Conscious Choice

[Flyboy]

I have a question for @Leo Gura or others that has arisen from some deep meditation and contemplation, which relates to the ability to consciously choose.

 

Can we truly choose from the "command level" of our consciousness?

 

I ask because I have struggled to do so.  I have encountered points in meditation where it feels like I am at the door of going somewhere very deep, but in order to do so I would have to truly let go of my ego and fear.  At these moments, I say "YES, I CHOOSE TO LET GO" and try to feel that as deeply as I can.  And yet, I can tell that this "command level" choice isn't accepted to the depths of my being.  I know it's the choice I must make, and I want to make it, yet somehow I cannot convince these inner depths to follow the choice I wish to consciously make.  They refuse to let go.  I have sat with this for some time, like a knot, and still struggle to understand how to do something if we can't choose to do it.

I feel this question is paramount in going deeper with both meditation and psychedelics, and would love to hear anyone's perspective on it!

[Moksha]

You don't choose. Consciousness chooses through you. A person doesn't choose to experience ego death, or to be enlightened.

Everything that happens is inevitable. It is the game that Consciousness plays. Enjoy the game, if you choose

[Flyboy]

1 hour ago, Moksha said:

You don't choose. Consciousness chooses through you. A person doesn't choose to experience ego death, or to be enlightened.

Everything that happens is inevitable. It is the game that Consciousness plays. Enjoy the game, if you choose

Hmmm, I think that is sort of dancing around the question.

I'm asking something relatively profound... Our mind has many layers of hierarchy to it (you can experience this very clearly on psychedelics), and exploring this aspect of mind relative to making choices is very interesting and probably essential in fully choosing something with the core of your being.  I'm asking how to get the deepest layers of your mind to choose "with" you.

 

[Moksha]

"Relatively" profound is Self-limiting.

Your mind will get you nowhere. It is an endless hamster wheel to madness. Ego oblivion.

Forget about choosing. Just be. Now.

Edited November 7, 2020 by Moksha

[Moksha]

4 minutes ago, Mikael89 said:

Everything you do or think is a distraction, a game.

Thank you Jesus, he sees

[Flyboy]

22 minutes ago, Moksha said:

"Relatively" profound is Self-limiting.

Your mind will get you nowhere. It is an endless hamster wheel to madness. Ego oblivion.

Forget about choosing. Just be. Now.

I'm trying to do exactly that - to just be, in the present, absent thought or ego or control or desire.  As the doorway approaches, it's clear that this "letting go" needs to be complete, and it isn't.  How do I make it complete without the ability to consciously choose to do so?

Edited November 7, 2020 by Flyboy

[Moksha]

@Flyboy You don't get to choose. I wish it were different, but it's not. Immerse yourself in Yourself: the Bhagavad Gita, meditation, the Tao Te Ching, the Gospels...it is all You and only You.

Meanwhile, enjoy you. You created you for a reason, after all

[Someone here]

You don't choose shit. Entire reality is just happening. You are being lived. 

[Flyboy]

On 11/7/2020 at 4:13 PM, Moksha said:

@Flyboy You don't get to choose. I wish it were different, but it's not. Immerse yourself in Yourself: the Bhagavad Gita, meditation, the Tao Te Ching, the Gospels...it is all You and only You.

Meanwhile, enjoy you. You created you for a reason, after all

This is profoundly not helpful.  I already understand the "absolute sense" of infinite causality and thus the apparent illusion of free will and choice.  Pragmatically, what you're saying doesn't help.  It's just preaching nihilism (and thus is false around the inflection point of the present moment--in other words maybe this moment could be no other way, but holding the attitude that future moments can be no other way and therefore don't merit attention or effort is in itself portending that result by creating that nihilistic condition of mind).

Please don't respond with nonduality riddles in the effort to sound like a master.  That's not what I'm looking for.

[Moksha]

@Flyboy I was being truthful, but apparently not helpful. Don't mistake what I said for nihilism; it's the opposite. There are practical steps you can take toward enlightenment. Whether the motivating force is "free will" or Consciousness itself doesn't matter. The Buddha didn't teach everything he knew, and I now see the wisdom in that ? 

The traditional paths to enlightenment are meditation, dedication, renunciation, and selfless service. Find an enlightened teacher that you trust. Study the ancient and modern texts of people that have realized enlightenment (Bhagavad Gita, Rig Veda, Dhammapada, Gospels of Jesus, Power of Now, etc.). Learn through meditation to center yourself in awareness, without distraction from or identification with thoughts. Go into nature, and feel your connection with everything. Find joy in helping others. Live a life that honors your body and your mind, not as your identity, but as a precious gift. Allow your suffering to humble you, and realize that the source of your suffering is the denial of reality in the present moment. Recognize the ego for what it is, and refuse to listen to its lies. Be willing to sacrifice everything for the sole purpose of realizing the light that you are.

There is absolutely and only Light at the end of the tunnel.