Are memories real? Did the past actually happen?

[StarStruck]

Physical reality is Shakti which is the material manifestation of Shiva's god consciousness. 

The past is real as much as physical reality is real. The past is a root like the root of a plant. Your present has its roots in the past. 

But the past and present wouldn't exist without the seed of consciousness from Shiva. 

[Forestluv]

13 hours ago, The0Self said:

It can be a fun practice too. Realizing all your memories can’t possibly be accurate and the now will be interpreted at a supposed later moment as something other than what it is. Can cause the whole belief/memory complex to get a little shaky. Is this now? Is it instantly turning into a false slightly altered memory? It’s like there is no now as opposed to some other moment in time — there is only THE moment.

This brings to mind an idea about no timeline, which ironically involves a timeline. . . 

A long time ago. . . early humans didn't have a conscious idea of a timeline. Similar to apes, some of their behavior reflected events from the past (e.g. Bobo the ape acts aggressively to Fran the ape because Bobo saw Fran having sex with his lady ape. Yet this would be a very low resolution timeline. Bobo is not thinking "That jackass Fran put the moves on my gal yesterday. That is the third time he tried that this month. During tomorrow's hunt, I am going to blindside him and kick his ass". 

Adding in resolution to timelines was a slow process and it gave early humans an enormous evolutionary advantage. It started simple like two humans communicating about what their rivals had been doing in the past. This allows for greater planning, strategizing and learning. It was an enormous advantage. Yet then us humans seemed to take it so far that we are completely immersed within a timeline. In the beginning, it was likely only about 5% of mind space and communication. Today it's probably 95% of one's mind space and communication. 

 

[Michael Paul]

13 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Reality is whatever you imagine.

Your memories, just like the Earth you think you're sitting on, is imaginary.

EVERYTHING is imaginary! There is nothing outside of imagination. Imagination IS reality. If you remember that you went to school, you imagine that you went to school, and thus you create the school!

School only exists in your mind. EVERYTHING only exists in your mind. You are God dreaming. This is a dream. The end.

Right now you are imagining that there is a guy named Rupert Spira who wrote a book about consciousness that you read.

IT'S A FUCKING DREAM!

Ta-da!

The past happened if you imagine it did.

The crazy thing about this is that it means visual perception itself is imaginary, which is the primary way we relate to reality. Like, my eyes themselves and everything I see is imaginary. Blows my mind.

[BipolarGrowth]

2 hours ago, Michael Paul said:

The crazy thing about this is that it means visual perception itself is imaginary, which is the primary way we relate to reality. Like, my eyes themselves and everything I see is imaginary. Blows my mind.

A good thing to think of is what the difference is between created vs. imagined. Imagination is an act of creation for certain. Is creation not also an act of imagination? This life is just a robust imagination vs. a flimsy imagination. 

[Dazgwny]

Ya know we all sit here and try say we got this shit. Which tbh a good few of us have to a degree. We know it’s fucking imaginary, just like Leo says. It’s a fucking dream. And it fucking is. Many of us have been in states where we know full fucking well this is a dream. I’m dreaming from here, your dreaming from there, leo is dreaming from his little perspective. There really is a few of us that know it. We truly know we’ve awoke on psychs or whatever we fucking know it. But don’t tell me your not still shit scared. Because ya can see it a million times. But yet still ya still shit scared. I am. Leo is too. Cus we’re all still here, babbling rather than just going all out. Leo will be the first to tell ya, he knows but he doesn’t know what the fuck to do with it. Because he doesn’t want to die, he doesn’t know what to do with it. He doesn’t know where to go when this physical system ends. He knows what it is, but he still truly doesn’t know. He doesn’t want to be me, he doesn’t want to be u, and vice versa, we don’t want it the other way. So we cling to what we are, until we’ve no other fucking choice other than to do whatever it’s is that’s forced upon us. Just taking up another conception of self and just being. Just being that conception of self. Same way you can’t help being that concept of self, I can’t help this one, and Leo can’t help that one. Ya just gonna be the awareness rocking about taking on all forms and it’ll always be you. It’ll always just be you. Even if u think there’s someone else over there, there’s no one else over there, it’s just you, all the the time, forever. You will be Leo, you will be me, I will be you, it’s all happening, right now, it’s always us??‍♂️. You think you feel you now an I think I feel me, but I will feel you and you will feel me. It’s just always us. That’s it. Forever and ever. And ever. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet me. Fucking bollocks to it ey. You just make sure you get shit right cus I can’t be assed being you, not having a fucking clue?. So watch Leo’s videos and let’s have a good life hahahaha??

Edited April 24, 2021 by Dazgwny

[wesyasz]

On 23.04.2021 at 11:24 AM, Dazgwny said:

I’m not even sure if this relates tbh. But I had a dream where I went on holiday for 10 days. I lived the full 10 days. Or it certainly felt that way. I woke up, obviously the following morning and was like wtf was that. I even checked my phone to see the time and date to make sure it was the following day. Which of course it was, I’d just had a normal nights 7-8 hour sleep or whatever it was. But I have memories from that dream of the whole 10 days from coming out the airport to heading back to it 10 days later. Still I think that was fucking mental. How on earth could I experience 10 days in 8 hours. For me it was just like well if that doesn’t prove to myself that time is relative then nothing will. Conclusion, time and memories are absolute bollocks. Not that I understand totally how it works but there could be nothing more clear to me when it comes to time

Imagine when you wake up after a lifetime and realize that nothing actually happened.

[Ook]

"You're more yourself when you don't remember your past" - Eckhart Tolle

[Leo Gura]

9 hours ago, Michael Paul said:

The crazy thing about this is that it means visual perception itself is imaginary....

Obviously

What else would it be?

[Eternal Unity]

16 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

Obviously

What else would it be?

First sensible thing he's said.

Edited April 24, 2021 by Eternal Unity
Typo

[TheDao]

1 hour ago, Eternal Unity said:

First sensible thing he's said.

Is it? What you pecieve you can validate with for example weighing the object and feeling it and measuring it. Its real as can be. No you cant fantasize things the way you want them to be, that is fantasy and you are living in reality.

For a few people reality seems unreal. This is when the person is overwhelmed or has trauma. Then things feel as if they are unreal. They are disconnected. Also drugs or schizophrenia can lead to these errors.

Edited April 24, 2021 by TheDao

[Eternal Unity]

21 minutes ago, TheDao said:

Is it? What you pecieve you can validate with for example weighing the object and feeling it and measuring it. Its real as can be. No you cant fantasize things the way you want them to be, that is fantasy and you are living in reality.

For a few people reality seems unreal. This is when the person is overwhelmed or has trauma. Then things feel as if they are unreal. They are disconnected. Also drugs or schizophrenia can lead to these errors.

Reality = Fantasy 

[TheDao]

If its not real you wouldnt mind jumping out of the window. But no because this is reality you will not. You know you will feel hurt and pain otherwize and you don't like that reality.

[Eternal Unity]

5 minutes ago, TheDao said:

If its not real you wouldnt mind jumping out of the window. But no because this is reality you will not. You know you will feel hurt and pain otherwize and you don't like that reality.

How do you know what I will or will not do?

[James123]

12 minutes ago, TheDao said:

If its not real you wouldnt mind jumping out of the window. But no because this is reality you will not. You know you will feel hurt and pain otherwize and you don't like that reality.

Thought. Not even close to truth. 

[TheDao]

 

20 minutes ago, Eternal Unity said:

How do you know what I will or will not do?

Because of thought. 

[Hello from Russia]

1 hour ago, TheDao said:

If its not real you wouldnt mind jumping out of the window. But no because this is reality you will not. You know you will feel hurt and pain otherwize and you don't like that reality.

Dude, thousands of people jump out of windows yearly

Edited April 24, 2021 by Hello from Russia

[Dodo]

On 21/04/2021 at 11:21 PM, Michael Paul said:

Ever since I became interested in nonduality, the nature of time and memory has become a central topic for me. I’ve watched a decent amount of Rupert Spira’s videos about time and space, and he makes some interesting points about how we never actually experience time. He often asks questioners to “step out of the now and visit the past”. He doesn’t mean think about the past — he means literally go there. But it’s obvious that this is impossible. The only thing we have of “the past” are memories, but memories are only known insofar as they are experienced now. 

Rupert has a fascinating chapter about time and space in his book The Nature of Consciousness. The chapter’s title is The Memory of Our Eternity and it’s Chapter 16. I’m not going to rehash all of what he says in that chapter here, but in a nutshell he states that consciousness exists eternally here and now, and that time and space are essentially activities of the one infinite, eternal consciousness that has no dimensions. 

I’ve had some pretty intense experiences where I felt like consciousness was beyond time and space both high/tripping and sober, which seem to corroborate Rupert’s model of consciousness, time and space. 

I’m having a hard time grappling with the issue of memories in relation to this understanding, because if time and space do not actually correspond to our experience, then our memories seem like they don’t actually point to real events.

What are your thoughts on this topic?

Eckhart Tolle says Past only appears as a memory now, Future appears as imagination now, only now is real. This would excuse a lot of bad behaviour though, since "why are u unhappy, I raped u in the past"

[Matthew85]

On 4/23/2021 at 6:07 AM, Leo Gura said:

Reality is whatever you imagine.

Your memories, just like the Earth you think you're sitting on, is imaginary.

EVERYTHING is imaginary! There is nothing outside of imagination. Imagination IS reality. If you remember that you went to school, you imagine that you went to school, and thus you create the school!

School only exists in your mind. EVERYTHING only exists in your mind. You are God dreaming. This is a dream. The end.

Right now you are imagining that there is a guy named Rupert Spira who wrote a book about consciousness that you read.

IT'S A FUCKING DREAM!

Ta-da!

The past happened if you imagine it did.

@Leo Gura Leo, what would be really beneficial is a deeper understanding about the different levels of mind and how they work together to make this insight practical and applicable in our day to day life.