I am enlightened. Sincere seekers: ask me anything

[Jeff Zhang]

@winterknight Thank you, you inspire me so much.

I would like to ask you:

How to gain happiness and success even when a man is doing a regular average-wage 9-5 job without great achievements in a success and money oriented society? 

 This is a dilemma I am facing.Thank you.

[winterknight]

21 minutes ago, Jeff Zhang said:

@winterknight Thank you, you inspire me so much.

I would like to ask you:

How to gain happiness and success even when a man is doing a regular average-wage 9-5 job without great achievements in a success and money oriented society? 

 This is a dilemma I am facing.Thank you.

Follow the spiritual path and discover your true self. That's the source of happiness. Someone working can do it too.

[Sashaj]

@winterknight I am noticing many addictions in my life that end up diverting me away from practicing

For example I am obsessively thinking about making music to the detriment of meditation / inquiry 

Or overeating, then dieting, followed by a depressive period due to calorie and sugar (another addiction) withdrawals

Is this best dealt with in therapy? If therapy was not available how would one navigate these distractions?

[winterknight]

25 minutes ago, Sashaj said:

@winterknight I am noticing many addictions in my life that end up diverting me away from practicing

For example I am obsessively thinking about making music to the detriment of meditation / inquiry 

Or overeating, then dieting, followed by a depressive period due to calorie and sugar (another addiction) withdrawals

Is this best dealt with in therapy? If therapy was not available how would one navigate these distractions?

Yes, in therapy. If that's not available then you need to get honest about your desires yourself. Admit to yourself what you actually want and feel -- not what you should want.

And how do you figure out what you actually want and feel? Notice how you feel; metaphorize it (articulate what it feels like); think of what you might want to do & notice/metaphorize how you feel given each possibility; act in various ways and metaphorize how you feel after these actions.

In this way you come closer to what you actually want, not what you "should" want or hope you want or think you should want or want to want.

Maybe you want to make music and not meditate. So make music -- be honest about it and do that! That's the way to move forward: align action and motive.

Or maybe you don't want to lose weight. If you’re going to eat junk food -- tell yourself "I want to eat junk food. This IS what I want." 

Or perhaps you both want and don't want that... admit that to yourself too -- "I want to eat junk food but I also want to look better." Then investigate what these feelings mean... metaphorize them, and really listen to what they are saying, their reasons. Imagine they are little voices inside you. They have histories, reasons for wanting what they want. 

But just hold them... realizing that "What I want is to stay in conflict right now, because I don't know what to do." And take responsibility for that at least.

There are also many other feelings you could try admitting to yourself, negative feelings you have about parents, your past, your friends, etc. -- often stuff we are ashamed about.

Again, all this is exactly why I recommend psychoanalytic therapy (not just any therapy... psychoanalytic therapy).

And expect it all to take time. No shortcuts.

But you can meditate, read scriptures, and so on to some extent while doing all this.

[Preetom]

@winterknight

I have questions regarding science of desire.

1) Is there some 'objective' destiny waiting for me to work things out and find out? Or is it ultimately what I just land on in a more aligned way? if that's the case, so is it the looking and honestly exploring part that is actually the important thing and not what I finally land on?

2) Is it possible to be 100% happy and frictionless by coming into complete alignment between my desires and behaviors or rather is it possible to actually align these two facets COMPLETELY? Or is it that only Enlightenment can provide a completely frictionless life?

Edited December 22, 2018 by Preetom

[okulele]

What do you think is the role of a guru in all of this? Did you have one?

[non_nothing]

@winterknightWho are you

 

[Outer]

Okay, I've read Drik Drisya Viveka now. It was good. What do you think of concentration practice, like meditating on the breath? I'm wondering if I should cultivate high states of concentration to later do non-dual self-inquiry meditation to realize and abide in the Self.

[Jeff Zhang]

@winterknight  I don't know why I am feel depressed often, on the surface it seems that because I am unsatisfied with my current situation like financial situation,and career, relationship situation.

What's the root reason, what should I do?

Thank you.

[winterknight]

11 hours ago, Preetom said:

@winterknight

I have questions regarding science of desire.

1) Is there some 'objective' destiny waiting for me to work things out and find out? Or is it ultimately what I just land on in a more aligned way? if that's the case, so is it the looking and honestly exploring part that is actually the important thing and not what I finally land on?

2) Is it possible to be 100% happy and frictionless by coming into complete alignment between my desires and behaviors or rather is it possible to actually align these two facets COMPLETELY? Or is it that only Enlightenment can provide a completely frictionless life?

1. Yeah, it's the looking/exploring part that matters, basically.

2. Only enlightenment provides total frictionlessness. Actually eventually following your desires honestly will lead you to increase your desire for spiritual liberation.

3 hours ago, okulele said:

What do you think is the role of a guru in all of this? Did you have one?

Can be very helpful. I did. But gurus can come from many things -- the inner guru is most important.

1 hour ago, non_nothing said:

@winterknightWho are you

 

That which cannot be named.

1 hour ago, Outer said:

Okay, I've read Drik Drisya Viveka now. It was good. What do you think of concentration practice, like meditating on the breath? I'm wondering if I should cultivate high states of concentration to later do non-dual self-inquiry meditation to realize and abide in the Self.

You can do that if you feel like that's the sequence that would be helpful for you... 

1 hour ago, Jeff Zhang said:

@winterknight  I don't know why I am feel depressed often, on the surface it seems that because I am unsatisfied with my current situation like financial situation,and career, relationship situation.

What's the root reason, what should I do?

Thank you.

The root reason is that you aren't being honest about your desires and feelings. Read this post for more.

[SriBhagwanYogi]

When i do self inquiry after some time that detached looking “staying as aware presence” is same to me as witnessing like Osho talks about . Am i wrong ?

Edited December 22, 2018 by SriBhagwanYogi

[winterknight]

12 minutes ago, SriBhagwanYogi said:

When i do self inquiry after some time that detached looking “staying as aware presence” is same to me as witnessing like Osho talks about . Am i wrong ?

Not sure what Osho said. Basically if you "want something more," keep inquiring. If you are at peace and relaxed and clear while staying awake and able to do other things -- stay with it.

[Preetom]

@winterknight

1) Did you particularly do any form of concentration practice or meditation along in your journey of 20 years? 

2) Any other spiritual practices that particularly helped you other than science of desire and self-inquiry?

3) Did you start self-inquiry as a formal sitting meditation at first or did you go for all the time from beginning?

[winterknight]

1 hour ago, SriBhagwanYogi said:

When i do self inquiry after some time that detached looking “staying as aware presence” is same to me as witnessing like Osho talks about . Am i wrong ?

yeah sure that sounds more or less right. I don't love the phrasing of "watching the watcher," though... You cannot watch the watcher, really, since you actually are that.

"staying in aware presence," as you put = staying in the samadhi achieved in the above paragraph.

44 minutes ago, Preetom said:

@winterknight

1) Did you particularly do any form of concentration practice or meditation along in your journey of 20 years? 

2) Any other spiritual practices that particularly helped you other than science of desire and self-inquiry?

3) Did you start self-inquiry as a formal sitting meditation at first or did you go for all the time from beginning?

1. a little bit of mantra-chanting... other than that, self-inquiry itself was my meditation for over a year.

And contemplating all the spiritual concepts, understanding them, reasoning them out, dealing with my own objections and doubts  -- even though concepts eventually have to be given up -- was arguably a very important "meditation" practice as well.

2. I personally always had devotion to God, too, in various Hindu forms. I never did rituals, but I did pray. I think that helped me.

3. formal sitting at the very beginning and quickly leaping to all the time

[SriBhagwanYogi]

@winterknight Watcher is empty space by my experience so far empty but detached , calm when i was looking for “I” and realised its impossible to hold it everything changed ... Just want to know that i am not delusional about my experience.   

[winterknight]

16 minutes ago, SriBhagwanYogi said:

@winterknight Watcher is empty space by my experience so far empty but detached , calm when i was looking for “I” and realised its impossible to hold it everything changed ... Just want to know that i am not delusional about my experience.   

yes, not delusional at all

[Marinador]

hi @winterknight

 

how are the feelings, experiences... one week or one month or two month before no-self?

i mean, do you know that enlightenment is going to happen soon? or enlightenment catch you by surprise and you don't know that is going to happen tomorrow or in the next year?

i mean, how feels the ego? how are the feelings?

i would appreciate any indicator that says that enlightenment is going to happen very soon

thanks!

 

 

 

[winterknight]

4 hours ago, Marinador said:

hi @winterknight

how are the feelings, experiences... one week or one month or two month before no-self?

i mean, do you know that enlightenment is going to happen soon? or enlightenment catch you by surprise and you don't know that is going to happen tomorrow or in the next year?

i mean, how feels the ego? how are the feelings?

i would appreciate any indicator that says that enlightenment is going to happen very soon

thanks!

You are already enlightened. When you grasp the meaning of this, not just as a concept, but directly, you are near enlightenment.

Best to give up all expectations about timing.

[FoxFoxFox]

@winterknight Today I think I finally realized what is meant by love and the emphasis on it in all the lineages. I was looking at people and I realized that all they are is consciousness. Not even that there is consciousness and that all forms are within it, but rather the forms that seemingly appear are in fact consciousness itself. It didn't matter what the form was. The feeling of unity and one-ness of everything was truly palpable. Is this in fact what "divine love" is? The recognition of one's own nature to be universal? 

[winterknight]

15 minutes ago, FoxFoxFox said:

@winterknight Today I think I finally realized what is meant by love and the emphasis on it in all the lineages. I was looking at people and I realized that all they are is consciousness. Not even that there is consciousness and that all forms are within it, but rather the forms that seemingly appear are in fact consciousness itself. It didn't matter what the form was. The feeling of unity and one-ness of everything was truly palpable. Is this in fact what "divine love" is? The recognition of one's own nature to be universal? 

Well, these are reflections of divine love. Divine love itself  isn't a 'feeling' -- even of unity -- or recognition. Feelings and recognitions that come can go.

Divine love is simply the unchanging Reality that there are no others.