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Notice how the bliss lasts a little bit after you wake up. Keep extending the bliss, a little bit longer each morning, hold on to it, how would you do that? Practice. That bliss is a message.

Bliss is when you don't have a dog in the fight in the Dream. You can stand back and watch the magic show all the time, rain or shine.

I just wanted to share this tip, which was revealed for me on the 'spiritual path', for people who are struggling with their LP and for everyone really. For me now its more obvious than ever what is hero's journey really, what is higher calling, why life is about sacrifice, and love, and why people are so hungry for meaning and high purpose in life. Basically, everyone was born with specific task/mission/purpose in life. You seek purpose and higher meanings because God makes you to seek it. All of your given talents, inclinations, main interests and FEARS, especially those that come from childhood - all that were given to you not by mere accident, but by purpose. Your specific mission is dependent on having tools such as your talents and deepest interests, and it has to do with your specific fears which will direct you on the path. You need to find your LP within your soul/higher-self/your inner teacher, its already there inside of you, just calm down all of your thoughts and desires (ALL OF THE DESIRES) to be able to see it. And when you will experience higher calling which will come from your soul, you will eventually start to see how your whole life and your personality and all the dots connect with each other. It won't be rationalizing but intuitive understanding. This calling isn't some desire to create nice life, it actually doesn't feel like desire or even like typical life goal. Its coming from your heart, so it doesn't have flavor of desire, but it has flavor of huge sense of commitment, as if you are being pushed to do it, and deep need to sacrifice yourself for this mission. Yes, you were born to sacrifice your life to work towards this purpose. Thats your redemption of having gift of life. Literally, after your doubting mind will calm down you will feel more and more that you are ready, in some sense, to give out your physical life, your own ambitions, all the time you have left with, just for this mission. And this purpose has nothing to do with fulfilling your own ambitions and reputation. Moreover, its likely that you won't receive any praise, goodies related with your self-image and understanding of other people. Rewards will still drive you and hopes for the better future too, but they will be secondary coz your main reward is immediate, it'll be in the moment of doing your thing. Its not your typical sense of passion, drive or motivation, its much more subtle, calm and fulfilling. And now all the sufferings of life will be handled better and make some sense, they will be justified. Now you will really grow, understand life, have joy and be a hero. Hero has troubles and demons to kill and tasks and responsibilities, but he has deep fun and joy and love in doing all of that. Learning how to be happy in the midst of misery - that is one of the greatest wisdom that hero myths taught us. Moments of fear and slaughtering dragons are no longer meaningless like before. Now things have eternal meaning. In the beginning you will think that you are saviour of the world or hero, but soon you will drop any egoic ideas about your self-importance. You will just do your thing day by day, following whatever your intuition, heart, soul tells you to do, without looking too much into the future. Your soul won't tell ya future, but it can be your guide in the present moment. And, unlike your brain, it doesn't make mistakes. Think about Christ, he died, might seem unfair, but it wasn't mistake or for nothing. It was fair and meaningful. So devote yourself fully to your intuition and soul, they won't make mistakes. You will find the greatest freedom in being slave of God, however uncertain it might sound. And faith will come to you spontaneously. You will see that you are ready to live in solitude, with patience, without material goodies, ready to suffer just for this mission. And well you won't necessarily die like Christ because in modern days its usually not about putting yourself in dangerous situation. But you certainly will feel constant series of ego death and resurrection, because its essential for you to grow. This mission has to do with something which isn't you, something beyond yourself, usually it is specific task that you do for the good of other people. And its usually has to do with combination of your biggest love and interest in life + 'uplifting humanity' or survival of humanity. Which made me to think that human evolution itself is a part of this same force. Evolution is God's plan for the better future or heavenly future of humanity which won't happen soon, but you can make it a bit closer coz you are playing your role in it. Heaven on Earth - thats God's goal, believe me or not. So the reason of your unnecessary or inauthentic suffering is that you still didn't accept that calling. And your whole life is a sequence of same signs that point to this same thing. And life will break your heart, make you suffer and feel empty unless you finally accept that calling. There's phrase: God breaks your heart until you learn how to keep it open all the time. Mind will always talk about meaninglessness of all this staff, and that its bullshit and reality is an infinite playground and doesn't exist, and make you to think about having pleasures and having fun and doing whatever you desire. Thats devil's advocate. And thats the whole trick and the whole game. Thats ying-yang. The whole point is to learn how to harmonize mind and soul. Have a sense of playground and fun with responsibility and purpose. Meaning and purpose aren't from mind and for mind, its from soul and for soul. Meaning and purpose isn't verbal, its subtle feeling. Its beyond words. Thats why life is meaningless and meaningful in the same time. Meaningfulness is feeling or higher feeling, not justifications and rationalizations. Meaningfulness is something we can feel, not think. If we think about life then sure we'll come to conclusion that its meaningless and purposeless. But think about it, so what if it doesn't exist? So what if its a dream? Thats all we have, whats your argument really? Non-existing dream is only reality, so be it. It doesn't mean that there's no meaning in this non-existing dream, see? Thats precisely the whole point of having manifested reality, God telling stories to himself. Everything is information, and information is inherently has meaning. Your DNA is a meaning in itself, code is meaning itself. Music is meaning itself. Forms are meanings itself. Its not rational and verbal, its completely irrational and non-verbal. First and foremost its a sense of meaning and purpose or lack of that sense, while rationalization of meaning or no meaning comes after. Animals do have sense of meaningfulness, thats why they try to survive, they just don't rationalize it. If you are tricked by mind you will go and fulfill your sensual desires and dismiss calling, but then life will hit you over and over again. God is so fair, you don't yet imagine. Once you learn rules, the idea is clear: to be observer and participant of the story, both in the same time. Kids listen to fairytale and in the same time they imagine that they are inside of the story. So your task is to be both storyteller or story-creator and story-iistener or story-observer. Good thing is that the more able you to follow your mission the easier, more effortless life will be. Everything you need for this purpose will be provided to you without much hustle. You might think its by accident, but no, its God leading you. And the best thing is that your purpose will have to do with things that you love most in your life. You love them not by accident, you were born to love these things. And these things are not always fancy or popular for others. This is what Jo Campbell called as follow your bliss. He loved to read myths, and in the end it was his purpose, to write about it, and now the whole world benefits from that. Is it fancy, profitable or cool thing - to read myths? Nah, but he loved it. LP is what you like to do when no one looks at you. So it can be really nice thing, its sacrificing your made-up desires, ideas and purposes for the sake of your real purpose. Of course, you might want to start with your made-up purpose first and it can lead you to real purpose. But anyway, you should calm down your mind and listen to your soul/heart/higher-self, however vanilla it might sound to you. There is master Yoda inside of you! He knows what to do. Find him. Start with questioning your whole life from your very birth, start questioning meaninglessness of short-term existence of human life, meaninglessness of accumulating staff and money and career and pleasures. And start moving towards eternity, make eternity your end goal, and meditate.

I just wanted to see if anyone else is struggling with an up and down journey to their awareness/consciousness...self inquiry. I have had very significant experiences that I believe were close to understanding what this thing called "life" is all about. I have had at the most 3 weeks of unbelievable calm and bliss and being so grounded and unaffected by anything. It was as if nothing was wrong or right it just was the way it was and I accepted it all with no inner conflict or struggle. That happened in 2008 for me. Since then, I recall a couple of other times where I didn't need any more answers...I wasn't seeking anything...I understood enough. There was nothing left to learn or know and I felt at complete peace and I felt so different and I just expected to always be like this. Watching the water droplets come out of the kitchen faucet. Looking....really deeply looking at nature and appreciating a blade of green grass poking through an icy snowy patch or ground. The different sounds of birds and dogs and footsteps. It was as if I was in tune with every single thing around me and I could identify 5 6 or 8 sounds at once and they all seemed to fit together seamlessly....as if it was all in harmony, like pieces of a puzzle. Then, somehow, i'm sucked back through a vortex and within a certain amount of time, almost asleep to everything I just experienced. Why does this happen? Even though I seem to forget, I also remember at some point and I come back again to what I know and believe but it's as if I am fighting a war to try to get back to the knowing that I have experienced. This is so frustrating and when this happens, I feel like I keep failing myself. Sometimes I can go weeks without realizing that I am living a waking dream and just acting out an old story line with the same old characters in the same old play and suffering through things I have already suffered through. It's like, how can I not learn after what I have experienced. Where is this battle coming from? Can I just not stay status quo so to speak? Why do I keep losing ground and then have to climb back up the mountain over and over again?

@BjarkeT cal newport is really dogmatic about not following your passion. really looks like he was pushing an agenda about that. rest of the book I like, but when he said that passionate ppl arent as happy, if you look at the study he references, it was a poorly related study with a sample size of less than 24 people. btw, why do you say that elon musk and albert einstein were not passionate about their fields? and Brian Johnson (the guy you linked in the video) is all about following your passion & bliss listen to newports argument on why not to follow your passion and see if it holds up against reality with love

Do both. I had the same, wasn't sure, and my 'bliss' came to me. This bliss was music! And then I knew. So the answer appeared right when I stopped pushing for it. Also what about 100milion dollar question? Ask it yourself!

During awakening there was a burst of repressed energy released. I don't recall any shaking. It was like my body was being destroyed. It was kinda like holy shit whats happening(in a funny way) rather than terror or bliss. After the awakening everything settled down and I entered into abiding non dual awareness.

Getting blown away with huge amounts of energy, spontaneous shaking, extreme amounts of bliss and perhaps even terror.

Has anything changed energetically after awakening? Any kriyas? Any weird paranormal things opening up? Bliss radiating out of the heart?

Letting go fully. That's it. Just resting as Awareness. Not as attached to the fluxing Dream. It's like I'm always meditating or something. Just peace and stillness and mild bliss. I don't have any more illusions of control within the dream anymore. So, it's just a surrender to reality. There never was a me doing anything in the first place. But what is missing is the illusion of Ego -- the illusion of control, doing, and conceptual-knowing. The illusion of being an actor in the dream who is trying to understand the dream. No. I am simply Atman, or unchanging Awareness.

I just cling to life much less seriously because I realize there is no Egoic me acting in it. Reality is gonna play itself out whatever way it does without any of my Egoic control. So, nothing I do is gonna change my life. All I do is rest in peace and bliss in detached awareness. It's been that way for a while for me now. At least a month, maybe two months. I've recently changed my Enlightenment theory a little bit and improved it for the better. But the moment I started to rest as awareness and let go, that was basically when I hit the Enlightenment jackpot. Everything else has been just a refinement of that. Getting the theory together to communicate that process to someone else, basically. It's been cool to develop my own theory so when I explain Enlightenment I can do it in my own words. But, keep in Mind, Enlightenment is simply resting as Awareness, nothing more, nothing less. Everything else said is just a conceptual exposition of this. And notice that Resting as Awareness is not a controlling, doing, or conceptual-knowing! So, you can see why concepts are technically irrelevant to Enlightenment. You really don't need them. But we are so trained on concepts that we need to use concepts to get out of concepts! So we do have to deal with concepts in this work very heavily. Otherwise nobody would ever become Enlightened! They would never get out of their concepts. So, life is a Dream that just runs on its own. Just sit back and watch. Enjoy your story, whatever that may be! It looks like I'm gonna be one of those annoying Enlightenment people haha. That's a trip. I never thought this would be what I became -- because I never had any control! See? It's so obvious to me now. There is no Egoic me -- literally no Egoic me. It's that simple. Enlightenment becomes simple when you get to the advanced stages of this work. Enlightenment becomes simple when you get to the advanced stages of this work -- but its extremely complicated in the early stages. That's because you have a lot of ignorance when you start the path, mostly of a conceptual sort. You've been programmed with a lot of concepts that you need to begin to examine. That takes hard work and some time to do! Everybody starts this path and this work in the weeds. Best advanced Enlightenment video I've ever seen:

It might be helpful to look at this a different way. The peace, calm, love, bliss that you want to “get back to”, has been there all along. It never leaves and returns. It is all things, it is you. The shiny things and dilemmas of the illusion can so easily trigger our thinking about it. Then it’s even easier to unconsciously identify or form a preference, a thought. I am finding deeper embodiment by proactively surrundering preferences. Food for example. I eat what is best for the body. I honestly lost preference for taste a while back. Not that I don’t appreciate taste, but “consciousness” as in beingness, is all, taste is illusion. So I surrendered it. Fitness is the same. I surrendered my preference and do what is best for the body. Relationships are the same. There is an epiphany of no self, and there is a ‘life’ of selflessness, and no, or as little as possible, preference relative to “my” body mind being the center or point of the relativity. I am finding this to be embodiment, and it is blissful. Ironically, the relativity of all ‘things around the body mind’ is revealed, as in a trip peak. I also have found that all is forgotten during a night’s sleep. When I wake up, I sit and do nothing. Staying in the all is forgotten. No talking, no watching anything, no thoughts. Within just a few minutes the bliss fills the body mind, as it is empty, void of subtle conditions. The nature of unconditional love is unconditional. It is unconditional to the bod mind, so only in complete surrender is it present. So essentially, try, upon waking everyday, complete surrender, complete body and mind surrender, before any activity at all, even observing. When there are no conditions of the person body mind, then their is only unconditional love. To your previous post, consider there is no soul, no human, no dimensions, no God, no universe. Nothing. It’s hard to communicate the full extent of nothing in body mind, and therefore no preferences or concept of these things, but that is when what is unconditional can be. It is always being, it’s the ‘anything added’ that get’s our attention.

@Leo Gura Hmmm. Thanks for cutting to the chase....I can see what you are saying and I am in agreement with it. The issue seems to be that it was my assumption that if I understood enlightenment the way it is described by many teachers, it appears as if it IS the catalyst to throw someone into the bliss and peace of knowing that all is one and everything is infinite and that when you literally experience this as close as we can get in human form to knowing the truth, the self as we have known it and all of its silly quirks and issues and petty unimportant mundane problems would drop away and that things would be without conflict because of the enlightenment experience and knowing the infinite nature of existence. How stupid and unrealistic this seems to be. This was my problem and why I felt so neurotic after experiencing that peace because I wasn't able to walk around with a smile nodding at everyone and agreeing with everything. My expectations were wrong. I fell into a simplistic view that enlightenment or the glimpse of it meant the end of the suffering fool living out a dream in physical form. I finally feel that there is something that I can work with here. The truth shall set you free ....but we are still living with a self that requires tending to. We still have to live within certain boundaries to be a part of society so we can function in this form. It makes sense that it would not be an instant fix but rather something that is so eye opening and so conscious that we could shift our thinking and habits to align with what we have realized. I don't have the most analytical mind and I don't conceptualize things as well as others but is this what you mean? If I am on the right track, then I can actually work towards trying to align my self with what I know to be truth and try to live as consciously as I can. Emotional triggers is the biggest issue for me and throws me back into insanity. I catch myself in unconsciousness countless times per day. I have woken up enough to see the insanity going on in my head and around me so I am able to do that, but I am still unconscious far too much for my liking. Yes the self is one stubborn bastard! lol!

@smd Enlightened folk aren't speaking from a belief system when they say all of reality is an illusion, or that it's a dream. They're speaking from experience. Sure, if the unenlightened folk intellectualize this point, it's simply buying into a belief system. However, this argument is like Leo saying personal development works, and as a newbie for example, you're writing it off as a belief system, and therefore it shouldn't even be considered as a pursuit in your life. There are a number of enlightened folk on this forum who became enlightened in much less than 20-40 years of 'work'. Some realized liberation as young as 16, and others began and realized it only in their 20's. I can't agree with this all-or-nothing perspective: Either LP and fulfillment or no LP and no fulfillment. Many enlightened folks themselves don't even a solid direction of where their lives are headed in the next month, let alone 10 years from now, because they are utterly immersed in the present moment. Yet, simultaneously, they do what they desire at each moment, and paradoxically, their actions culminate/add to a life purpose as perceived from the 'outside' over time. Eckhart Tolle and other spiritual teachers are doing just that. To ignore the facts of our reality (i.e. that you don't exist), which you can prove to yourself, and wisdom of wise others, has the potential to lead to delusion and further suffering. The reality is, that there is no one who is pursuing a life purpose, or not pursuing one. However, it doesn't hurt if the body is fulfilling upon its highest desires at each and every moment. In this way, I think @Nahm's general advice is good: do what you want. You can still live a life purpose by doing what you desire in each and every moment, even having never taken an LP course. If you desire to master a skill for its own sake, great! Do that. Follow your bliss, and don't take things so seriously In this way, chopping wood and carrying water today is still chopping wood and carrying water tomorrow. I just think it's more nuanced than this harsh attitude of all or nothing, while I do understand that perspective because I was there too. I'd love to hear feedback on these thoughts. Cheers.

@Slade Follow your bliss

Religion is dead. It has really lived too long, it should have been dead long ago. It has not done any good to humanity, it has done immense harm. It has divided humanity. It has given different groups of people the idea that “You are the real people of God,” that “You are special; other human beings are second class.” It has fulfilled the egos of Jews, of Christians, of Hindus, of Mohammedans – of everybody. It has created so many wars. It has killed millions of people, burned thousands of people alive, and all in the name of God. For your own sake you are being burned alive! Religion is one of the most criminal phenomena that have existed in the world. It is time that we declare it dead. But remember, every death is a beginning of something new; every death is not an end. On the one side it looks as if something has ended, but on the other side something fresh starts growing. The death of religion becomes the beginning of religio. The word “religion” comes from religio. Religio has a beauty of its own, which is lost in “religion.” Religio means an existential, an experiential phenomenon. The very word means coming to a point where you are one – one with yourself, one with existence. Religion which comes from the same root does not have that meaning. It, on the contrary, makes you split. Making you one is not its work; its work is to make you schizophrenic, to put you into a split state, to put you against your own body, to put you against your own sex, to put you against yourself; to divide you into parts, fragments, and create an inner conflict in you. All religious people are continuously fighting with themselves, because their biology says to do something, and their holy scripture says to do just the opposite. Their own being wants to grow in one way, but the priests direct them into some other way. Every religion has been trying to make you somebody else. No religion has allowed you to be just yourself. They are all afraid of your being just yourself; then their function is lost. Their function is to create conflict in you, to make you miserable, suffering, in anguish. Then naturally you have to seek help. They create the disease, and then they start praying for you to be forgiven. They are the criminals, and they are asking for you to be forgiven. And whom are they asking? There is nobody. So it is really a great exploitation by the priesthood of all the religions. They have destroyed every individual. They have made you Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, but they have not allowed you to become just an individual, a human being. You were born not as a Christian, you were born not as a Buddhist; you were born just as a human being. They have destroyed your innocence; they have misdirected your life. They have molded you into something which you cannot become; it is not your potential. This is not religio. Religio is accepting you in your totality, making you whole, healthy. And that opens the door to become one with existence. You are part of it; every moment you are part of it. You are breathing existence in and out every moment – you are eating it, you are living it in every possible way. No man is an island, we are all part of an infinite continent; that’s what I am calling existence. Religio will relax you. Religio will give you, for the first time, the dignity of being a human being, and the vastness of being part of the whole existence. Religion is dead, religio is born. Religion is something like marriage: unnatural, arbitrary, artificial, created by social convenience. Religio is like love: natural, simple. No law is involved in it; no society, no culture dominates it. Love is a law unto itself, and love gives you something that is immensely precious. You start feeling needed. You are not superficial, you are not just accidental; you are needed, you are fulfilling some essential need. Love gives you the first glimpse that existence wants you the way you are. There is no need to become Jesus Christ or Gautam Buddha. Nature does not like carbon copies. Existence likes originals. You, in your originality, are acceptable. But a Christian is a carbon copy; he is trying to become Jesus Christ, and in two thousand years not a single Christian has succeeded. In twenty-five centuries not a single Buddhist has succeeded in becoming Gautam Buddha. Is it not proof enough? You can go even further backwards. In five thousand years, no Hindu has succeeded in becoming a Krishna. It is simply impossible. Nature never repeats. They say history repeats itself – because history is not nature. History belongs to carbon copies, retarded people; naturally it repeats itself. They don’t know what else to do, so they go on doing the same thing again. Nature is very inventive. It does not create even two persons equal, even similar. There are four billion people on the earth today, but you cannot find two persons who are exactly alike. Even twins are not exactly alike. They may appear to be, but their mother knows who is who; their wives know who is who. There are differences – very subtle. Outsiders may be puzzled, but those who know them closely can see the differences in their individuality – in their gestures, in their way of speaking, in their way of thinking, in their way of walking – in small things. But the differences are bound to be there. Religion has tried a very futile experiment, and almost destroyed humanity for thousands of years. The death of religion releases you from becoming somebody else. Now you can enjoy being yourself. We can call our commune, religio – a mystery school, a way of searching for one’s own spiritual being, a way of discovering one’s original face. Nobody has to become anybody else. And you are asking me, “God is dead, religion is dead, then what is left now?” In fact, those were the hindrances, which are removed, and everything that is essential is available now. Now you can be yourself without any guilt. Now you can be simply a human being without belonging to any organized religion. The moment truth becomes organized, it becomes untrue. I am reminded of a beautiful ancient story. A newly-recruited devil came running to the master devil, huffing and puffing, and said, “Something has to be done immediately! One man on the earth has just found the truth! And if he spreads it, what are we going to do? Our whole business is finished! He has to be prevented.” The old man laughed. He said, “You are a new recruit; you don’t know – my people are already there.” The young devil said, “Your people?” He said, “Yes, my people. The priests are already around the man, and they are organizing whatever he has found. That is my way of destroying truth, and it has never failed; for centuries I have been doing that. The priests – all the priests – are in my service! They don’t know it, but the moment truth is organized, it dies.” Why does truth die when it is organized? It dies because it is an individual experience. Can you organize love? Nobody has ever thought about it; otherwise it would have died. You cannot organize love. Love is something that transpires between two individuals. It does not need any priest, it does not need any book of instructions. When I was studying in the university I used to have a roommate – he was a little bit of an idiot, just the same as people are all over the world. He asked me, “Everybody talks about the fact that he has fallen in love, and some girl has fallen in love with him. It seems we are the only two persons in this whole university…. About you there is no problem, because you don’t want anything to do with any love, any woman, because you think they will be a distraction in your search. I don’t know what you are searching for, but I am at a loss. I want to fall in love. But how to fall in love? I have been to the university library looking for a book, HOW TO FALL IN LOVE; there is not a single book on the subject. And I cannot ask anybody else, because they will simply laugh. If everybody knows how to fall, then why don’t I?” I said, “You don’t be worried, I will teach you. You just choose the girl that you would like to fall in love with.” He said, “I chose her two years ago, but how to start? The moment she enters, I become so nervous in the classroom, I forget all about love. I forget even what the teacher is saying.” I said, “Don’t be worried. I will write a love letter for you. You simply post it to the girl and wait for the answer.” I knew the girl; she was one of the most beautiful girls in the university. She had been interested in me, but I had told her, “Right now, I am involved too much in my own work, in my meditations, and I don’t think you have patience enough to wait. But if you can wait, then I can promise you one thing: the day I become enlightened I will be ready. But not before that.” She said, “Enlightened? My God! How long will I have to wait?” I said, “Nobody knows. I may become enlightened in this life, I may become enlightened in another life. Nothing can be said, it is unpredictable. So the best is, for the time being you choose somebody else.” But she was persistent. So I approached her and said, “Just do me a favor.” She said, “Have you become enlightened?” I said, “No, not yet. But one of my friends is in a difficulty. He wants to fall in love, but he does not know how to fall in love. So you will receive a letter from him. Don’t discourage him – write him a beautiful letter.” She said, “This is tricky. Then I will be stuck with that boy – and I know your roommate, I don’t want anything to do with him.” I said, “You need not be worried.” And she said, “How can I write a very loving letter to that idiot? I cannot!” I said, “Then I will write it.” So I was writing letters from both the sides. And the boy was so ecstatic! He could not believe that just with his writing a letter, love began. But then the girl fell in love with somebody else. She told me that she could not wait, her parents were forcing her: either she had to choose someone, or they would. “You are my choice, but your enlightenment is a strange thing,” she said. ”I have never heard of anybody making such a condition, that when they become enlightened, then they will think about other matters. I have to choose; otherwise they will choose. So I have chosen, unwillingly. I will remember you, but I am getting married.” I said, ‘You get married happily, and don’t feel that you are doing it unwillingly. I am responsible for making you sad, and for making you decide in favor of someone else. I like you, but as far as love is concerned, that involvement is possible only after my enlightenment, not before that!” She said, “Then what about your friend that you have been unnecessarily forcing upon me? He goes on writing every day. And you have made it such a mess that you go on writing in my name, and I have to post those letters. I read them and I say, ‘My God! That idiot!’ And you are praising him and telling him, ‘I will die without you, and I cannot live without you. You are my heart.’ What am I to say to that man?” I said, “You have simply to say that your parents are forcing you to get married.” And in India it is common, an arranged marriage. A love marriage is still not acceptable. So she told the idiot, “What can I do? I love you so much, but my parents have arranged my marriage. So now I will not be seeing you anymore, and you stop writing the letters.” He almost came to a nervous breakdown, crying, in tears. I asked, “What is the matter?” – I knew what was the matter! He said, “My love affair was going so smoothly. Every day a letter – I was writing, she was replying; everything was going so smoothly. And her father has disturbed everything. I will shoot that man!” I said, “That won’t help. You find another girl – there is no problem – and start writing letters again.” He said, “But I don’t know what to write.” So I said, “You do one thing. You go to the girl and ask for all the letters you have written to her.” He said, “What!” “You just tell her, ‘I need those letters, because I have not been writing them.’ And return her letters to her.” So he went to the girl and asked for his letters. But she said, “What will you do with those letters?” He said, “What will I do? Have I to live or not? You are getting married – I will have to write letters to somebody else. Now what is the point of writing the same letters again? I can use these letters. And here are your letters that you had written to me; perhaps you may need them sometime, because who loves one’s own husband? Who loves one’s own wife? You may need them.” The girl said, “You can have both the sets, because both are written by the same man.” He was very angry with me, but I said to him, “That is the function of a priest. I have not done anything unique; that is what the priests have been doing all through man’s history. They pray for you to God. They even bring answers from God to you – answers to your prayers. They make your prayer, they make the answers for your prayer. I have been just functioning like a priest – only the area was different; it was love, it was not God.” The priests have no function if there is no God. Then there is no prayer, then there is no holy book, then there is no ritual. The priest has nothing left. He wants an organized religion. He turns religio into its opposite and calls it religion. Religio is a freedom. Religion is a slavery. Dropping God, dropping religion, I have restored your freedom. Now you can be yourself without any fear. You can grow without copying anybody. You can just grow into your own unknown potential. You are asking, “What is left?” Everything becomes available; only blocks have been removed, hindrances have been removed. Now you can meditate. You cannot pray; prayer needs a God. Meditation needs no God. Prayer has divided humanity, because Christian prayer is different from Hindu prayer. Mohammedan prayer is different from Christian prayer. But meditation is the same. Here, this very moment… if you are all silent, it is the same silence. Silence cannot have any name, any label. And meditation is the ultimate growth of silence. Now you can be silent, you can grow deeper and deeper within yourself, searching for the center from where your life arises. The moment you discover that center, there is an explosion which is far more significant than any atomic explosion, far more luminous. The atomic explosion is destructive. The explosion that happens at your center gives you a tremendous energy to be creative. And it does not make you part of any organized cult, creed, dogma – no. It simply makes you a dignified individual, immensely blissful because you have found the greatest treasure in the world. There is nothing more to be found. In finding your center, you have found the very center of existence. You have found eternity. Now there is no death. And out of this experience arises lovingness, compassion, creativity. Even sitting silently, doing nothing, there will be a certain aura of bliss around you, a certain fragrance around you. You have come home. -Osho Taken from Bondage to Freedom, Chapter 23

Man, for two grown men who are ‘done seeking’, you both sure seem to be digging pretty deep for something. Two can tango. One is bliss.

I remember when I was in school, my teachers always told us that life according to Buddhism is equal to suffering. The goal was to never be born again in order to reach nirvana, then you end the circle of life (and suffering). I was attracted to buddhism because I find it so tolerant and liberal, it also embrace compassion which I love. But I couldn't understand this depressing view of life as a suffering event. And to be honest I can't understand that today either. Here we talk much about unconditional love, bliss, infinite awareness, the beauty of the absolute and so forth. This spiritual journey of mine and this forum has teach me how precious and beautiful life is. That's quite the opposite to what Buddhism teaches. This is hard for me to wrap my mind around, since Buddhism to me is true in every other aspect. Just this view about life as something to suffer I can't understand. Life is great, of course it has downs as well, but who doesn't want to live. Just go out and breath fresh air and you feel how wonderful and magic life is. So, how was this depressing view developed in Buddhism? Please elaborate. Thank you Namaste.

That little blazing topic of spirituality, new age bs, and consciousness inspired me to share that blog I wrote back in August. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I haven’t written in a while. The reason for this is because I have been exploring in my consciousness a place where all the voices in my head quiet and dwindle into one stream of muffled chatter. It’s the place of the monad, where all multidimensional existences come into one. I’ve been wondering for a while “who I am”. I’ve been jumping to one consciousness to another, remembering one life after another, calling myself many names. It came with a variety of personality and energetic signatures as well. I explored very male and “light” parts of me. Parts of me that wanted to serve, overcome and be righteous. Then I remembered my other half, the organic priestess in the shadows. The one that speaks of the Earth, of sex, of decay. The one that waits and observe. I love them all so much for they are all my voices. One is out to conquer the world, the other to nourish and be nourished. In that place where all comes into one I feel at peace. There is no drive in me to accomplish anything. Just a desire to be, to exist and to create in a very pure and direct way. To simply express. In that place I feel a string above connecting me straight to source and for the first time in a while I feel Joy. I find equanimity for the hurts of the world. I find purpose without doing and i find perfection. Not a conceptual perfection that needs to be achieved or “worked at”, just inherent perfection. I feel full and complete, not yearning for any twin flames or soulmates for they are all within me. I don’t care for ascension, for galactic wars, for symbols, signs and astrology. I don’t care for self help books. I look at my crystals and love and thank them but I don’t feel they belong to me anymore. They’re are just “there” for me to appreciate. Same goes for my house, my cats, my clothes and everything that I “own”. When i look below i see countless strings linking me to my numerous incarnations of the past, present and future, Galactic and Earth bound, of all genders and forms. Some I can access and “step into”. Some are locked away from my perception but it doesn’t matter now. If I want I can experience reality from their awareness, gaining insights and information, eons of knowledge piled into one giant inner library. Discovering that stream of knowing was certainly confusing at times. My many voices wanted to be heard. While channeling and “teaching” others I would provide myself with the framework I needed for my personal expansion and integration. For a while i worked on the threshold, passing souls through the door but then realizing that I have no interest in coaching them furthermore. I therefore salute and thank all the teachers with the calling, the patience and dedication to do so. Many of you, incarnated and disincarnated, helped me out on the path. I understood for myself that you cannot teach anyone how to spiritually reconnect. You can only show the way. And oh the mind loves its symbols and processes : it hates that things can be so simple. There is definite value in the “many things” of maya but I just cannot dwell in it anymore. I am leaving my spot at the door for someone else to step in and hold it, to be of service In my place. I’ll be the one enjoying the show for a while. Now that I stopped asking “who I am” i started to ask myself “what now”. Because being in a space of almost instant manifestation without any definite desire left me la little bitter for a bit. So much potential and nothing to channel it into. I know I need to live from that monadic consciousness (and obviously falling in an out of it for a while. You know. Traffic jams, bills to pay and whatnot. A little more healing, a little more karma to clear) and bring it into the world but when I tune into it ask what I should do, it laughs softly and answers “nothing”. And so there is nothing to do. Nothing to save, nothing to change. Just pure experience, pure creation and expression. I see that in Presence and Attention is true service to God. I believe that’s what true spiritual Bliss and Joy is about. Not that other thing, not that Kundalini ecstasy that lasts for a minute and leave you face down on the ground. It’s more of a fleeting feeling for me at the moment : a very fine line to balance between nihilism and fanaticism. We know then we forget, then we remember, then we forget to better remember once more. And so it is. Back to contemplate my budding lotus. With all my love, Ruby

Dear all, I successfully published my first book 'The Truth About Spiritual Enlightenment: Bridging Science, Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta' in Amazon. It is available in both kindle and paperback versions. I am able to provide the kindle book for free for five days using KDP select. The kindle book will be available for free from 24th Nov, 2017 to 28th Nov, 2017. I invite the members of this forum to take advantage of this free promotion. Kindle version: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078494FQB Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1973364549 Here is the description of the book: "Spiritual enlightenment is becoming a buzzword. Enlightenment is a popular niche for people who write or read about self-help, meditation, healing, psychology and more. But do you really understand what enlightenment is? Is it some kind of altered state of consciousness, a solution to get high without drugs, a way to live life in 24/7 bliss, a myth or a complete scam? Is there any scientific basis to enlightenment or spiritual awakenings? This book has the answer for these questions. This book attempts to bridge spiritual teachings of Vedanta and Buddhism with science. It gives you a practical and reasonable path to end your suffering and live a peaceful, satisfied and happy life. Above all, it will help you to find your own way and follow your own light. The book will also introduce you to some important concepts in psychology, which are related to spiritual awakening. The concepts and solution presented in this book are based on the author’s own experience. It also has a chapter that narrates author’s own spiritual journey which led to a complete spiritual transformation. The book also has a separate chapter which talks about scientific research done on spiritual enlightenment."

Enlightenment and pure bliss and a plesant experience A memory is a thought Functional thoughts are "How To" thoughts. How to get to this place, how cook dinner, etc. Psycological thoughts are the thoughts that cause suffering. "This is bad", "That girl is ugly\beautiful".

Yesterday and a month ago I went to a cycle breathing practice (it has something to do with osho). when we breath without any pauses between inhaling and exhaling, weird stuff starts to happen. for me, it was the shaking of my face and nose at first, and then intense energy in the palms. the instructions were "to do what feels right" whether it be screaming or moving the body. the first time i did it, a month ago, i ended up feeling intense love and crying at the end of the practice. It also healed a lot of my social anxiety. The second time I did it, yesterday, I moved my body in a pleasant way and felt intense energy throughout my whole body, shouting. at the end though, this is the most important part, I felt a very strong feeling in my upper neck from behind and on the top of my head. when i concentrated on that energy, my whole body was filled with joy and bliss, I didnt feel that way since I was a kid (while a kid I was unaware of it, that feeling faded away with time as i grew older). then it dissipated after a few minutes. today, during my morning meditation I felt a weird pleasant feeling in my tailbone and it sometimes spread from that concentrated spot for a few seconds and went again into the tailbone. my body feels pretty exhausted right now. you cant believe this shit until you experience it. all of what happened with me i connected theoretically to chakras and kundalini energy. I never really studied that stuff but im aware its a thing, and yoga is the way to go on with it. now im wondering if to study more about it. I have a ton of other stuff to do, like the life purpose course, meditating, consciousness/belief work, emotional mastery, reading books, so its hard to allocate time for it, so i have to choose wisely. I wonder if I have a certain susceptibility to the kundalini path, since just after 2 times of doing "some" breathing exercises having such amazing experiences. I mean maybe im "built" for that path and that path would resonate better with me and would give me faster and better results than the other paths. Im just speculating, I would like to know what are your thoughts on it and whether it seems like im bullshitting myself.

Okay here it goes. Pure consciousness is the ultimate subject/pure witness/Brahman/atman/absolute reality. It can never be perceived as an object. That's why mind can't 'find' the absolute truth as all it can perceive are objects(sense perceptions). Now the brain/mind is like a mirror. That pure unattached consciousness is reflected on that mirror. Thus a reflected consciousness appears on mind and everything in subjective experience (mind, body, world) lights up!! This is why when you ask the question, 'am I aware?', you get an experience of the mind, body, senses etc. being aware and alive. In reality, the brain, body, world has no consciousness of itself. NOTHING has consciousness except for pure consciousness itself. The reflected consciousness produced in the brain is making this entire living experience possible while the pure consciousness(the source, That which I truly am) remains totally unaffected and unattached. No object can touch it. Now it's funny when we say that we are raising or lowering consciousness. Consciousness is ever present, ever unchanged. It's the brain/mind(the mirror) that produces the reflection of pure consciousness depending on it's state during various times and situations. This is why when brain is damaged, the person becomes psycho/sick as if consciousness has been damaged. But in reality, it's the mirror that has been distorted and thus a 'distorted' reflected consciousness is there while the source(pure consciousness) remains unaffected. This is why we have 3 apparent states of consciousness in waking, dreaming and sleeping phases. It's because of the different functions and modes of brain/mind in these different states. But as usual the source(pure consciousness) has nothing to do with it and remains totally independent, untouched. This is why every state is a dream which has no inherent reality in of itself. The waking and dreaming states are dreams with contents while deep sleep is like a dream with absolutely no content lol. It is the source alone that lights up these states and yet remains untouched by them. Our 'precious' theories about brain, body, world are just more contents in such a dream state #When does enlightenment happen? When I know without a shadow of a doubt that I am the pure consciousness; totally free, unattached, unaffected, an infinite existence-consciousness-bliss which has NOTHING to do with the mirror(brain/mind), the state of reflection(reflected consciousness) and everything else that's lit up(body, world) . It's the 1st step of enlightenment aka a complete dis-identification. #Then what is this Universe/Creation? That pure consciousness itself is projected to create a world of myriad forms. The world has literally no substance other than the pure consciousness, the same infinite existence-consciousness-bliss that I am . When I directly experience this truth, the witness and the witnessed is merged and that's true non duality, the 2nd step of enlightenment aka a complete union. Thank you for reading. PS: I haven't had any of the two realizations myself aka i'm not enlightened yet

@Viking Bliss is actually knowing, first hand, what you are.

Hello folks, long time follower, first-time poster here. This past summer, thanks to following the path laid out by Uncle Leo (That's what we call him in my home, although he's younger), I woke up. I see and experience the unity daily and at times become so zoned out while meditating, I tear up with bliss but still have many old remnants and still have issues with the idea of a soul. Here is something that I have been contemplating off and on for a little while now, I hope I can explain my thoughts. If things are as I see them now, there is only one soul, but if things are not as they seem, I would consider the soul to be an array variable, as is used in software such as this very Forum and any program that is not extremely basic. For those who are not familiar with programming, here's a copy/paste of what an array variable is. "An array is a variable containing multiple values. Any variable may be used as an array. There is no maximum limit to the size of an array, nor any requirement that member variables be indexed or assigned contiguously. Arrays are zero-based: the first element is indexed with the number 0." By combining Buddhism with software practices and throwing nonduality out the door (or at least seeing the soul as a many-sided coin as the base of everything), perhaps the soul can be considered an array variable. All of our thoughts, experiences, and actions are smaller variables which accumulate over time and become a part of the larger variable -- the array/soul. The first element "0" could perhaps represent our birth/death/purpose/anything of utmost importance to the variable. When the functions that make use of this variable end (this existence), the variable would either be wiped clean and freed up, or recycled and embedded into a new function. This could explain both transcendence and reincarnation. This idea might not be a new concept but figured I'd share my thoughts and say hello to you fine people. Hello! How ya dooooooooooin?