"High"&"Low" is bullshit

[Tim R]

In this forum, especially in this discussion (meditation, consciousness, enlightenment, spirituality), there is almost always made a distinction between "high" and "low" consciousness. I think this distinction is rubbish. 

I say "rubbish" and "bullshit" not because I have any real aversion towards it, but because by going to the other extreme, I hope to bring some attention to this distinction, which is so eagerly and quickly drawn in many threads.

 

It seems to me that some people here get thoroughly hung up on "high" consciousness. We discriminate arbitrarily and deny the word "high" to some things and are quick to label them as "low" instead. These are just substitutions for "good" and "bad". 

There is nothing "high" or "low". Yoga, psychedelics, healthy food, meditation, etc., none of it. None of it is "high consciousness", forget about it. But equally of course, it is not "low consciousness" either. Ego, devilry, evil, addiction, bad temper, none of these are "low" consciousness. And none of these are "high" consciousness either. 

I don't know if Leo has ever spoken about this trap. If not, it's high time he does so, because it's a very sneaky one.

 

So... I wanted to remind you of that. I don't know how much influence this thread will have, probably not much, depending on how many people read it, but it's an important thing to be aware of. 

[Gesundheit]

??

[bensenbiz]

this thread is pretty low consciouss. 
just Joking

 

but there is „more aligned with truth“ - what do u think?

[Bodhitree]

I think there is a certain medium consciousness here... kinda in between...

[seeking_brilliance]

IME there is nothing but authenticity.  Even inauthenticity is Authentic in the moment. 

 

[Heaven]

There is just what is. And all the mental bullshit comes from the ego mind.

I believe what people mean by high consciousness is once you get the understanding that we are all coming from the same source, act accordingly.

[Eph75]

A lot of those "high" and "low" references are really talking about higher or lower quality decisions - which makes the assumption that desired outcomes should be constructive, progressive, adding some value, etc.

Achieving some desired outcome, behavior etc, regardless of the quality, is being authentic.

Edited January 15, 2021 by Eph75
Spelling fix

[Mason Riggle]

1 hour ago, Tim R said:

I don't know if Leo has ever spoken about this trap. If not, it's high time he does so, because it's a very sneaky one.

I don't remember which video (I think in his Spiral Dynamics series) he does indeed talk about this 'trap'.  He warns not to think of 'lower' and 'higher' along the 'spiral' as 'better' or 'worse'.   The SD Model is just a model, and not perfect representation, and so any 'visualization' or 'representation' is going to be relative.   

For example.. which way does time flow? We say it's one directional.. but which direction? What does 'into the future' mean without being relative to 'away from the past'?  Does that mean that 'the future' is 'better' than 'the past'?  No, that would be a silly way to think about this duality. 

[Tim R]

2 hours ago, bensenbiz said:

but there is „more aligned with truth“ - what do u think?

Yes and no. It depends on what you mean when you say "true".

[Tim R]

1 hour ago, seeking_brilliance said:

IME there is nothing but authenticity.  Even inauthenticity is Authentic in the moment. 

I agree. It's like "artificial" and "natural".

Basically, everything is natural, even cars or planes or quantum computers

[seeking_brilliance]

14 minutes ago, Tim R said:

I agree. It's like "artificial" and "natural".

Basically, everything is natural, even cars or planes or quantum computers

Yes I talk about this in my thread 'the human dream' 

[peanutspathtotruth]

@Tim R I'd say it depends on the perspective one is in. From one perspective, sure, these are all concepts and labels and they can confuse and fuel a big fat spiritual ego. From another perspective, an authentic desire to grow up, to be real, recognizes some thought-patterns and subsequent actions as helpful for the maturation process and others as detrimental. That's just how it is, FROM THIS PERSPECTIVE. That's why it's important to take the perspective that's necessary in the moment, like when your ego bastardizes "everything just is" to justify giving in to laziness, fear, and self-destructive behavior, it might be smart to take another good look at the situation.

[Nahm]

@Tim R ?? 

Easy to appreciate in this experience. I spent years in the denial & delusion of this truth you so clearly speak of. I often wonder, and sometimes say, the entire Bible aims only to the recognition of how deep the error of judgment in & of “itself” can appear to be. Even Jesus was iconically put on a pedestal in spite of the very message he spoke of.  

[Tim R]

2 minutes ago, peanutspathtotruth said:

@Tim R I'd say it depends on the perspective one is in. From one perspective, sure, these are all concepts and labels and they can confuse and fuel a big fat spiritual ego. From another perspective, an authentic desire to grow up, to be real, recognizes some thought-patterns and subsequent actions as helpful for the maturation process and others as detrimental. That's just how it is, FROM THIS PERSPECTIVE. That's why it's important to take the perspective that's necessary in the moment, like when your ego bastardizes "everything just is" to justify giving in to laziness, fear, and self-destructive behavior, it might be smart to take another good look at the situation.

@peanutspathtotruth Sure! I agree with that, too. All I wanted to show is that we have to be careful not to get hung up on these notions.

[Tim R]

7 minutes ago, Nahm said:

I often wonder, and sometimes say, the entire Bible aims only to the recognition of how deep the error of judgment in & of “itself” can appear to be.

@Nahm Sounds interesting, could you elaborate? 

[Moksha]

Judgment is the sabre of the ego ? It preserves the illusion of itself, by attacking others as being inferior. False superiority is presented as actuality. It is the opposite of Love, which is simply the realization that there is no "other".

[Nahm]

@Tim R 

In staying with the biblical reference...to judge is to eat from the tree of the knowledge of “good & evil”. Seems we are all free to do that, yet to do so is often to create emotions in discord with the true nature, or ‘substance’ of the body mind, and of creation at large. 

So God hung a flaming sword on that tree, pointing to the tree of life. The “flaming” is the burn of suffering. The “sword” is The Truth. It is in us, and it is always pointing the way of creation, which perpetuates via humans experiencing and exercising preferences. To loath in judgement, to dwell in unwanted, does not create anything but suffering.

To ‘go to the tree of life’, is to recognize what is, what is not wanted, or, not preferred, and in that recognition is found, intrinsically, what is wanted, what is preferred. Preference is realized. In that recognition, in that way of life our infinitude is alive and real, and we are filled with presence and Well Being as creators. 

We might say God has bestowed us with that which is not of this world, focus. The covenant is the recognition infinite can not know finite, and as such it is left to each of us in our freedom to experience creation, to focus in alignment with our source. This the greatest joy imo. This is what Joy is imo. Creator-creation-creating. Closing that “gap” of the covenant. 

Personally speaking, I abide in, or listen to the true nature of this message alive within me, and I do not dwell or loath. I experience pain, but I do not create suffering. Of course, this is effortless for me, because somehow, and don’t ask me to explain it, I yet again woke up this morning. This just seems to keep happening. I keep getting another day to align and share this nature some how. Very mysterious & magical. 

Your thread brought this oldie but goodie to mind...

”Oh life. It’s bigger, bigger than you, and you are not me. The lengths that I will go to, the distance in your eyes. Oh no, I’ve said too much. I set it up.” 

I often suspect this is all some kind of dream or lucid rem sleep too. 

Dunno. 

Always somewhere between “saying too much” and “haven’t said enough”. 

[Moksha]

@Nahm Isn't it interesting that the tree of life is just that? No knowledge. Simply being. No "good" vs. "evil", just unity. Even our oldest allegories point to that reality.

Sort of on the subject, a quote I came across this morning from Prince:

"I think when one discovers himself he discovers God. Or maybe it's the other way around. I'm not sure...It's hard to put into words. It's a feeling — someone knows when they get it. That's all I can really say...I think there is an afterworld. For some reason, I think it's going to be just like here, but that's part...I don't really like talking about this stuff. It's so personal." [1985]

[mandyjw]

@Tim R

4 hours ago, Tim R said:

it's high time he does so, because it's a very sneaky one.

[Carl-Richard]

What is the difference between a high consciousness person and a low consciousness person?