What God is

[Highest]

1 minute ago, Shaun said:

Maybe I am to a certain extent, but when I die, I hope he has a good excuse.

Become conscious that He has in this life time, not until you die. But if you want to wait till you die you can do that too.

[Forestluv]

1 hour ago, Shaun said:

It's one thing to sit at your computer spouting spiritual platitudes about suffering until it really happens to you. THEN it isn't funny. 

I’ve actually done this quite a bit in my life. For example, I would discuss anxiety and panic disorders within a place of personal comfort. Often with good intentions. Fir example, I would genuinely try to help my students with their anxiety/panic disorders. 

A couple years ago, I started having extreme anxiety/panic attacks that were unbearable. I had never experienced this degree of intensity and didn’t understand what the experience was *really* like.

After this, I related very differently with people that have anxiety/panic disorders. Our communication and connection is very different. We still discuss the psychological dynamics from headspace, but there is now something more present. Yet I think both are important and useful. The headspace and heartspace of human connection are more integrated. 

[Shaun]

16 minutes ago, Serotoninluv said:

I’ve actually done this quite a bit in my life. For example, I would discuss anxiety and panic disorders within a place of personal comfort. Often with good intentions. Fir example, I would genuinely try to help my students with their anxiety/panic disorders. 

A couple years ago, I started having extreme anxiety/panic attacks that were unbearable. I had never experienced this degree of intensity and didn’t understand what the experience was *really* like.

After this, I related very differently with people that have anxiety/panic disorders. Our communication and connection is very different. We still discuss the psychological dynamics from headspace, but there is now something more present. Yet I think both are important and useful. The headspace and heartspace of human connection are more integrated. 

That's why suffering is especially useful for people interested in spirituality because then you can really understand it as you say. True compassion is not possible unless you have suffered yourself. I just wish it didn't exist in such extremes as it does though. The vast majority of people do not grow from suffering and for animals it's a different issue altogether. From my perspective, I find the way things are, tragic and farcical.

[Aakash]

4 minutes ago, Shaun said:

True compassion is not possible unless you have suffered yourself.

true compassion does not exsist because you think someone else is seperate to yourself

i sense you are still at the beggining of your journey and will have to stomach alot more problems, the biggest thing i had to stomach along this journey was that i wanted to help people out so much i recognised i was narcasstic and that my actions would have done alot worse than good because i would have been wanting to fulfill my hero's journey as an actual hero. Abit naive but these kind of things cause you a bigger suffering than most would understand, to know that your whole reality is a lie, is the worst kind of suffering because yu have no one else to blame besides yourself. 

[Forestluv]

24 minutes ago, Shaun said:

That's why suffering is especially useful for people interested in spirituality because then you can really understand it as you say. True compassion is not possible unless you have suffered yourself. 

I agree with this sentiment. After going through my direct experience, I've been able to draw a distinction within compassion.

Before I had my severe anxiety/panic episodes, I would say I had compassion for my students with those disorders. I really tried to imagine what they were going through. I really wanted to help them. I spent extra hours tutoring them. I allowed them to take exams alone in a quiet room. I tried to be supported. I would say I was truly compassionate. They really appreciated my efforts. Sometimes they gave me heart-felt "thank you" cards or gifts. 

Yet once I experienced it myself, the compassion dynamic shifted. It was a different type of connection. I knew what it was like and the students knew this. They started telling me things they said they have never told anyone else. For a couple students, I was the only person in the world they could talk to about certain elements of anxiety/panic. I think this was because I just knew. I was them and they were me. It's a beautiful connection, yet it's different than the compassion I described above. So, I use different terms. I would call what I described above as "true compassion" and I would call what I describe in this paragraph as "true empathy". I've found both to be helpful to form human connections. I've found that sometimes a person is trying to communicate through a compassion channel and the other person through an empathy channel. Sometimes, compassion is helpful, other times empathy, other times a combination of both. . .  Yet sometimes these two channels aren't "clear" because egoic "noise" can enter. For me, something like wanting to "be right" can be interfering noise.

17 minutes ago, Aakash said:

true compassion does not exsist because you think someone else is seperate to yourself

People use these terms in different ways. This is a good example of using terms in a different context.

I would say true compassion exists as a form human connection between two people. 

I would say that true empathy is when that separation dissolves and there is simply the shared experience and humanness.

With these descriptions, consider a friend I have that has suffered through post-partum disorder. I am a male and have no children. I would say I have very strong compassion with her, yet just a little bit of empathy is present - since I don't have the direct experience and that direct experience is not shared when we are together. 

In contrast, my sister died in a tragic accident. My gf also lost her sibling in a tragic accident. My gf and I have very strong empathy together, yet just a little bit of compassion is present.

I think both are beautiful.

 

[Aakash]

@Serotoninluv ahhh i guess i'm just too much advita trapping

[Shaun]

28 minutes ago, Aakash said:

true compassion does not exsist because you think someone else is seperate to yourself

i sense you are still at the beggining of your journey and will have to stomach alot more problems, the biggest thing i had to stomach along this journey was that i wanted to help people out so much i recognised i was narcasstic and that my actions would have done alot worse than good because i would have been wanting to fulfill my hero's journey as an actual hero. Abit naive but these kind of things cause you a bigger suffering than most would understand, to know that your whole reality is a lie, is the worst kind of suffering because yu have no one else to blame besides yourself. 

And we are back to this theme of there being only me. Might as well just kill myself then because I have no mother or friends.

[Aakash]

@Shaun ahh man maybe my explanations could be better, i don't know how to sugar coat things, i just say it how i understand it. 

 

[DrewNows]

1 minute ago, Aakash said:

@Shaun ahh man maybe my explanations could be better, i don't know how to sugar coat things, i just say it how i understand it. 

 

Not so compassionate of you ?

[Aakash]

@DrewNows sorry man ill do better next time, okay let me attempt it again, i've only discovered true nature 2 days ago 

(10 minutes later) i tried but i just deleted it lol, this is why i say leo's work is amazing, there's no way i can convince people that they are god.

Edited April 2, 2019 by Aakash

[DrewNows]

2 minutes ago, Aakash said:

@DrewNows sorry man ill do better next time, okay let me attempt it again, i've only discovered true nature 2 days ago 

I understand what you meant my dude it just came off a bit insensitive in the context of what was wrote 

[WelcometoReality]

8 hours ago, Highest said:

 

@WelcometoReality It took about 2 years, including all identification with the "I", body, mind and awareness.

 Thank you for your answer. Was there a death experience and where on the journey was it in that case?

[Highest]

4 hours ago, WelcometoReality said:

 Thank you for your answer. Was there a death experience and where on the journey was it in that case?

No, I fell into actual emptiness for about a year. The "I" became weaker and thinner, until it dissolved and I became fully conscious that "I" is an illusion and doesn't really exist. Now I'm just conscious being conscious of itself. All that remains of me is presence-love.

[WelcometoReality]

6 hours ago, Highest said:

No, I fell into actual emptiness for about a year. The "I" became weaker and thinner, until it dissolved and I became fully conscious that "I" is an illusion and doesn't really exist. Now I'm just conscious being conscious of itself. All that remains of me is presence-love.

Mm that's beautiful. ?