How Difficult Will It Be To Become Enlightened Or Get Into High Levels Of Consciousness?

[JevinR]

How do you know if you are making progress, or is meditating itself progress? This is scary

Edited May 22, 2016 by JevinR

[Deutsche22]

You notice progress when you become aware that you were just unaware and then you pop back into awareness. That is how it started for me. You will find yourself throughout the day oscillating back and forth from conscious awareness to unawareness. Over time, you will be aware for longer periods and most interesting also in my experience is watching others as they are totally asleep unconscious. 

The more frequently you catch this, then that is great progress.

You will also become highly aware of your pain body and the pain body in others. This is huge progress.

Leo's videos are amazing and he got me started and keeps me going like a coach so to speak. But you should also watch Eckhart Tolle videos, in particular watch the Omega Institute 2001 vids below part 2 and 5:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37b6-C2QUdg&list=FLikm9G5fvSF9B4vaA-xB_Og&index=5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1kwBuEr7y4&list=FLikm9G5fvSF9B4vaA-xB_Og&index=6

 

My favorite Leo vid (I have watched this one probably 15 times and printed the transcripts):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1kwBuEr7y4&list=FLikm9G5fvSF9B4vaA-xB_Og&index=6

 

I am only about 6 months into the awakening process. In the beginning I experienced a lot of anxiety attacks so if that happens don't worry, fear and getting scared is normal. It should go away in time.

Also, read this book below or listen to the audio:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAFHr1wL35o&index=1&list=FLikm9G5fvSF9B4vaA-xB_Og

 

Good luck to you!

(Sorry, I could not post the links properly you will have to copy/paste).

 

 

 

[Deutsche22]

Sorry about that, favorite Leo video, I meant:

Spiritual Enlightenment - Part 2 - Understanding The Conceptualized Self

 

 

[Mal]

@JevinR

Hi Jevin, 

To reach what the Vedic traditions call "enlightenment", the baseline requirement is develop our linguistic self concept (aka our "ego") to what the developmental Spiral Dynamics model level of meaning making calls the 2nd Tier "Turquoise" stage, or alternatively parsed "Unitive Self" stage.

Once this has happened, it is then possible to make a shift from the Witness Self into a condition where post symbolic representational awareness and direct knowing becomes a permanent reality for us.

Meditation or self inquiry are the main tools here.  But true self development toward "post-post conventional" levels of consciousness always follows in the path of cognitive development - we cannot have a smooth transition into 3rd tier awareness without a balanced and well developed self concept, therefore intellectual learning is an absolute must and the ability to take as as many different multifaceted lenses as possible - essential. 

Hence the need for exquisite text based forums such as this one!

True progress will mostly be apparent to us in the positive forms of better functioning, increased wisdom, increased capacity for compassion and tolerance, clearer and more complex thinking, taking life less personally and a multitude of other benefits (many of which Leo has already kindly delivered in many of his enlightenment videos).

The downside is of course that less and less people are going to understand us.  That's because the higher levels of development can transcend, include and organize what came before it, but the lower levels only take what it can "fathom" from above and reduce it back down to it's own level of understanding.  

Self-Actualization and realization is indeed a sometimes lonely path to walk, but I hope you agree that despite the effort the rewards are worth the effort.

Regards

Mal

 

 

[key]

@Mal Hi there

I'm curious as to what - Spiral Dynamics model - is when you reference such? Any information or links on it would be greatly appreciated, I'm interested in learning about it.

Edited May 23, 2016 by Kenya

[Oneness]

@Kenya

 

[HereNowThisMoment]

Do not turn enlightenment into a goal because then it is in the future. Entry is here and now. 

The difficulty is in realizing that you are already it. Enlightenment is nothing special. And yet it is something special. It's paradoxical, which makes it difficult to realize. 

Letting go of the egoic self is a matter of letting go of precepts. In the present moment there are no concepts unless you bring them in based on prior conditioning. Peace is in accepting things as they are.

 

 

[Leo Gura]

If you're shooting for enlightenment, forget about spiral dynamics or any other models or theories and go straight for enlightenment. Spiral dynamics is not a tool for enlightenment. It's a tool for ordinary personal development.

[Mal]

@Leo Gura

Hi Leo,

There is a lot more to it, but I just want to mention here that, yes you are right that enlightenment can happen to a person on any level of the spiral. 

The bad news is once enlightement has stabilized at say "orange" this cognitive level WILL flavour the realization. 

According to Charles "Skip" Alexander and Suzanne Cook-Greuter's perspective at least.

In addition, the reason I mention Spiral Dynamics on this particular forum is because despite it not actually being a model for "personal" development (it's in fact a model for social development), I assume that it's still probably the only model that a substantial proportion of your audience here are presently aware of.  

This doesn't mean that Spiral Dynamics is useless to us, it correlates very well with most other ego and transpersonal ego stage models known to us at present. 

I will be making a presentation of the western developmental model that includes research on higher ego stages - stages that developmental researchers presently suspect are akin to the Bodhisattva level of awakening: Unitive Self stage. 

These kinds of maps are actually psychoactive and assist in accelerating development and eventually the transcendental finale of the development path - "Unity Consciousness"!

Yes we can shoot for enlightenment now at whatever stage were at. But unfortunately it won't be as full a realization as we're currently now aware of. 

-Mal

[cetus]

@Mal

22 minutes ago, Mal said:

These kinds of maps are actually psychoactive and assist in accelerating development and eventually the transcendental finale of the development path - "Unity Consciousness"!

Spiral dynamics serve a place within minds conceptual framework and has the power to assist in crossing the threshold into liberation. A ladder for mind to climb out of it's hole one rung at a time.

[Mal]

@cetus56

Yes 

They are also good for clearing up so many of the "New Age" style misconceptions we are witnessing.

Edit - I read somewhere years ago on another posting board that a researcher made a passing comment that realizers like Eckhart Tolle and Byron Katie are still stuck at green.  This is of course speculation, but if anybody has any thoughts about this I'd be very interested in hearing some views.

 

Edited May 26, 2016 by Mal

[vizual]

Can we please stop about this talk of 'high' consciousness. High consciousness is the most ordinary thing there is, the word high implies(at least to me) that it is some superhuman state which only a few elite yogi's can attain. Yes, most people are totally hypnotized by their own delusional thinking. But let's not make enlightenment in this godlike state. It's just what is, no judgments, nowhere to go to, nowhere to go from. No value judgments, everything is just as it is, and it is all perfect. 

It's only difficult if you make it difficult yourself. And having all these terms, judgements and values of what enlightenment may or may not be is not helping. To answer your question, it is the ego that is asking if it is making progress, and the ego is never going to be enlightened. The ego wants to think that it is making progress, so that it doesn't have to give itself up. There is no progress to be made, only ego thinks in terms of progress. Consciousness does not know progress, it just knows what is.