Joseph Maynor

Just like people look like their dogs. You ever notice that?

Ok, say it that way. That doesn’t change reality. We don’t wanna get into the weeds of semantics too much here. It doesn’t matter. Consciousness is a conceptualization too. I don’t really like the word ‘consciousness’. It’s a little too much like trading one illusion for another. What is is awareness of reality in the present moment. What that points to.

The Self is a conceptualization, not reality. It’s like one of those illusion pictures where things appear not as they are. Where an image looks like it’s there but it’s only a projection of the Mind from more mundane phenomenon. That’s the self. Reality exists as it always has; what changes are the thoughts we cling to about reality. We loosen our beliefs. We don’t conceptually know what reality is. Practice not knowing. When it comes to conceptual truth aka belief, it’s best to be agnostic of all of it. Well, it could be like that, but it also could be like this. None of that is existential truth, however, and existential truth don’t tell me nothin’ about no separate sense of self. That’s conceptual truth, not existential truth. And conceptual truth can only really point to existential truth, it can’t be existential truth. Now, some conceptual truth resonates better with existential truth than others, but there’s still a key qualitative difference there.

That's a tough call. Test to see whether it's egoic resistance or whether it's just that you authentically don't want to do it. Probably the best test for the latter is to see if it's serving any of your higher purpose values. If it is and you still have a block, then it's probably an egoic block like fear or a limiting belief.

God help us.

Bear Man boy

By the way I no longer accept this view. This was before my recent enlightenment experience which happened like a day after I posted this. This is rubbish.

Where do questions come from? Whose questions are they? Whose answers are they? How do the answers compare to truth?

The idea that you have control over reality is an illusion. When you become Enlightened, you give up all attempts to control and just become aware of life living life. Watch:

This is all mental masturbation. What is true? There's awareness and what is happening. Watch:

Looks good.

Maya — The illusion of Ego and External World. Aka belief. Brahman — Reality as it is versus what belief says it is. Aka reality. Atman — The Meta perspective of awareness of reality in the present moment. Aka awareness. Maya = Belief; Belief = Maya Brahman = Reality; Reality = Brahman Atman = Awareness; Awareness = Atman Atman = Brahman; Brahman = Atman Awareness = Reality; Reality = Awareness // Offer your definitions too so we can compare. This is just fun with concepts, don’t take it too seriously.

You got people at all stages of development on here. We must be tolerant and try to assist people where they are. And remember, all students are also teachers in this work. It is the Ego that's always playing the role of the teacher. Some people cling to that identity. That's a trap. Sure, you can cling to it loosely, but if you cling to that strongly, that's gonna make you tone-deaf in a lot of ways. What you are trying to do is see something that's already there but that the Mind is not ready to accept, because the Mind wants to look somewhere else for truth. So, it's the Mind that realizes that beliefs are not the truth. Once you get that, that's where you'll get your big crack. But you can't force that. You can't force a plant to grow by pulling on it. But make sure you're doing the work. It takes a lot of work. You're not gonna get the shift without doing the work. There is no simplified or easy path. At least there wasn't for me. It's not Leo's job to spoon-feed us. You need to dive in and figure things out for yourself. Enlightenment is about discovering your authentic-self. So, this is a seeking mission for you. The whole point of Enlightenment is the stopping of grasping. This is called Enlightened Detachment. Reality always shows you the truth.

When you're alone it's a lot easier to be aware. People can be distracting. I am 100% at peace just being alone.

ON PERCEIVED ADDICTIONS -- JUST BE MINDFUL, DON'T BE IDEOLOGICAL Addictions are conceptualizations and conceptualizations are not real. If you watch your addictions while you're engaging in them, that's still Mindfulness and still good work. Have faith that Mindfulness will auto-correct your life and find the right balance for you. Have a mindset that breathes about this. A little addiction is fine, so long as it isn't interfering with what the higher-self wants to do too much. But if you maintain Mindfulness, this balance will get calibrated right for you. Be flexible, accept reality, and maintain awareness. Even if you're drunk, maintain awareness. Don't be too puritanical. What matters is Mindfulness and clarity of mind. This is why booze is not a great idea most of the time because it screws up Mindfulness. But having a policy against drinking can cause some repression, so beware of rigid rules. Awareness alone is curative. Stop being ideological about addictions. That's an attempt to control reality. Let life live life. Just maintain keen-awareness. Stop creating limiting beliefs about perceived addictions. They're only causing you useless suffering. You're being ideological and Reality is not ideological. Judgment about addictions are conceptualizations laid up on top of reality. Like the scribbling on the glass covering the Mona Lisa that I discussed before. That's what your monkey-chatter is about addictions. You gotta stop judging reality so much. Accept reality and just be Aware of it. Video on point to watch:

Bingo! Science is a tool not the truth. Science is more accurately Natural Philosophy, as it used to be known as. Scientists are theorists about reality and about truth. They are totally bought into the paradigm of conceptual truth. Scientists are philosophers. They are totally beholden to beliefs. And that's fine as long as you don't bring that shit home with you. It's like a lawyer bring the lawyer home to the wife. Not good. Leave that at work. Put the tool back into the toolbox when you no longer need it. The problem is people equate Science with Knowledge. This issue is addressed in Philosophy, ironically, and not in Science. People are very confused about beliefs. You can go Meta on beliefs though and kind of look under the hood of what's going on there by practicing Mindfulness. You can get out of the nest of beliefs and then look at the nest as a whole. That's possible. That's called going Meta or Awareness or Atman. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_philosophy

I don't see why a Scientist could not also be Enlightened. They would be watching themselves play the Science game. There's much worse ways to make a living, I can tell you. Scientists are just explicit theorists. Most people keep their ideas to themselves. Science tries to shove theirs down everyone's throat. They attempt to do this by proving their hypotheses. That's the only difference. But we are all dogmatists. At least Scientists are basing their beliefs on testability -- much of the time. But Scientists are theorists about reality and about the truth. Science could be thought of as Natural Philosophy, which it used to be. I believe Physics was still called Natural Philosophy in Isaac Newton's day if my memory serves me well. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton

Stop clinging to that Ego. That's takes a lot of work to get to though. But that's the answer. The Ego is what makes you sensitive.

This is trying to encapsulate reality in a thought. Ain’t never gonna happen. People have tried to do this from the beginning of time to today. Brahman is that which concepts exist within, to use a metaphor. Trying to fit Brahman under a concept is like trying to fit water into a net. Just be ok with reality being reality. Be mindful of what’s here. You should have little need for questions after that point. All thought-stories are laid on top of reality — like scribbling all over the glass that covers the Mona Lisa. The painting underneath is unmarred, but the obsever’s view is left muddied up. That’s what thought-stories do to reality. Let those go and just admire the painting underneath the glass for what it is. Don’t try to fit it under categories. Treat reality like this. Those scribbles on the glass are irrelevant to the reality that lies up underneath. All they do is block your clear view of reality. And that’s no good.

Once you become Enlightened you’ll watch yourself develop yourself. Enlightenment doesn’t change reality. Reality will be whatever it is without your illusion of control. There’s a difference between Egoic detachment and Enlightened detachment. Egoic detachment is what causes your life to decay. Enlightened detachment is just stepping back and letting life live in whatever way life lives. Of course you have no control over any of this. That’s the bitter pill no one wants to accept — you have no control. That control that you think you have is a total illusion. Those who accept this will have a different ride through this life than those who do not. You will do whatever happens in this life — successful or otherwise. But beware of Egoic detachment — that’s a trap and assumes you have control. Get out of life’s way and let life live life. The Ego is like the worst backseat driver ever. Totally useless and irrelevant. Just watch the Ego but don’t identify with it as ME. You are Brahman, Reality. All you gotta go is be Aware in the moment — that’s Atman. And Atman = Brahman. Brahman = Atman. Maya is clinging to Belief. Pick up beliefs when they’re useful, but put them back when they’re not useful. The mechanic doesn’t have all of his tools under the car when he’s working. He has the tools he needs, and after they’ve served their use, they go back into the toolbox. After the job, he’s not gonna be carrying those tools around with him. He picks up a tool when it’s useful and puts it back after it’s served it’s purpose. We need to treat beliefs like this. Beliefs are tools not truths.

Here’s a good question for contemplation: to what extent are my morals MY morals.