Jimmylem

In our aversion to those feelings you mention, (rejection, humility, embarrassment, criticism, being hated or disliked etc.) we naturally try to 'run away' from them. But what we should try to realise is that these feelings/illusions are in fact the portals to our own freedom and these are the very portals that we need to enter. We should not believe them, but we should not hide from them either. And by not running away from what life throws at us, in every moment, life itself will show us what we need to see through in order to be free. Sticking around as opposed to fleeing becomes an act of love. That doesn't mean you have to be a masochist - quite the reverse is true, as we suffer much more when we give into the ego's chicken-shit avoidance and denial. Ego is always pushing away or pulling towards, resisting things as they are. But this push/pull reinforces the illusion that we are separate from the world around us and that is what causes us to suffer.

@ZenDog There is a great book called 'The Book of Not Knowing, by Peter Ralston' - it's on Leo's booklist - and it has a great explanation of desire. He says that desire is made up of the following components:- 1) The possibility of a future - i.e. desire is always about projecting something that is to happen (or wants to happen) in the future. It's very' futuristic', this desire. 2) An assessment that something or other is missing now. 3) Concept of a preferred experience. 4) Separation between the object of desire and the self. 5)A feeling-sensation of imagined pleasure, masking overlooked pain Ralston says that if you eliminate any one of these components, desire falls away. This section really got my attention when I read the book, and so I wrote these points in a note on my phone so I could access these points easily, wherever I was. I found that if I could contemplate any one of these with respect to some desire I had, it would put the thing in a perspective of mindfulness, and I felt the grip of desire would loosen considerably, even disappear. All of these points are closely related to Enlightenment - for example, 3) is totally congruent with the concept of non-duality, and that is a keystone of Enlightenment. You desire the thing because you perceive it as something 'other' or separate from 'you'. That's one of the traps of desire you refer to. The thing desired is not separate - it is you and you are it! Hope this is of help, these points in 'The Book of Not Knowing' helped me a lot. In the book he goes into explanation of each point, much better that I ever could!

Good Questions @electroBeam ! It might be helpful to consider the three stages that Leo outlines in his video on Rationality. This is all new to me, so I'm definitely in enquiry mode myself - but this is what I am getting.... 1) Pre-rationality, ie Reality explained by the systems and beliefs contained in Religion, Myth, Magic.. 2) Rationality,Science, Reason, the explanation of the universe using models and symbols which is corroborated by evidence and consensus within the (scientific) community. 3) Post-rationality. This stage can only be entered after reaching a state of Awareness, Awakening or Enlightenment. Note that Post-rationality is not the same as Irrationality. Rationalism often assumes that it is the same thing, and uses this to discredit Post-rationality, lumping it together with Pre-rationality. Rationality assumes this because, in general, it can only function within it's rationally-delineated paradigm. So...why would a religious person try to become rational, or a rational try to become Post-rational? Viewed from within either of those paradigms, there is no reason. There can be no reason (that won't immediately be shot down in flames by the inner voice) viewed from within the 'dream'. It's the same as asking why, if I'm living in the dream of self, would I want to become Enlightened? What's to gain? Again, viewed from within the dream, there's nothing to gain, only stuff to be lost... But for some people - probably not very many people - the thing which would act as a driver would a realisation like:- ' I feel like I'm suffering...why am I suffering?' (It's necessary to be in a state of mindfulness to get even this far, and this state is not common, and not very encouraged in our society) But if attained then at least there is a chance that (an) awakening may occur IF honesty, grounded openness and sincere intent (to explore) are present.

@electroBeam 'Why is dogmatism such a problem?' Because dogmatism is basically saying 'there's me ( and my dogmas, beliefs, assumptions) over here, versus you (plus your dogmas, beliefs, assumptions) over there..' That's a dualistic viewpoint i.e. a viewpoint which assumes the notion of separateness. It assumes 'you' are an entity, and entity causes suffering.