Why Bother Seeking?

[Pure Imagination]

As I've been struggling to establish a daily meditation habit, I've been seeing more and more how difficult it is to achieve a permanent state of non-dual awareness. The chances of this happening are so slim and I don't think most people fully grasp how unlikely it is that it will happen. Unless you commit to meditating all day for months/years, or get lucky with psychedelics, I'm not convinced that the odds of a permanent enlightenment are likely for anyone in the western world. Even if you are meditating for an hour a day. What's the point of increasing your odds from .0000000001 percent to .000000001 percent?

Now I'm not saying we should all just give up meditating right now and adopt a defeatist mindset about enlightenment. As Eckhart Tolle has said, awakening is the next crucial step in human evolution. And I do believe the insight and temporary awaking experiences achieved through meditation and psychedelics can be potentially life transforming. I'm just trying to be realisic and point out that our current world is set up in such a way that makes achieving permanent enlightenment nearly impossible. Even if you are a devoted seeker.

What are your guy's thoughts on this? Maybe I'm wrong and achieving permanent non-dual awareness is more probable than I believe, even while maintaining aspects of a "typical" western life.

[Nahm]

The experience of the practices themselves are enough, no? All the benefits? 

[Pure Imagination]

@Nahm I think they are enough to gain valuable insights and live more authentically. But I do not believe an hour of meditation a day (even for years) is enough to achieve a permanent state of non-dual awareness. Especially without the help of psychedelics.

[Leo Gura]

@Pure Imagination It has nothing to do with odds or luck. You're thinking about this totally the wrong way. Don't confuse statistical averages across society with one individual's spiritual path.

If you want to, you can have 100% chance of being enlightened.

People are unenlightened not because they can't, but because they don't have any desire to be.

[Pure Imagination]

@Leo Gura  I think I'm starting to see what you are saying. If awareness has a strong desire to know itself, not even the ego can get in the way.

[Brimstone]

Just get out of the way of your self @Pure Imagination . There are many paths to realisation, in truth each path itself is actual realisation as hard as it is for the ego to acknowledge anything other than itself. Don't confuse an outcome with what is happening right now. It is actually so easy that it appears hard to conditioning that implies over complication.

[Space]

@Pure Imagination I think Awakening is much more possible to achieve than you or other people actually believe. The reason the 'numbers' might seem so low is that most people on the spiritual path aren't trying hard enough, nor, as Leo said, do they want it bad enough. Most people that meditate in the West are not trying to wake up. So awakening or enlightenment gets talked about as some far off unattainable goal. But who says that's true?? If you've got a solid daily practise, and are attending retreats etc, you've got just as much chance.

[Nathalie]

@Pure Imagination It's surely not the american way of life, but as the quote goes :" the way is the goal (Confusius)" if you're just looking for the possible achievement, you'll probabliy miss it all. To achieve something isn't bad.. but it's just ego stoff.. and the ego will tell you all the time that this Meditation  thing will get you nowhere, that you're just wasting your time.. 

[LaucherJunge]

Meditation improves your quality of life all the time. Enlightenment has nothing to do with it. You can live a life full of ego, do your meditations and be alright of course if you don't surrender the ego you won't get enlightened but the benefits of doing meditation itself are overwhelming enough already even science proves this already and there are surely benefits beyond just science.

[Pure Imagination]

Thank you all for your responses. I must say I'm even more confused now than when I posted this. I guess cognitive dissonance is an effective way of changing perspective. Lots to contemplate...

Edited September 26, 2017 by Pure Imagination

[phoenix666]

I realized that before I knew about all of this ..I still was looking for something. I wasn't even aware of it, most of the time. and when I shortly become aware, I had now I idea what I was so desperately looking for. so yes, you are always looking for it, unconsciously ore consciously. I don't know about anybody else, but the unconscious way happened to be a pretty miserable one for me. nothing seemed to fill this seemingly inherent hole in me.

and what's to say about statistics: they say a lot about the masses and nothing about the single person 

Edited September 26, 2017 by phoenix666

[WelcometoReality]

@Pure Imagination If your biggest drive is to know truth finding it is inevitable. Most does not however. They value comfort and security more so they can't find it. Any discomfort experienced will make them crawl back to their secure box.