What is a me? And what truly is consciousness?

[BipolarGrowth]

I’ve never been shown something that exists outside of me, and I could never be shown something that exists outside of me. Thus is the nature of consciousness.

 

I’ve even been possessed in this human life by what most would call another entity, but it was all experienced from the perspective of the same old thing, my consciousness. 

 

Are the characters in your dreams conscious? What real evidence do you have to prove one way or another that they are/aren’t other than your baseless speculation? Now apply that same realization/thinking to this reality/dream. Finally, apply the same thinking to the question, “Is the body/mind in my dream conscious, or is there just consciousness alone as all parts of the dream?”

 

The real question is, “why am I shouting to myself in these forums, thinking that I’ll somehow hear an answer that didn’t come from me?” The Truth is that there is no consciousness outside of yours. This is how it finally makes sense that Atman is Brahman. The “little consciousness” is the same as the “big consciousness” because neither of them ever existed separately. They were always just one consciousness. Even the human being typing these words is just as fake/illusory/as much of a dream object as any of those who will respond. 

 

I’m 100% alone, and for it to be 100%, that means there can’t even be a me. At the end of the day, this is spiritual nonsense as much as any other spiritual teaching. What does it really pay to master the dream when you’ll only wake up into another dream with different rules? Jesus Christ fighting off a T. Rex in his dreams is just as fucked as you of anyone else. Do you see how this thing of spiritual mastery results in nothing? It only pays your imagined, illusory, and temporary self transient benefits the same as if you had went chasing money your whole life. The spiritual path is no better than any other. Once you’re in a new reality, you’re either blessed or fucked according to the rules of that reality which you have dreamt up. Understanding spirituality and understanding physics both yield the same result - absolutely nothing when all worlds are just illusion. 

 

The closest thing you’ll get to Truth, if there is such a thing - don’t be too hasty to assume, would be to strip consciousness of all its traits until it ceases to be conscious. Consciousness without time or memory? Now we’re getting somewhere. But no one can ever verify such an experience as a state without time or memory cannot be experienced. Just look at where you were before birth. That might be close to this “Truth” thing. Anyone who thinks they’ve experienced nothingness is a complete hack. There is no experience of nothingness. There’s just nothing. In your “experience of nothingness” there was always something. The same mouth that always chases your own tail around ad nauseam. CONSCIOUSNESS. See - there wasn’t nothingness in your experience. By the very nature of you having an experience there was something, and that something was - drum roll please - consciousness.

Edited December 24, 2020 by BipolarGrowth

[Megan Alecia]

Leo has a video on this

Edited December 24, 2020 by Megan Alecia
Might be worth checking out

[Moksha]

7 hours ago, BipolarGrowth said:

Do you see how this thing of spiritual mastery results in nothing? It only pays your imagined, illusory, and temporary self transient benefits the same as if you had went chasing money your whole life. The spiritual path is no better than any other.

Realizing what you have about the illusory solidity of this reality, and the ultimate nature of Consciousness, still you are bound to this form, until you no longer are.

Given that, would you rather suffer through existence, or not? The Buddha recognized what you have recognized, and he chose to teach others not to suffer, even knowing the transient nature of this experience. Lucid nightmare or lucid pleasant dream? It's your choice.

Edited December 24, 2020 by Moksha

[Nahm]

[Consilience]

3 hours ago, Moksha said:

Given that, would you rather suffer through existence, or not? The Buddha recognized what you have recognized, and he chose to teach others not to suffer, even knowing the transient nature of this experience. Lucid nightmare or lucid pleasant dream? It's your choice.

+1

[Someone here]

10 hours ago, BipolarGrowth said:

The Truth is that there is no consciousness outside of yours. 

This is false. Other people are conscious. Me and you and your mom are like virtual partitions in the present moment. God has a split personality disorder and is living life through multiple times at the same time!!. There is something outside of your consciousness. But there is nothing outside of consciousness. 

Edited December 24, 2020 by Someone here

[BipolarGrowth]

@Someone here and how do you know that these other beings are conscious? Do you have any way to verify it? By the very nature of consciousness, nothing can exist other than it. You talk of these partitions, but this is completely baseless assumption. Again, are the characters in your dreams conscious? No? Then why do you assume the characters in this dream are conscious? Why do you assume that you are conscious? 
 

Even if you were able to zoom out and see all of these supposed partition’s consciousnesses on an infinite number of screens, guess what, it would only be an imagined part of “your” consciousness just like anything else. Precisely, it would just be an imagined part of consciousness. There is no your. 
 

What you need to do is first realize your body and mind are not special and not connected to consciousness in anything other than the blink of an eye from the perspective of all time. The only lasting thing is consciousness. To be precise, it is not YOUR consciousness. There’s no such thing. No being owns consciousness. I could give a rat’s ass what deity, Buddha, or Christ materialized in front of me in this dreamstate. It’s not their consciousness. You could be the divine child of the sperm mixture of Jesus, all Buddhas of all time, Krishna, etc. inseminated into Mother Teresa’s womb with infinite fairy dust and unicorn love continuously blown up your ass, and guess what, it wouldn’t be YOUR consciousness. 

[BipolarGrowth]

@Moksha trying to remove suffering from the experience of this life is like trying to remove the spice from Indian food. You can go to great lengths to go against the cultural norms of the cuisine and mix other ingredients in to make the food fit your taste, or you could just gratefully eat the food as it aligns with the cultural norms (the laws of the experienced reality). 
 

Sure, Americans can create Indian food without its original flavor and spice, but isn’t this just bad taste? And is it still the same food? In the same way, once you create an experience of this reality without suffering, is it still the same reality? 

[Mohammad]

@BipolarGrowth

20 minutes ago, BipolarGrowth said:

@Moksha trying to remove suffering from the experience of this life is like trying to remove the spice from Indian food. You can go to great lengths to go against the cultural norms of the cuisine and mix other ingredients in to make the food fit your taste, or you could just gratefully eat the food as it aligns with the cultural norms (the laws of the experienced reality). 
 

Sure, Americans can create Indian food without its original flavor and spice, but isn’t this just bad taste? And is it still the same food? In the same way, once you create an experience of this reality without suffering, is it still the same reality? 

Good questions. But I still can't think of suffering as an inherent feature of this "reality" that I am experiencing. Maybe suffering can be reduced, or even removed, and still one live in this same reality. But good questions. Food for thought! 

[Moksha]

23 minutes ago, BipolarGrowth said:

Sure, Americans can create Indian food without its original flavor and spice, but isn’t this just bad taste? And is it still the same food? In the same way, once you create an experience of this reality without suffering, is it still the same reality? 

If you like the taste of suffering, you are certainly entitled to it  I find the feast more delectable without it, and my fellow guests at the table seem to appreciate it as well.

Knowing who you are, directly and vigilantly, makes all the difference in how this dream is realized.

[How to be wise]

@BipolarGrowth Everything in existence is you. And existence is just consciousness.

[BipolarGrowth]

@How to be wise yes. 

[James123]

4 hours ago, Nahm said:

 

[Javfly33]

@BipolarGrowth Because it's Infinite.

INFINITE!!!! 

 

[Someone here]

3 hours ago, BipolarGrowth said:

and how do you know that these other beings are conscious? Do you have any way to verify it? 

I have no conscious control over sensory data. Meaning I can't wish you out of existence if I want. Therefore these appearances are held within my consciousness because that's the only way to experience a world. That doesn't mean these appearances in my experience are the only thing that there is. I make a distinction between the small you(ego) and the big you (God) . The small you and it's perceptions are held within the big you but the big you extends beyond just what is accessible via the small. 

 

3 hours ago, BipolarGrowth said:

You talk of these partitions, but this is completely baseless assumption. 

Nope! Go ahead and wish this screen out of your consciousness if your consciousness is all that there is. 

 

3 hours ago, BipolarGrowth said:

Again, are the characters in your dreams conscious?

I don't know. See this is tricky. You don't even know if right now you are so called "dreaming" or in the "real world". Precisely because there is no distinction. You can't appeal to that comparison in the first place. 

 

3 hours ago, BipolarGrowth said:

Then why do you assume the characters in this dream are conscious? Why do you assume that you are conscious? 

Dream is just a metaphor. Reality is NOT a dream my dear. Dream is just a limited configuration within reality. You can't define or capture infinity in a limited way. 

What do you mean by "me"? I am consciousness. Not that there is a me who is conscious. This brings us back to your earliest point about "others". Others are also consciousness. They are not "conscious". But that doesn't mean they are not conscious. It's really just a technically difference. 

3 hours ago, BipolarGrowth said:

Even if you were able to zoom out and see all of these supposed partition’s consciousnesses on an infinite number of screens, guess what, it would only be an imagined part of “your” consciousness just like anything else. Precisely, it would just be an imagined part of consciousness. There is no your. 

 

Better to say that awareness is always so.. everlasting in everpresent nothingness.. either dreaming.. or in a state of dreamless sleep. Dreamless sleep is the closest you will come to the possibility of “no awareness". When you are not aware you believe that youe awareness will pop up again right? Because there is something outside of your consciousness that is holding it. Which is what consciousness is. See there is a distinction between consciousness (reality itself) and "your" little human limited consciousness. Don't delude yourself. 

3 hours ago, BipolarGrowth said:

What you need to do is first realize your body and mind are not special and not connected to consciousness in anything other than the blink of an eye from the perspective of all time

All time? You mean forever? It’s hard to answer this question because there is no such thing as time.. so what exactly is "forever" referring to? 

Edited December 24, 2020 by Someone here

[VeganAwake]

What if so-called Consciousness ended up being a concept of the mind? 

[Nahm]

[snowyowl]

On 25/12/2020 at 0:37 AM, VeganAwake said:

What if so-called Consciousness ended up being a concept of the mind? 

nice, but then of what is 'the mind' a concept?  

[Nahm]

On 12/24/2020 at 2:08 AM, BipolarGrowth said:

I’ve even been possessed in this human life by what most would call another entity, but it was all experienced from the perspective of the same old thing, my consciousness

?? ? Mad respect. 

A ‘resounding gong, or a clanging cymbal’. 

 

[Breakingthewall]

On 24/12/2020 at 8:01 PM, BipolarGrowth said:

trying to remove suffering from the experience of this life is like trying to remove the spice from Indian food.

How much is the percentage of suffering that is being create by your mind for the objective of... existing? Maybe 99,99%? The real suffering, pain, hunger, cold, hot, etc, is not a lot, itsnt it? And you forget it when it finish