Brimstone

As someone else poetically put it, it is time for this bird to fly free. I am filled with so much love and gratitude towards the shadows that I danced with here, as it allowed me to recognise the shadows within myself that hold not only myself but all of us all back from really knowing our True Nature, the Heart of Endless giving that gives to us all selflessly, without question or judgement, loving all in equal measure. To those who have soft hearts and are fuelled by compassion and love, thank you for your inspiration, your pure hearts are true treasures. It has been a 10 year journey from Self Realisation to this point, where I realise that Enlightenment is a concept that my ego loved. The truth of the matter is, that when it is all boiled down, there never was a me, there never was enlightenment, there is only what unfolds with every moment from the Heart of Endless Giving. Am I enlightened? Hell no! My ego is still intact, but I know now that enlightenment doesn't matter and my mind doesn't need it anymore. In other words my journey will continue until I have fully realised our True Nature within, that is complete and utter absolute selflessness and love, beyond judgement or condition. As my last offering consider this if compelled; Clinging to one's school and condemning others is the certain way to waste one's learning. Since all dharma teachings are good, those who cling to sectarianism degrade Buddhism and sever themselves from liberation. ~ Milarepa, The One Hundred Thousand Songs From one heart to another, filled with gratitude, love & awe, I bid thee all farewell.

I am having a strong pull and some interesting thoughts bubbling up towards working with people who go through the varying forms of suffering at the moment and I am wondering if anyone on here has any experience with the wholistic field of treatment. I can find stuff on the internet but am asking here to see if any one has some first hand experience or if there are actual practitioners on here to give me some advice. To be honest the pull surprises me as having gone through deep depression for many years I didn't find any of the people I saw to be that helpful as they only ever seemed to scratch the surface. That is not to say that there are not any good practitioners our there, just that I didn't experience any. Anyways, any help or pointers would be greatly appreciated. In gratitude

Thanks @ajasatya , you have a beautiful and soft heart full of love and compassion. It doesn't really matter but I am actually leaving this site as it feels like it has served its purpose in revealing the shadows within myself that I need to work on, the work I will continue elsewhere. I will pray that the gentle loving nature of purity that is That opens your heart even further so you can be the teacher you see yourself as. From the heart Scotty

@Markus I see what you are saying and to be honest I used to think that enlightenment was exactly what you are saying, but today I just do not see how one can possibly have any selfish tendancies if the ego is completely and utterly dissolved. The ego is selfish, the Heart is not. As I said though that is just 2 egos pushing against each other, both conditioned by That from a base of pure unconditional loving purity and I am sincerely ok with your position. To be honest though I do not see it serving either of us by continuing to enter into disagreements about who is right or wrong, because as we both know, there is no right or wrong, although how could any of us ever possibly be right in the face of That. At the end of the day, like everyone, you are perfect just the way you are. From the heart

@Markus from one ego to another we have a difference of opinion as I do not see how one can have selfish tendencies when the ego has been completely and utterly dissolved. But you know what, that is ok. From the heart

Fantastic book @Hafiz I actually picked it up off the book shelf last night. That and Be As You Are are simple and pure and shine a light on the true path.

@How to be wise you have got to be careful as there is a big difference between self realisation and enlightenment. If you look to the true teachers who have passed through the gateless gate they will tell you of the dangers. Adyashanti for example is offering an online course through the open gate sangha addressing this very issue in November. Mooji also speaks about it in a recent video. There is a good post in this forum called Mind Returns or something. Another story that points to this problem is Herman Hesse Sidartha. He became self realised, thought he was enlightened, entered the world and lived for himself, before finally finding enlightenment by the river. Enlightenment is the complete dissolution of the ego, and destruction of the tap root. In that state Absolute love, humility, compassion, peace, happiness etc is the outward manifestation as That is the source of all is full realised as your being. You are not that, cause how could anyone of us really be God, there is just no you to stand in the way of the true light of Loving Purity shining through you. That is true enlightenment, to become a reflection of divine love without boundaries and basically while boundaries remain the ego is still in the game, and you are a zen devil. Bonaparte is another example of self realisation. He offered so much hope to many in the last Age of Enlightenment, but at the end of the day he delivered so little. Why? Because he had himself at the centre so his end game was only ever about satisfying his own ego. From the heart

Another good analogy for a zen devil is a christian who will act from a base of love and humility when within the church community, then go and spit on a young girl who is going to have an abortion because they do not have the same core beliefs. That is love beyond ALL conditions without question. I laughed at the discomfort of this as well as the identifying with the self-righteous nature of the comment itself

@How to be wise without judgement, and from the heart, it's an interesting question, and one I have been asking myself the past 24 hrs. The thought arose, and the heart confirmed, that there is definitely a shadow and light aspect in the aftermath of Self Realisation, in that you have direct experience of who you truthfully are, and that who you thought you were is just an illusion The shadow aspect although realising there is no me, returns to an I perspective after realisation. The thought I am enlightened is a sure sign that the shadow aspect is at play. Despite realising there is no I the shadow aspect hasn't completely removed the I from the centre and as such still lives in the world of judgement and positioning, thinking along the lines of there is only I. A good example of this is Ram Dass. Very switched on dude, who knew what was going on, but he identified with his I and believed his hype too much. His life story will point towards the results of the shadow aspect. The light aspect is whereby the I has been completely removed. They live as our natural state being Absolute bliss and happiness, and have an acceptance of the order of all. It is a point of no resistance, and acceptance and is a direct reflection of the Absolute. The perfect example is Sri Ramana Maharishi, who didn't identify with the I at all. Both have a place in the divine order, with yin and yang a great representation of both aspects as one. The light still has a touch of darkness, being the appearance of a person and a mind in the case of the enlightened, the darkness still has a touch of the light, which is the realisation The One. Both come from a base of unknowing, which once realised can never be unknown as it is all That is. The enlightened will wait for you to ask and act based off what was asked letting pure and clear thoughts arise naturally from the heart, the shadow aspect will tell you what the Truth is without anyone asking. I have experienced both states, with the "I have" aspect a very clear indicator that I am at a point of self realisation, not enlightenment at the moment. Here is the thing though, there is no devil refering back to your question, there is only That, it doesn't favour either the dark or the light side, which is what makes the light 'enlightened'. Don't worry all is well as at the end of the day That is the source of it all. Hope this is helpful

I have a friend who I haven't seen for a while who told me his story where he went and lived in India for a number of years. He lived a completely clean life didn't drink, didn't smoke, abstained from sex, which lasted about 10-12 years. He used to work in an ashram preparing food for everyone. After he became enlightened he was sent to a temple in India where he was the first white holy man in the temple. His job was to basically look after the temple and give advice to the villagers. After some time he went completely mad by his own definition and started running around the village naked scaring everyone. There were other aspects to the story and he knew what was going on. After the experience his life turned completely inside out whereby he started living for himself, started using drugs, and started f*cking anything he could get his hands on.

That is some really helpful advice thanks Nick In grattitude

That is a really good point of enquiry @Toby I was enquiring on that when I went to sleep the other night and I had the most vivid dream of a voice spitting truth. I know that was just a dream also and doesn't touch That, but I felt comforted by the fact that enquiring what is aware during deep sleep, led to a sense of peace and happiness.

That's beautiful man, I love your honesty. Ego awareness is just starting to bubble up again within me which has been breaking down some walls. To be honest though I feel like I f*cked up letting ego grab me by the balls again.

From your experience@ajasatya , without the 'we are all That' , do you believe you have fully dissolved into That?

That is what it all boils down to at the end of the day really isn't it.

It isn't, which is the point I was making. Perspective twists and turns pushes and pulls and says this is right and that is wrong, blah blah blah. The only Truth is that which is Absolute, and that is Absolute. How does Absolute love favour unreal over real?

Lol @Captain Flint , so true, but the problem is as @Blissout points out is that there are a lot of us who latch on to concepts and ideas that have been bastardised and abused so we just throw them out to try and portray the image that we are enlightened. An example, "we are all enlightened already" which is why at this time it is good to question if it is real or not. Worse still our ego convinces us that we have had a realisation, or become enlightened without direct experience. Enlightenment in a traditional sense is recognition through direct experience of the formless source of all this that we see that has a profound and transformative effect on 'your' being that results in the enlightened one, without effort, naturally becoming a reflection of absolute loving and humble purity in everything that they do as they see That in everything. Yes everything has its place in the divine order but the ego is a tough egg to crack.

Did you have any resistance to that statement? My resistance was an illusion or in other words I wasn't resisting what you were saying, it was deliberate and I am definitely not the architect. What do you think the resistance is? It is fascinating to watch.

No it is not!

Much love @Martin123

There is no wrong path @zunnyman So if it feels right, do it Some get hit by the Truth without looking, some have to enquire about it for a little while before it hits, some spend a long time looking for it stepping from stone to stone before hits, some spend there entire lives looking and never get hit, some don't even look at all. Yet it remains, constant and pure. In other words, there is no absolute rule and set of principals that are right or wrong to follow, and you will only hit you in the moment, like it is doing right now. It isn't obvious because it isn't anything that you think it is, and will never be defined by a thought. Hope this helps

It is very healthy to question absolutely everything @mk0998 , even the concept of Enlightenment. Namaste

Find the Constant @Sine It is within you right now

You are totally right about the fact that you were never born and you will never die, who you truly are, yet That as you appears to be born and then dies. Even the concept that I was never born and I will never die dissolves when you hold it up to That, just as the idea that you are born and you die dissolves when you hold it up to that. As I said in the other thread @Joseph Maynor , you are looking for the Constant, it is there when you are awake, it is there when you dream, it is there when you take psychedelics, it is there when you are in a deep sleep, it is never not there. Until that reveals itself to you, you will not see through the fog. Instead of saying I was born, or I was not born, ask yourself, what is the Constant, what can not be born?

Exactly @Joseph Maynor 'What' is learning? 'What is observing? It isn't a thing so it isn't a 'what', which is why most people get stuck on the path think it is this or that. That dissolves every concept. In a nutshell, the ox, the ox herder, the relationship between the ox herder and the ox, transcending the ox, are all Concepts. The constant is the only Truth, and That isn't an Ox herder. You are the Ox herder, so transcending the Ox herder is basically transcending your self and what you think it all means. That is the end game. Once the veil lifts you are still 'in this world', and you have acceptance of your place within the divine order of the Absolute. Yes, learning is taking away, yet we tend to add so much, we become attached to ideas, we become attached to concepts, all the while the Constant remains, as it is, right here, right now, in this very moment, it is just how it is. What is the Constant, is what you should be asking? Not this concept is the answer, The Constant is the only unchanging aspect. Stop looking for answers in concepts Joseph, find the Constant, and then it will all make sense.