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@r0ckyreed this post was spot on. There's always a higher awakening. One thing I've been thinking about... although its really weird... is what would happen if you tortured a mystic. At a certain point of pain, I think every human would become identified with their ego. We only know how awakened someone is within the limits of their tiny human life. This topic is what has turned me away from some of @Leo Gura's most recent perspectives. Even with copious amounts of psychedelics, there are always higher awakenings, so why harm your body and disregard your human life for a temporary experience of something that you can never stabilize? I'm more of a fan of using psychedelics to have temporary experiences that allow me to raise my baseline consciousness as much as possible and embody the truth as much as my human self can. Seems like the point of the game is to enjoy it, not to constantly worry about trying to play a more advanced game and shit on the one you're currently in.

If there is no self, who is awakening? Is the self awakening to itself as being no self? Is it God awakening to itself as God? What does no self even mean? If we're all connected, then how can you awaken without me being awakened? We're connected, right. We say everything is God, even the tree is God. Does the tree awaken? Why is God asleep to itself as a human only? Why out of everything in the whole wide world and everything that exists in nature and Reality, why is it only humans that can awaken or are seeking to awaken? If aliens exists, do they also awaken? if not, why? Nothing stays still, everything vibrates at certain speeds. Things are always changing. What are we awakening from and to what, if nothing stays the same? Awareness is always aware by its nature. That's why it's called Awareness. Is it aware of awakening too? Then, who or what is aware of awakening? Those are two distinct things. Awareness and Awakening. If we are not the body nor the mind, what are we using to awaken? Is it the mind, which we are not? We're using something we are not to awaken to something that we are? Can someone please quote any of these questions and answer them please.

So, I have made several posts about this topic, and I have been wanting to discuss the matter again after Leo's Blog Post on Liberal Vs. Conservativism Simulation with the Global and Local Maxima concepts. So, here I go. But first, you must watch the video to get the idea of global and local maxima. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1p11-oggW1E&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Factualized.org%2F&source_ve_path=MTc4NDI0 The thing is that when you awaken, you will think you have reached the global maxima, but in reality you are still at a local maxima. There is no getting rid of that self-deception. It is kind of impossible to awaken to a true global maxima because reality is infinite and your human form will always be finite. The reason why I say "kind of impossible" is because I think it is possible to awaken global maximally, but it is through physical death. You see, when you awaken and reach a high state of truth and understanding, human survival puts constraints on the degrees of awakening possible. Just being a human is already an inherent limitation on consciousness. Just think about an alien state of intelligence and how they may have significant degrees of understanding of reality than we do. Now, think of an ant. Do you think that an ant could ever reach an awakened state compared to a human? No! It can only reach an awakened state relative to being an ant. But what would that even look like? We cannot even imagine this because we are not an ant. Now, do you think a human could reach an awakened state of consciousness? Yes? Relative to what? The awakened state you have as a human will be no more deeper than that of an ant because reality is infinite. You will have an alien who will already have a deeper understanding of reality than you ever will. And then there will be another type of alien who has an even deeper understanding and so on and so on. Awakening seems to be only applied to the species. When we say Leo is Awake, we are essentially saying that he has reached a high level of understanding compared to the average human level of consciousness. When we say Leo is Awake, we are not saying that he is global maximally Awake, but he is local maximally awake because there are still infinite degrees of awakening. Buddhism is a local maxima even though there are some Buddhists will think the Buddha was global maximally awake. The same with Jesus and the same with Leo. Do you see the problem? Awakening is relative in a sense because there will always be higher levels of awakenings. So that means that one awakening you have will be relative to a higher or lower awakening that you could have. For instance, no-self is a form of awakening, but it isn't the highest. Understanding how God exists, what reality is, and why there is evil/conflict is another type of awakening that you have. And all of those insights will be affected and constrained by the limitations of human understanding and the influence of human survival. The paradox is Leo is now talking about genetics impacting relationships/sexuality, but I still think genetics is overlooked when it comes to spirituality. Our human genes and brain already limit our understanding of reality because these were created by Reality. Do you think we can ever comprehend Reality with the brain and genes that reality gave us? I am basically using Leo's argument that "Brains Do Not Exist" against itself here. If our brain is imaginary and if understanding happens through a functioning imaginary brain and imaginary genetics, then any awakening produced will also be imaginary? I tried to explain this concept via Godel's Incompleteness Theorem and now I have explained it via Global/Local Maxima. I am not sure how else I can explain this insight to you all. But the global and local maxima I think is the closest idea that I can think of to illustrate that there is no final or global maxima awakening. Leo is awake relative to the human species and 3D perception. An alien is awake relative to the alien species at a 4D or whatever dimension. Death is the absolute awakening because that is the moment where the finite form merges back into the Infinite Source. The finite form can never grasp the whole. Reality is infinitely mysterious. What are your thoughts? What am I missing?

And that is it. At the end of the day, it is all pointers, all dualities, all catergory errors. IT is neither illusion nor real, not this not that, and so on... As soon as one uses a single word to describe Reality, one is already in duality. One can only say what it is not, via negative ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apophatic_theology . The answer on all of these questions and points is an awakened state of being, not the latest pointer to the Absolute of the day, which are (a) all pointers and not accurate descriptions of Ultimate Reality, and (b) from an absolute perspective, all wrong (words/duality/concepts). Don't worry. Yours truly is not a fan of making the Infinite/Absolute finite...

"And if one has transcended the illusion, one normally does something like mainly acting out of compassion. Because Reality doesn't let anyone "off the hook" or outside the illusion that doesn't have lots of compassion. Yes, Reality is smart enough to do just that. Because who controls which being gets Liberation?" In my personal experience of what kills Awakened nondual states, and in the description of that of countless others. These states need compassion & love. Without that, it just closes down. And nearly endless NDE and OBE reports. And sorry if I will not answer fast & everything in the next days, got a lot of stuff do it.

Just a view points that you wrote, with quotes if yours truly written before these points of yours. Guess we snuggle together conceptually with our views closer than you thought (1): Ummm.... yes (2): We got a lift-off Houston. (3) Yes so, pretty much el muerte is required. Fully agree. After we obviously alreay align so much, which didn't really hinder you to criticize positions that I already wrote myself - no problem btw., itsSaulGoodman, I guess we can rejoice . And this here is a quite smart post in my opinion: And that is it. At the end of the day, it is all pointers, all dualities, all catergory errors. IT is neither illusion nor real, not this not that, and so on... As soon as one uses a single word to describe Reality, one is already in duality. One can only say what it is not, via negative ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apophatic_theology . The answer on all of these questions and points is an awakened state of being, not the latest pointer to the Absolute of the day, which are (a) all pointers and not accurate descriptions of Ultimate Reality, and (b) from an absolute perspective, all wrong (words/duality/concepts). And while we are at it, if it helps: I do understand nothing. Or Nothing (capital N?). But that luckily quite well... Wonderful piece of real estate to be at... Hope my friend that you understand my humour and my direct answers. It takes two to tango. Selling vortices on the river that the River produced already in the past.

People from Actualized.org will become the new generation of mystics and high conscious entities. Maybe an Awakened one also If you don't see the domino effect the work of Leo Gura will make on human spirituality over the time, you lack visionary awareness. This is in fact a great ecosystem that I'm sure will bring up many mystics and has already done so. I am prove of that, the levels of Awakening and consciousness that I'm reaching and abiding in are mainly thanks to Leo's work and this Actualized.org forum. I hope it keeps benefiting human beings and that all who search Truth and hear the calling of the divine may find this oasis of consciousness in the midst of the world

@Razard86 That's a fair point. My commentary was certainly not specific to this thread but certainly inclusive of it. When I talk to you I sometimes get the feeling that while you are very awake, you sometimes miss parts of the puzzle that are obvious to me. It seems now that it is not that you miss them but that you don't give them as much importance as I may do, which is a fair point. Despite this, I agree mostly with what you say but if I had to take your stance on many things I wouldn't be writting on the forum or doing many things besides just self abiding in my own Awake luminosity. What is true though is that not everyone is at the same stage of Awakening. I've always researched the most enlightened and awakened people and contrasted everything carefully with my direct experience and Awakenings. That's why I can discuss about almost all teachers and gurus that people mention, with both theoretical understanding and practical experience of their message. This may be the reason why I am decisive when I talk about a master's state of realization and so I act accordingly. While you can certainly go wrong in guru obsession that leads nowhere you can certainly go wrong in dismissing valuable help in your path and ending up reinventing the wheel or worse even, not arriving anywhere. How many doctors would there be without universities? A few surely, but not many. Knowing which doctor is good and which doctor is bad and how good or bad he is; is defintely a valuable skill if you want to become a full time medicine practicioner. After a point, you are expected to be a doctor yourself and live from the pension of your past work indeed, yet you will still consult here and there with your peers and you are in no way done in your understanding of medicine.

Deepppp Cutting through bullshit and awakening to Truth directly is what marks an Awakened One

Awakening from suffering is equivalent to a bomb going off in your system. You've been perceiving life the wrong way and suffering so long that the suffering can't go anymore and pops like a balloon. The body has been warning you all along through the suffering but you weren't listening to it or didn't know how to reset it, so it goes into homeostasis and reset itself again. That's just the body doing its thing. Feelings of anxiety and depression are symptoms that your wiring is faulty and needs to be attended to. Smaller versions of this is anger but it can be so intense that it doesn't stay for long because it's too overwhelming for the body and it cannot sustain that type of intense emotion. That's why anger doesn't linger for long but it comes back after the cool down period. Overtime, stress will kill you but it takes time because of the adaptation process and coping mechanisms we use to stall the body's responses to it. Any negative emotion is a signal installed by Source for itself to realize when it's off course. When it's too immersed in the dream, though, it forgets and points the finger to something apparently outside of itself for making it feel that way not realizing that it itself has took a wrong turn and needs to navigate itself back on course. So when you awaken from deep, deep, deep suffering that awakening will feel very intense just like being awakened from REM sleep and the body feels like it just went through an electrical shock. The reason why most people don't awaken is because most people are just coasting through like thinking its normal but with consequences like anxiety, depression, mental illnesses like bipolar and Schizophonia and also the degenerative diseases because of the body's imbalance. They treat the symptoms which will eventually lead to other dis-ease. This is why this and many other Spiritual communities are plagued with mental disorders because the energy is seeking relief from the contractions. This community is its refuge but it doesn't realize that it is disconnected from Source mentally, and will continue to seek until it comes to the realization that it is what its seeking.

Concentration on that Koan long enoug literally results in an Awakened nondual state of Infinite Being, and doing it even longer it can result in Realization of True Being. And that IS the sound of the one hand clapping, literally. What a wonderful & relaxed teaching tool for the Roshi. Imagine: No explanation needs to be given. No discussion with the disciple. No questions. One can easily reject any answer to the Koan-solution by just shaking the head. Only the right state of Infinite Impersonal Being will pass... and then its already done. Sounds a bit one-dimensional (if only done like described above, which of course it isn't done purely like that, but there is a tendency for it often) for this time & age? Yup, same here... But in the right setting works perfectly fine.

That why it is a Koan. Which any pointer to Reality is. Some longer, some shorter. He asked for: In Zen they also give "What is the sound of one hand clapping". Points to the same Reality, has the same answer. Which is a realization of Infinite Being, presented & combined with a nondual Awakened Awareness state. So the explanation above was so to say to premium-deluxe-royale-maximum-explanation-Koan. Which guarantees a smack from the Head-Zen-Roshi for too much explanation & conceptual-overkill-Koan(s), but hey... I am not a pure Zen non-conceptual aficionado. And if somebody wants a filibuster yours truly is not exactly opposed to that also...

Yes, it is entirely true. A thing cannot exist without its (apparent) opposite. If everyone is "awakened", then nobody is "awakened". Just as there cannot be bliss without suffering, duh. Again... reality 101.

No, then it is an illusion you identify with. Sorry to say, that will become clear with Enlightenment. You ARE your True Nature, by definition. That which can't be totally open to "my true nature" is the illusion. But anyway, that leads nowhere. Practice neti neti and cut it all off. Then you will get the awakened states to realize that.

Then you are imagining the others, trees and humans, and only you exist🤔🤔 Let's see, how I see it in open states (don't believe me, because who talks is the memory, the mind,) is that what I am is a bubble of limited perception. if this bubble is momentarily broken, gets open, and there are degrees of that dissolution, then I stop being limited, until encompass everything, but to certain extent because you are what you are and you can't dissapear until you die. In that moment I cannot see trees nor do I know my name, I am not a person. , I am total, absolute depth, where everything is. This state cannot be maintained, you cannot walk or do anything, you have no body, it is a momentary dissolution. this absolute depth is both empty and full. It is empty because its infinite amplitude makes anything zero when it expands in it, but it is full since everything emerges automatically and inevitably from its absence of limits. Infinite bubbles emerge and being infinite, and they are all perfectly synchronized. This is what you really are and it is total, absolute, unstoppable. This state is total fluidity, you burn, you cannot maintain it, you disintegrate, it is carcinogenic or something like that. then the bubble returns. All infinity is contained within the bubble, but also outside the bubble since being a bubble implies being blind to what you do not see. It's not that the things are real when you perceive, it's that everything is veiled except what you can perceive. everything exists now, all the trees, which are infinite, are real, but your perception is finite. If you saw them all at same time, you would see the total emptiness that is full of existence that everything is, the absolute life that arises from the absence of limits. All the others, infinite others, are inside your bubble now, but you cannot perceive them, and you are inside their bubble, the infinite is inside and outside at the same time, one and multiple, bubble and totality. If the doors of perception open a bit, there are no limits but you remain the bubble, the emergent of existence in permanent synchronized movement that you are, until you die and your bubble of perception disappears and you are the empty whole and all the bubbles at the same time, and only a new bubble too. Infinity is incomprehensible, but it is real, nothing can not be, everything is real energy configurations, regardless of whether you perceive them, they are perceived. So what is awakened state for me? Perceive the flow, the intelligence that this moment is, the alive depth. I am totally wrong in my cosmovisión? It's extremely very possible, but the reality is that I feel the power and the intelligence all time and fills me of joy and power, so who cares about what reality is? The only important thing is be open to life, to the intelligence . It's a bottomless well from the glory arises, so the more wise is to turn off the mind and open the heart and be filled by the power . But in the background, sometimes more, sometimes less, I perceive the unlimited cosmos in its endless rotation. All this is subjective, it's stupid for me to be categorical, who knows anything? only one thing is certain, you are the flow of existence, open yourself to it and there are no more stories

Well, that's not entirely true - there could be all awakened people. Wouldn't such a society be glorious? it would be far different from what we have now. Just nothing but mystics. Now that is like something out of a science fiction book, like an advanced, awakened, alien race.

On an Absolute Level, "it" or better True You is solipsistic. Alone and infinite. True You/Infinite Being is "alone" because "it" is infinite with nothing possibly outside of it. But that is True You/True Being. And someone who is not enlightened doesn't (by definition) know the difference between the current identity and True Being, or else he/she would be enlightened and no longer be asking these questions... So talking about Solipsism and God is just counterproductive when talking with beings who have not realized their True Nature. Because they will project their ego on the concept of God or Solipsism, no other chance. First become Nothing (no separate-self), then you will be everything (Infinite Being) - Thisdell stage 4, becoming Thisdell stage 5/Enlightenment. But better not project a little separate something (illusion-separate-self) on everything (Roger Thisdell stage 3 "Godmind"). Or: I am God imagining everything. That makes Thisdell stage 3 a cul-de-sac, no way forward to stabilize Awakening in daily life and ease the suffering. Which is exactly what we see here, with a few added ETs. Is Infinite Being not enough? Does it need to be called God? As I have written several times, I don't really like the pointer God, because it is normally loaded with other meaning on top. God = omnipresent, infinite, timeless/eternal/immortal, creating/manifesting/imagining the whole gig: Same for True Infinite Being. One without a second. But all the stuff projected on top of it when using the pointer God instead of Infinite Being, the one without a second, is often not for the faint of hearted. It anthropomorphizes Infinite True Being/Reality with properties and intentions that are just not there on the most fundamental level, and then proejcts it on the illusion-ego/illusion separate-self. "I am God". Only very few can truthfully say that, because most have not realized their True Being and can't tell the difference to ego/separate-self. And those who can say that truthfully and not fall for the illusion normally don't talk like that, because they know from their own practice it is not beneficial for beings with the ego/separate-self illusion not fully seen through. As soon as one talks like that to not enlightened beings, they almost always project the properties of True Being (or God) on themselves, their separate-identity, which they still have not seen through. Because else they would be enlightened. And these separate-self-identities-arisings/illusions are that which have to be cut down/transcended for Enlightenment to happen. And using the grandiose word "God" tends to blow these illusion-arising up to cosmic proportions: "I" imagine everything. No. "Your" True Being does. But what is that? What is the constant always here True Being? Here also in Deep Sleep? Before ones birth? And if one would fully know the difference between True Being and separate-self/ego, one wouldn't talk about these topics using pointers/concepts like God/Solipsism, because it would be all clear anyway... And one wouldn't need to state I am God and I imagine everything, because.... well... TO WHOM? Well, I guess you get the point. At the level of Infinite Being one is alone. But there is no one there to feel alone, because that would be an anthropomorphic illusion arising of a separate-self WITHIN True Being. It just is what it is. And always has been. And with an enlightened being talking like that it is not necessary. Makes no sense. One sees and knows the Awakened Nondual enlightened State the "other" is in (and nobody really home), and it is clear. Imagine a discussion like: I am God! No, I am God! No, you are not! We are God! That is all illusion, starting with the words "I" and "we". Lot of talk of God and Solipsism happens on Thisdells stage 3 "God-stage, God-mind". Infinite Nonduality with separate-self/remaining identity/ego not fully seen through". It is contradictory, not stable, with lots of illusions still going on. And that is presupposing its done from real nondual states. Most of the time, its done from not nondual states, just from the conceptual level. And from there, it is more insanity than anything else. The discussion then goes like: "No, small you is not God. Big You, True Being, is. But first find out what that is before talking about God & Solipsism". And because of all these contradictions that doing that move includes, there is so much discussion here about these topics. Because it is not clear, but contradictory. Sometimes I use the pointer God, but normally it is not a good pointing/teaching tool. Ever noticed that very few enlightened teachers that are public talk about how they are God and imagining everything, and they are all alone and Solipsism and so on? They do, if you listen between the lines or read/see enough stuff. Sometimes even explictily. Sometimes, even complete books like the Supreme Source have been written, that even got the approval by our host as God Realization. And these enlightened teachers normally don't talk about them being God/Solipsism. Not because they are too stupid to know what God is, and what Solipsism/Aloneness on the Absolute Level means. And they do know that all is an imagined illusion happening within "their" own Infinite Being/True Being by definition. If they wouldn't, they wouldn't be enlightened. But they don't throw that in public at a poor ego to blow it up to cosmic proportions, because that doesn't help their students going from Thisdell stage 3 to 4 to 5. It usually even prevents getting the ego stage 1 to witness stage 2 to nondual stage 3. Because to get there sobre and without psychedelics, one already has to kill/transcend the ego/separate-self quite a lot... Nothing kills sobre Awakened Nonduality better than saying to oneself: I AM GOD. A "normal" identification of I am a human so and so suffices to do that... And one more thing: If Nonduality (or Buddhism) gets bashed: Nonduality is NOT automatically Enlightenment, or realization of True Infinite Being/Reality. It is Thisdells stage 3 Godmind. A boundless nondual infinite field of Awareness, with a separate-self still well and alive hijacking that! And that most Buddhist are not enlightened should go without saying.. Stage 3 Godmind. That is where one gets with psychedelics. And maybe even stage 4 a bit. But I have never seen a mainly psychedelic aficionado get to stage 5, True No Self (also nondual, but without center/separate-self-illusion, truly being the Infinite Totality/Being). Stable Nondual realization of Infinite Being in daily life. Maybe somebody knows one, would be very interested. Can't rule out that one exists, or that one wakes up just by the impulse of a psychedelic. It is just, I have never seen one. I know quite a lot that have done that with transcending/meditation of the false illusion separate self. So basically "Nonduality" and "Buddhism" gets bashed, because one doesn't know that stage 3 "Godmind"/Nonduality is not yet True Being or Enlightenment. Of course merely Nondual Realisation doesn't bring "God-Realization", or understanding that True Being imagines/manifests all of it, and that ones True Self is that. That is stage 5, or the link (Supreme Source) above. Or True Enlightenment. Psychedelics get one to Nonduality, maybe in more sophisticated cases to realizing that it is all imagined/manifested to fool "oneself". But it doesn't get oneself conforming to the impersonal infinite nondual enlightened mindstream. And that is why this "realization" is not stable in daily life. Still suffering/resisting the content of ones own True Infinite Being. "Solution": add a few ETs from higher levels of Reality, and call that higher than realizing and being ones True Infinite Being. And be proud on ones own continuing suffering/resistance towards happens within ones True Infinite Nondual Being, and declare that as inevitable. Or something like that. Well, quite a show Maya is dishing "us" up this time, isn't it Selling God&Solipsism Water by the River The Koan still is: What is the True Being of the ET at the end, really? And that of any other ET, n+1?

Ever heard of Yin & Yang? There can be no "awakened people" without "not awakened people". Reality 101.

A very good and important topic to contemplate about. I also spent a long time with the topic of what causes actually Awakening, and its relationship to suffering. I tried to include as many past & present cases into my perspective on it as possible. On suffering in the context of Awakening, Enlightenment, the meditation path and my personal experiences (and my personal pet-theory of it all): -warning, the usual conceptual overkill of yours truly ahead- The following is my perspective based on what I have seen/read about other cases, and my own experiences. Without some form of suffering (or more precicly in Buddhist terma Dukha which means not suffering, but more unsatisfactoryness) nobody would ever start the path to Enlightenment/Awakening/Liberation/True Being, because one would be happy & satisfied doing the myriad of projects to become happy and free of suffering/unsatisfactoriness in our culture/time. Maslows pyramid up and down. What is not so well known: Even Maslow put towards the end of his life stage 6 on top of Maslows pyramid of need: (Self-)-Transcendence. So for the start of the "Enlightenment-project" (which is a contradiction in itself, but that is another story...) one needs either a) a mainstream-culture that pushes spiritual liberation/Awakening (and for our lifetimes, Maya goes "not today darling" on that topic, or b) some form of suffering or dukha (unsatisfactoriness) to start the journey. Then during the path to Awakening/Enlightenment/liberation, the old cycles of suffering/unsatisfactoriness don't stop at once. Here is how it developed for me, in a nutshell. The nature of the separate-self/ego to cycle between being happy for some time, then suffering/being unsatisfied/resisting what is/unhappy, then start a new project to make it happy, and round it goes. If God would write a manual to make a Samsara/Illusion game with (separate) self and others, it would go something like this: Give them some unsatisfaction and a carrot (expectation of happiness induced by a certain experience in the future), let them chase, then give them temporary happiness(=not resisting what is) and them make 'em suffer again. And given them lots of levels of carrots/games to chase and try out for permanent happiness. That is all that is needed to have a game with separate-self. The chasing goes from Maslows pyramid base stage 1 apparently up to chasing ETs n+1. Then, on an efficient path (my case Mahamudra/Dzogchen), the bliss of ones True Being (Awakenings to Nondual Awakened Awarenes) by cutting off the thought/feeling stream of the separate self in real time (also called meditation, if done correctly) starts flowing. At some point of my path (mainly Mahamudra&Dzogchen), I literally could start producing my bliss for example while meditating, walking, in meetings (at least some of them when I just could watch the show ) and so on... That normally starts after some years of meditation (on and off the pillow) when the vast spaciousness of boundless awareness starts showing up and the contractions in the head get literally relaxed. That impressed me pretty much. That bliss didn't hold with "hard" problems/really bad events in the beginning, but it started the become stronger and stronger, inducing more and more awakend nondual states of blissful silence. A positive feedback loop. More and more facets of True Being started to show up, see my last post on the remnants of separate self that need to be seen through. Creating more and more Awakening and bliss. At some point the shift can happen towards realizing what one really is/True Infinite Being, or Enlightenment. Since that normally implies a gradual transcendence path/process over several years that one has been fed each and any core-separte-self identity/suffering during the meditation by Maya in the years before, pretty much all of that stuff is transcended. Because Maya will "throw" anything at you that she has to keep the illusion going, and she has a lot. But it can jump to Enlightenment any time (Karma, aka genetics but I prefer Karma, more encompassing), induced by various events, often suffering, before that path/during it/at the end of it. For most it takes the whole path. The more gradual and longer the path, the more stable is the realization later. Yet, once having realized True Being, it is no longer in doubt. So, that was my experience, now comes my theory: Beings are karmically wired more or less fortunately/differently. Some wake up because their visual field conforms for some reasons (base state, Kundalini-Awakening, whatever) very well to the True Nature of things (mere appearance and not solid objects out there, Infinite field of awareness, boundless, timeless, always here, basically my last long post about a mindstream conforming to the enlightened mindstream. Or at least they have the potential for that shift to happen quickly. and their core-separate-self-identity-arisings are for some reason (Karma,...) easily seen through when contemplating&self-inquiring. For these beings (1) and (2) in place, some trigger can cause Enlightenment. Suffering-example: Tolle. Kundalini/Energetic: Ramana. Anamanda Ma, countless examples in history. Branch of that is shaktipat hitting a "fertile field". Then there are the normies, like yours truly, who need an either need a) an efficient practice (like Mahamudra/Dzogchen) first to induce awakened states, then get rid of all illusion/separate-self remnants, and then some good pointing out instruction of the real state of things (the properties of True Infinite Being, basically my last long post). quite some time/years needed to start inducing awakened awareness/mere nondual appearance of the visual field via meditation/trekchö/cutting off each and any thought-arising in more and more highspeed by looking into its (empty/consciousness) nature out of which thoughts/feelings are made. Until then of course also suffering in cycles. But getting "over the hump" towards bliss-inducing state happens here in the fastest and most efficient manner, as least in the opinion of yours truly. The beginning steps of that path are also concentration meditation, like in b) below. But quite refined ones, and not for too long before one shifts practice. Learning to produce ones own bliss with being in these awakened states. This way, gradually getting rid of large parts of suffering by slowly transcending the "sufferer", and replacing misery of the separate-self with the bliss of awakened states. and then, towards the end of the road (or if one is gifted/fortunate/lucky also in the middle of the path) the shift to realizing True Being and its immortality (or infinite-always here nature), and with that removing the final fear of "death" or disappearance. b) a practice that is less detailed and focuses more on brute-force willpower/push-through concentration meditation: Jhana, Zen, "sit and die before the wall" approaches that need to push with willpower through lots and lots of suffering. Here, we are again at lots and lots of suffering (at least at the beginning stages, but also all along the path from what I have seen), because Maya will throw everything she has at you to get you off the pillow/meditation, not that one wakes up and leaves the game prematurely... And now the second part of the post, why are the paths with less/minimized suffering not practiced more widely? As @Arthogaan has noticed correctly in the post below, and I had the exact same thoughts many times... Short answer to the question above: they are more complex and need more maintenance/coaching/understanding. So they are more difficult to teach & multiply & roll out, and normally need personal coaching. they have mostly been kept secret until recently because of the various dangers, like for example ego-inflation, nihilistic misuse-potential, or just plain and simple misunderstanding potential of complex practices, which leads to stagnation in the practice. Why do we have mainly enlightened ones who got lucky/were lucky with karma/genetics (see above), or from the paths 2b) Concentration meditation/Theravada/Zen? Because until recently the highly(!) sophisticated methods of Tibetan Buddhism like Mahamudra/Dzogchen/... (who have developed much more and way more sophisticated than for example Zen/Theravada which are very similiar to what was done in India 1000 to 2000 years ago (although I love these traditions very much) were not accessible at all. The Tibetans "concentrated" more on spirituality as a society, 1000 years of R&D of enlightened lineages and sometimes a large part of the adult population in the monastaries (~15%+). Head of state = Dalai Lama for a long time. Basically, main focus of that culture&society including government was Enlightenment. Of course there was also a lot of stupid things going on, like war between monasteries. But the overall development of buddhist meditation in that setting was unparalleled. Compared to that (sorry) Theravada and Zen sometimes feels a bit like "living fossils" (said in a joking way), although I like them very much and they do work quite robustly and produce fully enlightened ones. The Tibetan Teachings are very sophisticated and either need lots of focus on them (like reading the books of Brown 10-20 times and experimenting a lot), or a good and enlightened teacher explaining them and checking for understanding (which pretty much didn't exist until recently, all secret teachings are out, see books of Daniel Brown. "best of" collection of Menri Trizin, selected by Menri Trizin (probably those with which he achieved his own realization) to be translated by Brown). Another problem is they got a deeply cultural "lingo" and quite some hyperbole (the Tantric teachings of generation/completition stages and especially the lower Tantras). Quite hard to approach. So the only thing not published by Brown of these systems are some of the secret pointing out instructions for Enlightenment, although quite some are published, for example his Akrid book (Pith Instructions for A Khrid rDzogs Chen. Yet, reading that in parallel to Pointing out the Great Way is probably better than starting with that book alone). That system plus a bit Jac O'Keffee, Roger Thisdell, Massaro, Wolinsky for the final steps towards Realization (I wrote quite a lot about these), and some psychedelics for state-peak-previews... These elements I assume will be found in the Global Dharma of the future. Then some more aspects: Concentration Meditation Systems like Zen or Jhana/Theravada are quite robust: Don't need so much teaching/feedback during the process, are more brute-force and less complex. More robust, less efficient (in the meaning that one needs to push through suffering with meditation, and that they can be slower/less pleasant, and many meditators end in the many cul-de-sacs of the path where one can just stagnate if certain nuances are not understood. But done long &hard enough they work. Metaphor: The axe to cut down a tree. Doesnt need fuel & maintenance & sophisticated handling like a forst harvester.... which brings us to: The Forsest harvester to cut down the forst of Illusion: Mahamudra&Dzogchen&other Tibetan Buddhism techniques, see for example Daniel Browns books & videos: can work if done correctly/understood correctly/coached correctly in the fastest way possible by swiftly creating Awakened Nondual States most pleasant way possible (minimum amount of pushing through suffering on/off meditation pillow, taking the meditation off the pillow into daily life at the earliest possible point. avoiding pretty much all cul-de-sacs of the path where meditation practice can stagnate/level out if something is not done correctly, which means and end to the growth of Awakened Nondual States. Mostly they don't even appear then in first place, and one remains in the mericless claws of the separate-self-contraction/suffering. but are way more complex than the standard concentration meditation practice like Zen/Jhana. Pointing out the Great Way, Brown has hundreds of pages of descriptions of the various stages/steps and how the path develops through them. So many many things to potentially do wrong if something is understood incorrectly. Zen-Koan-meditation would just push through these errors if done long enough, but an incorrectly done Nonmeditation (done too early) or One Taste meditation goes nowhere and stagnates... Selling Water by the River

Awakenings can have such a deep and self-verifying impact (and is self-validating, because... aspects of True Being starting to show up) that "one can stare the devil in the eye and not blink", as some Zen people have written. One starts speaking from the authority of ones own Awakenings. The question is: What is left of "one speaking". Yet, everytime yours truly had the thought arising that he is ahead of anyone, there was a new me separate-self-cluster floating around in my Infinite True Being, pretty much destroying the awakened nondual state of just One Infinite Being/Infinite Consciousness with re-establishing duality, separate-self and "other". Later, admittedly after quite some years , I learned that self-importance and feeling of being "ahead" of any arising in my True Being of any kind is one of the end-game-bosses, because it creates (separate) self and others. And it can be very very subtle... Nowadays I tend to smile on any tendencies like that are arising in me, understanding that Maya just looked at "me" and gave me her most beautiful and seductive smile. Because "who" could "I" be ahead of? Ahead of Myself? And all you can do if Maya smiles at you is smile back.... Please don't understand as criticism, just as a description of my experience with that topic. In Absolute Truth, there is no "one" ahead of "anyone". On a relative/manifestation level, there are just some "mindstreams" that have more clouds blocking True Beings, and some have less. All have the same essence and Being. I personally have a hard time staying in Awakened Nondual Awareness and seriously believing that "I" am ahead of anyone, because then "I" get served "I" (separate self) and "anyone" (other), normally causing an end of nondual Awakening, and the corresponding suffering/resistance to what is, which is just another word for suffering. And I tend to no longer hit myself on my own knee with a hammer if I can avoid it, even if Maya gives me her most seductive smile. Namaste Water by the River

The ability to hold the boundless infinite nondual Awareness will grow. In Pointing out the Great Way it is called Postsamadhi Meditation. This boundless infinite timeless Awakened Awareness (as Daniel Brown calls it) is impersonal, or Awareness in at by itself. It is not necessarily individual consciousness, but awakened nondual boundless impersonal consciousness. Non-separated, non-personal. Awake. With Nonmeditation Yoga, you can let Awakened Awareness hold the view and do the meditation. "You" just get out of the way. Same holds for daily activity. Awakened Awareness is more intelligent than normal ego-consciousness, since filters & lenses are removed. Daniel Brown once said: "I let Awakened Awareness do it (I think in the context of that statement writing a book), and I just get out of the way." That is how it feels. Reading and analytical thinking is about the most difficult activitiy while keeping mindfullness/Awakened Awareness, but it can be done. "The reappearance of the mind's spontaneous relative activity at this extraordinary level of practice [Nonmeditation Yoga] brings continuous supreme bliss (bde steng). Because mindfulness/recognition now has its own force (shugs), it goes on by itself without any effort whatsoever." "At this final stage awakened wisdom [Awakened Awareness] spreads rapidly so that all possible emanations of the mind become the embodiment of awakened wisdom. The term emanation ofnothingcaptures both the relative and the ultimate dimensions of truth, respectively. All the mind's relative activity becomes the play (rol du) of the always-here mind. Where ordinary thoughts and perceptions once were, "only the great fire of understanding burns" (TN, p. 536)." "Blended practice occurs when you are forever mindful of the real nature/clear-light mind throughout the four behavioral conditions. (TN, p. 547)" Pointing out the Great Way, Brown Daniel Brown, Video below, starting 57min 40 sec: Map 2: On stabilizing Awakening [or Awakened (Nondual) Awareness] Map 3 would be to Liberation / Enlightenment. Map 1 is to Awakening/Awakened Awareness. In my opinion, and that of Daniel Brown, the most sophisticated meditation/training system on the planet. Daniel Brown has received the clearance from Menri Trizin to translate all the previous secret teachings, including Tummo/Energetic Inner Fire Yoga with or without consort, Treckö and Togal (Visionary practices to get rid of the solidity of the visual field), dark retreat, dream yoga, and so on and on. And lots of other really unique techniques that neither Zen nor Theravada, nor any other tradition, have. and the result: The timeline to Enlightenment. Done correctly with energetic practices added a few years...

Ok, I try. But be aware this is extremely difficult to do it in a monological form via text, and hardly complete. Good news is: At that stage the path shows itself to itself if one just continues with the right meditation/awareness techniques. The illusion-mechanisms pop up one by one. If applying a good understanding of what will show up, the process can be fastened. It is like adding a blow-torch to the burning down of the illusion-building. So, here we go: Any thought implying I/me. "I-feeling" any understanding you have ("I" understand) any doubt ("I" doubt) all of it very subtle and fast forms of feeling separate. Or thinking that. Very fast & very subtle. Way faster than a thought elaborated over several second. Tenths/fractions of a second... Speed of awareness is crucial, that is being trained here And strength of awareness, to be able to also cut off core separate-self identities and suffering/resistance. Reckognizing that, not getting hypnotized by that, cutting it off by looking into its nature (empty consciousness). and since its very hard to tell the difference if a thought-arising is laced with individuality/separation/identity: Cutting off all of them, just for training. Yet, one can at other times also maintain ones awareness during practical daily life/thoughts. And memory of the past: It is being imagined right now, appears as complete "chunk" out of Infinite Consciousness/Being, and then gets elaborated in thought (which is very slow compared to how it emerges "fully" formed. That is truly a mindf*** when your awareness gets fast enough to spot for the first time how the complete past emerges immediately as "whole block" and then is slowly elaborated, fooling one to believe one is that "I" having this memory and thoughts. You see then how each any anything is just emerging to fool oneself. That is an aspect that Leo emphasizes with his concept of God-Realization. The past is radically imagined right now, there is no past. There is only an Infinite Formless eternal "Field" modulating itself to give the appearance of a past. Same for the "future". You don't have a past, You are an Infinite Vastness that is able to make up the past on the fly, and then have thoughts/feelings-arisings that "believe" that. Yet, that Infinite Vastness/Being CAN UNDERSTAND, and so it can understand that the past is imagined on the fly here and now. That is a major understanding/building block of Enlightenment, or seeing that separation from it all (separate self) is just an imagined arising within oneself. One is not a human, but the Infinite Vastness/Being (which is luckily also always here, aka immortal/eternal, can't go anywhere infinite Nothingness with nothing outside of it) imagining a human and all its elements moving/appearing within itself. So it is Duality gone (visual field nondual) -> Nondual boundless infinite (boundary of the field is gone) -> Infinite solidity of "external" visual field is gone, replacing solidity with mere groundless lucid appearance -> imagined illusion/lucidity/non-material, mere imagined empty hologram like appearance. time is gone (as described above, past imagined right now) -> always here, never not here Infinite Mind/Being. Eternal, immortal, absolutely fundamental, all is appearing and arising in it, always. space is gone (imagined IN the infinte vastness of True Being) -> space doesnt exist outside, space is imagined in oneself, the vastness of Infinity (which is not 3d space), and there is no 3D-space (or any space at all, non-euclidian, 4D, whatever) possibly existing outside of your Infinite Being. No outside. Infinite. All there is. Space is not self-existing outside of ones own nondual infinite being. It is imagined by it. What is behind your face? "beyond" the visual field. Not (3d-)space, but the Infinite (Being). -> spaceless, dimensionless, infinite. Containing all possible dimensions and realms, high and low. all of that is imagined/constructed/manifested right here right now in ones nondual True eternal Being, Infinite Consciousness/Being. -> A mirage/illusion appearing in ones Infinite Being, giving rise to the illusion of a human life within it. Another way to say that is: In Pointing out the Great Way, Brown is one statement: If everything (1) all appearance of the world/visual field is seen as mere appearance (empty) hovering lucid and hologram like in Infinite Vastness (that can still be stage 3&4 Thisdell with separate-self well and alive, and that is why that is accesible via psychedelics) AND (2) each and any thought/feeling arising/"internal" mindstream event (including everything one believed oneself to be, I-feeling, I-thoughts, the whole history, the whole asking what is Reality/True Being, ALL of it) is seen as empty arising in Infinite Being/Nothingness/Consciousness. which means that ones mindstream is then conforming to the enlighened mindstream, or close to how Infinite Reality really is. Then Enlightenment can happen. But it can't be forced, since that would be thoughts with a thinker identified with them, with I-feelings, wanting something. Infinite Being/Consciousness has to understand itself, with no artifical activity/separate self trying to force it. At that point, the properties of the mindstream above can be automized, and this automatic meditation/mindfulness can be protected ("mindfulness without [artificial activity]"), element (1) of Nonmeditation Yoga, see Pointing out the Great Way, Brown). One doesnt't focus on anything (which Daniel Brown calls particularizing). This picking out something specific with attention (particularizing, the fastest process of the mind, way faster than thinking) is what creates Duality, or better disrupts the original nonduality. Instead, one watches how particularization happens, and transcends that in a way that the boundless nondual unity with/of the visual field is not interrupted. Element (2) of Nonmeditation Yoga, "do not take to mind". and then maintains and waits in that state. Meditation and Mindfulness in these awakened nondual states does itself. Enlightenment can't be forced, because who would do the forcing? Instead, the Infinite Vastness/Being can understand/realize itself (or its True Nature) when conditions are exactly right. That is then Enlightenment. Bye bye illusion-human, hello Infinite Being/Reality "having" a human,. Making the mindstream conform to the enlightened mindstream so that Enlightenment can happen is very important, because that part can be done by intelligent and informed practice. And that is why an efficient system is way faster, more efficient for most than and way more pleasent than a brute force approach like sitting an staring at the wall (brute force method), concentration or Koan-style. more likely to work than betting on just by having the right Karma and enough of the mere-appearance-infinite-character of the visual field and thought/feeling space in place already (Ramana, Anamanda Ma), and then some contemplation based on the already very much conforming mindstream Only those who needed to walked the steps can tell about the steps. Those are on top can mainly tell about how the properties of the roof are/what Truth is, but its more difficult to talk about steps that didn't have to be taken/climbed because they were already in place. The low success rate of the Enlightenment-endeavours in my perspective is due to mostly using brute-force-methods (which need lots and lots of willpower and pushing through negative emotions on the pillow) with no clear map of the steps of the path and the lots of cul-de-sacs of the path, or prodigy-approaches of telling about nature of True Being, but not offering a method path for average-gifted persons (Ramana for example). So, conforming to the enlightened mindstream mainly is: (1) Visual Field nondual, mere appearance, "hovering" in Infinite Vasteness/Infinity, being manifested/imagined right now (2) every thought arising/feeling arising is seen as emerging out of True Being/consciousness, made out of it, moving in it. Especially all thoughts/feelings relating to I/me. Feels impersonal, no separate indiduality found in any of that. And based on that the separate self (what one thought oneself to be) can be realized as mere flow of colours/appearances/feelings/thoughts (which have a very coherent and well made structure/Gestalt, and therefor are extremly hypnotizing and seem believeable) appearing in Oneself (Infinite Being), including the whole past, and that one IS the always here Infinite Eternal Field of Being/Consciousness. And the former separate-self is like the tree-picture in this wikipedia-article (below): A representation for something that appears (the tree), but has no independend existence apart from True Being (which is the nondual infinite eternal vastness of Being right here and now, with the body and mindstream having no different priority or separation from all that is). A well made illusion. The picture of the tree concept doesn't point to a real tree outside of consciousness (an object), but to shapes/colours of an imagined trees within Infinite Consciousness, not to real trees that exist outside of Infinite Being, self-existing/indepdently existing outside of consciousness. There are no trees, just the concept of them, and some imagined colours/forms/sensations giving the Gestalt of an appearance of atree. Same way, there is no human/separate-self beyond the appearance-Gestalt, and the concept pointing to such an imagined self-existing entity. There is only Infinite Being, not the human (which only appears in Infinite Being). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concept There always ever was, is and can be the Totality of (true) Being, self-aware, perceptions perceiving themselves. Either with reflective-self-consciousness arising (like normal human mind stream), or just mere awareness of the Totality without the self-consciousness part, perceptions perceiving themselves. Aware, but not separate. The non reflective-pure awareness of this vast field/being is more fundamental than the temporary appearing self-consciousness (with I-feelings I-thoughts). The Awareness is the Sun, the reflective (self-) consciousness (I-feeling, I-thoughts) is the reflected light of the Sun on the planets. Basically, its replacing ones old mistaken identity (imagined false illusion separate-self) with the correct identity, Infinite timeless/eternal (always here) Being. The flow of the human mindstream with its practical thoughts and so on happen within Ones True Being. One has a human, but is not only the human. Thoughts or feelings of separation are known to be illusion. When that shift happen, this realization is always available by just reaching out, or immediately always present. The visual field IS mere appearance and lucid/hologram/groundless, it IS infinite, eternal always here. Thoughts and feelings ARE just floating in it, made out of it, and "it" is onself, nondual. And that can be felt all the time or by just checking/moving attention there. It can never really be unseen. Reality/True Being understands itself. It is beyond doubt, unshakable, deathless/immortal always here. And that is the kicker: One/True Being is literally immortal and infinite. Not the ego, but True Being with its nature of Awareness. One can never die, and nothing outside one self can truly threaten one, because there is no outside of oneself. Seriousness and danger is replaced with laughter and security. Resting in True Being generates bliss, even when approaching it in Thisdells stage 4. Its a self-reinforcing positive feedback loop: Cutting off thoughts, field nondual, bliss flows. Literally. And that reinforces the stability of Nondual mere appearance visual field even more. Awakening enchances awakening. Suffering/resistance to what is no longer grips in any form since a long time. If it moves within ones being, is seen and let go. Would the inherent bliss of True Being ever be exchanged with grasping for being an ET seeing more of manifested reality, but suffers because its not enlightened? (more on that later). That is a "hard" shift, it is not just thinking differently. It is for sure not "I am God and imagine all reality", which is just cosplay. It is Reality understanding itself, Infinite Being waking up to itself. What can do the understanding of that? Reality/Being/Infinite Consciousness. Waking up to its True Nature. That last shift is knowing what one really is, and that understanding/realization runs over a short period of time. Waking up. Happens only once. And is final. Is beyond doubt (since these would only be more thoughts/arisings moving within Reality and subsiding into it). The shifts/Awakenings leading towards it go over a longer time, many years. And then of course there are infinite forms of manifestation, ET n+1, with vastly more understanding of the relative manifestations, basking in their understanding of the imagination process, different dimensions, higher realms, non-euclidian space, completely other alien manifestation realms. Humans look like ants compared to that for sure. These beings have been reported since millenia, in all cultures, all times. Reality-creating and maintaining Gods (Brahman, Shiva, Vishnu and endless other names for them). But it is the same True YOU, the only Being or Awareness in existence. The same being. There is nothing outside of it. No other (being, God, alien). And one can have an unenlightened ET, not having realized what Reality really is. Beings of higher realms are not necessarily enlightened. That tale is as old as the spiritual traditions. Although many of these beings of higher planes are enlightened. An unenlightened ET (which by definition has separate-self-elements not transcended/seen through in real time, which are by definition nothing other than the elements resisting the now, or suffering in other words) is a rather sad and suffering figure compared to a being who has realized its True Infinite Being. Calling the lower higher, and the higher lower. Whose modus operandi is that again? But lets not end too serious: It is all an illusion-game, "nobody" really gets lost forever, and Maya smiles lovingly on all not-really-(self)-existing-but-just-appearing children of Reality, humans and ETs alike. Although it can appear & feel very real & serious. Selling Water by the River

Besides endless amounts of NDEs, OBEs and past life memories... See the books of Christopher Bache for example, Jürgen Ziewe, Stanislav Grof. And countless reports all over the ages, derived from altered states (psychedelic, meditation, OBE, psychics,...). If you can keep the Absolute Perspective all the time in this life in fulltime awakened nondual states 24/7 and no longer suffer&resist, and expect that to hold in the next cycles, your reasoning is partly correct. If that is not the case, the attitude there is no next reincarnation & who cares about Karma will kick back big time in the next existence. Like it already does right now. Basically, its confusing Absolute Truth with Relative Truth. Do you think Infinite Reality is stupid enough to not to be able to store a bunch of tendencies of your relative self going from life to life (called Karma, mainly consisting out of wisdom/transcendence and compassion/love, and a lot of other imprints/tendencies/Karma) in an information bundle called "soul" on a higher dimension in Indras Net, as pretty much all above mentioned sources report? That is what reincarnates. On the relative/illusion-level, not on the absolute level. But I guess for most is the relative/illusion-level still quite "real" and "serious", like in suffering/resisting... All of that is relative appearance, part of the illusion/manifestation. Are you free of anything that reality can throw at you on the appearance level, like totally liberated 24/7? Then you can stop caring about these matters pretty much. But even for Enlightenments-gone-sour (lets make a nice cult to satisfy the remaining needs of a halfway-up-the-moutain not really stabilized Enlightenments that expresses itself not in all dimensions of the enlightened being in an integrated and loving way) that attitude of not caring will be kick-back, this life or the next. Mostly already this life. Anyway, this here is in the opinion of yours truly a quite smart idea: Although my view is higher than the sky, My respect for the cause and effect of actions is as fine as grains of flour. - Padmasambhava But I agree the show-factor (for the spectators) of spiritual bypassing and/or not taking relative truth ("Karma/Reincarnation") serious is way higher.

Yes. He is enlightened & smart enough to understand the process and tell about it in a systematic way. Since about 5-10 years there are increasingly excellent teachers describing the path in a non tradition-biased manner (not Buddhist-lingo, Not advaita, not Vedanta, not christian, not whatever), but with a clear phenomenology and structured & scientifiy way & language. Actually defining the terms they use in clear and coherent definitions, and showing the steps/experiments/injunctions necessary to get the reference experience, and then defining clear signifiers/words/definitions for these referent-experiences. John Churchill said in a podcast, we are witnessing the birth of a global Dharma. In 50-100 years, I guess we will not talk using Buddhist-Lingo, or Advaita, or whatever, but cross-tradition definitions of the steps of the path, highlighting universal steps of what happens in the mind on the path to salvation. Integrating the best and most efficient stuff of all traditions & current teachers available, That, and using psychedelics as preview & state-inductions of the awakened states. Interesting times to live in...

vs. I don't know a single case where stage 5 has been achieved without a looong meditation practice getting rid of the subtle remnants of stage 4. Because it takes a long time (for most) at the awakened nondual states of stage 4 to get rid of the most subtle remnants of the separate self. Psychedelics get one to stage 3 (nondual Unity Godmind), or in more sophisticated cases to stage 4. The difference between stage 4 and stage 5 is the death of any and all separate self identity in real time. Not one single subtle element of that sticks any more and is not seen trough/cut off/ seen as moving within oneself. And there are many very subtle elements that can prevent realization. And the difference between stage 4 and 5 is earth-shaking. That is why its called Enlightenment. And that prevents the clouding over you describe.