Misconceptions About Enlightenment

[Deep]

Today I want to talk about some misconceptions about enlightenment. I might be wrong so I don't want to say I know everything. These are some observations I made while reading people's comments and doing my own research. Don't follow me blindly go by what you think is right for you. Let's get started. 

1. Enlightenment is just a paradigm shift. Wrong! If that was true a lot more people would be enlightened. It's not possible to think your way into enlightenment. 

2. Enlightenment is realizing your being in the present. Wrong, because a lot more people would be enlightened if that was true. 

3. We have to remove all of our beliefs and attachment to concepts before enlightenment. Wrong! The beliefs go away after enlightenment. You can't force yourself to stop believing or attaching to concepts. That goes away with the ego. 

4. We can do whatever we want, and enlightenment will still happen. Wrong! Some behaviors speed up the process to ego death and others keep you trapped in the dream state. You can try to do whatever you want but don't be surprised if you remain in lala land. 

5. We have to remove the ego right away. Wrong! The ego has to be fully embraced not shunned. That kind of thinking creates self-hatred, which takes you away from enlightenment. It's also necessary to have an ego to deal with the world. Just because someone like Leo says 'ego is bad' doesn't mean you have to listen to him. 

How does enlightenment actually happen? 

Behavior > ego-death >enlightenment 

What kind of behavior? 

Behavior that causes spiritual purification and renunciation. The behaviors are listed by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras. I'm not going to list all of them here, but they can be found at sacred-texts.com. If a person doesn't practice them beforehand, they won't succeed in meditation. Most people who meditate are just daydreaming, not experiencing God. 

After enlightenment, a person can do whatever they want because there is no resistance. I mentioned the above misconceptions because they don't produce ego death. Either someone has an ego or they don't. You can't be enlightened and have an ego at the same time. It's just that simple! 

Ramana Maharshi said the ego only dies during nirvikalpa samadhi. That's why I think all the modern spiritual teachers are bullshitters. Many of them do whatever they want to. I don't believe their ego is gone. 

I agree with what this man says: 

 

 Again you can do whatever you want, but I think enlightenment only happens through rigorous disciplines. I think only small percentage of people should strive for enlightenment. Most people should focus on other things. Enlightenment is not for everyone and everyone can't be enlightened at the same time. I'm not striving for enlightenment either. Hope that helps! 

 

[Joseph Maynor]

Who would be striving for Enlightenment?  Oh, got it, you're talking to people that think they are Egos.

I resonate with point #3 in part.  You can grease the wheels though by using what I call "counter-weight theory."  So, there is a need for a theory-rich period at that stage.  But the big-shifts happen when the Ego dies, I agree; that comports with "my" experience.

#2 is kinda screwy.  You are Being.  That's it.

The "people" who are gonna pursue Enlightenment had no choice to.  There is no choice.  Who had the choice?  All there is is Being.  

I think awareness is about all you can give Beings.  Awareness of Enlightenment.  But then again, that awareness would ultimately happen randomly.  Your movie and my movie might be similar, but other movies might vary considerably.  And who's to say that our movie is the best movie?  You'd need an Ego for that.  So, there is a deep randomness to Enlightenment.  I wouldn't go so far as to tell "people" not to seek though.  I always hated that advice.  It's wrong.  There is something to be sought -- freedom from suffering, Being, and awareness of the illusion of Ego.  The seeking is an illusion though, there's just awareness of happenings.

Edited September 21, 2017 by Joseph Maynor

[cirkussmile]

Enlightenment is not for everyone? 

How is that even an option?

[cetus]

2 hours ago, Deep said:

These are some observations I made while reading people's comments and doing my own research

 

[Deep]

2 hours ago, Joseph Maynor said:

Who would be striving for Enlightenment?  Oh, got it, you're talking to people that think they are Egos.

Even if you don't think of yourself as an ego, you still have an ego. 

 

2 hours ago, Joseph Maynor said:

The "people" who are gonna pursue Enlightenment had no choice to.  There is no choice.  Who had the choice?  All there is is Being.  

You have to think about that but an enlightened person knows it. 

1 hour ago, cirkussmile said:

Enlightenment is not for everyone? 
How is that even an option?

Not everyone is because it can be devastating to know your family and friends aren't really your family and friends. The world is not what it appears to be. Certain people's behavior lead to ego death faster but they are capable of handling it.  

[Nahm]

@Deep What a great post. I am with you at the heart of all of it. It makes me appreciative of how all encompassing Leo's work is. 

 

❤️Great video!

Edited September 21, 2017 by Nahm

[Naturalist]

Liberation vs Imprisonment

‘Life itself is prison,

The instincts are prisons,

The senses are prisons,

Superstition is prison,

Sacred institutions are prisons,

Teachers are prisons,

Holy things are prisons,

Goodness is prison,

Views are prisons,

Purity is the highest prison,

Voidness is not prison,

Freedom is salvation from prison.’

                            ～ Buddhadāsa ～

[Nahm]

@Naturalist ❤️

[Monkey-man]

So does it mean that once you truly enlightened your ego is gone forever?

You mean you can become permanently enlightened 24 hours? 

 

[Nahm]

@Monkey-man Yes. And, completely depends on your connotations. But I would say try and unsee anything you've seen. It's like that. 

[Monkey-man]

But there's a deep controversy I don't get here - Leo said that small babies until around 3 years old and animals are permanently enlightened, they are just not aware of that. And yet animals and little babies are driven by self-survival only. Does not that imply they are simultaneously completely ego-driven, and act, feel and perceive reality purely as absolute consciousness and their true nature??? 

Please clarify

[Joseph Maynor]

48 minutes ago, Monkey-man said:

So does it mean that once you truly enlightened your ego is gone forever?

You mean you can become permanently enlightened 24 hours? 

 

I can only speak for myself.  Once I saw Being I realized that I don't have any more control.  So, in that sense I'm just watching stuff happen.  I'm aware of happenings.  And everything seems to happen as normal without the Ego trying to control anything.  It's creepy when you first see that control is an illusion.  I've been experiencing some grief emotions though.  

You know when you get really drunk and the whole room starts to spin?  Well, imagine the spinning is Ego and Being is the drunkard being passively aware of the spinning, assuming she is lying on the ground still and just watching.  See?  Even alcohol can provide a non-dual experience!  Anything that puts Being in high-relief can provide a non-dual experience, including Meditation.

Edited September 21, 2017 by Joseph Maynor

[AleksM]

@Monkey-man After ego-death, you get to enlightenment but the ego starts to rebuild itself and so even if you experience ego-death you can slide back if your identification with the mental constructs is still there. That's basicly what an enlightenment glimpse is.

Ego death is just a starting point, it's not enough to experience ego death once or once in a while, You have to come to a point where you can consciously annahilate the ego(yourself) again and again and again, whenever the True Self wants it with the use of Devine Will. This means that even if you experienced ego death 1000 times and you're not able to annahilate yourself NOW you're not enlightened.

 

@Monkey-man You are not your body. Self-survival is based on fear. Fear was programmed in the brain a few 1000 years ago and that enabled the body to survive. Now it is more of an obstacle because we live in a society where most people are well taken care of. This a mechanism for survival of the body not for the survival of the self. The fear of losing the self is what comes after the self is created. This is a harware of the body and You cannot get rid of it, however it's true that You can diminish it's effects so it's not that active.

It takes a few years for the baby to get a self and a sense of identity, prior to that the identity is not yet formed and identified with.

 

[Deep]

6 hours ago, AleksM said:

Fear was programmed in the brain a few 1000 years ago and that enabled the body to survive. Now it is more of an obstacle because we live in a society where most people are well taken care of.

I'm not sure if that's entirely true. Many ancient cultures had great societies where everyone was taken care of well. Everything else you said is 100% correct. 

 

10 hours ago, Monkey-man said:

So does it mean that once you truly enlightened your ego is gone forever?

You mean you can become permanently enlightened 24 hours? 

Yes, once the kundalini rises fully, it doesn't go down below the throat level. Then you're safe. lol