Joseph Maynor

@TimStr I'm not sure you can experience true ego-death by meditation alone. You need something to really get up under the Ego like a psychedelic. Meditation does a lot of things, but I'm not sure it can trigger a true ego-death experience.

It doesn't make sense to say that a person is enlightened or not. Being doesn't talk, it just takes notice. It's seems kinda silly to say that something that is illusory is enlightened or not. Right?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ego_death

I think Leo described it like this, which is very cool -- Pure, transparent, empty awareness. So, I am pure, transparent, empty awareness. Being that is Being. Of course, these words can only serve to point. So, let's fix this right now -- ready! Ok. I am kinda sorta like pure, transparent, empty awareness. There! Fixed. This video gets at your question:

Yes. But I have gone without it too. Your life gets a lot cleaner, healthier, and happier almost at a direct proportion to the extent that you can stay away from news, and other distracting forms of culture. Happiness = 1/Shit It's a reciprocal relationship. So, the lower the Shit variable, the higher the Happiness variable will be. The higher the Happiness variable, the lower the Shit variable will be. We all know what Shit is. It doesn't need a definition. It just needs to be stayed away from. Our problem is not that we lack a definition of Shit; our problem is actually stopping to cling to it. Be aware of how Shit robs you of peace, happiness, joy, carefreeness, calm, stillness, tranquility, creativity, etc. Once you fully become aware of this, you will naturally release from Shit. Great vid that gets at the bigger issue: Another vid on point:

That's a good question. Does anyone have any control though? Or is the control just another perception in awareness. Video on point:

Maybe it's a good thing. Maybe it's a bad thing. Watch this video:

It's humbling to think that babies are enlightened. Right? Talk about paradoxes! We go our whole life-long to arrive back as babes at the end of the day. What the hell is the intermediate phase for? That's the $10,000 question. Obviously we had to learn something in there.

@How to be wise Maybe. If you think about it, it could be possible. Let's say we concede this. Now -- how do we confirm it? See? That's the issue. Testimony is way-down on the scale in terms of Epistemological-weight.

@Truth Wow. Beautiful and succinct explanation. Thank you!

Gotcha Maxx. It's because any concept would be a part of Being. This is nothing but Being. And Being is no-thing. Thank you! I wanna make one point here which is not always clarified properly: just because it would have to be always said. This may appear to be some kind of logical exercise or conceptual exercise -- but really the language is tracking the awareness here, not the other way around. Does that make sense? You're not gonna become enlightened by grokking theory alone. It doesn't work like that. So, when I talk in theory-cliches, the sentences always track what I am already aware of. But that doesn't do shit for you, see? You gotta look into this stuff yourself by examining your reality yourself. There's no easy, primrose-path around doing this introspective work. Awareness is much more important than theory. But theory is very important too.

You are part of my dream. That's what this is to me. You're part of me. You're one of the happenings that I am aware of. I'm also aware of these words now. They almost look like skeletons. And I love you! You're a sage.

This reminds me of something I remember Leo said in one of his videos, and I think he was quoting a third-party source: A mosquito is a wondrous object if seen as an end in itself.

Thank you Leo! You tailored that to me, I can see.

This is so important to keep in mind. So important. As I grow I gotta remember this. It is so tempting to talk from where you are versus where the person who asked the question is. Like -- lemme boost you to my level; but this is often met with confusion. The more you grow, the more you have to work on putting yourself in the shoes of others. This video goes well with this advice:

Don't forget the Taoists who came from Ancient China. And what Maxx said.

Here's a good one to watch:

I don't read them much anymore. It's been a couple of weeks since I read them. For some reason people tend to under-emphasize theory in enlightenment. I'm still trying to understand why. Theory is needed for non-enlightened people to become enlightened. The level of realizing you need no more theory is a very high level. And it's probably feigned a lot too. Yeah, I'm Mr. Tough Guy, I don't need anymore theory; I'm better than you are. This chest-thumping over not needing theory leaves me suspicious. There's nothing wrong with theory per se. It's how it's clung to that is the problem. Look at how may videos Leo has made! Leo realizes the utility of theory too. I feel like I need to be a defender of theory in Enlightenment a lot. I need to wear that hat a lot. If you wanna become enlightened, y'aint gonna do it while merely sitting on the toilet one day, let me assure you. It's a little bit more complicated than that.