The prevalence of 'personality' in enlightened beings

[StephenK]

I've noticed that many people that claim to be enlightened themselves, or by others, have very distinct personalities (Osho, Tolle, Daniel Ingram, Ramana Maharshi, Leo, etc). That is, there seems to be as much diversity in their temperament as there is in 'egoic' people. Why do they manifest so differently if enlightenment is an agreed upon state of being?

[YellowButterfly]

I personally don't like the term enlightenment. It's more an experience that one goes through that can change a person, but the ego can never really be fully destroyed. Outside of the experience it'll always begin rebuilding itself. Not to mention every single person still has their own unique experiences and memories that make them who they are. Memories are not erased in an experience like that.

[Shanmugam]

8 minutes ago, StephenK said:

I've noticed that many people that claim to be enlightened themselves, or by others, have very distinct personalities (Osho, Tolle, Daniel Ingram, Ramana Maharshi, Leo, etc). That is, there seems to be as much diversity in their temperament as there is in 'egoic' people. Why do they manifest so differently if enlightenment is an agreed upon state of being?

Because the body and the mind are different; the genetics is different; the memories are different... 

[tsuki]

13 minutes ago, StephenK said:

I've noticed that many people that claim to be enlightened themselves, or by others, have very distinct personalities (Osho, Tolle, Daniel Ingram, Ramana Maharshi, Leo, etc). That is, there seems to be as much diversity in their temperament as there is in 'egoic' people. Why do they manifest so differently if enlightenment is an agreed upon state of being?

There is no difference between them having distinct personalities and you seeing them as such. To them, it is all the same.
Each one of them could explain to you how are they exactly the same, which is what they are doing in their work.

Edited February 18, 2018 by tsuki

[Joseph Maynor]

People think Enlightened people are like Jesus or something.  That's false.  The point of Enlightenment is to free yourself from all ideologies.  Reality is not like Jesus.  Jesus is a story, a set of beliefs, a set of visualizations that we've been culturally programmed with.  Jesus is a fantasy of the Mind.  So, Enlightened people transcend value categories and aim to transcend them.  Reality is what it is outside of the cubby-holes that the Mind desires to fit reality into.  We think that the virtuous person is someone who tries to fit themselves into the virtue cubby-holes.  That is a problematic paradigm though.  It's unrealistic, in a word.  It's all Egoic fantasy about trying to control reality to fit a thought about reality.  And we don't realize that this is impossible.  Most of us don't realize it.  So -- no -- Enlightened people are not necessarily goodie-goodies.  They're real.  They're accepted their shadow traits and have re-integrated them.  And they are conscious of their shadow traits.  They understand how all of this works, how Ego works, etc.

Edited February 18, 2018 by Joseph Maynor

[Faceless]

Personality may differ, but ultimately we are the same, slightly modified. 

 

[egoless]

14 hours ago, StephenK said:

I've noticed that many people that claim to be enlightened themselves, or by others, have very distinct personalities (Osho, Tolle, Daniel Ingram, Ramana Maharshi, Leo, etc). That is, there seems to be as much diversity in their temperament as there is in 'egoic' people. Why do they manifest so differently if enlightenment is an agreed upon state of being?

Enlightenment does not mean eradicating your personality. On the contrary it unfolds your true authentic personality as it no longer needs to run away from the present moment. If you want even deeper answer person himself is not Enlightened. That’s why it is said that Enlightenment transcends the body mind. However whole body mind becomes afterwards aligned with that experience of understanding one’s true nature.

[Leo Gura]

Enlightenment makes the personality more pronounced, not less, because stifling fears are eliminated and authenticity skyrockets.

Enlightenment is not a state. It is simply what is.

Personality != ego

[ajasatya]

15 hours ago, StephenK said:

Why do they manifest so differently if enlightenment is an agreed upon state of being?

Reality manifests itself as a tree, as a bug, as a dog, as a star, as a person, as another person etc.

enlightenment is being aware of "what" says I AM.

[cetus]

16 hours ago, StephenK said:

Why do they manifest so differently if enlightenment is an agreed upon state of being?

@StephenK Infinite expressions of one.

[JustinS]

@StephenK I think you certainly have less filters and if not none. You become mostly free from self consciousness and so you’re just expressing from point A to Z, without anything (stories) getting in the way.

[Patang]

@StephenK the only way an enlightened human being can relate to others, is by using a temporary persona of his choice, for he has no permanent one. otherwise, he would looks like a zombie.

Edited February 19, 2018 by Patang

[MarkusSweden]

4 minutes ago, Patang said:

@StephenK the only way an enlightened human being can relate to others, is by using a temporary persona of his choice. otherwise, he would looks like a zombie.

Yes, that's why all teachings are false. 

Ramana Maharshi said that silence is the highest teaching for this reason. 

But since his adepts didn't understand what he meant by that he had to guide them from another angel, using a temporary persona. It seem like a paradox to become a lie in order to tell the truth. But it's very effective. 

This paradox is very common in art! Fiction writing is more powerful then any realistic description to describe the truth and mechanics of the world/society. Lies are necessary to tell the truth sometimes. Just read George Orwell - 1984. 

Also in painting, Picasso wanted to explain and reveal to us what we subconsciously feel when we look at reality/others. In order to do so he had to paint..not how reality looks like, but how it FEELS like. Lies can indeed reveal deeper truths.    

@Outer, have you read 1984, George Orwell? 

[Patang]

@MarkusSweden indeed!

[tsuki]

32 minutes ago, MarkusSweden said:

Lies can indeed reveal deeper truths.    

Truth is whatever stops you from seeking

[MarkusSweden]

12 minutes ago, tsuki said:

Truth is whatever stops you from seeking

I know, I love that quote!  

 

[Leo Gura]

Personality is part of the body/mind. It's not a lie. It's just a particular way a creature behaves and emotes, it's likes and dislikes, etc.

There is nothing false about having a personality. Just don't mistake it for the True Self, and no problem.

Even pets have different personalities.

The problem here is one of wrong expectations. Why would you assume all beings should act alike? Just stop assuming that. Every creature is unique and a bit quirky. Quirkiness is not a flaw or a mistake to be corrected. It's part of the infinite diversity of life.

Different genetics and different environmental conditioning will necessarily create different personalities.

You shouldn't expect a dog who's been beaten from birth to have the same personality of one who hasn't been.

[Azrael]

23 hours ago, StephenK said:

Why do they manifest so differently if enlightenment is an agreed upon state of being?

Because some grow tall, some grow small.

[YellowButterfly]

That's like looking at the appendages on a frog and asking why does that hand act like a hand, or why does that foot act like a foot. Don't they know they're all one thing? So they should act... how? And while a lie can point to the truth this is typically done through metaphor. If you take a person from birth who is kept in a locked room his entire life and has never seen grass, never heard or been told of grass. Has never even been outside and you start talking to him about grass he's gonna have no clue what you're talking about until you take him outside to experience grass for the first time. Even if you put on a persona or some societal mask you are only mimicking. There is still the person underneath.

[JustinS]

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