power back in my hands. The mystery of life is open for more questioning. I remember I heard Ralston say once “something need not be existentially true in order to serve as a useful tool”. That struck me because I eventually tied how he commonly says everything we do and perceive as inventions to what you phrase as “reality is pure imagination” and my own direct conscious realization of how “other perspectives” are really my own creation. Nothing can exist that I don’t make up. “Other perspectives” are just distinctions I make up that occur in and through me. They don’t actually fundamentally exist.

Did you know most fast food items on a menu contain wood pulp? https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ibtimes.com/mcdonalds-burger-king-taco-bell-more-have-wood-pulp-food-1616514%3famp=1

+1 yeah it’s a tough bullet to bite for sure. Integrity is huge when taking this. If you come from a background of always breaking your word consistently, your word and commitments have no power. You don’t take yourself seriously anymore.

@Shadowraix yeah I mostly concur. Id put it as simple as this: Why is walking on water somehow more superior than walking on pavement?

@Ibn Sina Don’t assume you know what I have aversions to. You don’t know me. I have a deep love for philosophy. If anything I’m more philophsicaly minded than anything else as far as my mind and what. Having said that, that doesn’t diminish my underlying point. Anything you or I can conceive of is irrelevant as far as enlightenment goes. It’s a game that will not under nor ever be completed. Enlightenment, or truth, or that which really cannot be depicted not symbolized cannot have a concept regardless of our limited interpretations. We could write an infinite number of books on what enlightenment is. The reason it seems to you that I have an aversion to some philosophical interpretation is because it’s irrelevant at the end of the day. My emphasis here is on waking up, nothing more nothing less. Belief and assumption I am not a topic nor some concept lol. You’re drawing and fabricating these distinctions. You’re not recognizing your assumptions here. I suggest you stay vigilant about your projections of me, my character, etc. You don’t know me. All authority you outsource to others occurs in you. Truth has no picture. Anything you or I say about the Absolute is at the end of the day completely false and just wrong. From the relative side of the street (and this includes conversations regarding the Absolute) there will always be some partial truth in everything and also falsehood. Like I said, be mindful of what you assume about me. There’s a reason I’m emphasizing what I’m emphasizing. Philosophy is a lot of fun. I get it. I can appreciate that. However, everything that’s relative, you perceive, believe, even sense is all your/my/our mind that has no Absolute existence to it. All stories at the end of the day do not exist. I’m not calling myself some special dedicated one nor did I ever. You’re assigning that to me. Everything occurs right now. The sense of relative world helps to open up blind spots in our own layers of assumptions to what is right here. The consciousness of the Absolute is not reserved to a special dedicated few.

Lol you still don’t get it. Philosphy is not enlightenment. Zen is not enlightenment. Buddhism is not enlightenment. Academic nitpicking of traditions is not enlightenment. Nonduality is about practice and waking up now indpendent of what silly tradition you’re part of or subscribe to at the end of the day. No tradition “has the truth”. If you’re don’t wake up, you’re just jerking off your mind at the end of the day and spinning your wheels and that game will never EVER end. If you’re not practicing you’re not going to awaken. I can pretty much guarantee you that. And if you don’t awaken, you don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re talking about an orange without having ever eaten an orange.

Read the last 3 paragraphs of what I’m saying. Siddhis are distractions. It’s more sugary experience. Even if you could for example walk on water.... so fucking what? There’s a reason these siddhis are generally hidden from ordinary people - because of how immaturely we think of them. If you could for example close a door that’s 10 feet a way from you sitting in your chair not moving... so what?

@Leo Gura just thought I’d share this. Thought you might find this kinda cool due to the positive shoutout and kudos from Brendan Lea

They exist. Siddhis are not something tied to liberation per say. You can meet l yogis and such people who have these siddhis to various degrees but not be more liberated than anyone else. Hale Dwoskin from the Sedona Method has talked about how he met a yogi he was with and he walked across water. Sadhguru’s biography talks about this same thing. These powers do not require some “super human enlightenment”. I had a coworker in retail who was VERY clarivoyant. She actually couldn’t stand it and as she put it “turned it off because it was annoying”. Understand though that at the end of the day all of this stuff is just more experience. They may sound crazy and cool but it’s just more sugary experience. I’ve had certain spontaneous yet very psychic siddhi experiences but so what? It’s more experience. Truth and enlightenment is 10000000x more worth pursuing than some juvenile experiences. Since when are the majority of people generally right on anything? Much less what’s possible.