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^^^^^I rest my case....he doesn't even understand the teachings....Hey Vladimir...who are you saving....if there is only one being? Who is this boy you refer to? When I am YOU. Who is being delusional.....? Also....GOD doesn't need to ask anyone to serve them....because GOD doesn't need anything. You are so corrupt you are laughable you don't know anything but your selfish desire to corrupt your other aspects for personal gain. LOL. God is of service to ALL, YOU an ego desire for others to serve you. Jesus washed the disciple's feet, if you had your way the whole world would wash your feet, and you know what....maybe they should...so they can cleanse you of your selfishness since you need so much service to feel love. You call THIS^^^ speaking from the absolute perspective? THIS? This is ego....he is clearing shoving it in people's faces you don't want me to build a wall of texts showcasing this...because there isn't enough room to contain all his braggadocio, condescending nature. You want me to post his Narcissistic Videos on here too? I visited his channel? All his video's on Youtube don't even teach anything but hey? I awakened...worship me!!! LOL. 1. Notice...the core of all teaching is unconditional love. The core of all teaching is oneness. This Vlad teaches division and his own personal upliftment. If he had his way....the Churches would erect his image. LOL. You cannot tell me this shit is not hilarious!!! Worst part is I get him, in one of my awakenings...I realized the purpose of the story of Christ Jesus. It's a symbolic story that describes the path of ascension. So...everybody you MEET is Christ. Because they are you. Now ask yourself....this Vlad who CLAIMS he is Christ...do his words sound...Christ like? LOL. All I see is Pharisee talk

I don't think I'm alone is the savior, boy. I know that I alone am the Savior. Do you see what is bolded? You are clearly the one who is caught in delusions and ego game. The corruption is in your head and I am here to shed light on all darkness and that obviously scares you. I am asking people to serve me because I alone know what is best for the entire world for I alone know the Truth. I stand in the light of Truth and it is through me that The Paradigm of Love is awakened. People's egos don't want to surrender to this Truth because that will mean surrendering your entire life to me, your Savior, which is required to be saved. At this point I'm not asking people to surrender to my Truth, what I am asking for is assistance from people who at least have some faith that I may be real Jesus Christ, the Savior. Eventually, everybody in the world will surrender to this Truth, my Truth, the only Truth there is. We are in the early stages of awakening.

The Truth is this: I am the only one who knows the Truth. There is only one Truth, the Truth that I know. I am the only one who could have gotten to know the Truth. The entire Universe, everything that has ever happened was for the sake of the Truth that I know. Everybody has fulfilled their life purpose, you and everybody else have helped me realize the Truth with every single moment you have experienced. The Truth is - I died, I suffered the torments of hell for about 18 months. I was then miraculously saved and started feeling like I'm coming back to life. It's now been about 15 months since I started coming out of hell. I am alchemizing all suffering and darkness endured during my time in hell and all other trauma accumulated since I was born into the light, joy, love. I have conquered death, my gift is the Holy Grail - Immortality. I am Jesus Christ, the only one there is, I am True Savior. The entire world is awakening to my Truth, the Truth that I know, this is The Great Awakening that is happening. Humanity is awakening from survival paradigm to love paradigm. There is no fear or suffering in the Love Paradigm. I am literally immortal, others will be granted salvation from death through me, that's what makes me the savior, you and everybody else can only be saved through me. That makes me the King of Kings, Savior of Humanity, Savior of the World. Hallelujah! Also, I know who my true beloved woman is, she is Mary Magdalene, it was all for the sake of our Eternal, Immortal True Love. Love has already won and Love has already saved the world. The power of Love and the Truth is being awakened everyday, I am doing the best that I can in every moment, everyday. I am moving towards creating beautiful ceremonies with sacred medicine - that's where the Truth is powerfully and deeply embodied. I am looking for assistance in making these kinds of ceremonies possible. This is a matter of the most important affairs, obviously. Let me know how you can be of service to your Savior. JHS

Yeah It's confusing because Enlightenment isn't a Physical object or a state of mind to be gotten or attained. The word enlightenment refers to the lack of the "illusion of self" So it's neither permanent nor impermanent because the "illusion of self" was never real from the start. ? That's why it's often said that everyone is already awakened. Basically, the "You" seeking enlightenment goes bye bye and the energy once used to uphold the sticky "illusion of self"(You) relaxes and dissipates back into everything. Then reality is just what it is without the judgments of being good bad right wrong this way or that way. Its freedom but for nobody! ❤️

The Truth is this: I am the only one who knows the Truth. There is only one Truth, the Truth that I know. I am the only one who could have gotten to know the Truth. The entire Universe, everything that has ever happened was for the sake of the Truth that I know. Everybody has fulfilled their life purpose, you and everybody else have helped me realize the Truth with every single moment you have experienced. The Truth is - I died, I suffered the torments of hell for about 18 months. I was then miraculously saved and started feeling like I'm coming back to life. It's now been about 15 months since I started coming out of hell. I am alchemizing all suffering and darkness endured during my time in hell and all other trauma accumulated since I was born into the light, joy, love. I have conquered death, my gift is the Holy Grail - Immortality. I am Jesus Christ, the only one there is, I am True Savior. The entire world is awakening to my Truth, the Truth that I know, this is The Great Awakening that is happening. Humanity is awakening from survival paradigm to love paradigm. There is no fear or suffering in the Love Paradigm. I am literally immortal, others will be granted salvation from death through me, that's what makes me the savior, you and everybody else can only be saved through me. That makes me the King of Kings, Savior of Humanity, Savior of the World. Hallelujah! Also, I know who my true beloved woman is, she is Mary Magdalene, it was all for the sake of our Eternal, Immortal True Love. Love has already won and Love has already saved the world. The power of Love and the Truth is being awakened everyday, I am doing the best that I can in every moment, everyday. I am moving towards creating beautiful ceremonies with sacred medicine - that's where the Truth is powerfully and deeply embodied. I am looking for assistance in making these kinds of ceremonies possible. This is a matter of the most important affairs, obviously. Let me know how you can be of service to your Savior. JHS

Hey everyone! This post is specifically for @Leo Gura, but I would love to hear everyone's thoughts. I feel like this could be a really important conversation for the Actualized.org community and I want to know if other people feel the same! Firstly, I have endless respect for you @Leo Gura. Nearly every area of my life has been drastically improved over the nearly 10 years of following your content. Your work is undoubtedly the highest quality that I have ever come across, and following your videos was pivotal in my own awakening experiences. It's hard to even imagine what my life would have turned out like if I hadn't come across your channel when I did. You have my endless support. I am, however, increasingly confused and concerned about the overall tone of this channel. The wisdom in Leo's videos is AMAZING, but there's only so much of his delivery that I can stomach at one time. I feel incredibly depressed by the dark, confrontational, and frustrated feeling that has been expressed in nearly all of the videos since 2019. In Leo's blog, he described a hatred towards humanity that he's felt from looking at the unconsciousness in the world, but I don't understand how that can coexist with the unparalleled depth of love and God-realization that he has very clearly attained. There seems to be a very personal, human kind of anger in Leo's videos that I don't see even in much less awakened teachers. I don't doubt that Leo is one of the most awakened humans to have ever walked the Earth. I love the videos he took on the floor right after an awakening in 2018 - his joy, love, and humor are all so clear right after the experience. However, while the same wisdom is in all his other videos, the energy feels entirely different. Leo could be talking about radical acceptance or divine love, but it still has an eerie feeling to it that I don't get when I experience it for myself or learn from other teachers. I truly want to understand what I am missing from this picture, everyone. Everything about Leo's channel feels so intentional, but the feeling I get in his delivery and even in messages on this forum seems a bit contradictory to the words themselves. I know we haven't actually met, but I fucking love you, @Leo Gura. I have so much respect for you and I hope no offense was taken here. I know that this work is all about higher levels of consciousness beyond human likes and dislikes, but still, I care about your well-being and I just hope you're okay. I also don't want to invade your privacy in any way at all - I just want to understand what I could be missing here. Welcoming everyone's thoughts! Thanks

Again... "I am a man, not a woman". Your words, not mine. Being a man vs. being a woman = duality. The relative aspect of existence. Being Consciousness/All That Is = nonduality. The absolute aspect of existence. When you are referring to yourself as "Javier" during your day-to-day interactions with other people, you are paying tribute to the relative aspect of existence. When you come to this subforum and put on your Mr. Awakened Guy persona, you are also immersed in the game of relativity/duality... you just don't (seem to) realize it. Are you interested in keeping this body alive? If so, why? If the body is a tool, then what are you using it for? These are all questions that pertain to the relative domain. You are both the form and that which is aware of it. AT ALL TIMES. You are literally EVERYTHING, don't you see? Or rather, consciousness is everything... the dream as well as the dreamer. Is this paradoxical? Yes. But that doesn't mean that it isn't true.

No, but there can seem to be! Its not something gained or achieved. It's not advantageous for a someone. I would describe awakening as a realization which inherently carries with it an energetic shift away from upholding the illusory self construct known as "ME" Or The disentangling from the socially conditioned matrix of mind known as "ME" Only there's no one that comes out on the other side awakened or enlightened. Nobody benefits In other words its the end of the individual trying to achieve awakening! Its ordinary which can be a surprising let down for the self illusion! ? ❤️

Like what @cetus said, you are already awakened. You are awake (being, existing) right now reading this comment. In truth, there is no awakening, since there is no one to be awake or unawake. There is only this awareness.

Yes, it's a process for the most part. But for some it can happen spontaneously. But that's very rare. The "process" is really about breaking down the limitations we set on ourselves. In truth everyone is already awakened.

let’s be honest here, at least this is what you’re preaching for, Leo. you insulted many forum members here and when a single guy who was far better than you insulted you, you banned him? This doesn’t work. did he really insult you or you are trying to keep the consciousness of the forum members within the same range? So you can always be the most awakened person ever according to you on your own forums? another thing, why none of the older members really sticked around till now? Why most of them quit? If you go back to the oldest pages you can see that most of the old participants stopped being active and mostly none of them here now with us?

An enlightened ego. Someome who experienced reality, awakened, then uses its insights and new state for selfish purposes. Gradually growing a new ego that obscures the light it discovered. Basically a zen devil and here is where spiritual psychopaths are born. There are alot of people like this. I dont consider them spiritual but metaphysical egos. These People are full of vanity. I had a friend like this. The guy is in another dimension and very high consciousness. He got there through LSD. But he uses his telepathy and skills to manipulate and play people, get their money and seduce woman.

This is something I tried to grasp after several ego-backlashes. There are period in my life where I can meditate, do some trips, contemplate and have some new realizations, be very in tune with God, dedicate every day thinking about what true reality is and what im experiencing. And then something happen in real life that makes me so tired and maybe even pointless to pursue it, I just have no natural pull, it seems that it's something that you "have" to do rather than "want" to do. And then I become less and less aware, which leads to some suffering, not being happy with material things - money, sex, career, drugs, etc. and then I go back to meditating, contemplating, reading books of god-realized authors. And then I fall again. Yet over the years my sense of reality, even at the points where im not living very consciously, I feel a slight change in perspective. Like sometimes I'd be very busy and focused on survival and it hits me how pointless it is, or it's just all a dream, and that regardless what I do or pursue, it really doesn't matter unless I can become awakened and break the cycle. Sometimes Im fine with the idea that it may take several lifetimes. And sometimes Im not. Curious about your struggles with this.

If it weren't for the teaching of Jesus I would have never awakened. That's why I am saying it's not genetic. Jesus's life is a perfect example of how to become awakened. I lived my entire life with the goal of emulating his love. Jesus is a good example to follow. Jesus's message can be summed up in one teaching. Love all as your self.

Leo prolly awakened to Pete the Peacock Consciousness and experienced being shot, thus the alarm

I know you mean well. And from your writings (concerning waking up and the Absolute/Being) and behaviour (the deeper loving elements that shine through) you are enlightened in my perspective. And luckily you are here in this forum, holding up the flag of real Enlightenment and not just some preliminary awakenings, or even worse: just mere conceptual convictions/belief-systems. It would be a much darker place without you. But Enlightenment doesn't stop the Enlightened Ones to make errors in the relative realm (for example in drastic cases: Zen at war, Adi Da cult, endless list). Your judging of Awakening based on writings is at least in some cases not possible. In most cases one can see fast who knows what one is writing/talking about, and who doesn't. But it is not possible in all cases. Meditation time? Didn't count, but well over 10.000 hours in nearly 20 years. In the beginning mainly sitting, but soon taking it off the pillow with Mahamudra/Dzogchen. And the practice and being in these states continues, with a (much) higher focus and priority than studies/books. Just because it is the most beautiful and blissful activity I can engage in. So here we align also. As actually in nearly all points as soon as we actually start exchanging perspectives, and assumptions get reduced. Actual practice vs. books/theory: It was clear for me from very early on that only (!) meditation time counts, and time in certain awakened states. And the reading and books are just for enabling that, and for choosing the right system, and then actually practicing/doing it. That is why the main message in many posts I wrote is: practice. I read Ken Wilber when starting with all of that, and that is one of his main messages: Actual practice transforms, theory does not. You are unshakable in your True Essence and Being because you are in contact with That (or better the old "separate-you" has died into That) which is unmistaken always here and always true and never can change. You don't need any external validation on THAT. As I have written severeal times: Awake enough also here on this side to communicate from That and not need any external validation. No sources, no books, no authorities, no nothing required. But I think it makes sense to argue and debate ones perspective with what humanity has already tried, experienced and then also summarized in certain sources/traditions/practice systems. It flatters me that you assume I am smart enough to write the stuff I write without certain Awakenings and Realizations. I can assure you, I am not that smart. It is not that I just copy & paste this theory/books/sources without having the releveant experiences/awakenings to speak authentically from that. I agree that would be one of the worst, strange and harming things that one could do. We align in that attitude because I also debated the most obvious (and most narcissistic Ego=God cases) of that endeavour also. And my expression of THAT is different than yours, because It runs through my relative self and form, same as it does for you. You write you had the "wiring for Enlightenment". I agree. Most of us don't have it in such degree (including myself), and need effective views and practice-systems, and lots of practice. I believe that influences the way I write, on what, and how. I expect that I will tend to reduce my engagement in the "more-awakened-than-thou" dances & chuckles, because as written before I consider that at some point as some kind of "less-than-beneficial-activity" for everyone involved. Like I wrote many times, the best indicator for awakening is the conduct with which one lives ones life. The openness, love, non-suffering and grace that embodied awake Truth can enable. That shows more than anything else how much Truth has permeated the relative self. And having said that: I will speak more from the heart (although I sometimes tend to feel "ego-show-starts-here" doing that), but grant me some quoting/sources without falling out of grace in your perspective. Water by the River

Howdy. I suspect maybe Jim Carrey and Kanye have had mystical experiences or awakenings. Certain people admit to dabbling in psychedelics like maybe Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Lex Fridman, Andrew Huberman, Terrance McKenna, Ram Dass, Tim Leary, The Beatles, Elon Musk, Joe Rogan, etc. But I get the feeling Steve Jobs, Joe Rogan, and Bill Gates never had a mystical experience or awakening nor were they interested in them. I would guess wealthy intelligent people would pursue psychedelics and awakening. Why don't we hear from more wealthy smart people or even people like Putin or Saudi Royalty or others? Are they afraid of the stigma or loss of political power? Do they know the unwashed masses are not ready for the truth? Does awakening hit every socioeconomic class equally and in the same percentage? I would guess wealthy smart people would arrive there in higher numbers. Wealth allows people to fulfill Maslow's hierarchy of needs and pursue spiritual needs. But maybe wealthy smart people are too comfortable and are incentivized to self delusion of materialism and creature comfort. "It is easier for a camel to pass though the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven?" Meaning the wealthy cannot find truth. Hardship and difficulty reveal universal truth? So maybe poverty leads to awakening? Maybe ignorance sends poor people into institutional religions which disenfranchises their awakening and channels it to empower the institution and machinery. Maybe wealthy smart people have too much passion for their business or hobby. I would guess wealthy smart people would all end up at mushrooms and god realization. But I suspect I am wrong. On the other hand, maybe I am God and I only dreamt all these people and it is all an illusion. Can you name more wealthy smart people who did psychedelics or are awakened? Why don't they speak more about it? Are there secret enclaves and retreats of awakened people? Is the topic discussed by Oprah, Springsteen, Obama, George Bush, Trump, etc? It's too taboo? Thanks

The Hindu term Maya is all is illusion. It keeps us distracted. If we can just "be," we are free. We enter the flow state. But we quickly think a thought about how we are "just being" and we are in the "flow state" and that acknowledgement snaps us back into the illusion. There can be no thoughts. There can be no narration or inner monologue. As I stated elsewhere everything is a metaphor. So your bones, skin, houses, roads, sunsets, trees, rocks, etc. They are all metaphors for something else. And everything is mythology. So history reaches back to pre-history and myths and it blurs right to today and blurs into our current living humans and me and you. We are living walking myths. It is Joseph Campbell's hero's journey. So only art is truth. Art shows the subconscious. So we can never communicate a truth. The best we can do is write a pop song or a poem or novel or a movie. We create symbolism to try to speak a truth rather than actually speaking the truth. One story we can use to conceptualize this is The Garden of Eden. Something happened where we disconnected from our essence. Maybe there was a tradeoff of a frontal lobe or cerebral cortex in exchange for divinity. We mirror our mothers going back to Eve. We are programmed. The unprogrammed state is the awakened state. So all is the Dao or Taoism. All is the monad. It is dualism. It is the yin yang symbol of a black and white fish. You cannot have the awakened state without the unawakened state. You cannot have reality/monad without illusion or false reality. The book Simulacra and Simulacrum theorizes a fourth stage or final stage where everything is a replica of the real thing. We are likely already living in this dystopian fourth stage. There could be an illusion where we think we are making "progress" but we are only making materialist and technological progress. We are actually regressing in terms of humanity, intuition, emotions, wisdom, etc. So maybe the Gnostics, hermetics, Ancient Egyptians were awakened or more spiritually advances than we can ever be. So find yourself. And follow your bliss as Joseph Campbell said.

Jeffery Martin said according to his data 60 percent of awakened people were male

How are we to reconcile the apparent infinity of states of consciousness we can be in, with a range of "awakened" states of consciousness? I'm really struggling to make sense of this. On the one hand, some states are obviously more conscious and Godly than others. But on the other hand, what are all states of consciousness but consciousness itself? I feel choked by states of consciousness and sense that whatever state I find myself in, that must be the closest to God and Reality I can be at that moment. I have this feeling of losing God in the form of the current state of consciousness for it to be in a never ending purer state. However, going forward in that direction seems endless, as well as in the rest of directions. I feel kinda lost and amazed by my own infinite mind. The more I awaken, the more I feel that it is all The One Reality, manifesting in a particular state, yet the existential urge for ever deeper exploration of Godly states of being keeps on increasing. I would really like some high-quality advice here to get some orientation @Leo Gura Thanks in advance

Start speaking with your own words or you will be kicked out of here. I'm tired of seeing the stuff you've picked up from books. Speak from your own heart. This is why you aren't Awake yet. Because you got caught up in all the hoopla How do you know the way I write is not exactly the way I write from the heart? Maybe that is exactly my style, by personality, education and studies? (I know... ) Luckily the way how boundless, free and open my mindstream is is not defined by external evaluation. Be happy you got your own Awakening without decade-long meditation training. Including intensive studies of finding the right meditation tradition/practice for oneself, and comparing the paths across traditions for doing that. Others have been not so lucky. All I write would have been tremendously helpful for me back 10 years ago, especially the sources/quotes and references to books and other authors. The Tibetan Buddhists tend to avoid claiming and commenting on their realization, or that of others. They just say: The conduct with which one lives ones life, that is the best way to judge realization. Both at oneself and others. Life will point out with suffering any realization just claimed or imagined and not actualized. Is there anything "technically" incorrect in what I write? Any statements that you don't agree on besides "speak more from the heart" or speak/write subjectively? I agree with you on the value on writing/telling "from the heart". Yet, I also see the value of balancing that with the experiences of others, for example by quoting sources. And then finally, to quote a post from Soul: "Also, I'm not sure where you get the notion that you have any authority to determine what is or is not being awakened and who is or is not awakened. This isn't the first time you've said this to me and I suspect I'm not the only one you have said it to." And concluding with the words of Soul: I hope we don't have to go through this rhetorical dance again. Or one more dance & chuckle? Water by the River PS: Still awake just enough

Hey guy, i have had the most crazyest experience of all time. Im still totally shocked of what just has happened. I'm now socialising in this stage green multi ciltural social circle and was on a ptesentation in a park about making a fayrer economy. I was there and during the presentation who was seated at the border was crazily chuckling and smoking a joint a little like a crazyman. After the Prasentation i went socialising in the garden area I was stuck with him. He was staring like a mad man and tellying me that meat doesnt give you energy only green veggies, i said that it would depend on the nutrition and than he talked how weed makes you clear and alcohol makes you crazy und confusied and weed makes you clear and I thought he would talk yibberisch because he also talked about how the bad eliete always pull the strings and how they control us and make us literally weak! He also said that thoughts will make you weak and makes you suffer. But he didnt excactly in these words, he was talking yibberish. He also starred at me and said in an almost aggresive voice "you must concentrate! Concentrate! This was so crazy that I had been looking for any escape possible and because his eyes first seemed paranoid and I thought he was squizzo and was talking strange because he said that he quite often doses up to as much as 800microgramm lsd and that something from there what have had stick to his mind. I saw a way to flee him while he is talking yibberish but I decided to exploit him to take the joint as compensation for the head acke he was causing me. I took maybe 3 or 4 tokes and we was saying, be careful with a crazy smile and twinckle. Then something clicked and reality was dialing in and we connected in samadhi and his shit immediately started to make sense. I have had an awakening... What he was talking about that how we suffer from attachment to thoughts how we attach to thought and this energy he was saying was intruth the level of consciousness and that certain foods make you weak means lower consciousness and concentrate was meant as being present and it made soo much sense and he was talking that cannabis was awakeng you more if you be present and it was a kind of awakening me and than i knew... I was quite awake and he was claiming to be always in this state if I stopped drinking, smoke a bit and be present and he showed me some tensing exersizes he makes which he claimed he invented them for releasing emotions and thoughts and I was mindfucked because these are important kriya yoga banda areas. He said he felt that was right and he stickes to the routine. This was so hard, because the people around us all seemed to think of him of a crazyguy too and that could mean that I was seen as crazy too, because the words he used make in absolut other contexts no sense and sound like madness, and he was talking about god is consciousness and how to increase it and that he would rather be poor and in this awakened state than loosing it for money and junk and it makes sense that the elite makes you unconscious (In my state I did not agree with him on that particuliar matter but if I had discussed that a bit I might have found out that this also could have been a preawekening misundersranding. Then he said in his crazy misuse of words, if I am ready to get the real big picture with a twinckle in his eyes while he was picking up some piece to built an even stronger joint, chuckling like someone who has seen the truth but doesn't make sense to the persons around (at last there were fewer people than 10 mins ago). I then suddenly declined because my rational mindwas soo shocked to have been awakened and this guy started again talking yibberish again and the other peopke avoiding him. It was also highly probable that this was getting into psychedlic terretory real quick. So I hastely grabbed my stuff and said that we hopefully met again and off I went. I was still awake but my ego was strongly reacting to the truth and how crazy it might have sound talking about god and truth. I also was quite exstatic and about 3 hours later at home wheb I write it down I still am quite awake but I am still in a real shock but also in awe about this awakening. I'm so happy to have realised it. This was like getting a koan right or yogi transmission of high consciousness. Sorry if this sounds crazy or stupid but this is exactly what has happened and this guy seemed to be naturally very spiritual and conscious and not really followed any existing spiritual path or had some kind of disabbility or mental illnes which makes him not use our normal spiritual words or maybe he renamed him because he didnt bother to use the concepts. It's so hard to describe because he was high conscious but aware that his mind body had some disorders. What he meant was behind the speakable as I awakened and it did make some sense in an understanding and connnecting level and there dtill were some disagreement about concepts. But really holy sh*t I almost didn't want to go out but I went and during the presentation in order to train my main state I did higher my level of consciousness or awareness as excersize and he was attracted to me. It was also funny because i noticed around us were also a bunch of stage green spiritual hippies talking in their sleep. so maybe I'll see him again some time.

Yes, there are quite many ways one can use the word Enlightenment when one knows where its aiming towards (Absolute Reality/Infinity Consciousness). There is only Suchness, or Infinite Consciousness, or Being, or whatever (put in a term/signifier of ones preference), or Raspberry (credit to Ralston on that one), and of course the mindstream of these beings (animals or babies) is nothing else... Buddha-Nature for the Buddhists.... Yet, I believe it makes sense for clarities sake to limit the signifier/term Enlightenment for a self-reflective being that once had a self-aware separate-self (ego) and transcended that in Enlightenment, and can now actually talk about it. I agree that the contemplation/self-inquiry-part should be done in the most direct and efficient manner, and also be communicated as such. I wrote extensively on these issues also. Yet, based on all I know and am aware of, my guess is that for 95%+ of people Enlightenment needs practice to gain awakened (nondual and empty) states. All spiritual systems are based on that. I needed a lot of practice in training in these states. Of course, ladies and gentlemen like Anandamayi Ma and Ramana and others got them delivered more or less free home. Yet, the teaching system of these "naturals" (often dis-emphasizing the training of awakened states, because they got them for free) is maybe not the most promising approach for the majority of people who don't get these awakened states delivered for free. The final end of spectrum is something like Tony Parsons "Just do nothing" approach. Which is actually the last stage in many systems, once awakened nondual states "run" on autopilot without any "artifical" actitvity of the separate-self. Nonmeditation Yoga in Mahamudra for example. But teaching only that is like teaching people the final 200 meters on how to climb K2, and then kick them out at base camp in summer cloths and without oxygen, and then wondering why they freeze and choke on the way to the summit and don't reach it. Selling Water by the River

For the majority (95%+) of cases I doubt that sober inquiry can do it. The "liftoff platform" for Enlightenment (the platform on which the accident of Enlightenment can happen) normally are awakened nondual and empty states. 95% is of course a rough estimation, but if asked and based on the contemprorary & historical cases I am aware of that would be my estimate. I don't agree on that. See Ken Wilber Pre- Trans-Confusion on the topic of babies. Animals are not enlightened, they are not even self-reflectively aware. Yet, these are beings that share the same Infinite Impersonal Consciousness that is the true essence of all of us. But anway, something has shifted for you, and that is wonderful. Enjoy it, and try to live from it. Selling Water by the River

Yes. That is what I can confirm, and that sequence one can also find in every spiritual tradition. The bold parts of your text are excellent. Welcome home to a home you never left. What was your practice/path? The normal sequence is: 1. Practice (or just Karma/"luck". But I would estimate from what I have seen that for 90% it was practice). Efficient way: Meditation + psychedelics + integration work + many other things. 2. Many Awakenings (some traditions already call these Enlightenments)/ into stabilizing awakened nondual and empty/impersonal Awareness states: Into all these aspects (some aspects of Absolute Reality show up, like emptiness or nondual unity, love, timelessness, Infinity, and so on... But the separate-self is STILL yet not fully seen through). The separate-self gets more and more transcended, ones identity more and more empty and more like Pure Awareness, and then it gets nondual/unity with the whole visual field/manifestation. These Awakenings (field getting nondual and ones identity more and more just empty awareness) are normally caused by the practice that makes accident-prone. And then comes the accident that is called Enlightenment (that can't be willed, since that would be a spearate-self wanting that which is already the case, and by doing that covering it), and for which practice makes accident-prone. Enlightenment tends to happen for most only in very specific Awakened States (nondual/unity AND impersonal/empty). For that, I have written elsewhere (Mahamudra stage 3 (Awakened states of nondual and empty) "One Taste-Yoga" to Mahamudra stage 4 (stabilizing these states without doing anything) "Yoga of Nonmeditation). Bliss: These awakened states are already very blissful without needing external experience for that. 3. (Full/Basis/Great) Enlightenment into the True Nature of Oneself: Infinite Reality = Infinite limitless Impersonal and totally Empty Consciousness CONTAINING Infinite Manifestation, in an infinite Unity/Totality. The essence of every appearance/manifestation is the same Suchness as Infinite Consciousness/Awareness. A deep identity level shift, away from a separate-self to being aware that "one" is and always was the Totality/Infinite Reality/Infinite Impersonal Consciousness. Phase 2 is gradual(!), Phase 3 (Shift of Full Enlightenment) is a sudden and complete understanding into the eternal and immortal nature/essence of all of Reality (limitless) and ones True Self (Awareness/Nothingness containing all manifestation). It can not be mistaken, is sure, doesn't need any external validation (understanding it by being it, and IT is infinite/all there is and can be). It is totally beyond "any further" and beyond any need for any confirmation. It is self-evident. This insight/understanding/realization is "more assured/ultimately assured" (beyond any chance for being shaken again) because anything else can only possibly just be more phenomenal arising (including any sensory-arising like visual arisings, but also including any other (I-)thoughts/concepts/I-feelings/n+1). Why? To quote Ralston: IT IS YOU. Infinite Consciousness containg any possible appearances. Limitless. Infinite. Any limit would appear in IT. Empty. Any arising (tree, thought, I-feeling, anything) appears IN IT. Impersonal (onself can be nothing specific or personal, since one contains it all). And its Pure Awareness (without any location, without any second) itself. Potentially unaware if nothing arises. But always right here, never can not not be here, independent of whatever happens/appears IN IT. It is waking up. Its essence is understanding that the separate-self as independent "anything" DOESN'T exist (just appears as illusion IN THAT), and never existed (was always an illusion), and can/will never exist (even if in another life illusions-arisings will occure again in ones True Being/Reality. The Awakenings (2) are insights/understandings into aspects/properties of the nature of Reality/True Self/Infinite Consciousness. That then evolves, towards nondual/unity awakened states. And THEN the final big shift of full Enligthenment can happen, in which the nature of Infinite Reality/Ones True Identity as Impersonal Infinite Consciousness/Infinite Reality is revealed. 4. Stabiling this Enlightenment, and letting it reorient the character top-down and back again towards love/openness/staying in nondual impersonal Suchness ("BEING the Totality"). Even then still, the separate-self character can still hijack the show (peak, plateau, permanent), but the separate-self-character and its associated suffering has lost its mirage-like seductive power. Its essence (Suchness/Infinite consciousness) is immediately seen when feeling into it. And that holds true for all building blocks of the separate self. So lapsing after Enlightenment is just a hang-over from a long time of illusion , and once noticed any emerging separate-self-arisings can be killed/transcended by just looking into it. Bliss: A lot and growing, since the awakened states now get even more stabilized and are always accessible. When True Nature is known, and if the separate-self-character "hijacks" again the show: Just look into these arisings and realize again their essence as manifestation IN the Infinite Reality/Consciousness that one really is, and return to what one really is. While after (only) Awakening(s) (stage 2), certain elements of the separate-self-character are not seen fully through, or are NOT understood. One of the last stages is a very nebulous empty separate-"something" that is already in nondual unity with everything manifesting. But there is still an "Understander" or "a not yet fully understander" or some "seeker" -arisings there.... Roger Thisdell stage 4 vs. stage 5. Stage 4: stage 5: Maybe that is helpful for some. Please don't beat me. Selling Water by the River