Joseph Maynor

@SOUL The ego needs it to latch onto while it self-implodes.

@Shanmugam 29 If any one should wish to get the kingdom for himself, and to effect this by what he does, I see that he will not succeed. The kingdom is a spirit-like thing, and cannot be got by active doing. He who would so win it destroys it; he who would hold it in his grasp loses it. The course and nature of things is such that What was in front is now behind; What warmed anon we freezing find. Strength is of weakness oft the spoil; The store in ruins mocks our toil. Hence the sage puts away excessive effort, extravagance, and easy indulgence. 37 The Tao in its regular course does nothing (for the sake of doing it), and so there is nothing which it does not do. If princes and kings were able to maintain it, all things would of themselves be transformed by them. If this transformation became to me an object of desire, I would express the desire by the nameless simplicity. Simplicity without a name Is free from all external aim. With no desire, at rest and still, All things go right as of their will. 56 He who knows (the Tao) does not (care to) speak (about it); he who is (ever ready to) speak about it does not know it. He (who knows it) will keep his mouth shut and close the portals (of his nostrils). He will blunt his sharp points and unravel the complications of things; he will attemper his brightness, and bring himself into agreement with the obscurity (of others). This is called 'the Mysterious Agreement.' (Such an one) cannot be treated familiarly or distantly; he is beyond all consideration of profit or injury; of nobility or meanness:--he is the noblest man under heaven.

@Principium Nexus The theory is like training wheels on a bike. At some point the training wheels should come off. Leo makes the best training wheels though. Everyone needs them to become enlightened.

@SOUL I'm thinking that the very enlightened person has thrown all the theory in the trash at a certain point.

@SOUL Scaffolding. Mere scaffolding. Glorious scaffolding. Both scaffolding and not-scaffolding. Both and neither and even this claim has to eat itself. No-thing.

Stop attaching to distinctions and release and let go of the mind. Stop attaching to maya and release all control. Watch reality play itself out. Watch yourself play itself out. Release, release, release. Let go, let go, let go. Stop augmenting reality with beliefs. Become indifferent. From The Bhagavad Gita: "The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: O Partha, when a man gives up all varieties of desire for sense gratification, which arise from mental concoction, and when his mind, thus purified, finds satisfaction in the Self alone, then he is said to be in pure transcendental consciousness." "A person who is not disturbed by the incessant flow of desires -- that enter like rivers into the ocean, which is ever being filled but always still -- can alone achieve peace, and not the man who strives to satisfy such desires." "A person who has given up all desires for sense gratification, who lives free from desires, who has given up all sense of proprietorship and is devoid of false ego -- he alone can attain real peace." "Being purified by his intelligence and controlling the mind with determination, giving up the objects of sense gratification, being freed from attachment and hatred, one who lives in a secluded place, who eats little, who controls his body, mind, and power of speech, who is always in trance and is detached, free from false ego, false strength, false pride, lust, anger, and acceptance of material things, who is free from false proprietorship, and who is peaceful -- such a person is certainly elevated to the position of self-realization."

Death only applies to the false self, ego. The true Self is immortal. Technically the ego never dies though because it never existed.

Accept all perspectives. Reality needs every perspective.

@pluto Leo says himself that all his videos are just a giant kick in the ass. This is so true. Like training monkeys.

This is good to keep in mind. You can believe, but hold your beliefs loosely. Watch this video:

Because this video is awesome. This is the answer. The only answer you need. It's like looking at enlightenment from one perspective.

Smells are not my smells, yet smell sensations are Self-aware. Sights are not my sights, get sight sensations are Self-aware. Tastes are not my tastes, yet taste sensations are Self-aware. Feelings are not my feelings, yet feeling sensations are Self-aware. Sounds are not my sounds, yet sound sensations are Self-aware. Thoughts are not my thoughts, get thought sensations are Self aware. (You gotta distinguish the sensed aspect of a thought from the illusive thought-story.) => All of these experiences are Self-aware, yet none of them connect to an egoic self, to a me. => The me just is the individuated sensations, the Self, the field of sensory awareness. How can I get rid of the egoic center that wants to be the pinwheel of all these experiences?

Everything is absolutely relative from each perspective. Can we bootsrap the higher self from nothing? Higher self is explained in this video. Watch it before responding. Background prerequisite context:

@Natasha I think every answer a person could seek is contained in the existing Forum posts.

@Anna1 Wow. This is great. Total summary. I've tweaked your language a bit -- Come full circle and know everything is "the Self"(awareness/consciousness). All is one and there is nothing but us. A movie created by us, starring us, that we are watching.

@Shanmugam This sounds to Taoist to me. Did Lao Tsu travel to India? It's weird that Taoism and Buddhism are so similar. Maybe the Taoists traveled to India and that's where Buddhism came from. Kinda makes sense.

@SLICKHAWK When we repair our relationship with God, He repairs everything else for us.

@Natasha The gateless gate haha.

@Shanmugam You have inner feelings but any conceptualization of those feelings or identification of those feelings is a thought-story. The raw sensations are self-aware, that's it.

@Anna1 If you have no ego you don't really make distinctions anymore. Reality is just accepted as a whole. A lot of shit came together for me after I watched this video. Good job Leo! Watch this video

@Anna1 Not really. The more enlightened you are the less you will create emotions. You create all your emotions.

@Shanmugam I kind of agree with this. I don't really have too many emotions anymore. Last 30 days I've been 90% reduced in emotions, both positive and negative. The emotions I do have are all traceable to the ego or the body. My body wants more attention -- working out, diet, sleep, nutrition, etc. So I get that screaming at me. And then I get the ego causing some negative emotions due to believing in itself. With those, meditation seems to rid those the best. Just do nothing meditation 1 hour every morning.

@Anna1 Self-aware means the way that the perceptual field senses its contents of experience.

Enlightened people don't need rules for their morality. Enlightened people are like super-rebellious people who circled back to morality, but not by formulating dogma, but by learning to trust their higher selves 100%. This is where relativism and pragmatism marry and have a child. You can live your life, you can know morality, but you don't need to externalize it. And you can be openminded and not need to cling to any kind of knowledge about it. Just do what the higher Self wants. You have no control anyway. All you can do is cause increased awareness in your distributed system. Nature is the sum total of all causes. You are not outside of this system. 2 key videos on point to watch:

"Then why is it, that we feel out of sorts when we are sad, negative, angry, disappointed? Why do we pull ourselves back to happiness?" There is no you to be happy. That is the bad thinking. You need nothing to be happy. "Even unconscious people know it's not right when they are stressed, anxious, unhappy etc." "This is the entire point of life, to be happy, why do we have this bias between equanimity, happiness, calm, peace etc?" Watch these two videos: "Why are enlightened people so happy, so calm, so soothing, funny, all of these traits we know are good, if reality is nothingness?" Watch this one: And finally this one: