What is DOUBT?

[Shin]

1 hour ago, abrakamowse said:

That's really annoying Lol

 

We've all been there ??

[Inliytened1]

@abrakamowse one thing to add is there can be a healthy form of doubt which leads to skepticism.  in searching for truth Rene Descarte had doubts about anything and everything which led him to question everything but in a good way.  He pondered the Mind/Body problem which is where that term came from.  He eventually dismissed it off and didn't dig far enough but that was all healthy doubt leading to skepticism.  

His saying was "I think therefore I am!" Meaning  the only thing he didnt doubt was his own mind..which turns out was a bad idea! 

 

 

[abrakamowse]

50 minutes ago, Key Elements said:

@abrakamowse interesting...

I wonder what you're doubting?  You don't have to answer the question, but to me, you look like you're really doubting something but don't know how to approach and find hints/answers. I say this because I do wonder how to approach to get answers. This is the real work to anything in life. No one thing or person will have the full answer.

I can answer it, no problem... I think I am not getting enlightenment because of that doubt. All my understanding points to the truth, that I don't exists (ego) that everything is one, that I am everything and everything is in me... etc... but for some reason there's still a doubt in the back of my mind or I don't know where, and that's a belief I don't know how to deal with it. 

At this moment, I am not sure about anything Lol...

[Inliytened1]

@abrakamowse yeah that's a tough one especially coming from the Materialist Paradigm our whole lives.

I know what Leo would say right now.  5-Meo would push right through that doubt and overwhelm the ego in seconds.  If you let go to it.  

 

[abrakamowse]

24 minutes ago, mandyjw said:

You don't need to understand doubt. You only need to know faith. 

This morning I went down to a stream in the woods and there was a rotten tree that had fallen over making a bridge. I walked across it, even though I didn't really trust it. If the tree wasn't high up over the stream I could have walked across it confidently. But I wasn't confident. So I grabbed at some little branches nearby. I knew if I really fell they would break right off. But they gave me balance and faith anyway. I thought about how hilarious it was conceptually. 

But faith is not conceptual. Throw your concepts in the wind. 

That's what we are for each other. Just some branches to grab onto, giving you the illusion that you have a lifeline.

You don't need a lifeline, and they/we can't save you. But the illusion is everything. The illusion is what allows us to see love. Once we see it we have seen the face of God, the mirror in the sky. You are love. 

Thanks mandy! I appreciate your comment. This is really helpful.

Once, long time ago... when I wasn't still aware of duality and meditation, I was meditating with some friends. But, we didn't do it right Lol...

We just sit and went inside of our minds, let them imagine whatever it wants, but we were still immersed in thoughts stories and stuff. It wasn't bad, but it was not really meditation, mostly mental masturbation hehehe...

Now that you mention the bridge, you made me recall that. In one of those meditations, an image came to my mind where I was on a big canyon and there was a bridge. And the bridge was like the one you mention, it was like really rotten and in bad shape.

So I began to walk over this bridge, and I was like doing a big effort on not walking too strongly on it so it wouldn't fall apart. At that moment, I listened to a voice in my head that said "Why are you doing all that effort? It's just a meditation in your mind.... you can fly!" And I did that... and I began to fly over the canyon, and it was really enjoyable. Until I faced a kind of red light, everything went dark and I asked... what happened?

And the voice told me "this is something bad that is going to happen to you"... and the truth is that something bad happened to me. It was something bad that it turned good. But what I imagined in that moment when I was a teen happened like 5 years ago to me.... the only part that is not happening is the one where I fly. hehehe...

 

Thanks!!!

[abrakamowse]

18 minutes ago, Inliytened1 said:

@abrakamowse one thing to add is there can be a healthy form of doubt which leads to skepticism.  in searching for truth Rene Descarte had doubts about anything and everything which led him to question everything but in a good way.  He pondered the Mind/Body problem which is where that term came from.  He eventually dismissed it off and didn't dig far enough but that was all healthy doubt leading to skepticism.  

His saying was "I think therefore I am!" Meaning  the only thing he didnt doubt was his own mind..which turns out was a bad idea! 

Yes, you are right... the mind is not made to understand reality. In fact, is the thing that is avoiding us to see reality the way it is!

 

11 minutes ago, Inliytened1 said:

@abrakamowse yeah that's a tough one especially coming from the Materialist Paradigm our whole lives.

I know what Leo would say right now.  5-Meo would push right through that doubt and overwhelm the ego in seconds.  If you let go to it.  

Sometimes I really tempted to do something with that... an Ayahuasca retreat or something... or maybe licking a toad!!! Lol

Edited May 11, 2019 by abrakamowse
grammar

[Nahm]

Misinterpretation of reality having identified with a body & thinking.

Emotions ‘tell’ the Truth, 24/7. That’s their thing. That’s what they do. It’s what they are. Feel them without avoidance, and this is easy & clear, and there is no overthinking, no doubt.

Get sucked into a thought story...a cognitive narrative...and the trouble begins. Doubt is weaved. Identification is strengthened. Protection is increased. Vulnerability is further suppressed. 

Thinking protects you. That’s it’s thing. That’s what it does. 

Not knowing you were misinterpreting reality, and protecting yourself in the most subtle & clever ways....you then misinterpret the emotional response as well. When done repeatedly / chronically....thinking protectively weaves a narrative which makes it make sense (in the short term). But this “short term” itself then must be repeated to maintain the protection. This is a very taxing, energy draining, creativity zapping lifestyle. 

 

Typically the narrative thinking employs is one of two patterns:

Life sucks.......then thought content is identified with / believed, emotions (truth) is repressed & avoided. 

or

I suck....then thought content is identified with / believed, emotions (truth) is repressed & avoided. 

 

Bottom line is, you can not know about yourself at the level of cognition. So if you doubt yourself (cognitive level), then you are wrong (because you are infinite potentiality, not a describable finite ‘thing’)

You then choose to continue being “right”, or, to be vulnerable & relearn the miracle that is your emotional guidance system (God). 

The first part of “relearning” is purification. Love flushes all your BULLSHIT out. This is triggered by willingness. 

The second part is contextualization of reality with the emotions involved, respected, and trusted. This is triggered simply by living life. 

The third part is bliss. 

 

[abrakamowse]

@Nahm  Wow! Thanks a lot Nahm. You explanation is very clear.

I am reading the dhammapada to get guidance on right action. I think that's the first step. Right?

[Conrad]

From personal experience, doubt arises from the false conditioned "I, ego". Even due it was obviously clear, something in me would still doubt. What I did was to ignore it out of existence and focus on direct experience.

All doubt vanished when God saw through my eyes that day, I will never forget it. Now I know what the doubter is. The only evidence of God is Yourself, your direct aware experience. It goes even beyond that, but now we are stepping at unspeakable ground. 

[Nahm]

@abrakamowse ??  Hard to go wrong with The Buddha. 

[tedens]

Doubt arises from that you don't know who you really are like @Conrad wrote.

[tedens]

But from psychological point of view thats the cognitive dissonance=@Preetom post.

[Inliytened1]

@tedens i think that really is the underlying cause for things like OCD.  Irrational doubts.  In his case his Ego is doubting enlightenment because it is fighting change and because the ego is a self deception machine.  

It's a big ego trap that can get a lot of people stuck in this work.

[Inliytened1]

@Conrad God = Certainty

  Ego = doubt

[tedens]

I would explain psychology in this way: 

God's hide and seek.

Edited May 11, 2019 by tedens

[abrakamowse]

Just now, tedens said:

I would explain psychology in this way: 

god's hide and seek.

Like Alan Watts says.

 

[tedens]

@abrakamowse Its not a plagiarism but not an incident too.?

Edited May 11, 2019 by tedens

[abrakamowse]

5 minutes ago, tedens said:

@abrakamowse Its not a plagiarism but not an incident too.?

hehehe... I know. Alan Watts is really awesome. Thanks @tedens

[Aaron p]

3 hours ago, Inliytened1 said:

@Aaron p from a non-dual perspective yes..but we are talking about from a duality perspective.

Aye yeah i know what you mean homes

[Key Elements]

2 hours ago, abrakamowse said:

I can answer it, no problem... I think I am not getting enlightenment because of that doubt. All my understanding points to the truth, that I don't exists (ego) that everything is one, that I am everything and everything is in me... etc... but for some reason there's still a doubt in the back of my mind or I don't know where, and that's a belief I don't know how to deal with it. 

At this moment, I am not sure about anything Lol...

At this point in my life, I just tell myself to just do something. I know where to go at this point. Everything is interconnected and will fall into place sooner or later, whatever it is that you're pursuing, whether it's the absolute or not. When you're in the moment doing something, the main character is your actions and you being present. Your "ego," although non-existent, does play a role in this life.