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@Joseph Maynor For you, yes Don't worry, they will come back. Life goes on, even after enlightenment. Lots of enlightened folks are also deeply intellectual. You just gotta divide and conquer this thing first. Of course a lot of mental masturbation will fall away. But that should actually trim the fat off your intellectual pursuits and make it very potent. Why waste time studying bullshit? These days, a lot of books or papers I can't even be bothered to read, or some people I can't bother to listen to, because it's just such bullshit after you experience nonduality.

@Dodo Ah, thanks, Dodoster, for the compliment about my website. It is not very big and it is not growing rapidly, but boy, have I put in tons of time polishing up those essays. It sometimes surprises even me that I get inspired to rewrite an essay that I have had for years. This happened just last week when I took 4 or 5 days to rewrite this essay: Why Do We Call It Nondual Wisdom? https://infinitelymystical.com/essays/nonduality.html 4 pages

@Serotoninluv My opinion is this: The traditional "you" is an illusion and that means that it does indeed exist, but it exists in a deceptive way. First of all, the reality of what you commonly think of as "you" is indeed a person. What is the deception? It is not an autonomous being even though it looks like it is. It is not who or what you truly are in the most fundamental way. What you are fundamentally is Source-Awareness. As you know, I talk about this in many of my essays. By the way, I wrote the following essay two years ago but I recently rewrote it. Here is the link: Why Do We Call It Nondual Wisdom? https://infinitelymystical.com/essays/nonduality.html 4 pages Some of my points in that essay might be of interest to you. Best regards. In truth, I honor your divine nature. - Thomas Razzeto

@Joseph Maynor Hi Joseph. Thanks for taking the time to read some of my work. There might be more items of interest on my website. Below is a link to an essay that I wrote two years ago but I just spent about 5 days rewriting it. I just uploaded it yesterday. (Most people would be surprised that it takes me that long to rewrite a four page essay, but I just keep reading and editing until is feels done.) Anyway, here is the link: Why Do We Call It Nondual Wisdom? https://infinitelymystical.com/essays/nonduality.html 4 pages As I often say, this material takes time to sink in so no rush and no worries. All my best. In truth, I honor your divine nature Thomas Razzeto https://infinitelymystical.com/

@Serotoninluv You touched on a point that I am going to be a little picky about: (paraphrase) you said that if something is an illusion and doesn't exist, then why do we (etc). The correct definition of an illusion is something that exists in a deceptive way. I go into this (and much more) in the following recent post. The comments about correctly understanding what is meant by the word "illusion" is right in the beginning of the post: Now let's get to the main point you make about using "I," and "you" and so forth. I think it is perfectly fine to speak conventionally most of the time. For example, if you want to know if someone went to the beach (or whatever), just ask with conventional pronouns. Now, when it comes to what you truly are (fundamentally), well, by that I mean pure awareness, the power of sentience. This is the One Divine Awareness and "it" is the Source of everything. This is why my mentor, Timothy Conway, and I call it Source-Awareness. (Very few people in the so called nondual community use this definition, but that is a different and long conversation. Ha, I think it is very, very, very few people that use the phrase Source-Awareness but I really like it since it reveals the two capacities of this transcendent Reality. I go into that in many essays but especially the one titled The Loving Heart of Enlightenment.) Once you get the hang of it, you can easily tell from the context what is meant by the pronouns. Does a sentence make sense with the conventional understand? Yes? Then use the conventional understanding. So if you ask someone if they went to the beach today and they reply that they are the unborn formless Source-Awareness and can go nowhere, well, that is true in the larger sense but it is a dysfunctional reply since it does not address what was really being asked. I touch on the value of being able to use these pronouns and still hold the nondual perspective in the following essay, which I first wrote about two years ago but recently rewrote. Note the part where I talk about the sentence "I love you." Here is the link: Why Do We Call It Nondual Wisdom? https://infinitelymystical.com/essays/nonduality.html 4 pages You might find that essay helpful. All my best. In truth, I honor your divine essence. - Thomas Razzeto

Thank you. For the past few months, there have been some glimpses of awareness that seem nondual. Would you recommend pursuing teachings on nonduality / teachings from a nondual perspective? Or, is it more effective to continue with duality teachings with an awareness that it's from a non-dual perspective?

@egoless It's a tiny glimpse. Careful though, about chasing mystical states. That can be a big distraction. Your present experience -- regardless of state -- is already nondual. The most important thing is to realize that, so that you are conscious of nonduality 24/7, regardless of state. The Absolute is the Absolute always. It's true right now. It's was true during meditation. It's true after meditation. It's true while you're on the toilet. It's true when you're angry. It's true when you're happy. It's true when you're miserable.

do whatever amount you need to get a breakthrough. the type of experience you have with it evolves over time, but ya it does get easier, and enjoyable. anybody who is serious about using 5meo should read martin balls book : Entheogenic Liberation: Unraveling the Enigma of Nonduality with 5-MeO-DMT Energetic Therapy

@Ilya It's not easy. Also, every time I think I've arrived I realize that I am just at the beginning of this. I see now that this is a process that has to unfold or unravel -- pick your metaphor. I also see now that conditioning has basically fed the Ego into thinking of me as a self. I've always had a sense that there was something odd about me, and now I realize that in the back of my mind I always felt the nonduality tugging at me in subtle ways -- like in my 20's. Now I see why that was. We have convinced ourselves that we are selves! But it's all just beliefs overlaid on top of perception basically. I think you have to trip hard to really become aware of this fully. Be careful with psychedelics though folks. I don't think I would have ever gotten to this place had I not had that massive trip. The same Being I was there is the same Being I am here. And all I can do is be! What control is there to be had? I'm like watching myself do myself now. Now I see why this has to be done in steps. It would be too painful to go through Enlightenment all at once. Ya ever see the movie Alien? It feels like that. But I had a similar feeling back in March when I had my first big shift in the Ego unsettling process. It actually felt worse then. This one is more like a calm despair. That one was more like grieving a death. I just feel generally bad, not cheerful at all. But not depressed either. Just kinda moderately sick in some way. I think it's the loss of the illusion of control that is really hard to accept. And it's just weird to realize that what I thought was reality is basically just a movie -- just like when I had my trip. Same deal. I don't want anybody to hurt themselves with psychedelics, so be careful. But I have to say that that caused a big shift for me. You gotta really understand what Being is. Once you get that, that's when things start to happen fast. Once you see an error, you can't overlook it. Denial only works if an error is not fully seen or comprehended.

I've been to BM the last 2 years and no it's not ideal for enlightenment, though I've met a couple people into nonduality. There are thousands of different camps with people interested in different things, you just have to find the right ones for you. I recommend tripping and watching the sunrise (not directly). It's interesting to see when everyone is literally you and that most of everyone who is tripping also realizes that they are you. Only at an open and deserted place like burning man can I really open myself up when on psychedelics in public. I wouldn't go back though until I find the right camp to be with. I've thought of going solo but at an event this massive with 70,000 people it's nice to be with a small solid group that get nonduality. There are other festivals as well that support Green stage; Symbiosis, lightning in a bottle, Lucidity, Tribal Gathering,

Of course. You were literally Hitler. The only reason you have any knowledge of Hitler is because you are him. Consciousness happens through BEing. You cannot be conscious of a thing without being it. Literally. Ego denies this of course. That's what it means to create the self/other boundary. Nonduality = no boundaries When you can look Hitler in the eye and love him as much as you'd love your child, in that moment you will vanquish all evil in the world. But note: he might still throw you into a gas chamber. But you'll be at peace about it. You will understand why it is necessary.

@cavedraw1 Ime, anonymous or onymous aren't descriptive of the experience of oneness. The twoness is it's fantasy, that's nonduality. (God would be the second thing from your perspective in your post.) Rather than a God which assesses and judges and sees separation, I can only affirm to experiences of all is love to the question about spirituality. To experience the oneness, there is the giving up of the idea I am something else. The physiological realization of this is my connotation of what is referred to as the experience of ego death, synonymous with love. Godspeed on your journey! Great question.

@Pristinemn 1) That is fine, as long as you understand what you mean. The LP statement isn't for anyone else but you. 2) Well, what you're really talking about with "mystery-awareness" is "spiritual connection". It's the whole aim of spirituality and nonduality. You've only felt 0.001% of its full power yet. Wait till you experience the Absolute. It is 10000% "mystery-awareness". It is Sat-Chit-Ananda. It's that ineffable thing you're pointing to without fully realizing it yet. 3) Don't worry about the how. Just decide that this life purpose is what you want to devote your life to, and trust that your INTENT will pave the way. It will be a fun discovery process. You cannot know the path before you walk the path. Very important: YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW HOW. You merely need to get clear that this is the most important thing in life. The rest will follow. You're on the right track. Don't doubt yourself now.

Your question is very confused. I'm not sure what you're asking. Drop that whole life of thinking, and there's no problem. It's a good image to put into people's minds, because it subverts the norms of what happiness is. Too many to list here. It's not easy to give up a successful business. Many years have been invested in building it and I've made certain commitments. I don't fast. Yes, I eat animals, although I am in the process of reducing that. The entire world of social interaction is unreal. The people you think you're talking to do not exist! Yes, I've watched GoT. I would not be surprised if a hardcore mystic was able to transmute physical matter. Video games were my life purpose for most of my life. So I played a lot of them. They are addictive of course. I rarely play them these days. Having a life purpose, and getting into nonduality is a good way out of video games. Psychedelics Bed No No, I have zero desire for power over people. Sounds like you're treating awareness as "a state". Instead, notice that awareness is ever-present. You cannot not be aware. That's hard to define. Almost anything an increase consciousness. And people are so different. I tend to feel that you gotta go through whatever you gotta go through. Everything in life is a teaching moment. Even the things that seem like an utter waste of time turn out to be necessary. Of course you want to avoid nonsense like cults, conspiracy theories, etc, etc. But as far as spiritual techniques go, try whatever resonates with your highest intuition. Lucidity is a good word to describe it. If you just become conscious right now that you are alive, that's gives you a good pointer for what the essence of consciousness is. Consume tons of very diverse sources of information, including images, books, lectures, etc. No, it's never been a problem for me. 1) Not really. When taken PROPERLY, gradually, observing all precautions, there's very little risk. 2) I am against recreational drugs. They are totally different from psychedelics. 3) Direct consciousness is how I know. You can't understand what that is until you have some direct consciousness breakthroughs. 4) Not sure what your question is. YES! Of course just because the person is a successful doesn't mean he understands Absolute Truth. 5) It's a matter of what time-frame you look at it from. In the short-term consciousness is getting worse. In the long-term I think it's getting better. Technology tends to exacerbate problems of consciousness. Materialism, consumerism, and pragmatism are likely to lead to the collapse of the American Empire. Evolution tends to work in spurts, with occasional great cataclysms. 6) Yes, I am against such types of medication, except for very rare cases where people really have a physical disorder. 7) Probably won't talk about OCD for a long time because there are more important topics for me to cover and I'm not an OCD expert. Thanks I know I CAN. It's just a matter of whether I SHOULD. No Of course my life experiences totally shaped my current LP. Although I think no matter which jobs I held, I would have ultimately found my way to enlightenment. No Who has oral sex with a condom??? Life is a risky proposition. Yes, I am deeply concerned. Ecology is extremely important. Not just global warming, but a dozen other environmental problems that humans are doing. It's still possible global warming might turn about to have non-human causes, but that doesn't excuse all the pollution we're doing. The government should be making massive investments in clean energy and taxing carbon. 1) Probably not for a long time, since I got more central topics to cover. 2) No idea I have a long video called something like How I Lost 65lbs, where I talked about all the details. It was a long time ago. It's like asking, is every human a man, yet some don't have testicles? Enlightenment is a word which distinguishes one who is aware from one who is not. I'm not that great at eliminating distractions. I can work hard. But I have also wasted a lot of time on video games and TV, especially when I was younger. One advantage I have is that I deliberately keep my life pretty simple. I don't invest much time in: family, sports, friends, relationships, hobbies, partying, etc. My life is basically: work, personal development, philosophy, a bit of intimate relationships, some entertainment. It's an odd thing. Sometimes I do feel the love from you guys, and it feels good and exciting. But 98% of the time, I don't really feel it or focus on it. I am not that good at gratitude. I tend to be self-involved and focus on what I need to do, or contemplating life. Neither of which have anything to do with other people. The more conscious I become, the less I pay attention to what anyone says or thinks about me. All the external feedback I get is basically irrelevant. Some people hate me. Some people love me. But no one really understands me. It's all just people's projections. One thing I've been blessed to validate for myself over the last 5 years is that fame is completely fake. It has zero positive effect on one's happiness. I can see how some people get trapped into chasing it if they aren't careful or consciousness. I'm sorta doing a long-distance thing at the moment. It's my real name.

Life is so utterly meaningless, it is meaningful. Life Purpose is about how to construct meaning in your life. Is a construction you make! All meaning, purpose and value is constructed by the human mind and is not found in reality out there. Meaning is relative and therefore, not absolute. Meaning is a conceptual construction and not inherited in reality. You will experience massive growth and maturity if you realize this truth but before this you will have to experience a little bit of depression and nihilism. All meaning can only mean something for a who – a perspective or organism. There isn’t meaning in the abstract hanging around. A thing can only be meaningful for another thing; it is about benefits and harms. Who can arbitrate what is significant or not? This stuff is all relative. Significance is relative to survival, specially your own self-survival. The problem with meanings is that they can conflict with each other. Each self has different meanings. Why this is so significant? - It includes all notions to good and bad. - All notions of positive and negative. - All priorities you assign for life. - There is no sense of life. - It includes your goals, including saving humanity and so on. - It includes all notions of worth, including self-worth. - It includes notions of better and worse. Life is meaningless! Everything you love and admire don’t have a concrete meaning. Everything is completely meaningless. Meaning vs Meaninglessness is a duality. In Nonduality, there is no meaning. Your mind/ego projects meaning into reality to survive. God doesn’t discriminate. For him, everything is cool. From God’s point of view, everything is Being. Being has no purpose, value or meaning. Being’s purpose is to be. And Being is infinitely more profound than meaning. When you strip meaning, you are left with Being, which is far more profound than meaning. Meaning in your life has become toxic, far more than you need for self-survival, and you suffer because of it. When you don’t get what you want you suffer, but this suffering is created solely by you. But this process of desires and meaning will never satisfy you. There are two ways to construct meaning 1- Unconsciously: The process mentioned above. 2- Consciously: When you realize the true nature of meaning, you develop the necessary maturity to create meaning consciously. Objections · Isn’t it the case we see progress within evolution? Isn’t evolution progressing to something? Progress is always towards more Being. Progress is a relative notion. Being it is what it is. Meaning will never satisfy you! Being will. · This is so negative! Negative is meaning! Meaning is meaningless! · How am I supposed to use this? This is incredibly practical. It will undermine your ego-driven lifestyle. If you are fully in touch with Being, you will be infinitely happy and satisfied. · Now there is no reason to take action! There was never a reason to do anything. If you act from Truth – without needing anything – you will do things you intend to do. You are free to play the game however you want. You can grind through life or you can free yourself and play ? · Should I have no value nor purpose? No, meaning, value and purpose are still necessary. Life Purpose is very helpful and practical. You just need to realize that this is also a construction and you will not become a slave to your purpose. Spirituality is nihilism actualized. And spiritual people act by spiritual values but just because they realized that everything is meaningless. When you get in touch with Being, it is so awesome that you will want to be loving, happy, fulfilled, passionate, etc.

@Nahm But their individuality/personality is also only appearing in you. It's a facet of you. It's like: "Oh, I can be this way. and this way. and this way. and WOW! I didn't consider I am this too!" When you say you have levels of them in your mind, isn't it all you dividing yourself into levels? On the other hand, if I only take the ontological reality without buying into the mind, it's basically a variation of solipsism. which I notice my mind wants to go there sometimes out of fear of the other. -The other- is a complex phenomenon. How do you reconcile -the other- with realizations of no objective world existing, and nothing outside of experience existing? Where is the other?? And what is the difference between -the other- in a dream and -the other- in "normal" reality? Thank you! You always get me interested to learn more about quantum physics Because of your descriptions it seems that is has actual value in life. Often I see the mentality "This is what we found out about reality in our experiments. Now let's get back to "real life" and act as if nothing happened and that it only applies to the laboratory!" @Natasha Yea, I think empathy is really the degree of being able to connect with another. Connect to their feelings/emotions/thoughts. The greater the degree of "strangeness" or separation, the lesser the ability to connect and empathise and the more fear one feels. The question is: What is this connecting really? On what dimension does it take place? And can we ever be entirely free of the feeling of separation? Nonduality says yes. But I don't know to what degree this is an idealistic absolute statement. In the end we still have to defend ourselves if someone attacks our body physically. Thank you!

Mathematics based on beliefs? Human invention? I don't see that. Mathematics is discovered, not invented. If aliens discover mathematics, they would have it, if they don't, they wont. I'm not saying primitive in negative sense, but this is just the reality of the story of evolution. Humans are more intelligent than other species on Earth - fact (based on our definitions - without definitions we would not be able to communicate this so let's respect them a bit). If intelligence is a bad quality, then we are at the bottom of the hierarchy - I dont kniw whether it's good or bad or both or neither. I don't care to be at the top or bottom. Put me anywhere. On this forum I've posted that this is the planet of the bees one time anyway, so I don't consider humans at the top anyway. But still a human would beat a bee in a spelling bee. A bee would beat a human at pollinating flowers. If crows or any other animals grow up to be more aware of their own existence, mathematics will soon be discovered. It's a simple counting that starts it all off. It's based on observations. I guarantee, 1+1 will always be 2. Place one rock next to the other. How many rocks do you have? What did you invent for this to be the case? It would be so even if you didn't understand the symbols. Maths is definitely a discovery. The symbols are invented, what they point to are discoveries. Nonduality symbols too are invented, what they point to is discovery.

Its all a dream-like existence with logic. I've got this realisation, because my dreams have been getting so realistic, that there is absolutely no difference in experience, except that here it is longer and follows certain rules. Tibettan Budhism has a section all about dreams. They are extremely helpful companions and teachers in the Hero's journey. You can make far more spiritual growth within your dreams than in real life exactly because this logic section of mind is switched off. Where infinite potential meet infinite knowing. 0 (0%) is infinite potential, 1(100%) is infinite knowing meet in nonduality, then the Holy True Love relationship is formed. And we experience bliss within the dream.

@Joseph Maynor That is why we each must walk our own unique path. No path is right or wrong. It's Allah's will no matter which fork in the road you take. Ignorance needs room to play itself out. Which is fundamentally why we must be tolerant of all people and why nonduality wars are silly.

Yes, for course, a master would never talk about Trolls, cause you'd call him fucking crazy. Masters withhold a lot. But that is not my style. I like to spill the beans and let people deal with it. I like to be provocative. Calling it "nothing" gets one reaction out of people. Usually a nonchalant reaction. (Because the signficance hasn't been registered yet.) Calling all of reality a hallucination gets a totally different reaction out of people. Usually one of "What the fuck???!!!! Nooooooo!!!!!!!!!" They both mean exactly the same thing. But the problem is, it takes a long time for people to make all the interconnections and trace out the absolutely mindblowing consequences of nonduality. Yes, it's all a hallucination. How else could you transcend death? How else could you attain eternal peace? Only by realizing all is hallucination. If there was anything real, you would be a slave to it. There could be no liberation. The word "hallucination" is actually very precise. A hallucination is defined as an appearance without substance. That's what everything is, appearance with nothing behind it. That is mysticism 101. Or idealism 101. If it is palatable, it's because you're still steeped in the naive realist paradigm. It's a really hard one to shake. Of course the ultimate nature of reality isn't even a hallucination. It would be most accurate to call it: undefined. But "hallucination" gives a better sense of what it feels like. Of course all words are merely metaphors. Each one of you could have different metaphors you favor.

It doesn't matter what I believe. I've experienced nonduality.

@Juan Cruz Giusto It's no accident you don't agree. That's the only thing separating duality from nonduality. You are grossly underestimating this thing called "enlightenment".

All distinctions are illusion! Hello??? What do you think NONDUALITY means? Lol ONE, as in not two. Not distinct. Everything distinct is relative!

I see a lot of folks here triggered by this notion of "hallucination". Good... that means your web of belief is being disrupted. Definition of hallucination from Google: "an experience involving the apparent perception of something not present." That is PRECISELY, EXACTLY, LITERALLY what all of reality is. Something which is nothing. Stop arguing about nonsense and go self-inquire (or do some 5-MeO) and see for yourselves. Hallucination = Illusion = A Dream = Maya = Idealism = Infinite Mind = Enlightenment = God = I AM = The Self = No Self = Nirvana = Buddha = Christ = Shiva = Shakti = Void = Reality = Truth = Absolute = The One = Nonduality = Duality = Being = Infinity = Consciousness = The Dao = Mu Ya'll got some silly notions of enlightenment. "All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream." -- Edgar Allan Poe

Watch out for your assumptions. I am not making appeals to "spiritual masters" as dogma or putting them on pedestals. It's quite clear that hardcore meditators and advanced yoga practitioners with 30-40 years of experience have way deeper mastery of this stuff than Martin and have seen things and can do things which Martin may not be able to imagine. I have enough experience and foresight to tell the difference. Just because I have a friendly interview with someone doesn't mean I agree with everything they say, or that their views are the end-all-be-all. Why would you make Martin Ball the arbiter of things? Nonduality is not the only thing in question here. Lol, and just how am I supposed to act if reality is a hallucination? Should I be wearing a clown hat and running naked around the streets? Just because it's a hallucination, doesn't mean anything behavioral. Your hand would still burn if you stick in the fire. That's all part of the hallucination. The problem is that people hear "hallucination" and they get silly images in their mind of "anything goes". Like you can walk through walls and eat poison and nothing will happen. No, shit will happen. If "you get shot in the head", the hallucination called "your life" will "end". If you want to understand the entirety of the spiritual domain, you're gonna need a much more openminded and inquiring attitude. Picking one person and following everything they say it not gonna cut it. I have a meta-approach. I study and cross-reference dozens of sources and schools against my own experiences and deductions. Anyways, investigate for yourself. Any advanced practitioner will tell you reality is a hallucination. I'm not saying anything new. There are WAY more incredible things than that to discover.