I am enlightened. Sincere seekers: ask me anything

[winterknight]

2 minutes ago, Mikael89 said:

Is there something special about "narrow-gate" which I should know about?

No, I just liked the metaphor. 

[iGhost]

Why do I suffer?

Why can't I get rid of my ego?

Why is there an ego besides survival?

Why do you help us?

Why are you me?

[winterknight]

2 minutes ago, iGhost said:

Why do I suffer?

Why can't I get rid of my ego?

Why is there an ego besides survival?

Why do you help us?

Why are you me?

You suffer because there is a wrong identification with body and mind.

You can't get rid of it because it doesn't exist. Look into it and find that out.

There isn't really an ego; it's an illusion.

I help you because I have the urge to do so.

Because we are both nothing other than the Self.

[iGhost]

Thank you

Who wants to get rid of the ego?

Why do I judge people?

Do you judge people?

Why do I do stuff when I know everything is meaningless at a fundemental level?

Why do I want to die everyday? (not physically, but I feel the ego is always ruining my life)

How many dimensions are there? Infinite? Is there an other dimension where everyone is enlighetened?

Why can't I understand infinite?

Does it matter what I do?

Why do I fall back into my ego state?

Who is feeling?

How do you feel? Do you feel sad sometimes? 

Do you remember how you felt before enlightenment?

Why is getting enlighetened is so hard?

 

Sorry, I can't run out of questions

Edited December 16, 2018 by iGhost

[winterknight]

10 minutes ago, iGhost said:

Thank you

Who wants to get rid of the ego?

Why do I judge people?

Do you judge people?

Why do I do stuff when I know everything is meaningless at a fundemental level?

Why do I want to die everyday? (not physically, but I feel the ego is always ruining my life)

How many dimensions are there? Infinite? Is there an other dimension where everyone is enlighetened?

Why can't I understand infinite?

Does it matter what I do?

Why do I fall back into my ego state?

Who is feeling?

How do you feel? Do you feel sad sometimes? 

Do you remember how you felt before enlightenment?

Why is getting enlighetened is so hard?

 

Sorry, I can't run out of questions

It's not going to be helpful  to simply give generic answers to hundreds of questions like this. They won't mean anything to you.

Please read and follow the instructions in my general guides carefully and then come back and ask me if you have specific questions -- give me the details of your situation -- and we can troubleshoot that way.

[vela3]

I have noticed that some enlightened ones do not have children? Is there any reasons for this? Are having children helpful or hindrances to being?

Thanks in advance sir

[winterknight]

19 minutes ago, vela3 said:

I have noticed that some enlightened ones do not have children? Is there any reasons for this? Are having children helpful or hindrances to being?

Thanks in advance sir

It's a tricky question. In general, I advise everyone to get in touch with their real feelings and desires and follow them. If that involves having children, then have them -- there certainly have been enlightened people who have had children. It didn't stop their search.

On the other hand, children and family do take a lot of time, effort, and attention. If you're on the fence about it, it can be useful to consider whether you want to spend that effort there or rather on the Search.

But the reality is that it is generally dictated by desire. Those enlightened ones who do not have children usually don't have them because that's just their temperament. In the end, attachments to children will in have to be somewhat weakened for self-realization, so many serious seekers just tend, because of their own background karma, not to have them in the first place.

Edited December 16, 2018 by winterknight

[Preetom]

@winterknight

Can it be that after escaping the maze, they (enlightened ones) generally don't feel like bringing new generations in this hell and see the whole drama unfolding in front of their eyes all over again...?

[winterknight]

5 minutes ago, Preetom said:

@winterknight

Can it be that after escaping the maze, they (enlightened ones) generally don't feel like bringing new generations in this hell and see the whole drama unfolding in front of their eyes all over again...?

To feel that "this hell" is real, though, and can really hurt anyone, is ignorance, so that can't really be the reason . Indeed, to feel that new generations are "really" coming into the world, or that you are exercising the choice whether to do so or not, is also ignorance.

So this cannot explain these actions in the end.

But it might be that typically (but not always) that the drive to have children comes from certain psychological desires that enlightenment tends to weaken, or which have already been weakened on the path to self-realization.

[Preetom]

8 minutes ago, winterknight said:

But it might be that typically (but not always) that the drive to have children comes from certain psychological desires that enlightenment tends to weaken, or which have already been weakened on the path to self-realization.

This makes sense because most enlightened ones who had children, had them before their search even began...

Edited December 16, 2018 by Preetom

[vela3]

it just seems like another attachment and to be a good parent attachment is necessary for a decade or so at least...

[vela3]

what would schooling look like for an enlightened childhood???

thanks again

[winterknight]

1 hour ago, Preetom said:

This makes sense because most enlightened ones who had children, had them before their search even began...

Yes, usually true, though as you might know in the Hindu myths there are stories of various enlightened sages having children.

16 minutes ago, vela3 said:

what would schooling look like for an enlightened childhood???

thanks again

Interesting question. The 'schooling' would have little to do with school, per se, I suspect.

You need the basics of good parenting: empathy, attention, and a good combination of affection, structure, and attention to the unique needs and capacities of the child, and a willingness as a parent to reflect on your own traumas and pain and try to process them.

And then you need to teach good values (by example more than words):  moderation, not excessive attachment, compassion for others and themselves, patience, etc. And then, as the child's cognitive capacities grow, add in the more explicitly spiritual ideas and meditation/self-inquiry, as and when the child is ready and interested.

Edited December 16, 2018 by winterknight

[Preetom]

15 minutes ago, winterknight said:

Yes, usually true, though as you might know in the Hindu myths there are stories of various enlightened sages having children.

The myths go in the opposite extreme as well, banning and shaming sexual interactions and reproductions. In Bhagavad Gita, some things are framed such a way that it sounds like it's impossible to realize the Self if one ever takes a foot towards a worldly life.

The Upanishads were generally called 'Aranyaka', meaning a business done by renunciate sages in the forests lol. It shows that this 'Truth' actually never had a place in the mainstream world as it doesn't have any material utility in general scope. I guess that's why this 'Truth' never invaded into mainstream society even though it has been all figured out for thousands of years..

Edited December 16, 2018 by Preetom

[winterknight]

6 minutes ago, Preetom said:

The myths go in the opposite extreme as well, banning and shaming sexual interactions and reproductions. In Bhagavad Gita, some things are framed such a way that it sounds like it's impossible to realize the Self if one ever takes a foot towards a worldly life.

The Upanishads were generally called 'Aranyaka', meaning a business done by renunciate sages in the forests lol. It shows that this 'Truth' actually never had a place in the mainstream world as it doesn't have any material utility in general scope. I guess that's why this 'Truth' never invaded into mainstream society even though it has been all figured out for thousands of years..

You might be surprised if you read the Mahabharata in the unabridged versions. Plenty of very sex-positive stuff, actually... you would never get this from the sterilized versions that parents teach their children.

Quote

In Bhagavad Gita, some things are framed such a way that it sounds like it's impossible to realize the Self if one ever takes a foot towards a worldly life.

How do you figure? Of all the scriptures the Gita is the one you could least say this about. Arjuna is literally on a battlefield, with a wife and children and wealth and all kinds of worldly commitments -- and it is in this arena precisely that Krishna enlightens him. Arjuna in fact contemplates running away to the forest, and Krishna tells him not to do that, that that is not going to be helpful, and that renunciation of the forest monks is simply not necessary.

[Preetom]

7 minutes ago, winterknight said:

You might be surprised if you read the Mahabharata in the unabridged versions. Plenty of very sex-positive stuff, actually... you would never get this from the sterilized versions that parents teach their children.

you're right. Actually Hinduism shamed sexuality a lot less than other religions I guess. It freely expressed the male-female polarity through myths, deities etc. 

10 minutes ago, winterknight said:

How do you figure? Of all the scriptures the Gita is the one you could least say this about. Arjuna is literally on a battlefield, with a wife and children and wealth and all kinds of worldly commitments -- and it is in this arena precisely that Krishna enlightens him. Arjuna in fact contemplates running away to the forest, and Krishna tells him not to do that, that that is not going to be helpful, and that renunciation of the forest monks is simply not necessary.

I was pointing towards the various yoga instructions Krishna gives to Arjuna in each chapter. They sound very rigid and superhuman..

Btw do you consider Bhagavad Gita as a helpful 'non-duality' text? I think I've heard about commentaries which criticizes Bhagavad Gita as a poor non-dual text but as a fairly good religious and adventurous text. Personally, I've found texts like Ashtavakra Gita, Mandukya Upanishad, Panchadashi a LOT direct and coherent which stands the test of incisive higher reasoning into our direct experience. These texts still stand infallible because they point to our experience and we can never legitimately deny that.

And thus there have been commentaries which say that Arjuna actually never got Enlightened in it's real sense. He basically replaced his previous set of limiting beliefs and morality with a more robust and wise set of understanding for life. He basically went back to his kingdom, doing his samsara business, but this time more intelligently. It's like you never lived the 'Truth'. You heard a version of 'Truth', believed in that and then tried to act like a good boy according to that as best as you could..

Plus the entire dialogue of Bhagavad Gita sounds very dualistic and full of traditional ideas of God and devotee. 

 

[winterknight]

4 minutes ago, Preetom said:

I was pointing towards the various yoga instructions Krishna gives to Arjuna in each chapter. They sound very rigid and superhuman..

Btw do you consider Bhagavad Gita as a helpful 'non-duality' text? I think I've heard about commentaries which criticizes Bhagavad Gita as a poor non-dual text but as a fairly good religious and adventurous text. Personally, I've found texts like Ashtavakra Gita, Mandukya Upanishad, Panchadashi a LOT direct and coherent which stands the test of incisive higher reasoning into our direct experience. These texts still stand infallible because they point to our experience and we can never legitimately deny that.

And thus there have been commentaries which say that Arjuna actually never got Enlightened in it's real sense. He basically replaced his previous set of limiting beliefs and morality with a more robust and wise set of understanding for life. He basically went back to his kingdom, doing his samsara business, but this time more intelligently. It's like you never lived the 'Truth'. You heard a version of 'Truth', believed in that and then tried to act like a good boy according to that as best as you could..

Plus the entire dialogue of Bhagavad Gita sounds very dualistic and full of traditional ideas of God and devotee. 

Well, the Gita is a complicated text because it is a series of layers -- meant to speak to seekers of many different mental temperaments and levels of maturity.

It is very much a non-dual text, but is also brings people not ready for that direct teaching up to that level through the other yogas recommended (karma, bhakti, etc.).

It is also an interesting text because it takes place in the world, and deals with the seeker in the midst of life's struggles.

Ramana Maharshi used to say that Chapter 2 summarized the most essential -- and non-dual -- teaching of the Gita, and that it was only when Arjuna couldn't grasp this that Krishna diluted it in various ways in the following chapters.

Yes, the Gita is less direct than the Ashtavakra Gita, etc., but it is also more user-friendly, at least initially, and presents a broad perspective... 

As far as whether Arjuna got enlightened or not, I'm sure it depends on which further text or commentary you read. In the end of course there is no such thing as enlightenment that happens to a person, so the question is ultimately beside the point. 

[Preetom]

@winterknight

Thanks for the replies. I really appreciate your patience and willingness to look at things from unusual perspectives 

[winterknight]

5 hours ago, Preetom said:

@winterknight

Thanks for the replies. I really appreciate your patience and willingness to look at things from unusual perspectives 

You're very welcome 

[Sashaj]

@winterknight I feel in the midst of chaos and upheaval in my mind at the moment. How can I tell if it is from spiritual work rather than mental illness?