Being awake, all the time

[Identity]

It seems to be that being woke is much easier when alone. When you are not doing anything in particular, but have “free time”.

It seems much harder to bring that wokeness into all corners of life. In interactions, with work, with activities.

The idea I had, is that this is because the need for the ego’s survival is minimal at the isolated times. However, integrating it to other aspects of life requires much. Likely it will entail many changes in one’s life.

It’s like you are fisher in the ocean with weights attached to your body, where the weights represent the ego. You need the weights because all the fish you catch to survive are on the bottom. Sure, you might be able to release a few for a little bit, but soon you get hungry, and go down for more.

learning to fully live and survive at a higher altitude requires deeper integration of dealing with that pressure, learning to catch fish there, interact with other fisherman.

Oke this metaphor has been taken to its conclusion ?

It’s like the actualized logo. Maybe you can jump to the top and see a little of the light. But to shine as bright as that motherfucker in the logo, thats another story. 

[Identity]

In my own life I am starting to see this more and more clearly.

Sometimes I allow to let go of the resistance that represents the self, and other times I do not.

Oh, free day? Mushroom trip? About to go to sleep? Yeahh, lemme surrender a bit. Ooh the peace, its lovely!

Owh, interacting with potential customers, other people that help me to survive, nooo I better make sure this goes well. Don’t wanna surrender control here, that would get dangerous. 
Better clinch down my troat, make sure I have some weights on me, to keep my safely on the bottom of ocean (guess the ocean metaphor made a comeback lol)

[Forestluv]

This is a reason I spend a lot of time in nature or alone. It’s a lot harder to transcend attachment/identification when a mind is surrounded by people and things re-enforcing that attachment/identification. . . Out in nature, my mind may be playing thoughts about work or bills I need to pay, yet the river, chipmunks and birds aren’t reenforcing my personal identification. As long as I can let go, I’m free - and it’s a lot easier to do in nature or at home alone, ime 

[Identity]

@Serotoninluv True, guess I need to get my ass out in nature more ???

[Ero]

@SerotoninluvIt's a good habit to have.

@Identity There's a reason retreats are so effective. I would say one has to be able to thread both worlds. There will be times you'll have to skew the pendulum in the opposite way. I for example now am focusing on socialising, building connections and so forth. I was for a long time in the other end, so I feel a natural draw to bringing this inner mindfulness externally in my life. There is a balance to everyone's life. IME there's always some kind of an outlet for everybody, the difference is whether it is conscious or not.

[LfcCharlie4]

Yep, maybe at first. 

But the 'highest' Samadhi is that in the presence of objects, essentially when your 'Awareness' and everything else 'Fuses' in a bang, then this very world as it is becomes The Buddha Planet, Heaven or whatever you want to call it.

When you realize The Sefl is literally ALL there is, duality/ Non-Duality cease to be seen as separate, they are literally the same thing. 

Think of Non-Duality as Medicine for Duality, but once you're better again (Self Realized/ Fully Awake) you wouldn't keep taking the medicine would you? 

The Buddha's parable of the raft is all about this. 

I'm going to make a separate post about this soon, as I know as seekers it's easy to often wonder, well what do you do once you're 'Enlightened'? 

You invest so much time into this with reading, watching, practicing etc, when you finally 'arrive' it can leave a hole in your schedule that nobody really talks about. 

Simply put, You live your life, but you live your life with this understanding and your awakenings at the forefront of everything you do. If you've ever seen the 10th Ox in Zen that picture explains it pretty well- 'Returning to the marketplace (life) with angels under his feet.' (slight paraphrase!) 

[Lento]

Too much wakefulness can become toxic too. You want to maximise your survival and at the same time make sure you enjoy it to the fullest. It's a very fine balance that I'm working towards. I'd spent too much time in solitude, and I'd also spent so much time overwhelming myself with this and that. Both had been extremes that hurt me in some way. The former hurt my survival, and the latter hurt my happiness. But then I realised that there's a middle path. And so, here I am.

Edited February 3, 2020 by Lento

[Nahm]

 

On 2/1/2020 at 7:02 PM, Identity said:

It seems to be that being woke is much easier when alone. When you are not doing anything in particular, but have “free time”.

These are thoughts which became beliefs, and are now just distinctions by repetition, habitual. Inspect them amply and they lose their meaning & repetition. Likely feelings will release in the process...feelings which were suppressed and are subconsciously fueling the thinking. Become conscious of them. Consider writing...how would it feel right now if __________ (fill in the blank with the opposite of those thoughts).  

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It seems much harder to bring that wokeness into all corners of life. In interactions, with work, with activities.

Same here. There’s nothing but wholeness & wokeness, a thought to the contrary must be believed for this not to be, and that thought can always be inspected and scrutinized, unveiling it’s apparent validity. Ultimately this uproots the identity...the belief in a who or a second self ...”the bringer”. Rather than believe the thoughts “work”, “clients”, etc...go prior in your inspection, you’ll see those are thoughts, not direct perception. 

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The idea I had, is that this is because the need for the ego’s survival is minimal at the isolated times.

This thought feeds that repetition. “Need”. Give’s apparent life to something that does not exist. Then creates a false dichotomy using time, which is also a thought. Let the ‘idea’ go, and return to perception & feeling. The sneakery of thought is uncanny. ? Thought of ego survival is keeping the ego “alive”.

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However, integrating it to other aspects of life requires much. Likely it will entail many changes in one’s life.

Notice here too, there’s assumption distinctions made, ‘integrating’, ‘other aspects’, ’requires much’, resulting in the experience of ‘need to integrate’, ‘other aspects’ & ‘requires much’. You’re painting perception with thought, and then the produced painting if you will, is what’s being asked about. Inspect the action of painting instead. Notice when you are painting it (perception and or feeling) & refrain from doing so instead - go 100% perception & feeling, so to speak. It’s not about ‘aspects of life’ (already painted / tainted), it’s about the emotional purification of you / how you’re seeing it, for having mixed thought & perception. 

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It’s like you are fisher in the ocean with weights attached to your body, where the weights represent the ego. You need the weights because all the fish you catch to survive are on the bottom. Sure, you might be able to release a few for a little bit, but soon you get hungry, and go down for more.

learning to fully live and survive at a higher altitude requires deeper integration of dealing with that pressure, learning to catch fish there, interact with other fisherman.

Oke this metaphor has been taken to its conclusion ?

It’s like the actualized logo. Maybe you can jump to the top and see a little of the light. But to shine as bright as that motherfucker in the logo, thats another story. 

Inspect the “pressure” and you’ll see through it. It is not a force of an outside world, it’s a deep belief which is a repeated thought, but deeply & repetitively believed, ...seems like it’s the perception. But perception is pure and meaningless without added thought. A simple practice for that is looking at your hand, and being more & more aware “hand” is a word that was learned...it’s a thought. Look at ‘your hand’ without the identity. “Go back and forth” from aware of the thought as a thought, and that as that. (“The hand”). Or, keep repeating while looking at it - “ ‘hand’ is actually a thought”. 

On 2/1/2020 at 7:06 PM, Identity said:

In my own life I am starting to see this more and more clearly.

It’s sneaky, but watch these a priori beliefs, before rolling into the next thought which this is foundational too. I & my are red flags for this. It reveals repetition yet to be inspected of thought & perception entangled, or, subject-object thinking which veils. It’s such a nuanced paper thin veil, it goes unnoticed, and therefore requires slowing down, and inspecting. Catch yourself inspecting the after thought, or after effect, and instead inspect the root belief. For example, rather than questioning what you need, question the belief in need. 

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Sometimes I allow to let go of the resistance that represents the self, and other times I do not.

Writing about the feeling which is being utilized to not let go can be very eye opening and most helpful. The ideal, is triggering a cathartic emotional release, typically followed by Understanding / ‘breakthrough’. Write about it until you realize that you are creating the resistance. It is not inherent, or a given...you’re recreating it. 

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Oh, free day? Mushroom trip? About to go to sleep? Yeahh, lemme surrender a bit. Ooh the peace, its lovely!

Spend a day in do nothing, observing, nature is ideal. Look for the observer with extreme scrutiny and that duality will collapse. Remove the mushroom “answer”, and inspect “the question” (the repetitive thoughts). Or put another way, instead of using mushrooms to be without thought, spend some time inspecting them. You’ll see right through the “validity” that you’ve been giving them. (I say this to you, so to speak, knowing you have had ample trips already, and that itself / alone is not ‘getting it done’.  ♥️  . Not to imply you shouldn’t in the future btw, but rather to catch your inspection work up to you’re ‘trip level’, if you will.) After amply doing so, trips reach a new level too. 

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Owh, interacting with potential customers, other people that help me to survive, nooo I better make sure this goes well. Don’t wanna surrender control here, that would get dangerous. 
Better clinch down my troat, make sure I have some weights on me, to keep my safely on the bottom of ocean (guess the ocean metaphor made a comeback lol)

It’s only possible for this to continue to be a hurdle by believing the repeating thoughts. In perception & feeling, where are these narratives? ?

Awake or not, is actually self referential thinking. It’s that sneaky. Inspection, release of emotions, and the duality of self & other collapses eventually (now) in self-love. At any point...but my guess would be in a future ‘next level’ trip...for having done the inspection / emotional release ‘work’. The “conversations with customers” is revealed to be impossible pure magic.

[zeroISinfinity]

Pure Perception without beleiving toughts=ecstasy. 

[Nahm]

19 hours ago, LfcCharlie4 said:

Think of Non-Duality as Medicine for Duality, but once you're better again (Self Realized/ Fully Awake) you wouldn't keep taking the medicine would you? 

Love that! 

19 hours ago, LfcCharlie4 said:

The Buddha's parable of the raft is all about this. 

I'm going to make a separate post about this soon,

Yes please.

 

[kag101]

You can't be awake all the time. You have to sleep as well (literally and figuratively).

 

Regarding wanting to be alone all the time, from my experience, this is a red sign. To fully self-actualized, you also need to learn how to deal with people. Communication is a skill we all need to develop if we want to achieve our highest potential.

There was a time in my life where I would trip balls almost every weekend. I would feel amazing, in "alignment with the Universe". as if I had accessed the Ultimate Truth, and all that stuff. But then, as soon as I needed to interact with others, I would lose touch of that feeling. This made me want to isolate more and more. Nowadays, I can see that those experiences were actually a false awakenings.

I learned this concept when I was into lucid dreaming, and I think it can be applied to spirituality as well. Take a look:

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A false awakening is a vivid and convincing dream about awakening from sleep, while the dreamer in reality continues to sleep. False awakenings, mainly those in which one dreams that they have awoken from a sleep that featured dreams, take on aspects of a double dream or a dream within a dream.

True awakening must be a well-rounded thing. If it's something one can only "access" by being alone/on psychedelics/etc, then I think this person is half-assing self-actualization work. Ideally, all areas of one's life should be advancing.