I am enlightened. Sincere seekers: ask me anything

[SriBhagwanYogi]

Why is it so confusing to ask Who am I , its a lot easier for me to ask Who am i not etc and your focusing on the I discarding the rest.

Is Who am i  ? more important than other ways and why most people dont get it ? 

[Anton Rogachevski]

4 hours ago, Preetom said:

you won't be able to do self-inquiry effectively if your mind is not already relatively quiet and alert to a degree. Self-inquiry will make you take that final leap but first you have to get close to the chasm. 

Self-inquiry will deepen that mental quietness and alertness exponentially and finally lead to liberation.

If you can do self-inquiry steadily all waking hours(as it is prescribed originally), then go for it. But if it feels very boring, dull, conflicting, doubtful etc. most of the time then that means you gotta work through psychological, emotional, limiting belief deconstruction work to prepare yourself more. 

When self-inquiry feels joyful, relatively effortless then this signals that you can take it to the next level.

@winterknight

For the sake of argument let's say I did all of the above and became enlightened, yet still work at McDonald's. Wouldn't I miss anything important?

[winterknight]

2 minutes ago, SriBhagwanYogi said:

Why is it so confusing to ask Who am I , its a lot easier for me to ask Who am i not etc and your focusing on the I discarding the rest.

Is Who am i  ? more important than other ways and why most people dont get it ? 

Different methods work for different people, and all rivers eventually empty into the ocean. Sincerely do what you're able to do and that you feel helps you. Move in the direction of the spirit as best you can. That's what matters most. 

That said, "who am I not?" will go on forever, because there are infinite number of things which you seem not to be. 

But you want to discover what you are. That's why you might ask yourself "Who is asking the question 'Who am I not?'" 

Of course it's confusing, because it's like trying to see what's obvious. It is confusing until it becomes utterly simple.

2 minutes ago, Anton Rogachevski said:

@winterknight

For the sake of argument let's say I did all of the above and became enlightened, yet still work at McDonald's. Wouldn't I miss anything important?

If you were enlightened, you would not think of yourself as someone who worked at McDonald's. That's not the "I" with which you would identify.

[sidaz10]

What books would you recommend for self inquiry?

 

Maybe this topic needs F.A.Q

Edited December 13, 2018 by sidaz10

[SriBhagwanYogi]

@winterknight Thank you your help is so important to me .

I will try to ask Who am I but when does answer comes i will ask myself who is aware of it if nothing comes i will try it again and again

[Key Elements]

Leo covered the 10 Ox Herding Pics already in one of his video. What does the term 'Riding the Ox Backwards' mean to you? Describe it.

[winterknight]

13 minutes ago, sidaz10 said:

What books would you recommend for self inquiry?

I have some book recs here and also my book.

10 minutes ago, SriBhagwanYogi said:

@winterknight Thank you your help is so important to me .

I will try to ask Who am I but when does answer comes i will ask myself who is aware of it if nothing comes i will try it again and again

Yes, exactly. And as you try it again and again ask yourself -- who is aware of this trying?

7 minutes ago, Key Elements said:

Leo covered the 10 Ox Herding Pics already in one of his video. What does the term 'Riding the Ox Backwards' mean to you? Describe it.

I don't think in ox herding terms. There is only liberation.

[Key Elements]

52 minutes ago, winterknight said:

I don't think in ox herding terms. There is only liberation.

It doesn't matter. It's the same thing. Truth is truth. Everything is interconnected. If you do know the truth, like you said, why do you suppose that it's called Riding the Ox Backwards? What does the word backwards mean to you? What is it pointing at? Surely, if you are enlightened, you will have something to say about that.

[winterknight]

12 minutes ago, Key Elements said:

It doesn't matter. It's the same thing. Truth is truth. Everything is interconnected. If you do know the truth, like you said, why do you suppose that it's called Riding the Ox Backwards? What does the word backwards mean to you? What is it pointing at? Surely, if you are enlightened, you will have something to say about that.

No, that's not the test of enlightenment. I have no comments about ox herding. If you have any other questions about your path, feel free to ask them.

[Key Elements]

Everyone has a different question and a different test. I'm glad Leo did The Ten Ox Herding Pics. 

[Anton Rogachevski]

So all of this thread is about beating around the bush, instead of just doing self inquiry.

I guess Nike had it right all along: "Just Do It."

Is it that simple?

Why does one wish to be enlightened?

What's the point of life?

Edited December 13, 2018 by Anton Rogachevski

[winterknight]

8 minutes ago, Anton Rogachevski said:

So all of this thread is about beating around the bush, instead of just doing self inquiry.

I guess Nike had it right all along: "Just Do It."

Is it that simple?

Why does one wish to be enlightened?

What's the point of life?

Well, it's not quite that simple. What prevents people from "just doing it" is a whole bunch of psychological obstacles that they usually need to troubleshoot. Sure, if you can just do it, absolutely, just do it. Indeed, if you can simply surrender all desire and relax thinking, that works too.

People don't want to be enlightened per se; what they want is fulfillment/happiness and answers to questions like "what's the point of life?" It's just that enlightenment is the way to these things.

[Forestluv]

Once enlightened, does the mind still work to deconstruct the personality structure? Such as working through a neurosis that may arise due to previous mind-body conditioning. 

[winterknight]

1 minute ago, Serotoninluv said:

Once enlightened, does the mind still work to deconstruct the personality structure? Such as working through a neurosis that may arise due to previous mind-body conditioning. 

Yup. All the vasanas unwind over time.

[zambize]

What is your opinion on seeking Truth for Truth's sake vs. seeking Truth only when it reduces the suffering of yourself and others?

[Forestluv]

Just now, winterknight said:

Yup. All the vasanas unwind over time.

So the personality doesn’t disappear. The truth of the personality is revealed and attachments/identifications to the personality dissapear. Yes?

[winterknight]

2 minutes ago, zambize said:

What is your opinion on seeking Truth for Truth's sake vs. seeking Truth only when it reduces the suffering of yourself and others?

It's all about what you truly desire. That's what's going to happen anyway; the question is only whether you can acknowledge it and live it fully consciously, integrate all the different voices within you into one harmonious chorus.

So the question is not Truth for Truth's sake or Truth to reduce suffering but -- what is your inner truth, the truth of your feelings and desires? That determines the rest.

1 minute ago, Serotoninluv said:

So the personality doesn’t disappear. The truth of the personality is revealed and attachments/identifications to the personality dissapear. Yes?

Well, that depends on your perspective. The real truth is that it all 'disappears' in the sense that something disappears when you don't pay attention to it. Never pay attention to the personality and it can no longer be said to be there.

So the thought "there is a personality" technically is ignorance. But to the enlightened one that very thought cannot be said to exist. 

But if one insists that there is such a thing as a personality... then unwinding is what is said to happen 

[Big Guru Balls]

4 hours ago, winterknight said:

So the thought "there is a personality" technically is ignorance.

Edited December 14, 2018 by Big Guru Balls

[Big Guru Balls]

J. Peterson explaining Psychoanalysis.
 

 

[SriBhagwanYogi]

Nisargadatta and Ramana Maharshi talked about holding on to the I thought or I am how is that effective isnt the I thought Ego ?