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what you did was just referring to a dead meat not an awakened person. awakened person doesn't always in all cases take the middle point, he or she can take one side to defeat the other. there's a way big difference between realizing that all problems are imaginary versus taking approach to solve the problem. if you're damn enlightened and you see that blood gushing out of your vein, if you don't care to put a bandage on it, it's your own problem, not non-duality's

You can create many justifications or reasons for continuing to do what you are doing. Just remember the cost and the price. Consider this hypothetical - if enough people awakened and didn't need any of this, you + many others would be out of business. Truth is prior to life purpose. Yes certainly you can't give universal advice to everybody, hence why I suggested to create sub-categories of the "enlightenment/meditation" section.

@Matt23 Yeah no offence mate, to me that's like teaching someone to cook without ever cooking yourself, but you've read cookbooks. I don't mean to shoot you down and by all means, introduce people to this, but I don't think you should really begin teaching until you're at least enlightened yourself, also, 2 years is a long time to be at this with little results in my opinion. Psychedelics could give you insights but in my opinion, there's much more 'efficient' ways to help you grow spiritually and actually permanently embody awakenings. I've worked 1-1 with a teacher since February and my growth has been amazing, the Spiritual Transmissions have been amazing. Good luck on your journey, but please don't teach until you are actually awakened yourself.

When you awaken you're free to be who you truly are and do what you want so of course, however once people open the heart fully they are HIGHLY unlilely to engage in things that cause harm to other people etc, so won't round cheating or sexually assaulting people etc. Bentinho is certainly awakened, I wouldn't say he is fully awakened or finished though. Also, I'd recommend doing some research on these kind of guys: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/wjmxvm/the-controversial-guru-who-wants-to-upgrade-civilization-bentinho-massaro-video

Keep in mind that the Absolute is distinct from the structures of the mind/brain/self. Which means it's possible to awaken but still have addictions. Because addictions are baked into the structure of the mind/brain/self. Awakening itself does not necessarily change the mind/self. Which is why an awakened person can still smoke cigs, have a porn addiction, etc. You can think of it this way: awakening disidentifies you from your mind. But the mind still continues to fire according to its lifetime of karma. If you spent a lifetime watching porn, your mind has been programmed with that habit, and awakening will not automatically remove all that. You will have to retrain your mind. This is why many awakened people are still flawed and still have bad habits and cravings. The mistaken assumption is that awakening will perfect the mind. This is simply untrue in practice. What perfects the mind is deliberate training, which many people neglect to do, especially after an awakening or two. Perfecting the mind is harder than awakening. In practice you could get many awakened people hooked on heroin. Because in truth they ain't that awake.

What are examples or ways in which western science can be used to increase consciousness? How can western science actually help you awaken? Honestly, the more I delve into western science, the more I see it as a survival mechanism at heart - rather than something that increases consciousness. Of course science can be used to explain metaphysical phenomena like the entire universe is one big brain, but that only makes sense to people who are already awakened, defeating the purpose. The scientific method just seems to be a process of gas lighting what's actually going on, having profound insights, but then distorting them by projecting a false sense of logic and patterns for the sake of upholding the scientific method itself, rather than just being happy with actuality. I find the liberal arts - like post modernism to be a more effective academic stream for understanding and increasing consciousness then any of the science fields.

Well first off, I don't think enlightenment is something that is definitive that can be delineated. People often think there's some kind of 'finish line'. I don't think that's true. I think it's more of a spectrum than a light switch. I think awakening is an ongoing and possibly even neverending process. I don't think the expansion of consciousness will reach a final point on the earthly plane, at the very least. So I don't think there's even a duality of 'being enlightened' as opposed to 'not being enlightened'. If you think you or someone else is enlightened, how do you know this person can't even get more enlightened? So that's the first thing. Secondly, even if there was such a thing as definitive enlightenment, then the hallmark of someone who has reached it is the person for whom asking the question whether he or she is enlightened would be absolutely meaningless. Not that it can't be questioned, but it's just meaningless. Someone who has reached really high levels of consciousness has gone past the paradigm of introspection and reflection; Gone past the paradigm of thinking altogether, really. Not that the person can't think, but the need for existential contemplation has disappeared. The need has disappeared because the faculty of introspective thinking has been exhausted and thereby deflated. Post-yellow stages in Spiral Dynamics are not attached and usually not even interested in thinking anymore. Not to mention, the awakened person sees that the whole game of enlightenment is just a silly and possibly even stupid notion anyway. I'm not talking about the hardcore inner work, but I'm talking about the constant evaluation, judgement and comparison that goes like: "How close am I to enlightenment? Am I enlightened? Is that person enlightened? Will this or that make me enlightened? How do I recognize someone to be enlightened? Is this person more enlightened than that person?". All these questions seem just utterly meaningless and even silly to an ACTUAL enlightened person, were there to be such a thing as an 'enlightened person' to begin with, which I don't think there is as part of a duality of 'enlightened vs non-enlightened' In fact, I would encourage people here to just do the goddamn inner work and drop the whole enlightenment game they're playing with themselves. I see it here way too much. The enlightenment-game is just another game that the ego-mind likes to play. The game that gets played in the mind about the topic of enlightenment is way different than doing the actual inner work that will facilitate the growth of your consciousness. The game that the mind likes to play of evaluation, comparison and judgement is simply just a sheer wastage of energy and time.

@Matt23 firstly, are you enlightened before teaching? One of the biggest worries for me in the Non-Dual community is the blind leading the blind. Basically people who aren’t even awakened/ fully awakened teaching people which brings with it a lot of risks. also, a lot of teachers tend to then lose focus on their own development and “crystallise” where they’re at often, so that’s something to consider. Most people will need some sort of theoretical Non-Dual understanding etc Things that helped me most- 1) Working 1-1 with a “Fully” awakened teacher (I class this as LOC 1000) 2) Spiritual Transmissions/ RASA 3) Enneagram work to learn my biggest pitfalls in awakening 4) Foundational Meditation/ Self-Inquiry work of course 5) Guided presence meditations, hard to explain mind of like walking through your true nature as presence There’s a lot more that helps on the path, but this has helped the most in my own awakening process. Good luck!

Ultimately I don't know enough enlightened heroin addicts to give a reliable answer but thought I'd play with the question a bit. If the addict declined the heroin, would it prove that they weren't addicted in the first place? Similarly, if the enlightened person took it, would it prove that they weren't enlightened in the first place? Maybe it depends on our definitions. If we define addiction as "inability to avoid something" and enlightenment as "awakened but might still have some addictions", then maybe we get one answer. If we define addiction as "tendency not to avoid something but might still be able to avoid it if lucky/determined etc." and enlightenment as "grasps the true self to the extent that extreme desire and physical needs are largely mastered" then maybe we get another answer. A key part seems to be "in the room" as I assume most people who successfully cease heroin consumption aren't locked in a room with it. I thought it was a nice question by the way. I hope the mods don't get a hold of it and lock it because it's not directly relevant to the average person's immediate personal development. Half the fun of learning is getting to ponder the unusual and quirky things that most people don't normally consider or pay attention to. This is partly why I like Actualized.org.

Your understanding of awakening is limited. Depending on how deeply craving is extinguished, an awakened person can not only say no to heroin but also deal with heroin withdrawal symptoms. I think people don't understand what the elimination of craving actually is. Also, remember that heroin addiction is overcome by people who have NEVER meditated. Just over time, with a lot of resistance, ordinary people do give up this substance. So we are not talking about a level of addiction so high that no ordinary person even has a chance of giving up. All 'addictive' substances (like heroin) has been overcome by ordinary people at some point in their lives. A deeply awakened person can give up any substance (including heroin) without suffering (or if unskilled with minimum suffering). This doesn't mean they wouldn't experience pain. They would. But they would momentarily ease into the experience of pain knowing that sensate reality is impermanent, occurring to no-self, and resistance to this sensation resulting in craving and suffering. If you couldn't deal with extreme cases like heroin addiction, then why even pursue awakening? The end of suffering is not a simple statement. It is a radical statement. A skilled meditator would also experience as much equanimity as possible with meditative joy as well depending on the severity of the pain. And again, depending on your skills, you can experience joy and happiness in spite of great physical and emotional pain. If I've done this with low levels of pain, then someone who is actually awake can do this with great pain. They would also have vastly improved skills in stable attention, mindful awareness, sensory clarity and equanimity than I do. Therefore, skillful practice even in heroin addiction (which has one of the most painful drug withdrawal symptoms out of all drugs) is possible for a deeply awake person.

It’s possible to become liberated anywhere. Some attain it through isolated circumstances while others attain it through interaction with others. From the Absolute “perspective”, circumstance is more of a correlation rather than a causation. This is why there’s no such thing as one objectively right way to become awakened.

@Red-White-Light By the sounds of it you haven't actually shattered your materialist paradigm. You may have had glimpses but to want to go back to duality as you describe, then somewhere along the way you have got confused. How did you shatter it, what practices did you do and/or are doing? You can't undo what you have seen. Perhaps you are oscillating between being awakened and being a human within the materialist paradigm. Keep going, dont give up, you'll see the light soon. ?

You are conflating *you and You* as well as *consciousness and Consciousness*. The term "conscious" is often used in the context of personal awareness. For example, "I am conscious of the pain in my shoulder, yet I am not conscious of what Vladimir Putin is thinking". This is the common usage we are all conditioned with. Consciousness is a term to point to the transcendent You that is Everything. So your question becomes "Why am i not conscious of Consciousness?". . . Because you have not awakened to You. . .

@mandyjw Yes, that is true. In reality we are not Christian and we are really nothing and everything. Sometimes I think about what Buddha said that if you meet the Buddha you have to kill the Buddha. I don't know if I can Kill Jesus really hehehe... because is always in the back on my mind. I think the indoctrination we get from church is crazy and in that sense is hard sometimes to not get attached to certain beliefs and dogmas. Yes, no problem. I will try to make it short, because I don’t want to hijack your thread. I will post in my diary a more detailed version of this experience, I will let you know if you want to read it. It was nuts hehehehe… But basically I asked in prayer to be “saved”. And I did it so intensely that something happened. I was not so sure about my beliefs so I wanted to know for once and all if I really was wrong or If there was any purpose to life, if Jesus was “the only way”, if Buddhism was wrong, etc. So, I read that Jesus said “Ask and it shall be given”, so I asked so much that one day it was given. I asked for salvation, I wasn’t sure if Salvation and Enlightenment was the same, so I did what it was safer for my beliefs at that moment, I asked for salvation, to be baptized with the holy spirit. And something happened, God listened to me hehehe... I was going to work and during my commute, I had an epiphany or as Jed Mc Kenna says I had T/R (“Truth Realization”). But it was partial. In the sense that I didn’t have any background about true spirituality, so I couldn’t understand what had happened. But anyway it was marvelous. And it was really Truth realization, the only problem is I didn’t know it at that moment. The first thing I had first of all Love for everyone that it was on the train. A super selfless love. And then I had a vision (or a shift in perception in reality) where I saw that everything is alive, and God was in everything. I saw energy all around me and I felt that all was connected. There was energy everywhere and it was running from one person to another, like if all of us were connected and one thing. I also felt like I was really alive, that before I was dead and now I was seeing really what is to be alive. But I still was in the old paradigm, that I was my thoughts, that I was separated from God, etc. In my arms I could see that energy running inside me, like if there was very brilliant water running through my veins. That made me remember what Jesus said that “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'" So one day I began to suffer the ego backslash. Now I know what it is, but at this moment I didn’t have any idea. And even today I was thinking about it and in reality the ego backslash was created by me, because it was what it was. IMO it was an awakening that my ego interpreted as something bad, but I will explain that in a moment. I lost control of my ego, the ego acted any thought that appeared or arose in me. And I didn’t know what it was me, what it was thought. So, I did funny things, I said a lot of truth but mixed with crazy stuff, like exaggerating, like I love you (but in a way that it seemed devilish). It was a psychotic episode. I went to the hospital and I ended up staying there like one week trying to go back to normal. I couldn’t think well, my memory was super bad. I forgot everything. And I had terrible nightmares. The nightmares where me going to die (hehehehe). What happened was that I become conscious of being in nothing, in a void. It was completely black, like in a blackout and I was conscious but I didn’t know what I was, I didn’t have any identity. And that consciousness began to fall into that black hole, at that moment I was consciousness but the ego was still there, and I was still identified with the ego. Now I know because of all the experience of ego death that I read, I know what it was what happened. But when it happened I remember telling my wife that it was the worst nightmare that I ever had. Now I know it was a blessing in reality!!! I was going to be awakened but I chickened out due to lack of knowledge! What I was trying to tell you Mandy is that you are right, what one person sees as bliss or tranquility other like me can see it as the devil, as hell. So I believe that we create hell, but in my opinion you with the knowledge that you have now, you are safe, you will never be in that “hell” hehehe… because you know is you who creates it so your mind will go to another place. That’s what I think. I watch with my wife a TV serie called Criminal Minds, and they write from time to time some quotes from famous people and I remember that they put in one of the episodes a quote that I think it has to do with all these, it said this: “Hell is truth seen too late.” ― Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan

It looks like you are reaching deep levels and developing mastery in this technique. It clearly has a lot of value - both spiritually and practically. I think it's super cool you are sharing your insights with the forum. Very few people have reached these "realms", partially because not everyone is willing or able to do the intense amount of practice required. Would you say that you have some predisposition abilities (genetics, childhood conditioning, ability to concentrate, mind structure) that may have allowed you to progress as efficiently as you have? Or do you think everyone has roughly the same ability/potential and it's just a matter of doing the work and having a good teacher? You are creating a construct of joy/happiness, neutrality and negativity. I'm totally into that. I find as much value in construction as deconstruction. Here, there are three categories: joy/happiness, neutrality and negativity. I like how you used this framework to describe aspects of attention, craving and awakening. It's a really nice framework. I'm referring to something different, yet I don't mean to suggest this idea is better, deeper or truer than what you offered above. And I don't want to distract from its value, so I'll be brief. We can use the categories of joy/happiness, neutrality and negativity as framework to construct - which you have done very nicely above. We can also deconstruct - which would take us to a different dimension. This dimension isn't better, worse or more awakened. It's just another form of ISness. . . The categories of joy/happiness, neutrality and negativity can be deconstructed down to one category : absolute Happiness. Here, there are no conditions or categories. So, the category of neutrality is absolute Happiness. The category of negativity is absolute Happiness. All conditions and mind states are absolute Happiness. This is just one of many "awakenings". As you have described, this absolute Happiness does not have much utility for spiritual awakenings, concentration, well-being, fulfillment in life etc. . . So it is equally valuable to construct. From absolute Happiness, we can create three relative categories: happiness, neutrality and negativity. With this framework, we can further create things that will bring spiritual awakening, meta awareness, well-being, attention, mindfulness and skills. It's beautiful. And I think what you are describing is beautiful. . . And quite advanced.

Funny... I just returned from a little stroll at the beach, and right before I got home, I was thinking about how the death of Jon Osterman / birth of Dr. Manhattan from the Watchmen movie is actually a pretty cool symbolization of ego death / spiritual rebirth (or rather of how a not awakened person might imagine spiritual rebirth) and that I absolutely need to start a thread and share this divine insight with you guys ASAP. - Now if that aint synchronicity, I don't know what the heck is, heh! "The Superman exists, and he is American!" Haha, that line makes me crack up every. single. time. LOL

@Nak Khid You don't need psychedelics to become awakened, but for some people, it really helps and is part of their paths, for others it isn't. Think about the 'Hippie' movement of the 60s, most of these did not become fully self-realized beings despite heavy psychedelic use, intention and setting also play key roles, I know a lot of people my age (20) who have used LSD and Shrooms a LOT and are certainly not enlightened, let a lone fully self realized. They aren't a magic pill, but can be used as a tool to help people on their journey. Like someone else said, there's no avoiding the inner work!

If leo or any other person can say something and change your life then you are definitely not awakened yet.

@The Awakened Viking Yes, Green has limitations, but why focus on them now? Orange and Blue have limitations too, and it's those limitations that we're seeing are causing all of the major problems around the world with climate destruction, rising nationalism, etc. At this point in history, it's Green that the world needs. Just because it isn't perfect, that doesn't mean we can't just ignore it or try and skip it ahead because Yellow sounds "nicer" or "more rational." Embracing and embodying Green is a crucial part of the development processes.

Is it important to connect with others on the spiritual path? To meet masters face to face? So far, Ive mostly been watching video’s, reading books, interacting on the forum. Not to forget practices ofcourse. Very little contact with awakened people, or people on a similar journey. Has it helped you to do so? In what ways?

What can we do in advance to make kundalini awakening smooth? I have never awakened my kundalini, but sometimes I feel heat in my spine.

@Bill W Thank you mate for approaching this in a rational and open manner and you are more than entitled to your opinion. I would say try less to focus on the number and what each stage represents. It is merely a map to help show students where they are at, as well as show where teachers you are learning from. Tbh I thought RASA was crazy and it took me 3 months to actually cough over the money and get started with the 1-1 sessions but I'm glad I did, I get your point and honestly reading the book 1000 by Ramaji will actually help clear a lot of that up, he goes over many taboo subjects such as the corruption of Spiritual Teachers including cases of sexual abuse and scandals, whether all the allegations are true is another matter. Some examples of these teachers are: Bentino Massano, Mooji https://gurumag.com/becoming-god-inside-moojis-portugal-cult/ These teachers are clearly enlightened but have they gone all the way and are they fully integrated into the heart? In my opinion they can't be if they. In terms of LOC's they are in the 700s. All 1000 represents is complete self realization and stabilization in the absolute, I am personally not there yet, but my existential experience is fucking amazing compared to when I started a confused seeker back in February. My recommendation to everyone has been to read the book fully, then feel free to praise or critique as you wish as I feel we can then have a much fairer conversation. This video from Ananda describes LOC's more succinctly and better than I ever could!- https://www.rasatransmissioninternational.com/what-is-loc I think the precise number have much littler value than the hundreds which for me provide the real value of showing how deeply someone is awakened, I feel awakening and enlightenment is much more nuanced than one simple awakening and that's it, even after reaching 1000 I know there will be years of work ahead of me in terms of integration and on my human personality- that work will never end! If you want to chat more feel free to PM me as I wrote this thread to help people as honestly this forum seems full of hardcore seekers just as I was before all this, this is the path that helped me and I hope it can help many others who are still seeking. It's amazing how simple it all is. Again, thank you for actually being respectful and honest, instead of just taking sly digs, I really appreciate that mate! Have a great week,and remember this moment is it

@whoareyou No I was saying that as most people here go through Leo for what they believe, I don't blindly believe it's a good book I read the book, have been receiving RASA and 1-1 sessions with Ananda since February and it has transformed my existential experience to say the least. I have dropped seeking, my love for life only deepens with every passing moment, the sense of peace in my experience is astounding me everyday. This is not ego games, this is simply pointing out not all awakened people have the same depth of awakening, I thought this was common knowledge, that 1 awakening isn't the end. Most teachers as I pointed out say there are stages to this awakening process. Another example of a model like this is the 10 Ox Pictures. Other examples are- Seven Valleys of Sufism, Patanjalis Yoga Sutras, Nisgardatta's I just quoted to name just a few. Please stop playing the superiority card here, all you have done is come here and call me nuts for showing the thing that has helped me awaken more than anything else, through receiving RASA and working 1-1 with Ananda. I have dropped my seeking, but the reason I made this thread as the majority of people here are still hardcore seekers like I was for 2 years, and some people are seekers for 50+ years. I would love to know your existential experience, without you acting superior and have an honest discussion, cheers.

@Dumuzzi The same "privilege" of heaven applies no matter what the religion, the idea that there is a cycle to break free of and one who can break free at all creates a game of winners and losers. Just because this is the thing that ruined Christianity for me says nothing about Christianity, it says something about the model of religion itself. The same exact problem exists in Buddhism, Hinduism, and Actualized.org. If God himself was ever whole and perfect and decided to disperse into this what we often call mess and chaos, and you are God, and were never separate but always whole and always that... how could you ever get to state of realization where you would not make the same choice again to disperse into illusory form? Illusory form, the world just is what it is this moment is just occurs on its own, it just is. The question is why pursue enlightenment, why does this story line play out of a singular being breaking the illusion then continuing their life in the illusion enjoying the coming and going of forms, enjoying the illusion of other beings who are completely caught in the illusion. Out of compassion one tries to teach others to follow suit, but there is no one to follow, there is nothing to achieve and there are no others to teach. Yet to story of teachers and insights and the notion of a spiritual path is probably the most tantalizing entertaining thing you could do with your life. But it is delusion? Should we all just admit, we're just here to have a good time? I never could understand why almost all the videos on America's Funniest Home videos were people getting hurt. Why is it funny to see someone trip and fall or have some bizarre accident and get hurt? Could my compassion and love strictly my ego? Is the will of God that I am able to laugh when someone suffers? Does God enjoy everything that's happening? I don't want that. I want to be sad for the movie characters. I want to be happy for them. I want to live in illusion and delusion, even after I've seen through it to the perfection of love, even after I've awakened and lived in a state of bliss and seeing through eyes of perfection, I came back to this because I chose it. I like it better. I prefer it.

If Enlightenment was a myth would you still mediate? Currently mindful meditation is quite popular. Traditionally it might be a part of a path to enlightenment and part of a lifestyle (forgive the term) of renunciation of wordy attachments but today it is also used just for the sake of stress reduction, relaxation or as a tool for focusing on becoming "successful" in a more mainstream sense on achieving goals of any type and not necessarily qualified by renouncing desires. As we know it can be relaxing and reduce stress but can also be boring and painful at times. Many people in this forum would still meditate even if it was certain there would be no enlightenment, by enlightenment I mean a revelation, a new perception that changes your life in a big way. Many people would still be content on doing it without a awakening experience for the sake of relaxation, stress reduction, concentration and goal setting. However I also notice a lot of people who are interested in enlightenment as primary to doing mediation and have been doing it daily or pretty regularly for a few years in some cases and some of these people are dealing with boredom and a feeling of not getting closer to their goal of being enlightened. So some of them have been practicing diligently for a while but do not feel these other non-enlightenment benefits are enough. If Enlightenment was a myth would you still meditate? I suspect some would not but I do not blame them. Everybody is different and we cannot assume that everyone who meditates are getting benefits that are enough to justify keep doing it. I would say a few years is plenty of time to asses if the benefits are worthwhile enough for a practical individual to keep doing it on a daily basis. _______________________________________________________________________ Another position someone might take is to meditate for the relaxation, stress reduction, concentration and to achieve goals and enlightenment might come one day but that is beyond one's control so you are just lucky if it happens to you. It is also interesting to note many Buddhist in Eastern countries don't even meditate and also interesting to consider spiritual teachers like Sadhguru and Eckhart Tolle and many others of the most famous spiritual teachers did not put in hard dedication to a traditional meditation practice. They were not monks or even lay adherents to a practice. Perhaps they were just born with it. Their stories are that they became awakened suddenly and were surprised by it. Assuming that enlightenment is a real thing and they are enlightened. There are Buddhist monks who say no one on the planet is currently enlightened. but others may think there are