snowleopard

@Mighty Mouse Even then, the self-identity that doesn't care what others think about it seems disposable.

@cetus56 Sorry, I didn't get the impression that most of the forum members would have taken that personally, given the predominate demographic here ... but clearly some self-identity did.

@Shin lol ... Must be hard finding a date ! Once all offended self-identities get their asses kicked off the stage, what will be offended then?

@Mighty Mouse No doubt ... but I thought we were soulmates

You wouldn't miss my appreciation of your warped sense of humour ?! That hurts ...

Oh no, one less dreamlike cartoon character

@Mighty Mouse Maybe you could photoshop the avatar's extended arm to give the one-finger salute.

@Mighty Mouse Giving the finger to conflict-mode ?

@cetus56 lol ... ok, no more self-discrimination here.

@okulele Fascinating ... I've experienced similar character-shifting scenarios in the sleeping dream-state, wherein one is the same psyche playing a different persona role, as if in alternate incarnations, so to speak. Frankly, I've no idea what to make of it. Seems a lot like dissociative identity disorder as well.

@Buba Whether there is self-identification with enlightenment or not, the darkness will not go away by ignoring it or by suppression. It will only be resolved by facing it and decomposing the shadow. Life goes on with or without it, but eventually the falling away of resistance is the only option to find freedom.

It was the ineffable inexplicable "___" ... fell out of the blue one day and crushed all one's precious self-identities for a timeless while. They managed to wile their way back to life, but the psyche was left with an indelible impression of empifullness. Since then it's been mostly left up to nature to nurture that seed.

@Buba I feel for you, as it once was a familiar state. I only know that facing and coming to terms with the shadow work and its darkness can be put off indefinitely, with medication and/or other bypass options, but eventually it must be encountered and processed -- however seemingly terrifying it may be -- otherwise it will just be suppressed and left unresolved. At some point the resistance has to fall away -- yet there will never be an easy way through it. I did it on my own, as that seems to be the way I'm predisposed to go about this life, being reclusive and solitary by nature. However, I can't recommend that approach, as others may be better off seeking more conventional therapy and help. Just know that there is a way out of it, and you are far from alone in undergoing that journey through it, and that the 'light' that awaits is not only attainable, but ultimately undeniable. Blessings.

Ahh ... one less dreamlike cartoon character to play-act with ... Cheers in whatever 'drealm' you may explore and express within ...

Closer to his grandpa playing around in this case

@Monkey-man Leo clearly refutes materialism, so whatever he's getting at is at least anti-materialism. And since it's being expressed in ideas and words, then it clearly qualifies as some kind of 'ism' ... Maybe 'Leo-ism'?

@StrangerWatch In Bernardo Kastrup's version of idealism, the 'dream' allegory is a way of pointing to a Cosmic Consciousness being that within which everything is possible, and so the phenomenal cosmos of apparent physicality, with all of its laws and conditions, would be, in essence, the ideation of that Consciousness -- and thus it can be called dreamlike in that it has no mind-independent existence. Of course, this is an extremely simplified nutshell example, and there's much more to a comprehensive metaphysics of idealism that Kastrup does also address. I'm not sure that Leo is making the same point, but that's how I would interpret it.

@Shanmugam For all one knows, attachment and identification may play an integral role as well ... The Divine Dreamer/Dream works in mysterious ways

@Shanmugam Well what doesn't have the potential to be a distraction to a fixated self-identity, even when that identity is that of an 'enlightened' person? Eventually every investigative methodology into inquiry becomes disposable -- like the proverbial boat that is abandoned once its function has been served. Just saying, that for some rational mindsets, some sort of intellectual co-validation may well be necessary in conjunction with the intuitive revelation, for it to ultimately stick and be fully integrated. For others, not so much. So I'm not inclined to easily dismiss some others unique investigation as being invalid, or unnecessary, and thus respect it insofar as it all may play its integral role, until it doesn't anymore.

That's a assumed generalization and limitation ... How can one know that it is unnecessary for every unique expression/exploration of inquiry?

But it needn't stop there ... It can also point to the revelation that the Divine Dreamer and its Dream are not two, and thus resolve the real/unreal dichotomy.

@Shanmugam I've found the core teaching of Buddhism to be consistent with non-dual idealism, as an ontological model. Notwithstanding the opening lines of the Tao Te Ching, is there not some validity in conceiving an ontological model to replace materialism as the basis of a collective ethos, even if ultimately idealism too can only be 'true enough under the circumstances' -- until such time that some kind of collective realization would render it redundant?

@khalifa Nicely done

The 'dream' allegory is another pointer that perhaps loosens the grip on the materialist paradigm, and the fixated self-identification, to see that the consensus construct has no more ultimate mind-independent existence than a shared dream. However, whatever ontological model is adapted, even idealism, there is no definitive languaging of this. But speaking of idealism, some may be inclined to check out this latest interview with Bernardo Kastrup who once again makes the case for idealism

I fly south every winter ... But it's expensive bringing the body along.