Enlightened! What's Next?

[99th_monkey]

15 minutes ago, Lha Bho said:

@Ayla So McDonald's and Factory Farming and Child Slave Wage Labour is valued as a Bee to the Flower?

I think not.

i doubt enlightened people could be "convinced" of anything and thats all those things have to do with. monetary based anything would lose its foothold. (im guessing) 

[Natasha]

9 hours ago, Lha Bho said:

What do you see yourself doing once Enlightened? Sitting on a cushion the rest of your life? Sitting on a cushion and teaching others the rest of your life?

Before Enlightenment, chop wood carry water. After Enlightenment, chop wood carry water.

But who among us chops wood and or carries water?

What will you do with yourself...

...once Enlightened?

Not much would change in my life as far as goes my work, attending to my family, gym, traveling, beach, walking the dog, etc. Self-realization is a shift in how you perceive reality, the outward remains the same as it was before self- realization.  

 

Edited June 7, 2016 by Natasha

[Primeval]

 

[Emerald]

3 hours ago, Lha Bho said:

@Emerald Wilkins  Implying you don't enjoy life until Enlightened?

In a sense, yes and no. Yes, because life with ego is hell. I know this because I've experienced ego transcendence and the quality of experience was night and day from mundane consciousnes. I let go of so much suffering that I didn't even realize that I had. This is my primary reason for seeking. But no, in the sense that you can always choose to let go of suffering and be happy. So, the answer isn't so clear cut. But at this point, I do truly feel as though dropping my ego is the only way to experience true happiness and love. I have a lot of resistance to what is.

[Saarah]

@Lha Bho sadhguru who helps people get enlightened made a funny joke something along the lines of saying he's planted many undercover ninjas, meaning half the enlightened people have gone back to their everyday societal roles and no one has a clue how secretly blissful they are. I think that'd be what I'd do! But who really knows what that kind of experience would lead us to until it's happened 

[WelcometoReality]

I'm going to conquer the world and make you all my slaves.

[Natasha]

13 hours ago, Mal said:

I like this, because the people who do that to you are not enlightened.  They are actually stuck in the absolute. 

Enlightenment is just one perspective on life. I hope to still have an ego and have full access to it because without an ego in this society, they are the crazy ones. 

Integral spirituality is the future.

Self-realized are not perfect, they still have ego and stumble as well. Those who embrace integral spirituality will advance further in their journey. As you said, it's the future.

[Salaam]

@Lha Bho  some pretty disappointing answers so far huh?

Pretty much everyone's answer here was all focused on one narrow thing, usually revolving around some sort of comfort.

I want to be happy, I want to feel bliss, I want to feel like everything is a game and I don't have to risk or feel any more stress. I wanted to be connected and consumed by some fantasy land collective being, so I don't have to worry about anything any more and just float along in cosmic bliss.

It's like, everyone wants to go back to being coddled like a fucking baby.

Ha, fuck that.

The happiness and the bliss and not wanting to suffer anymore, I completely get that and I've achieved that. I can feel bliss and happiness whenever I want and I never suffer anymore, because I'm never a victim. Bliss is kind of boring to me by itself actually, but it's a useful feeling to add into myself when I'm resting.

But, the real shit is in what you build and create and discover for yourself and then give to who you choose.

Your presence, your core, your soul, whatever you want to call it grows. You get to choose what you add on to it while also gaining and expanding other abilities. You can feel more deeper things than anyone can imagine, your stronger and pain and stress isn't as big of a deal, so you can choose to reach and process depths of yourself that require very strenuous undertakings. Your reflexes are faster, you can slow down your perception of time, you understand the elements of learning and can learn whatever you choose. You gain way more capability with your body and have many more things besides the mind to interface with. You gain whole new sets of sensations and skills that you use in parallel with your emotions. Passion and motivation are yours to cultivate as you choose and you have the strength to build it from the scarcest of environments.

You build you own world, own beliefs, manage your own ignorance and limitations. and every step you take shows you more and more of what the world really is and how it's all up to you, to build something worthwhile for yourself. No one will save you or do it for you, but you don't need them to, because you've grown into this titan of a person who can handle it and build an oasis in the wasteland.

It's about getting good at life. Nature is both brutal and beautiful and the side of nature your on, comes down to how the quality of this you that you've built can handle the rigors of brutality and savor the mysterious nature of it's beauty. Bridging both extremes and everything in between, so you pick and choose how to create the best of all worlds.

Fuck a passive life. Every single fiber of my being is involved in creation now.

I get to evolve based on my own design and it's my favorite fucking thing to do.

Edited June 7, 2016 by Salaam

[abrakamowse]

I would do-nothing, yet I will be doing everything.

[Natasha]

11 hours ago, Salaam said:

@Lha Bho  some pretty disappointing answers so far huh?

Pretty much everyone's answer here was all focused on one narrow thing, usually revolving around some sort of comfort.

I want to be happy, I want to feel bliss, I want to feel like everything is a game and I don't have to risk or feel any more stress. I wanted to be connected and consumed by some fantasy land collective being, so I don't have to worry about anything any more and just float along in cosmic bliss.

It's like, everyone wants to go back to being coddled like a fucking baby.

Ha, fuck that.

The happiness and the bliss and not wanting to suffer anymore, I completely get that and I've achieved that. I can feel bliss and happiness whenever I want and I never suffer anymore, because I'm never a victim. Bliss is kind of boring to me by itself actually, but it's a useful feeling to add into myself when I'm resting.

But, the real shit is in what you build and create and discover for yourself and then give to who you choose.

Your presence, your core, your soul, whatever you want to call it grows. You get to choose what you add on to it while also gaining and expanding other abilities. You can feel more deeper things than anyone can imagine, your stronger and pain and stress isn't as big of a deal, so you can choose to reach and process depths of yourself that require very strenuous undertakings. Your reflexes are faster, you can slow down your perception of time, you understand the elements of learning and can learn whatever you choose. You gain way more capability with your body and have many more things besides the mind to interface with. You gain whole new sets of sensations and skills that you use in parallel with your emotions. Passion and motivation are yours to cultivate as you choose and you have the strength to build it from the scarcest of environments.

You build you own world, own beliefs, manage your own ignorance and limitations. and every step you take shows you more and more of what the world really is and how it's all up to you, to build something worthwhile for yourself. No one will save you or do it for you, but you don't need them to, because you've grown into this titan of a person who can handle it and build an oasis in the wasteland.

It's about getting good at life. Nature is both brutal and beautiful and the side of nature your on, comes down to how the quality of this you that you've built can handle the rigors of brutality and savor the mysterious nature of it's beauty. Bridging both extremes and everything in between, so you pick and choose how to create the best of all worlds.

Fuck a passive life. Every single fiber of my being is involved in creation now.

I get to evolve based on my own design and it's my favorite fucking thing to do.

All of us here are at different stages of the psychological evolution. Leo gives good description of all stages here:  http://www.actualized.org/articles/the-grand-model-of-psychological-evolution

No stage is good or bad, one has to go through those stages in order to advance to higher levels of consciousness. Where you're right now in your spiritual journey (from what I read in your posts), I understand your are at the 'purple tribal' stage (shaman and healer) - strong connection to nature, superstition, sensuality, etc. Sooner or later, though, as you keep developing, you'll start outgrowing the 'purple' stage, solving transitional dilemmas, and moving up to 'Red', 'Blue', 'Orange', 'Green', then Tier 2 'Yellow', 'Turquoise', etc. 

So, no answer in this thread is wrong, it's just that people at different stages value different things according to their current level of consciousness. Some of the folks on here are already in Tier 2 enjoying the peace of mind of seeing and embracing reality as is. They're developed enough to not need any external stimulation to be happy and feel fulfilled. As Leo listed in his recent video - meditation, enlightenment, life purpose, education and learning, slow deliberate mindful action, contemplation, and Being - are the key 'musts' for high conscious living.

We're all getting there, one step at a time   

 

Edited June 8, 2016 by Natasha

[Mal]

@Natasha

He he   

[Odkhon]

Be present,

[Salaam]

@Natasha

I said the answers were disappointing. Their limited, one-dimensional, unimaginative, and show that the motivations and influences driving each person is comfort, rather than character. More focused on chasing something or running away from something, then building.

Basically... I reject your mediocrity and if that offends you, take it as a challenge to be more bold, and to examine your answers here. Have the courage to step outside the cave of safe and face the sky. Feel whats driving your motivations, face it, diversify it, connect it with other parts of yourself, and make sure it's as grounded in reality as it can be. Life can be so much more.

Personally, I find the graves model cluttered, static, shallow, and disconnected, plagued by the same limited one-dimensionality most people have. I've created a much better conceptualization for development that I use for myself, that's based on foundational structures operating at all times in the background behind our minds. They all rely on each other, while also being self-referential and synergize together for growth.

And no, just because you read that my wife is a shaman and I have a strong connection with my sexual energy does not mean that I'm in some "purple" stage. If you actually want an idea of me instead of your snap-judgement projections I have writings in my journal on here...
 

 

 

[abrakamowse]

I think when you are enlightened you don't ask that question.

That's exactly what enlightenment is,  knowing there's not a next thing to pursue.

[Natasha]

@Salaam 

Will check your journal out, thanks 

True spirituality deals solely with the truth of reality. And to see reality AS IS you have to be self-realized (acknowledge that the ego (mind created sense of self) you think is 'you' is actually an illusion). That said, ego plays an important role in this process of self-realization - it has to be developed/ self-actualized, integrated, and then transcended. You seem to be doing a good job developing and integrating your sense of self,  but that's not where the spiritual journey actually stops. In the meanwhile, keep up the good work!

I used to have same mentality in my younger years as you do. And I did most of the stuff you're into now. That was a developmental stage. Yes, a self-realized life style may seem like 'mediocre' on the outside, but trust me I would never trade the inner peace and fulfillment I have now for all the excitement, 'magic', etc. of my prior life. Been there, done that, moved on to yet richer parts of Being. And you will too in time.

Thank you for your contribution to this forum. You bring a certain flavor to these discussions and it's refreshing 

Peace

 

 

 

[Salaam]

@Natasha

No, you believe all of the above and project those beliefs onto other people. Reality works differently than your beliefs, which is why I have the capabilities I have and you don't.

You don't do the stuff I do now.

Can you slow down time so you can catch all the different split-second gyrations of the structures working behind the thinking/narrating mind?
Have you differentiated all those structures so you can work with them directly instead of "thinking"?
Can you choose when to take control of your thoughts and when to let them automate?
Can you learn anything you want? Have you uncovered for yourself the structural elements of learning?
Do you have the ability to track how the belief/internalization system works in the body? Can you choose and effect the chemistry of what you trust/internalize?
Have you developed your inward and outward sensitivities to be able to feel the chemical build-up that comes from the respiration of your cells? Can you track the chemical by-product of certainty, over-excitation, delusion, and fear?
Have you harmonized your core fears?
Have you bridged pain and pleasure, so even pain brings tension euphoria?
Have you developed and harmonized your digestion, to improve intuition and automation?
Can you feel tension at all times, like a second set of emotions, that you feel in parallel with emotions?
Can you create euphoria, bliss, darkness, light, and access different parts of your personality, whenever you want? Can you choose your flow states?
Are you aware of how the brain partitions different realities and can you maintain tension, so the shift isn't wiped from your memory after it happens?

All of the above are things I actually do.

Trust me, you have no idea what it is I do and how ignorant your beliefs and projections are to me.

Edited June 8, 2016 by Salaam

[Natasha]

37 minutes ago, Salaam said:

@Natasha

No, you believe all of the above and project those beliefs onto other people. Reality works differently than your beliefs, which is why I have the capabilities I have and you don't.

You don't do the stuff I do now.

Can you slow down time so you can catch all the different split-second gyrations of the structures working behind the thinking/narrating mind?
Have you differentiated all those structures so you can work with them directly instead of "thinking"?
Can you choose when to take control of your thoughts and when to let them automate?
Can you learn anything you want? Have you uncovered for yourself the structural elements of learning?
Do you have the ability to track how the belief/internalization system works in the body? Can you choose and effect the chemistry of what you trust/internalize?
Have you developed your inward and outward sensitivities to be able to feel the chemical build-up that comes from the respiration of your cells? Can you track the chemical by-product of certainty, over-excitation, delusion, and fear?
Have you harmonized your core fears?
Have you bridged pain and pleasure, so even pain brings tension euphoria?
Have you developed and harmonized your digestion, to improve intuition and automation?
Can you feel tension at all times, like a second set of emotions, that you feel in parallel with emotions?
Can you create euphoria, bliss, darkness, light, and access different parts of your personality, whenever you want? Can you choose your flow states?
Are you aware of how the brain partitions different realities and can you maintain tension, so the shift isn't wiped from your memory after it happens?

All of the above are things I actually do.

Trust me, you have no idea what it is I do and how ignorant your beliefs and projections are to me.

That's awesome, but these are all body/ mind works. There's a much-much deeper Reality that is beyond anything you can experience or create. As a matter of fact, there is no 'you' who does these things in the first place. 'You' function merely as manifest of this unbounded transparent empty awareness. And yes, I don't know what it is you do, but what I do know even better than you, is what you are  

This is what you are existentially:

http://www.actualized.org/articles/the-enlightened-self

[Salaam]

@Natasha

Sorry, but no, that's now how it works. That's all delusional bullshit that comes from being unable to differentiate levels of activity between the various systems going on within a person.

Non-duality/Oneness is going backwards not forwards from duality. The way forward is multidimensionality, by harmonizng and bridging dualities via connective tension.  So instead of only "I" or no "I", you have "I" and "We" connected and balanced together. You have the best of both worlds, connected, not separate, but distinct and dynamic rather than enmeshed.
 

There is a you or a core. Everything has a core, cells, the earth, atoms, etc. I've developed enough to actually feel and build my core and protect it's integrity, while adding on new internalizations that expand it. That's why every language in the history of humanity created a word symbolizing "I", because everything self-references from that "I". However, this "I" has to be differentiated and developed and balanced with automation/nature, creating a rapport or "We".

Anyways, that core carries with it a particular shape. Everything has a shape, even a pattern has a shape, no matter how ephemeral or energetic. These shapes contrast and connect with each other with various chemistries ad degrees of attraction/repulsion, and they form all of life, from the smallest to the largest of combinations.

Until you can do the things I listed above and actually see and track what's going on, your just talking from supposition or superstition.
 

[abrakamowse]

[Natasha]

1 hour ago, Salaam said:

@Natasha

Sorry, but no, that's now how it works. That's all delusional bullshit that comes from being unable to differentiate levels of activity between the various systems going on within a person.

Non-duality/Oneness is going backwards not forwards from duality. The way forward is multidimensionality, by harmonizng and bridging dualities via connective tension.  So instead of only "I" or no "I", you have "I" and "We" connected and balanced together. You have the best of both worlds, connected, not separate, but distinct and dynamic rather than enmeshed.
 

There is a you or a core. Everything has a core, cells, the earth, atoms, etc. I've developed enough to actually feel and build my core and protect it's integrity, while adding on new internalizations that expand it. That's why every language in the history of humanity created a word symbolizing "I", because everything self-references from that "I". However, this "I" has to be differentiated and developed and balanced with automation/nature, creating a rapport or "We".

Anyways, that core carries with it a particular shape. Everything has a shape, even a pattern has a shape, no matter how ephemeral or energetic. These shapes contrast and connect with each other with various chemistries ad degrees of attraction/repulsion, and they form all of life, from the smallest to the largest of combinations.

Until you can do the things I listed above and actually see and track what's going on, your just talking from supposition or superstition.
 

Will check out the link above, thanks 

You have to be wise enough not to get trapped in all this conceptualized business. Every move you make, every thought you have is just there to trick you. You're not located anywhere. The human mind is addicted to objects and it's addicted to space and visual  imagery. What your mind cannot deal with is nothingness/ existential emptiness. 

In the video on existential self I linked above, Leo gives good pointers for self-inquiry:

 - Stop looking for objects, you're not an object. Any idea of an object is not you.

 - Stop trying to see or feel yourself. You cannot see or feel yourself.

 - Stop trying to experience yourself. You cannot experience yourself, because you are not an experience, you are the thing in which experience occurs.

 - Stop trying to locate yourself - that's all space thinking and is mind activity. So, recognize it for what it is and remember that's not what you are. You are what allows location to be even possible.

 - Open yourself up to the possibility that you're not a human being. You are Reality itself. As long as you're fully identified with this human body, you can't do proper self-inquiry. 

 - Again, open yourself up to the possibility that you're not an object. Even if you think , Ok I'm not the body, but I'm some energy-spirit thing, or I have some kind of aura , or I'm 'software' of the mind, or whatever, you're still thinking of yourself fundamentally as an object and just substituting one object with another object. What's really radical to say is, Maybe I'm not even any of that. Maybe I'm completely different domain than objects. What could that domain even be? cos all I know is objects, no other domain have I ever experienced.'

 - Nothing is hidden. This thing I'm looking for is right here as an empty field of awareness. The true you is ALWAYS there - it was there before you were born and it will be there when your body dies. That's how PERMANENT it is.

Our mind is filled with so many delusions, so many fantasies and ideas about what our true self is. You really have to let all that stuff go through a graduate purging process, which self-inquiry is designed to help us do.  

 

Edited June 8, 2016 by Natasha