Joseph Maynor

I gotcha. Sometimes I just let my mind sprawl after being influenced by something said. All I’m trying to do is capture everything flowing out.

I’ve studied Islam very thoroughly. I haven’t read every Hadith, but I’ve read enough to get what they are all about. Islam is a fascinating system and I recommend you all study it. It’s not just a religion, it’s also a life philosophy and a social organization. Look at the history of Islamic empires. When I traveled to Istanbul I got to study the Ottoman Empire which was a massive Islamic world power.

There is no free will. There’s no Ego that’s controlling or doing anything. You can discover this on the path. One way is to just rest as BE-ing and realize that it all moves without you. Free will is just a belief laid up on top of reality. It’s a false belief about reality. It’s the illusion of Ego — the belief that YOU are controlling or doing in the Dream. Free will is a false Egoic belief about reality.

Talking to people about this stuff can lead them to thinking you’re nuts or them being envious of you because of your attainments. They’re curious about the peace you seem to have, but they can’t fathom giving up the illusion of Ego. It sounds crazy to them. This is one reason you can’t just give a noob the kinds of instruction you can give someone further up the path. Teaching means you gotta speak the language of Ego first to reach curious Egos who long for the peace of Enlightenment. This is why I like Leo’s approach. First you exhaust traditional personal development, then you get into the enlightenment stuff. You gotta burn out the Ego. I like that approach because that’s the path I did through Leo’s work. First you build up the Ego, then you transcend it. That’s a nice way to teach personal development. You can’t just take a noob off the street and say to them — lemme explain Enlightenment to you! It’ll go in one ear and out the other! Furthermore — they’ll probably leave thinking you’re a little bit mentally off. This is why sometimes the advanced people lose touch with the noobs. A good teacher has to reach the Egos in this work. He has to be able to relate to Egos and guide them. Talking to advanced people is easy. Talking to noobs is where you show your real work as a teacher. How effective of a guide are you to any person on the path, regardless of where they are in this work? That’s the key question.

Thoughts are just things you’re aware of. All you are is unchanging Awareness.

Enlightenment goes beyond the human experience. I wanna respect your question, but you are stuck at that belief. Enlightenment is beyond anything human. How can you let go of the Ego when you are thinking of Enlightenment Egoically?

Awesome! I love seeing all the various ways non-duality has been expressed in culture.

I love meditating more and more so I get it.

When I say along the lines of Awareness of the Breath, I mean that simple. Awareness of the breath is very simple and effective. That's my kind of practice. Just give me like one simple technique to do. I don't wanna overwhelm myself with Yoga.

Have you discovered unchanging Awareness yet? Ya ever notice there’s something about the Now that never changes?

I like this.

Exactly, yes.

Do you resonate with what I’m saying or do you have a bit of a different take?

You have no control over the Dream. Just accept whatever presents itself to Awareness.

Good question. Both the mind and the brain are in the changing Dream. You need to find that unchanging Awareness that watches everything in the changing Dream. It’s hidden in plain sight, but a lot of this work is discovering unchanging Awareness. Notice that in a sense the Now never changes. That will get you looking in the right direction. Inquire into what is the mind? Does the mind change? Does Awareness ever change? What is Awareness? Can you confirm that Awareness never changes?

Yep. Unchanging awareness. Getting worn out is Egoic. You should not be getting affected that way by anything happening in the Dream. That shows there are still shards of Ego left to be removed.

Enlightenment is like a religion for Philosophers. That’s tongue in cheek haha. However — Enlightenment does require the kind of probing and questioning that a lot of personalities would be averse to. That might explain the INTP connection. INTPs naturally do the work. Enlightenment is more up their alley. But that doesn’t mean that Enlightenment wouldn’t be good for other personalities. They are just less inclined to naturally question everything under the Sun like INTPs do.

I kind of agree with this. It’s pointing in the right direction.

Make sure to come back after your deep-dive into the work. Share your insights with all of us! You’re gonna have more stuff to teach, more insights about the path and about awakening.

Me-Ism is narcissism We-Ism is socialism They-Ism is racism You-Ism is masochism

I like walking up stairs and hills.

The perfect Yoga is probably Jiu-Jitsu.

You'll be aware of the Dream experiencing Enlightenment. Awareness is just awareness. All it does is awareness. And it never changes. Awareness is the one thing that never changes. Have you noticed that?

That's a good point. I'm on board. It seems like a great avenue to explore.

Bliss is when you don't have a dog in the fight in the Dream. You can stand back and watch the magic show all the time, rain or shine.