Enlightenment Is Not Extraordinary

[Natasha]

Rupert Spira's definition of enlightenment/awakening as a "simple recognition of the nature of our own essential being...Ramana Maharshi, Jesus, Lao Tzu, and the Buddha - they didn't have any greater or more direct access to the nature of their own minds than you or I have, they were just single-pointed about it..."

3:15 min - 6:30 min

 

[Prabhaker]

35 minutes ago, Natasha said:

Enlightenment Is Not Extraordinary

This whole world is a struggle to be extraordinary. Some try it in politics, some try it in economics, some try it in religion. When everybody wants to be extraordinary, then to remain a ordinary person is extraordinary. The only miracle, the impossible miracle, is to be just ordinary.

[Natasha]

@Prabhaker Being ordinary is possible, it just takes courage to go against the norms and expectations of the society. But then you'd be labeled a 'weirdo'/ 'the odd one'. But you don't care cos you know you're here to live your life, not to seek approval of others 

What Rupert is saying, though, is that in India or other Easten countries the terms 'enlightenment'/'awakening' are laden with the cultural packaging of those contries and therefore they tend to have exotic, colorful, extraordinary associations with them. In reality, it's none of those things, but a simple recognition of the nature of our own essential being. And once you recognize your true nature is awareness, you settle into self-abidance, with the sense of lack gradually dissolving. You become ordinary.

[Prabhaker]

2 minutes ago, Natasha said:

What Rupert is saying, though, is that in India or other Easten countries the terms 'enlightenment'/'awakening' are laden with the cultural packaging of those contries

Rupert is speaking to modern western audiences, he can't speak about enlightenment in the way it is described in some Indian scriptures. Even Buddha removed all exotic, colorful, extraordinary associations with enlightenment , two thousand years ago, because Indians were trying to become extraordinary by pursuing enlightenment. Unless you are ready to remain ordinary , you can't grow spiritually. 

Masters can't tell the everything, when they speak about enlightenment, it is out of compassion. If they speak in the way it is described in some Indian scriptures, it will create hindrances for real seekers and attract wrong kind of persons towards spirituality, who can harm themselves and others. 

[Prabhaker]

26 minutes ago, Natasha said:

In reality, it's none of those things, but a simple recognition of the nature of our own essential being.

Modern masters talk in this language because we are very miserable, cunning, ambitious and greedy. 

Jesus said, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." or "faith can move mountains"

Modern masters can't talk in this manner, because we can't understand it.

[Shin]

That's what I'm saying for weeks now !

STILL DON'T GET ANY LIKES !

 

 

[Natasha]

@Shin You always find the funniest clips to make a point 

[Natasha]

8 hours ago, Prabhaker said:

Modern masters talk in this language because we are very miserable, cunning, ambitious and greedy. 

Jesus said, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." or "faith can move mountains"

Modern masters can't talk in this manner, because we can't understand it.

I agree. Here's a lady, Natalie Gray, who is not a spiritual teacher describing her awakening also as ordinary. After self-realization she was done seeking and stopped making YT videos...just went on with her life 'chopping wood and carrying water'... 

These are 2 of the 3 videos she made which I find quite insightful:

 

[Key Elements]

@Natasha When a person is in an 'enlightenment experience,' it's 'normal.' The person is it. The person is everything. The person has no doubts and doesn’t think it's 'abnormal.' It's just pure infinite peace.

However, there is a revert back to the ego 'self,' and the person awakes from that infinite peace with a huge hint of 'bliss' and remembers it. Many times the person wishes to be back to that infinite nature, the true nature, because that's what we are. We are not the ego. It's all a fiction. So what happens when we wish we were back to our true nature? This:

"Oh my god! It's absolutely infinite!"

"It's absolutely infinite!!!!!"

"It's absolutely infinite!!!!!"

"It's absolutely infinite!!!!!"

"It's absolutely infinite!!!!!"

"It's absolutely infinite!!!!!"

"It's absolutely infinite!!!!!"

"It's absolutely infinite!!!!!"

"It's absolutely infinite!!!!!"

"It's absolutely infinite!!!!!"

"It's absolutely infinite!!!!!"

"It's absolutely infinite!!!!!"

"It's absolutely infinite!!!!!"

"It's absolutely infinite!!!!!"

"It's absolutely infinite!!!!!"

"It's absolutely infinite!!!!!"

-Leo

We get too excited. But, that's ok. It'll pass. What we can do from that moment on is to realize that our true nature can be applied to real life, the illusional life. So, for example, the next time you feel lonely, or get an emotion other than peace, you could say to yourself that it's just an emotion (ego). It's not our infinite nature - which is peace. 

And, we could teach this to others in our own ways so that they will get a chance to become aware of it.

Edited May 21, 2017 by Key Elements

[Natasha]

@Key Elements I agree. Reverting to the ego self is fine. You start treating ego as a tool rather identifying with it. As you self-realize and become dis-illusioned about who/what you really are, that stays with you permanently after the shift. It doesn't mean you have to be in the state of bliss 24/7, but you abide as awareness, infinite being. 

[Deep]

@Natasha Enlightenment might not be extraordinary but there are definitely higher states of consciousness. In my opinion it's necessary for people to experience higher consciousness before declaring they are enlightened because it can become a spiritual ego. The ego can delude them into thinking they are enlightened when they truly aren't. For example, if the intensity of our experience is the same it would be suspect. We cannot say we are God if we haven't experienced anything more intense than this normal state of being. Enlightenment is the realization that comes after having a transcendental experience. I understand that Rupert is just trying to help people and it's a good start. 

[Natasha]

@Deep Developing of the higher states of consciousness usually follows self-realization. So yes the start is to recognize the nature of your essential being. Then the process of deepening begins. But what Rupert is pointing to is that self-realization is not out of reach for anyone. It's accessible not only to Jesus and the Budhha, but you and me, and it's a simple recognition of the nature of out own essential being. The well known enlightened teachers "didn't have a more direct access to the nature of their own minds than you and I have, they were just single-pointed about it." But I understand your concern about the spiritual ego. Perhaps further development of the higher states of consciousness could serve as to whether one's awakening was genuine to begin with.    

[Shin]

[Deep]

@Natasha I agree with you. I think the process goes like this: enlightenment>samadhi>full liberation. In the Indian scriptures there was no word for enlightenment. They only talk of samadhi because that's what the sages experienced. They were enlightened well before experiencing samadhi, but samadhi is icing on the cake. 

[Prabhaker]

13 minutes ago, Deep said:

but samadhi is icing on the cake. 

It is much more than that, modern teachers never talk about psychic powers or Siddhis that are mentioned in scriptures. 

[Deep]

@Prabhaker Yes because acquiring siddhis is very rare and it sounds woo-woo to rationally minded people. They shouldn't believe in anything they haven't experienced. I think Ramakrishna was a fully enlightened master. Two people came to him who had siddhis. He took their siddhis away because they were misusing them. 

[Prabhaker]

1 minute ago, Deep said:

 Yes because acquiring siddhis is very rare and it sounds woo-woo to rationally minded people.

Before full liberation everyone passes through psychic realms , modern teachers intentionally not talk about them. Patanjali  has cautioned seekers about them.

[Deep]

33 minutes ago, Prabhaker said:

modern teachers intentionally not talk about them. Patanjali  

One has to "die" for God to realize God. Patanjali makes the 10 commandments look like a joke. For example, it says you can never lie not even by mistake. If you feel like telling your boss to, "fuck off" you have to do that. It requires being rigorously truthful. You can end up getting killed for it like Jesus. Jesus did succeed in Raj yoga unknowingly. Who wants to be that honest? lol 

[Natasha]

5 minutes ago, Deep said:

One has to "die" for God to realize God. Patanjali makes the 10 commandments look like a joke. For example, it says you can never lie not even by mistake. If you feel like telling your boss to, "fuck off" you have to do that. It requires being rigorously truthful. You can end up getting killed for it like Jesus. Jesus did succeed in Raj yoga unknowingly. Who wants to be that honest? lol 

Or you could just shine the light of awareness on what would make you want to tell your boss to f*off (hint - the ego). So, you'd rest in that recognition and say nothing not out of fear to be fired, but because you wouldn't want to further feed the ego by saying those words.

If Jesus was an awakened and highly conscious being, he would have most likely understood the remifications of his teachings. When he said, for example, that God and him are one, he was teaching from a non-dualistic point of view - everyone and everything is one with God, because the Relative and the Absolute are one. However, the religious leaders took it from dualistic point of view, which such claim sounded like heresy according to their law. Thus Jesus was accused of blesphemy and crucified. He knew the law, yet he continued to speak and teach, very much knowingly.   

 

 

[Shin]

Quote

Or you could just shine the light of awareness on what would make you want to tell your boss to f*off (hint - the ego). So, you'd rest in that recognition and say nothing not out of fear to be fired, but because you wouldn't want to further feed the ego by saying those words.

Not only that, but to not feed even more the ego and the pain body of the boss, too.

That's something a lot of yolo enlightened people go wrong, it's not because in their non-dualistic point of view everything is a joke that dualistic entities does not suffer.
They do, they are still trapped, and it feels REAL to them.