Joseph Maynor

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.

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.

(1) I have 4 raisins in my hand. (2) My pet baboon comes grabs all of them out of my hand. (3) How many raisins do I have in that hand now? Assume the answer is zero. What controlled that thought and inference? You gotta look at these questions pragmatically not theoretically. A theoretical answer ain't gonna really tell you much.

@Nahm Haha. What you said is great! Probably true.

It took me quite a bit of stewing in the theory, but I'm a very conceptual person, so I'm sure it was overkill. I have a huge stack of notes that I review from time to time containing theory and information. My notes fill one of these totally expanded out: https://www.amazon.com/Smead-Straight-Cut-Expansion-Redrope-73234/dp/B001L1RFOG/ref=sr_1_32?ie=UTF8&qid=1506013393&sr=8-32&keywords=expanding+folder

Monet

The awareness of happenings.

@How to be wise Sure. I think it depends on how you want to define the term "science." Is Leo's work a science? What about in the broad sense of science? I think the biggest problem that Enlightenment faces is that people are so scared of death that they will never embrace death, which is what Enlightenment is: The death of the illusion of life. It takes a leap of faith to face-down our own Egos, and also a lot of courage and emotional-labor. What is the difference between science and knowledge? Maybe instead of trying to pidgeon-hole Enlightenment Theory as a science, we become ok with it just being knowledge. Or maybe we stop needing to label or categorize it in a meta way period. The theory works -- and at least in the way that Leo explains it, it is already rich in both breadth and depth. So, I think we already have what you think we need. It's just that Enlightenment needs (1) outstanding teachers; and (2) people willing to do the work. Those are the two key variables as I see it. On a separate note -- I think it's a fascinating question though about whether Enlightenment is a way to save the world. Think about it -- if the world is a dream, who are you saving? You are playing a video-game in your own mind. There are no Egos to reform. Instead of saving the world, you are just watching a dream unfold. See? Enlightenment goes deep. People don't want to believe this stuff. Enlightenment is basically telling people that their lives are not real. If you're stuck in the ego-paradigm this is gonna sound like death before death -- like killing yourself before you die, which sounds crazy. From the egoic perspective, Enlightenment looks like a life for losers who can't handle life and thus need to think it away. To the Ego, Enlightenment looks like the ultimate way to stick your head in the sand in life -- a systematic denial of reality. Like committing philosophical suicide. Egos might think that Enlightened folks are just people who want to die but don't have the balls or ovaries to take their own life for real. Or maybe they believe that Enlightened people are a bunch of losers: loafers who have conned themselves out of being successful in life through a kind of silly rationalization. And you wonder why more people don't pursue Enlightenment? Well, Enlightenment smells like poo to the Ego. It's like -- who would keep a bunch of mosquitoes as pets? Let 'em fly around the house? Probably not, right? You're gonna get ur ass bit badly! Same with Enlightenment. Ego-death hurts. Enlightenment is gonna be counter-intuitive by its very nature.

You have to take an objective perspective and see if what they are saying is constructive in some way. If so, then listen to them. If not, just ignore. We all have little shadow things that others see better than ourselves. Those are useful to learn from others.

Ya'll gotta visit Pompeii to appreciate this fully. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeii

I can only speak for myself. Once I saw Being I realized that I don't have any more control. So, in that sense I'm just watching stuff happen. I'm aware of happenings. And everything seems to happen as normal without the Ego trying to control anything. It's creepy when you first see that control is an illusion. I've been experiencing some grief emotions though. You know when you get really drunk and the whole room starts to spin? Well, imagine the spinning is Ego and Being is the drunkard being passively aware of the spinning, assuming she is lying on the ground still and just watching. See? Even alcohol can provide a non-dual experience! Anything that puts Being in high-relief can provide a non-dual experience, including Meditation.

I have one of those black eye coverings that you sometimes see people on airplanes wear. They work great because no light gets in and you don't have to worry about closing your eyes. I'm sure there's some hardcore person out there who's gonna come along and deprive me of my mask lol. Watch! Ya'll know you wanna go all orthodox on me! Maybe their rationale will be -- Brahman needs dancing eyelids to transcend Maya! I caught a bunch of shit once before when I admitted sometimes I meditate laying in bed. This is the one I have -- https://www.amazon.com/ALASKA-BEAR®-Natural-blindfold-super-smooth/dp/B00GSO1D9O/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_194_bs_tr_img_1/141-2039829-1145664?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=W9A91C0P89HWCFWN87Z2

Who would be striving for Enlightenment? Oh, got it, you're talking to people that think they are Egos. I resonate with point #3 in part. You can grease the wheels though by using what I call "counter-weight theory." So, there is a need for a theory-rich period at that stage. But the big-shifts happen when the Ego dies, I agree; that comports with "my" experience. #2 is kinda screwy. You are Being. That's it. The "people" who are gonna pursue Enlightenment had no choice to. There is no choice. Who had the choice? All there is is Being. I think awareness is about all you can give Beings. Awareness of Enlightenment. But then again, that awareness would ultimately happen randomly. Your movie and my movie might be similar, but other movies might vary considerably. And who's to say that our movie is the best movie? You'd need an Ego for that. So, there is a deep randomness to Enlightenment. I wouldn't go so far as to tell "people" not to seek though. I always hated that advice. It's wrong. There is something to be sought -- freedom from suffering, Being, and awareness of the illusion of Ego. The seeking is an illusion though, there's just awareness of happenings.

Wow. That's cool. I still believe in distance myself. Not that I want to believe it, but the belief is still lodged in there. From the Being perspective it does look like a series of discrete flat planes come to think about it.

At some point you gotta surrender, and no teacher can do that for you. It seems to be happening automatically for me now. Like a process that's now gonna play itself out. Instruction is just first base.

@WelcometoReality Great advice