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The state of "being aware" is a state where you become awareness itself. Being aware of something is something else. You are aware of nothing, but not like object and subject. You become the experience of being aware, but you can't possibly label it bacause you are aware of absolute nothingness. Try to shift your attention to an object for one minute. Then shift your attention to the experience of being aware. And see what happens. This is one of Rupert Spira's excersises.

This is my take, Awareness is just a word for WHAT IS. The problem is that awareness implies that there must be something to be aware. And that's not the case, because we know awareness doesn't need anything. I know that Awareness is prior to everything, because I had an experience of nothingness. I lost reference of everything, it was completely black but there was no sensations, no perceptions, it was just me without any memory. When I began to wake up, the ego got crazy, and the character (what I think I am) was in shock. Couldn't think well, etc... but I was aware of everything. And that's awareness. I was aware too that there was no experiences at that moment.

@Leo Gura is it possible to have an experience (in this case, sight) of nothingness just by contemplating what it is?

If we are not individuals but nothingness with no free-will, and if the perceiver of all phenomena is nothingness/Existence itself, why are so few human-beings conscious/working to raise their quality of consciousness? Could this simply be a matter of Existence evolving a greater capacity for self-observation? Or am I falling prey to an egoic assumption that experience has some kind of significance beyond itself?

Dark? Hehehe... You misread him. He describes an utter perfection. You can feel nondual love oozing from his work. You have to take into account the maddening humility of Nothingness. He wants it to take your breath away.

True being is realizing true nothingness, only when you know you are nothing do you realize the significance of your BEing. The fact that you exist, the fact that you are. The fact that you have a body and brain, it's all incredible. How is that you exist altough you did nothing and still do nothing to exist? A human being is pure intelligence and an amazing creation, only a fool can miss or deny that. Introspection is key.

@iTommy I'd say you're getting too lost in concepts. Focus on what is actually occurring in your direct experience at this very moment. Keep grounding yourself in direct experience. What is true in your experience right now? There's lots of talk about 'nothingness', 'emptiness' and 'awareness' etc, but these are just concepts you've heard from Leo or read somewhere. You don't actually know what you are. Anything you've heard from someone else is not true. Nor do you really know what any of those concepts (emptiness, nothingness etc) actually point to. I'm not saying you don't understand them intellectually or conceptually, but for the purposes of self-inquiry they don't mean anything and you should discard them.

Savanna scatters and the seabird sings So why should we fear what travel brings? What were we hoping to get out of this? Some kind of momentary bliss? I waited for Something, and Something died So I waited for Nothing, and Nothing arrived It's our dearest ally, it's our closest friend It's our darkest blackout, it's our final end My dear sweet Nothing, let's start a new From here all in is just me and you I waited for Something and Something died So I waited for Nothing, and Nothing arrived Well I guess it's over, I guess it's begun It's a losers' table, but we've already won It's a funny battle, it's a constant game I guess I was busy when Nothing came I guess I was busy (when Nothing arrived) I guess I was busy (when Nothing arrived) I guess I was busy (when Nothing arrived) I guess I was busy (when Nothing arrived) I guess I was busy (when Nothing arrived) I waited for Something and Something died So I waited for Nothing, and Nothing arrived I waited for Something and Something died So I waited for Nothing, and Nothing arrived Category - Enlightenment & Meditation I picture the "nothing" in this song, as nothingness. It just inspires me since it really drives some deep points home if you actually view nothing in here, as nothingness, the no-"thing" that you are. Basically, he waits for some thing, and always chases after things. But then there is this nothingness, which is always there, yet he was always busy chasing after things while totally overlooking what already was there, nothing(ness).

Hey guys! As the title already reveals, it feels like I am stuck when doing self-inquiry. I usually meditate, and during the session I ask questions like "What are my, really? What/who is this "I"? What is the nature of reality/existence?" and so on. So then while asking what I am, thought arises. There isn't really a mental image of an "I", but it usually says "Well, you're the body/brain. If you're not the body, then you're consciousness." So then I keep the awareness on that, only to always realize that this is just thought arising, and the feelings coming with it are also just... feelings. They all occur within awareness. Then I look deeper, only to find nothing, just emptiness. Here the mind thinks of the concept of nothingness, saying "Dude, maybe this is the nothingness, maybe this is you - consciousness, maybe everything just arises out from that." But I then realize too, that this is just a feeling and thought. Then, I still tend to still look for a perceiver, some "thing" that perceives the one meditating. Yet, this here is an ego trap as far as I know, thinking that there is someone who perceives. But, I just keep the awareness on that. "What is being aware? What is aware of being aware?" - here the mind comes to conclusions yet again, it's saying, "Well, since you are awareness, it can only be awareness that is being aware of human awareness." Apparently you can't find yourself, since there is no you. So the mind also comes up with "Why bother trying to find a perceiver, when you can't find one and when you "know" that you're awareness. Stop seeking enlightenment, because where does this seeking come from? Who/what seeks and wants to "become" enlightened? There is nothing to "achieve", to figure out, you already are what you seek." I always remind myself, that the truth is not hidden, it's quite simple and seekers often tend to tackle this whole thing in a more complicated way than necessary. Now, even when softening the focus, all that I am left with is bodily sensations, thought, feelings, emptiness etc. So, then I also think to myself "Everything that arises, is not you. Everything that you perceive, is not you. Even the awareness of the human being, is just an object occurring within nothingness. So... how the fu** are you/human awareness (or rather focus), even supposed to realize anything when everything that awareness catches isn't you? Even if you feel that you've got it, it's just a feeling occuring within your perception, feelings come and go. It's ironic that I put "feeling stuck in the title", isn't it? - It's just a feeling. The feeling of being incomplete, seperated and this ego-self is also just a feeling occuring within awareness. "I" am dancing in circles here... and it's pretty darn frustrating, really. I am not sure how to break out of this cycle. Any thoughts & tips on how to progress?

Your mind is so attached to appearances (experiences) that it struggles to see that overlaid right on top of the appearance, is the disappearance. So you look at a chair, you see the colors of the chair, but you ignore the fact that in the exact same place of those colors, is nothingness. The colors literally ARE nothingness. But your mind isn't grasping that because it's overly focused on the colors. The mind is biased towards appearances. If you focus your awareness on the chair long enough, eventually you will start to get the sense that the chair -- although it appears right there -- isn't actually there! It is technically-speaking a hallucination, a mirage.

Over history, do you think a scientist has ever figured out a new clever way to actually test what was then untestable? Would this be an example? : A few hundred years ago illnesses were thought to have "supernatural" causes. The current scientific paradigm and lack of methodology prevented scientists from testing alternative hypotheses. Then, a scientist figured out how to create a microscope which led to the discovery of microbes such as bacteria and viruses. Hmmm, this is a different perspective of "intelligence". It is like the cube illusion you posted. For a while, all I could see was a small cube in a box. Then, a large cube with a corner missing. Here, "intelligence" is generally viewed as a product of the ego/self. "I" am intelligent. "He" is more intelligent than "Her". Yet, if we acknowledge the self is illusionary, there is no self to be intelligent. Most scientists would still take a 3rd person perspective that "intelligence" can be reduced to physical synapses. Yet, if one opens their mind to a "mysterious" source of the intelligence (nothingness, infinite consciousness etc) it is a game-changer. . . I would say the physical brain is necessary for the cleverness I use, yet perhaps it is insufficient. . . Are you familiar with the Two Slit and Eraser experiments in quantuum physics? The results were "shocking" to scientists since it refuted a scientific paradigm. There is just now way for me to reconcile the results with a traditional scientific framework. I'd be one of those people who needs to hear it. Could you recommend a reading / video that may provide me some more insight regarding epistemic and metaphysical errors of most scientists.? I think I would be more receptive to someone who has an understanding of science and became awakened with a new perspective. Btw, I will be teaching a neuroscience course for the first time next semester. It could be quite interesting. . .

@Serotoninluv The issue of what one can test, and what is the case, are two independent variables. The whole point of your job as a scientist is figuring out new clever ways of testing the untestable. Hint: the cleverness you're using to be intelligent, is the very intelligence you're testing for Just how is it that you think you are being intelligent? Randomly? Lol. That's not very intelligent of you to think. Empty space has more intelligence than every human being who's ever lived combined. After all, it did spawn you It's even generating all your scientific skepticism right this very second. Bam! Bam! Bam! Thought after intelligent thought spontaneously arising out of nothingness. One of the beauties of ditching the materialist paradigm is that intelligence is no longer confined to the brain.

@Leo Gura @egoless @Shin But quantum potential still exists therefore it is not nothingness, it's somethingness! You guys tell that "something" is "by definition" but your "defintions" are wrong. If something is couched into nothingness - it is not nothingness! Nothingness does not equate "No thing", semantic of the word is not the sum of semantics of it's parts you guys!!! Nothingness should stand for mathematical nothingness only meaning (stupidly rough) "less than 1 / (absolute infinity)". "An appearance is that which doesn't exist, by definition." - Wrong definition. When you tell that something does not exist it should mean that it is nothingness as in 1/a.inf. But even with non duality, appearances, illusions should consume/are contained in some portion of existence, even as some potential, they are obviously not "nothing at all"! I am very very thankful to Leo because his latest video finally gave me conclusive evidence as to why brain and neurons are not iron clad - because all the theory and evidence about them are based on a bunch of subjective impermanent observations while the consciousness/being is the only fact. @Joseph Maynor When we talk about existance and non existance, we do not really divide the reality with them - so it is not a duality. We use them as perfect categories. Obviously there is a part of reality which constitute appearances. But this part is not really dual, it is still a part of endless gooey all-encopassing existence.

@Serotoninluv Grab a sample of nothingness and give it an IQ test.

My "pet theory" is that, when we see how absurd materialism is, then we explain ansthesia as being an experience of literal nothingness, where it's subjectively identical to the "obliteration" of consciousness materialism proposes (so therefore it has equal explanatory value), but I'd like to hear other opinions.

Appearances are a sort of metaphor of the self. Like: "I can be this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this, and this, ad infinitum". Nothingness, or the self, being pure potentiality, experiencing love with it's potential actualized. But really, what I just said is bullshit. The only correct answer would be "why not?". That's why they call it the divine play of lila. It's just a play, entertainment, total mystery. It is very very strange that anything happens. The thinking process wants to avoid this grotesque strangeness of "wtf? why??!" because that would destroy all it's games of pretending control and knowing something. You will never be able to cover up the strangeness with a story that makes sense

Leo in his new video talks about appearences taking place into nothingness. But then the question arises why do these appearances exist at all? Shouldn't there be only pure nothingness - aka no appearence at all? Why did first appearence took the place at all? the ultimate question here is why? And your answer is because. But it does not explain anything at all.

If you realize that everything is nondual, that means nothingness will incarnate through every manifestation possible, instantly. Which means it will experinece reality from every vantage point possible. Which means reality is perfectly fair. One moment you will experience being shot. The next moment you will experience yourself pulling the trigger. You will experience every horror ever perpetrated, both as victim and victimizer. You will be Hitler and you will be the Jews. You will be the 9/11 attackers, and you will the be World Trade Center families. You will be the lion and the antelope. You will be the human enjoying a fine steak dinner, and the cow getting slaughtered for that steak. Brace yourself for some serious, serious karma! What a rush!

@Pierre Of course God isn't a bearded man in the sky. God is Nothingness.

@Nadosa All of these @Shin @Serotoninluv @ADD @Alexo45 have given a refraction of the reflections in awareness that passes through the mind in the moment like the rainbow is the refraction of white light that reflects off the water it passes through. Trying to "disbelieve" something empowers the belief through the assumption that it is believed to begin with. It's peering into the past and trying to unring a bell when in the present moment it is to just be, leave the sound to vibrate itself into silence and not believe that sound into nothingness. The idea of disbelieving is another belief the mind uses as a "truth", every "aha" is yet another "truth" the mind thinks it's sees and is one of the many ideas and concepts it constructs the paradigm of it's personal religion that it bows to in the church of it's own dogma. Our self conscious, the ego, refracts our experience to believe Our awareness, the will, reflects our experience to be live. Oh yes, it's getting deeper and deeper, too deep, yet in fact it is shallow, very shallow. So shallow that it really is only a mirage of water that the mind thinks it sees in sands and after expending all that energy to seek it out to realize it is the illusion that refracts the light and is merely the reflection in the mind....so drink it up, the water of life flowing by in the sands of time.

Leo's blog entry got me thinking. Imagine the following dialogue at the doctors office: Doctor: "I'm sorry to tell you this, but we found this advanced tumor in your brain. It's growing in a dangerously fast rate. You might not have that long to live anymore...." Patient: "Cool story bro, you should definitely write that down! Doctor: "I understand this must be shocking for you, but we will do everything we can..." Patient: "No, you don't understand. You are literally just hallucinating a story inside of this infinite hallucination machine. It has no grounding in reality whatsoever." I understand that no story is true. Because it consists of just noises made out of thin air. The noise "cancer" is not the actual unknown unspeakable phenomenon. The noise "Cancer" is supposed to be a symbol for the phenomenon. As Korzybski said "Whatever we may say will not be the objective level, which remains fundamentally un-speakable. Thus, we can sit on the object called 'a chair', but we cannot sit on the noise we made or the name we applied to that object." Now, with "objects" like a tumor, chair, pencil, etc. it is relatively easy. It's really just colour/light (But of course, not "colour"/"light" ) and it is not isolated. There are no isolated "objects". The isolated object is just created with language. "This colour-form combination is a tree!" "Really dude? Isn't it just also colour-form like, well, everything?" But what about stories like "Outside of my experience" or "death" or "soul" or "planet earth"? Do they symbolize anything? The noise "soul" might be just a noise, and not even a symbol, because what is there in actual experience that this noise is supposed to symbolize? The same goes for God. Or Nothingness. Or time. the languages cannot succeed at building a model of "reality" faster than experience occurs. What we think we observe is limited to what we can translate to each other via the slower than "reality" tool of our languages. What about "outside of my current experience" or "Objective Universe"? Might those terms symbolize something that might be a "reality"? At my current stage of contemplation I think it is forever unknown. There might be "outside of my current experience" There might be "Objective Universe". Those terms could be abstractions of something unknowable. There might be nothing seperate from consciousness, but there might aswell be. It's an open question, even if it sounds like nonduality has "figured it out" and is the final answer to consciousness. It can seem like "nonduality teachers" really know something and are the final consciousness authorities.. you gotta be fucking kidding me, lol. atleast I was believing this nonsense... It's just a desparate attempt to escape the obvious reality of slowly aging to death, paradoxically through story-telling of stopping the story-telling. So what value do stories offer us? It is neither good to ignore nor to believe in any story. But they seem to give us a valuable map for the territory (Even if you think about it, there is no map, but only territory, the map is also territory.. you know what I mean) I'm especially interested in what you guys think about concepts like "outside of my experience" "other minds" "Physical universe". Are they abstractions/symbols for something that is in one form or another a reality? Like the word "Cancer"? Or are they just noises, not words/symbols standing for nothing at all?

@Shiva Yes but exploring Enlightenment requires you immense amount of abstaining from everyday life and becoming disciplined practitioner. What if instead it is wiser to continue experiencing life as it was gifted and intended initially. To explore it as your separate self, with perspective on it rather then completely dissolving yourself in nothingness.

I experienced thoughtless awareness and some physical sensations which are slightly different than the norm. I could have gotten a bit of a glimpse of "nothingness" through Leo's neti neti video. What you describe seems quite beyond my experiences.

Thought has its place. But nothingness is freedom. A mind with “no thing” as its content is free. Maybe Afonso means thought in the context that we attempt to capture a sense of security in the relationship and reaction to fear. Thought in its very nature is to anylize certain stimuli through subjective awareness or perception to establish a sanctuary for the body or mind. That is what I got from that comment. He might imply that thinking in this sense is the reaction to fear and the desire to self sustain. This seems reasonable, rational to me...I could be wrong though.

Just not something I care much about. This is a good question. It baffles me sometimes that everyone isn't doing it. Since I was 7 years old, I knew I wanted a passion-based career. Because I was passionate about creating stuff. I wanted to create video games, digital art, computers, airplanes, etc, etc. It was just the most obvious thing. How can you see the beauty of life and not want to participate in the process??? But it took me some trial and error to figure out how to really make that happen, and that I wanted to work for myself. That wasn't something I discovered until I got my first job at age 23, straight out of college. Up until that point I thought I was destined to work inside a company or studio. But my experience inside a studio quickly showed me that I was really destined to create on my own. And so I mustered the courage to quit within the next 6 months. It was one of the best decisions of my life. But it wasn't easy to do at the time. Sounds like you just didn't get in touch with being a creator. It's a spiritual connection. You have to be an artist at heart. Artists in the audience will understand what I'm talking about. The beauty of reality compels you. Some select songs, sure. There is no kind of music I like across the board. I rarely even listen to albums because most of the songs don't meet my quality standards. Don't know what that is. Yes, I'm interested in it. Although not so much that I go out of my way chasing answers. It wouldn't surprise me if the human body was an outgrowth of a deeper structure like a "soul" which can spawn multiple bodies over time. Even if there are souls, the truth of no-self still underlies everything. From what I understand now, everything infinitely reincarnates. Reality has infinite structure and boundaries, but all those boundaries are ultimately nondual, permeated by Nothingness, which ties everything together. I will shoot a video when I have something more concrete to say about it. It's still an iffy subject in my mind. And I won't want to scare people off with woo-woo topics.