I am enlightened. Sincere seekers: ask me anything

[seeking_brilliance]

Early recommendation on his book! Haven't made it far, but based on his answers here, and the easy, conversational tone in which he writes the book, its definitely worth the read. Can't wait to finish it! (but my phone charger disappeared so no kindle until I get one later)

[Preetom]

14 minutes ago, seeking_brilliance said:

Early recommendation on his book! Haven't made it far, but based on his answers here, and the easy, conversational tone in which he writes the book, its definitely worth the read. Can't wait to finish it! (but my phone charger disappeared so no kindle until I get one later)

I've read it. It's beautiful. Precise and worth coming back to multiple times  

[seeking_brilliance]

10 minutes ago, Preetom said:

I've read it. It's beautiful. Precise and worth coming back to multiple times  

awesome, can't wait! 

[winterknight]

2 hours ago, Sashaj said:

@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?

Well, it's impossible for me to diagnose that without knowing a whole lot more about you and about what you're going through.

It's exactly why I recommend all seekers engage in psychoanalytic therapy (that's a specific kind of therapy, not just any therapy). Go here and under "Search for IPA Training Institutes," put your country in, and then pick an institute (if there are multiple, pick one in or near your city) and call and ask for a referral.

[winterknight]

3 hours ago, Preetom said:

I've read it. It's beautiful. Precise and worth coming back to multiple times  

 

3 hours ago, seeking_brilliance said:

awesome, can't wait! 

Thanks guys! So pleased you’re finding it useful.

Edited December 17, 2018 by winterknight

[SriBhagwanYogi]

Your thoughts about Neo Advaita 

Edited December 17, 2018 by SriBhagwanYogi

[winterknight]

2 minutes ago, SriBhagwanYogi said:

Your thoughts about Neo Advaita 

It's ok as far as "pointers" go. But short on the psychology that most people need to make progress. Also short on the intellectual framework and rigor.

[Bauer1977]

Hey Winterknight.... So I have been holding the feeling of God is I, or I is God, as much as possible. It has given me a very peaceful perspective, that change in me has been noticeable. I have also kept up on Self-Inquiry. I feel I have developed a really good sense of my, or the, "unknowable source", and my relationship to it. There have been many great insights regarding Oneness, and the connectivity and the structure of all things. These haven't come as the result of any real effort to have them, they just seem to appear while doing the Self-Inquiry exercise. I genuinely feel as though the concept of Oneness and God is an absolute truth, but unfortunately this has not yet been verified by experience. I have always read about the experience of God Consciousness as the individual experiencing their own energy as the energy of the entire universe. Is my thinking to limited on this? Is there something I am missing, or something that I can do to trigger such an experience? Or is it really just a matter of waiting on grace now?

As a note... I can't say that the "I" has a describable feeling for me now. It just is out of nothingness. If nothingness is God, the "I" is the eye of God. That's the only way I can describe my Inquiry of it (shout out to David R Hawkins). Is the concept of "is-ness" with regard to "I" maybe something that needs to be pursued? If so, how would one approach that?

Edited December 18, 2018 by Bauer1977

[winterknight]

3 hours ago, Bauer1977 said:

Hey Winterknight.... So I have been holding the feeling of God is I, or I is God, as much as possible. It has given me a very peaceful perspective, that change in me has been noticeable. I have also kept up on Self-Inquiry. I feel I have developed a really good sense of my, or the, "unknowable source", and my relationship to it. There have been many great insights regarding Oneness, and the connectivity and the structure of all things. These haven't come as the result of any real effort to have them, they just seem to appear while doing the Self-Inquiry exercise. I genuinely feel as though the concept of Oneness and God is an absolute truth, but unfortunately this has not yet been verified by experience. I have always read about the experience of God Consciousness as the individual experiencing their own energy as the energy of the entire universe. Is my thinking to limited on this? Is there something I am missing, or something that I can do to trigger such an experience? Or is it really just a matter of waiting on grace now?

As a note... I can't say that the "I" has a describable feeling for me now. It just is out of nothingness. If nothingness is God, the "I" is the eye of God. That's the only way I can describe my Inquiry of it (shout out to David R Hawkins). Is the concept of "is-ness" with regard to "I" maybe something that needs to be pursued? If so, how would one approach that?

Don't have ideas or expectations like "the individual experiencing their own energy as the energy of the entire universe." Such expectations are always misleading.

If you are looking for "something more" -- which you seem to be -- then you should inquire into who is doing that looking. 

You are telling me that the I is "out of nothingness," but if that were so there wouldn't be a feeling of a desire for something more, or a question about what to pursue. Any hint of dissatisfaction or any sense that "I've got to figure out what to do next" suggests the presence of old thinking and emotional patterns that are pulling back into identification with the body-mind.

Find the clarity and thought-free peace beyond dissatisfaction that you are, and return to it over and over till these patterns are extinguished. 

[Bauer1977]

11 minutes ago, winterknight said:

Don't have ideas or expectations like "the individual experiencing their own energy as the energy of the entire universe." Such expectations are always misleading.

If you are looking for "something more" -- which you seem to be -- then you should inquire into who is doing that looking. 

You are telling me that the I is "out of nothingness," but if that were so there wouldn't be a feeling of a desire for something more, or a question about what to pursue. Any hint of dissatisfaction or any sense that "I've got to figure out what to do next" suggests the presence of old thinking and emotional patterns that are pulling back into identification with the body-mind.

Find the clarity and thought-free peace beyond dissatisfaction that you are, and return to it over and over till these patterns are extinguished. 

That has been the issue exactly. The idea that there is something more or something else has been with me a lot. I can definitely see it as being an old way of thinking now that you say that. It's the previous 16 years of knowledge accumulation and reading that I have done with regard to my spiritual journey. The idea that the information I had acquired over that time frame could be holding me back had never occurred to me. I will try that query with my next attempt at Self-Inquiry. Thanks

[winterknight]

4 minutes ago, Bauer1977 said:

That has been the issue exactly. The idea that there is something more or something else has been with me a lot. I can definitely see it as being an old way of thinking now that you say that. It's the previous 16 years of knowledge accumulation and reading that I have done with regard to my spiritual journey. The idea that the information I had acquired over that time frame could be holding me back had never occurred to me. I will try that query with my next attempt at Self-Inquiry. Thanks

sounds good. As you said earlier in this thread: "yes, it is a peaceful place. The ultimate with regards to peacefulness." <-- find that that place again, and if you forget, again and again and again...

[Psychonaut]

Can't any person just speak enlightenment talk without being enligthened?

[ajasatya]

5 minutes ago, Psychonaut said:

Can't any person just speak enlightenment talk without being enligthened?

yes. as i said in the beginning of this thread, it's possible to program an AI with machine learning that devours non-duality texts and outputs enlightenment gibberish on point.

Edited December 18, 2018 by ajasatya

[winterknight]

23 hours ago, SriBhagwanYogi said:

Your thoughts about Neo Advaita 

I will say, simply because he is a big name that some people associate with this phrase, that I don't consider Mooji neo-advaita (and he doesn't consider himself that either). I like Mooji.

Edited December 18, 2018 by winterknight

[SriBhagwanYogi]

@winterknight His inquiry Can the perceiver be perceived is pointing to the same place as What am I or your simple finding the I ... body cant be aware , mind and feelings cant only pure consciousness that is not person by my experience. Now biggest problem for me is staying in that space.

 

[winterknight]

3 minutes ago, SriBhagwanYogi said:

@winterknight His inquiry Can the perceiver be perceived is pointing to the same place as What am I or your simple finding the I ... body cant be aware , mind and feelings cant only pure consciousness that is not person by my experience. Now biggest problem for me is staying in that space.

Yes, that always seems to be the problem. The thing to keep asking is: who is having trouble staying in that space?

[SriBhagwanYogi]

So doing the same inquiry and finding that knowing spaciousness over and over again until indentifications with person break.

Thank you for guidance 

[winterknight]

10 minutes ago, SriBhagwanYogi said:

So doing the same inquiry and finding that knowing spaciousness over and over again until indentifications with person break.

Thank you for guidance 

Yup . You're very welcome

Edited December 18, 2018 by winterknight

[Bauer1977]

5 hours ago, winterknight said:

Don't have ideas or expectations like "the individual experiencing their own energy as the energy of the entire universe." Such expectations are always misleading.

If you are looking for "something more" -- which you seem to be -- then you should inquire into who is doing that looking. 

You are telling me that the I is "out of nothingness," but if that were so there wouldn't be a feeling of a desire for something more, or a question about what to pursue. Any hint of dissatisfaction or any sense that "I've got to figure out what to do next" suggests the presence of old thinking and emotional patterns that are pulling back into identification with the body-mind.

Find the clarity and thought-free peace beyond dissatisfaction that you are, and return to it over and over till these patterns are extinguished. 

Man, you are a gem! I have been working on this today, and for the first time I now notice a discernible difference between the Ego ideas and beliefs of Ron that sneak into the field of awareness when I am focused on Self-Inquiry, and the reality of I. Only I has control.... I knew this, but I didn't truly understand all the things that could happen while in that state I guess. I had found the peacefulness of I, although holding it for long periods of time has been difficult. But still, I thought it was all systems go. Somehow I missed this. It seems every time I tell you about these things you right the ship immediately. Amazing!! If only I had found you 4 or 5 years ago, the pain and suffering you may have spared me................. But it clearly wasn't God's will. 

Question: When the monks and guru's meditate for hours or even days at a time, what are they focused on? Is it just holding that state of peacefulness of the "I"?

[FoxFoxFox]

@winterknight Hey I hope you've been doing good. Recently i've been reading The Power of Now for the first time. While i do think it's a good book, i do feel that the author jumbles up a lot of things together and throws them at you without rhyme or reason. Regardless, there is a passage in the book where Tolle references the Tibetan Book of the Dead and says that apparently at the time of death, there is a "portal" into the self in form of a tunnel of light. He claims that at the point the person has a choice: whether to turn back from the portal and be reborn again into another body OR to step into it which results in.... something happening. Now being alive, i don't expect you to tell me what Tolle is talking about from firsthand experience, but have you encountered something like this in other texts which you might have studied? Is Tolle talking about the Self is apparent right now or some future rendition of it where the person is fully annihilated (sense, body and mind) and simple awareness is what remains? Tolle claims that this Self is fully self-aware without the need for a body, or at least this is how i understand it.