Why Some Teachers Tells You Not To Seek

[Shin]

They don't mean you actually have to stop what you were doing to "get" enlightened, not at all.
What they mean, is that you shouldn't expect to get anywhere, to experience anything that you already are.
It is not easy to grasp, only your intuition can make you understand that, but that's how it is.

The desire to be enlightened to release your suffering, or to be better, or for whatever egotic reasons, needs to drop.
As long as your mind is seeking in this way, it won't lead you anywhere, because you're chasing something that you think don't already exist at this moment.

The more you think you need it, the less likely it will happen.
That's extremely counter-intuitive, but at some point you should be able to genuinely think "I'm fine like this, I don't need anything else" 
While still "seeking", in the sense that you intuitively know that there is more, and that you're just curious about it.

When you hear someone saying that, don't let your mind bullshitting you into thinking you don't need meditation/mindfulness or self-inquiry, or admiring nature, or yoga, or whatever practice you like to do to be present (although mindfulness is imperative).

You will do it even more, because if you're honest with yourself, what else is there to do anyway ?
Unless you're realigning your life to your passion, to get on track with your life purpose, there is nothing else to do that will fulfill you anyway.

So, in a sense, there is nothing to do, but this shouldn't be used as an excuse to seclude yourself from the rest of mankind
And at the same time, not an excuse to do less of those activities.

Just don't expect anything from them, do them for their own sake.

 

 

Edited June 2, 2017 by Shin

[Real Eyes]

Do you feel like these teachers do a good job of making this clear, though?  I haven't read a whole lot of them so I'm not sure, but I do commonly come across random internet posts that parrot the idea "there is nothing to do", so it seems the importance of practice was lost on them.  

It is really easy to misinterpret this message, so if anything, I'd expect such teachers to go to great lengths to insist that practice is still necessary, which doesn't seem to always be the case.

 I could be wrong though, like I said I've not delved deep into the works of all the most popular neo-advaitists.

[cetus]

Seeking is a duality in itself. It infers another time, another place. The search for something missing that needs to be gained. It should really be called "losing" rather than seeking. It's more about losing something than finding something. When the ego is lost, all that remains is what is. Which is everything.

[Dodo]

8 hours ago, Shin said:

They don't mean you actually have to stop what you were doing to "get" enlightened, not at all.
What they mean, is that you shouldn't expect to get anywhere, to experience anything that you already are.
It is not easy to grasp, only your intuition can make you understand that, but that's how it is.

The desire to be enlightened to release your suffering, or to be better, or for whatever egotic reasons, needs to drop.
As long as your mind is seeking in this way, it won't lead you anywhere, because you're chasing something that you think don't already exist at this moment.

The more you think you need it, the less likely it will happen.
That's extremely counter-intuitive, but at some point you should be able to genuinely think "I'm fine like this, I don't need anything else" 
While still "seeking", in the sense that you intuitively know that there is more, and that you're just curious about it.

When you hear someone saying that, don't let your mind bullshitting you into thinking you don't need meditation/mindfulness or self-inquiry, or admiring nature, or yoga, or whatever practice you like to do to be present (although mindfulness is imperative).

You will do it even more, because if you're honest with yourself, what else is there to do anyway ?
Unless you're realigning your life to your passion, to get on track with your life purpose, there is nothing else to do that will fulfill you anyway.

So, in a sense, there is nothing to do, but this shouldn't be used as an excuse to seclude yourself from the rest of mankind
And at the same time, not an excuse to do less of these activities.

Just don't expect anything from them, do them for their own sake.

 

 

This is why my approach to Enlightenment, ever since I found out it is always here and is the simplest thing, is to just investigate that in my experience, which is changeless and simple. I have no clue in my mind whether I'm on the right path or not (doing the right things or not), but as you said, my intuition is leading me here.

I measure my success by the amount of peace in challenging situations.

Edited June 2, 2017 by Dodo

[Principium Nexus]

I was having this conversation with my friend that only then the mind stops to think we come closer to our true nature. All philosophies, books, movies fill our minds with all these things what to expect and where to look for, but resulting in the exact opposite of becoming.

The only things you can do to become enlightened is nothing. That's it, nothing more, nothing less.

So if you haven't experienced non-duality, stop seeking, wandering topics, filling your mind with concepts and just sit still. Only afterwards these things might enhance living the duality, but will certainy not help you getting further to enlightment.

[cetus]

7 minutes ago, Dodo said:

This is why my approach to Enlightenment, ever since I found out it is always here and is the simplest thing, is to just investigate that in my experience, which is changeless and simple. I have no clue in my mind whether I'm on the right path or not (doing the right things or not), but as you said, my intuition is leading me here.

@Dodo It may be even simpler than that.  I remember times when I was young that suddenly everything was happening in this moment of now. There wasn't a yesterday or tomorrow or anything else. There was only this very moment that contained everything. It was effortless because I was a child.

[Shin]

When being is more fulfilling than your favorite movie/game and music combined, you know this shit must be true

 

The birds

The trees

The sky

The clouds

The grass

The sounds of the cars

The sounds of insects

The feeling of the wind on your skin

 

Edited June 2, 2017 by Shin

[cetus]

37 minutes ago, Shin said:

When being is more fulfilling than your favorite movie/game and music combined, you know this shit must be true

 

Those magic moments where everything comes into total synchronization. You can feel awareness shift into perfect alignment with the true nature of everything.. Total completeness. The beauty of it is is that it is always accessible and takes no effort.

The sun came out from behind a cloud and lit the room. I see no effort there.

[Shin]

[cetus]

 Everything happens in the absence of doing.. What better place to hide it!

Edited June 2, 2017 by cetus56

[SOUL]

[Visionary]

Exactly! You cannot do anything about it. NOTHING! YOU can never reach enlightenment.

That's why you have to do everything with an intrinsic motivation. Meditate to meditate. Love to love. Let go of control to let go of control. I'm exactly at this stage now. It's really all about the awakening of the gut. The true development of your intuition. Quite a painful process though with a lot of anxiety.

 

[cetus]

"it is as futile as trying to assist an airliner off the ground by pulling on your seatbelt. Allen Watts

[Real Eyes]

2 hours ago, cetus56 said:

Those magic moments where everything comes into total synchronization. You can feel awareness shift into perfect alignment with the true nature of everything.. Total completeness. The beauty of it is is that it is always accessible and takes no effort.

The sun came out from behind a cloud and lit the room. I see no effort there.

But it takes effort to stop these mental constructs we have built up over a lifetime.  So that is something to "do", even if it is an undoing.  

 

[cetus]

2 minutes ago, Real Eyes said:

But it takes effort to stop these mental constructs we have built up over a lifetime.  So that is something to "do", even if it is an undoing.  

 

@Real EyesYes it does  Use a thorn to remove a thorn and throw both away. 

[AstralProjection]

In skimming around this thread there seems to be this sentiment that we don't need to do anything to reach enlightenment. This is not true at all. This video helps illustrate this.

Concentration vs Meditation - How To Develop Concentration

 

[cetus]

37 minutes ago, Real Eyes said:

But it takes effort to stop these mental constructs we have built up over a lifetime.  So that is something to "do", even if it is an undoing.  

 

But what a powerful option that is. Undoing everything that is the individual.  It's simply brilliant! Everything we have folded into being a person is unfolded before our eyes. This is where God awakens through us. It's not about the destination- it's the process!

[SOUL]

The doing is to undo all that was already done or at least what we do is let go of what was already done so we can get on with just being.

Edited June 2, 2017 by SOUL

[Principium Nexus]

The funny thing is that there is nothing to gain reaching enlightenment. You're only losing 'things'

Edited June 3, 2017 by Principium Nexus

[sgn]

@Principium Nexus You become the ultimate loser. lol