I am enlightened. Sincere seekers: ask me anything

[winterknight]

3 minutes ago, Yali said:

How long did it take you to become enlightened? 

There is really no 'becoming enlightened' in truth, but if we're going to speak in those misleading terms -- about 20 years of intense searching and psychological self-work.

[AlldayLoop]

My fear is that if I awaken to the Truth, I will cease to experience any and all possible feelings anymore and will just be like an emotionless witness to everything, even to my own experiences. 

For example, if I’m with people and it seems like it’s a happy time, I’ll actually just be watching that whole play happen with no emotions or feelings about it.

Is this just a myth the mind is playing? Im sure many newbies fear this as well so that’s why I ask, too. 

[winterknight]

8 minutes ago, Yali said:

@winterknight When you say "intense", how many hours per day did you dedicate to this stuff? I ask these crude questions for practical purposes, to set realistic expectations......... 20 years is A LOT of time. Requires true dedication......

It's impossible to say. Spiritual pursuit is not one activity. It's the ongoing process of trying to understand what it means to pursue the spirit. It's not like "Oh, it was 10,000 hours of meditation." It can't be broken down like that. And progress depends on the intensity of desire -- and the very intensity of desire is also built up over time. Some people have very intense desire very early on, and they may make progress much faster.

So that's why this way of looking at things is misleading. It's not some kind of sport or skill which you can measure by the # of hours committed. One single split second of true looking inward is actually enough... but how long does it take to actually want that, is the question.

6 minutes ago, AlldayLoop said:

My fear is that if I awaken to the Truth, I will cease to experience any and all possible feelings anymore and will just be like an emotionless witness to everything, even to my own experiences. 

For example, if I’m with people and it seems like it’s a happy time, I’ll actually just be watching that whole play happen with no emotions or feelings about it.

Is this just a myth the mind is playing? Im sure many newbies fear this as well so that’s why I ask, too. 

Yes, it's a myth. If there is a you, there is seeing and emotion. If there is no you, then there cannot be said to be either seeing or not seeing or emotion or no emotion (because to whom would they pertain, and who is there to judge what is happening)?

Edited August 15, 2019 by winterknight

[Beginner Mind]

@AlldayLoop Eckhart Tolle cried when his parents died.  I don't think you have to worry about losing your capacity to feel.

[zeroISinfinity]

@AlldayLoop If You take Neo Advaita and Neo Zen Bullshit /teachings as Truth of yourself, You Will pretty much get depersonalized and derealized. Big warning. 

Meditation is the way. This is your dream.

[AlldayLoop]

3 minutes ago, zeroISinfinity said:

@AlldayLoop If You take Neo Advaita and Neo Zen Bullshit /teachings as Truth of yourself, You Will pretty much get depersonalized and derealized. Big warning. 

Well, like you said they’re teachings so therefore they can’t be or can be me. 

Thanks for the warning though

Edited August 15, 2019 by AlldayLoop

[zeroISinfinity]

@winterknight 20 years and still not SELF REALIZED. 

Crushing spiritual egos uff I love it. 

[winterknight]

1 minute ago, Yali said:

How "obvious" was the truth when you discovered it?

The truth, when it's discovered, is not discovered by a "you." Rather, the "you" is what has always stood as the barrier to the realization of truth.

Anyway, it's blindingly obvious.

[AlldayLoop]

2 minutes ago, winterknight said:

The truth, when it's discovered, is not discovered by a "you." Rather, the "you" is what has always stood as the barrier to the realization of truth.

Anyway, it's blindingly obvious.

Okay one last question for today. This should hit the nail on the cross. 

Isn’t it truer to actually say that there was never a “you” to begin with, no “barrier”, nothing to actually “realize”?

I understand if you just used the words you used as to not mislead people, but I feel like it goes beyond that as well (obviously). 

 

[Aakash]

@AlldayLoop the mis analogy is that the seeker itself is the one your seeking. 

Meaning how do I tell you that you are the very thing itself lol just the way you are 

there are two “I” when there is only one. 

Which “I” wrote the question 

the answer is one of them, both of them. 

To wintersolider the answer is 1 and to others the answer is 2. Both are correct. 

Edit: but it’s a winterknight said, truth must be realised as experience not cognised. Let’s say I know the absolute truth about absolute infinity. But I haven’t experienced it and so there’s no sticking ground. 

Edited August 15, 2019 by Aakash

[winterknight]

3 minutes ago, AlldayLoop said:

Okay one last question for today. This should hit the nail on the cross. 

Isn’t it truer to actually say that there was never a “you” to begin with, no “barrier”, nothing to actually “realize”?

I understand if you just used the words you used as to not mislead people, but I feel like it goes beyond that as well (obviously). 

Yes and no. It is truer, but all words are false, and it is also true that a seeker cannot simply rely on those words in an abstract way but must directly know the truth, even if that truth is that there is in some sense no truth to know.

The seeker can keep in the back of their mind that in some profound sense there's nothing to realize, but must nevertheless seek as if there were, as if there were a barrier, and there were an effort to pierce it, and if there were a realization. Because that is their emotional truth.

Edited August 15, 2019 by winterknight

[winterknight]

3 minutes ago, Yali said:

Lastly, Leo said in his "What Is Spirituality? - A No-Bullshit Intro To Spirituality"  that the truth is so good that we'd think he's bullshitting us. Can you relate to that assessment? 

 

So much evil in this world, yet Leo's word is so convincing. A confirmation of that statement would prove to be motivating for me...

The truth is that the truth is beyond good and evil. But it is worth it, of course. It's the highest goal.

[Aakash]

@winterknight to be honest, I give you homage for taking emptiness to its extreme. It’s a bitter sweet pill for people to swallow. 

Not that I would agree to such an extreme personally. It’s very soothing for myself to experience a conversation with you 

[AlldayLoop]

4 minutes ago, winterknight said:

The seeker can keep in the back of their mind that in some profound sense there's nothing to realize, but must nevertheless seek as if there were, as if there were a barrier, and there were an effort to pierce it, and if there were a realization. Because that is their emotional truth.

Thank you for adding that last part in. All my life I’ve been searching for a truth out there and that has never worked. Thanks for reassuring me that I don’t have to numb myself of emotions  because I never got the chance to express them genuinely to anyone or myself.

This is why I’m on this path. 

[zeroISinfinity]

TRUTH IS ALL GOOD. ❤️

@winterknight Meditation is the way.Finally set intention to realize TRUTH once and for all. You Can only do it by yourself. Strong intention and Strong desire for TRUTH. 

All others are YOU so do not delude them. 

TRUTH IS ALL GOOD, LOVE SEFLESSNESS, GOODNESS, FREEDOM, COMAPSSION etc

Nothing to go beyond. LOVE IS ALL THAT IS. 

[winterknight]

6 minutes ago, Aakash said:

@winterknight to be honest, I give you homage for taking emptiness to its extreme. It’s a bitter sweet pill for people to swallow. 

Not that I would agree to such an extreme personally. It’s very soothing for myself to experience a conversation with you 

It seems bittersweet from the standpoint of the person who thinks that so much has to be given up... but this is, as the Buddha said, a mistake -- what is given up is only unhappiness. The person who believes that ordinary life is pleasure is someone, he said, who believes that grasping red hot iron bars is fun. It's just not so.

3 minutes ago, AlldayLoop said:

Thank you for adding that last part in. All my life I’ve been searching for a truth out there and that has never worked. Thanks for reassuring me that I don’t have to numb myself of emotions  because I never got the chance to express them genuinely to anyone or myself.

This is why I’m on this path. 

Absolutely. It's definitely not about numbing emotions. Quite the opposite.

[Aakash]

36 minutes ago, winterknight said:

It seems bittersweet from the standpoint of the person who thinks that so much has to be given up... but this is, as the Buddha said, a mistake -- what is given up is only unhappiness. The person who believes that ordinary life is pleasure is someone, he said, who believes that grasping red hot iron bars is fun. It's just not so.

Interesting analogy , I do agree myself. As a person who feels life is nostalgic at this point in time. Everything feels like grabbing a iron bar. But this is still from a human vantage point and not a person with a secured awakening for starters 

[Leo Gura]

@winterknight I just had a mini-epiphany.

When you recommend psycho-analysis to supplement this work, that's exactly why I recommend psychedelics. Just like psycho-analysis the psychedelic's function is not primary to enlighten you but to clear out lesser blockages, shadow issues, and to show you what is getting in way of awakening.

The benefit of psychedelics is that it's faster, cheaper, more direct than months of talk therapy, and gives awakenings as well. But of course for those who cannot access psychedelics, I can see the value of psycho-analysis.

I've not done formal psycho-analysis but I'd guess 3-12 months of psycho-analysis = 1-3 psychedelic trips. The cost savings would also be very significant.

I've noticed that most people who take psychedelics don't have very deep awakenings on them because first the psychedelic must clear out psychological baggage (AKA, psychoanalysis). The existential insights require a purified mind and heart. The deep existential insights tend to come in later trips, after the mind has been purified a bit of its human baggage.

Just a useful insight I thought I'd share with you guys.

The oversight I made in the past is that I tended to think of the psychedelic purely as a gateway to nondual states. But that's only half of their function. The other half is the psycho-analytic resolution of psychological baggage.

[Arhattobe]

@Leo Gura One’s level of defilements correlates to one’s level of self involvement. When conscious self involvement is shed the result is non duality. When subconscious and instinctual defilements are shed the result is full and total enlightenment/embodiment : ) 

[mandyjw]

@Leo Gura Why do you think Catholic churches have their members make confessions?