Im Giving Up On Enlightenment

[LaucherJunge]

I have been on this journey for some time now and i finally realized it for myself how self-destructive it is to set enlightenment as your goal.
I leave my happiness behind just for the sake of the pursuit which maybe will never end for me same as the persuit others have for money or other things.
It is not worth throwing away the great opportunity granted by the universe and wasting all of your time researching, writing, talking and meditating on enlightenment.
From now on my only pursuit in life is to focus  on the positive in order to attract more positive which i can then again focus on if it leads to enlightenment someday great if not i do not really care because i just want to live out the opportunity granted to me, live out the great lifelike illusion created by the mightiest of all forces.
If i focus on self-improvement i just focus on the negative things which i try to improve but this is wrong the law of attraction will punish this.
Positive focus is the answer to everything as simple as that.
If you ask me what is the purpose of life i will tell you everyone chooses his purpose by himself.
If you choose to be in misery until the great day of enlightenment comes, enjoy nobody will stop you.
But i end this here and now.
The skills i gained trough all this meditation make it so easy to focus on the positive for me because i am conscious all the time, why would i be doing anything else in life?

Edited October 31, 2016 by LaucherJunge

[LaucherJunge]

4 minutes ago, John Flores said:

Enlightenment is another way of saying the end of suffering. If the pursuit of it is causing pain, then don't pursue it; rather try to disbelieve the thoughts that cause the suffering. Maybe it's the "being enlightned will solve all my problems" belief that is causing it.

It is not about suffering to be honest. It is just about being happy and feeling positive emotions more often and eventually all the time sure there are downs to life and i embrace those as well as long as i know that i am still being positive and it will be good again. I was multiple times at a point where i was very positive on everything and it were the best phases of my life. But this pursuit makes me go down a spiral where it is difficult to get out of again after such a phase. Thats why i want this concept of enlightenment out of my head all at once.

[Key Elements]

Here's another way of looking at it. Enlightenment comes in different ways for different ppl. So, if you want to focus on life purpose now, for example, go right ahead. But, don't be surprised if you make your life purpose meaningful, for instance, that something out of the blue or out of the ordinary happens, and then you go, "Oh, ok...wow!" After witnessing the wow moment, you just continue with your life but you learned something from that and do something meaningful again and meet up with another wow/ah-ha moment. See, enlightenment could work in this way cause life does have meaning, and it's meant to be lived. Otherwise, why are we even seeing this awareness?

Edited October 31, 2016 by Key Elements

[Leo Gura]

@LaucherJunge You'll be back! Once you recognize that that positive focus stuff won't ever work.

I suggest you be more gentle with yourself in how you pursue enlightenment. It doesn't have to be painful. You're making it that way.

[Marina]

If you feel like there's an object / concept out there that will make you happy (which positive focus is, by the way, it's just another object / concept), then, by all means, you should pursue it. Don't force enlightenment work on yourself, cause if you do, it immediately becomes some sort of an attainable thing, which can be gained someday. And it is just simply not that.

Enlightenment / consciousness work is about realizing one's true nature. Not about achieving ANYTHING, including happiness. That being said, there's nothing wrong with living your life without exploring what your true nature is. You already are that, whether you realize it or not. What causes suffering in life, is not that you are not being who you truly are, but that you are IGNORING your true nature and looking for happiness where you simply can never find it. Why can't you find it there? Because your whole life is constructed and centered upon an entity, which simply does not exist / is a lie.

With all of that being said, there comes a moment, when one understands that if he wants LASTING happiness, he has to dig deeper. Not just to look for another concept to plug a hole in himself. But to look into what is actually that entity that has a hole in himself, who is it that entity that is unhappy and wants to be happy? To discover that, one has to have a genuine, deep interest in the reality of one's and everything's true nature. It shouldn't be a chore. In a way, that should be your life purpose, but an enjoyable one. Maybe hobby is a better word, but not just a regular hobby. It should be THE HOBBY. Something that is above anything else in terms of your love and interest.

Again, I'd suggest pursuing whatever you want to pursue now, be it positive life outlook or anything else. If you truly are interested in discovering what the ultimate nature of everything is, then you will be back for sure. Nothing satisfies an individual like that, except for the truth. Until you BECOME the truth, you will never be satisfied. As long as there is a duality in your world, you will forever live in the positive / negative, happy / unhappy phases. No matter how much you focus on the positive. That's how it has been in my experience.

[aurum]

2 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

@LaucherJunge You'll be back! Once you recognize that that positive focus stuff won't ever work.

I suggest you be more gentle with yourself in how you pursue enlightenment. It doesn't have to be painful. You're making it that way.

Curious what you mean by this.

I agree that there's definitely limits to positive focus and ultimately you need to learn to dis-identify from your thoughts. At the same time though, there seems to be real benefits to positive focus, especially if you are new to self development. Do you disagree?

[Leo Gura]

1 hour ago, aurum said:

Curious what you mean by this.

I agree that there's definitely limits to positive focus and ultimately you need to learn to dis-identify from your thoughts. At the same time though, there seems to be real benefits to positive focus, especially if you are new to self development. Do you disagree?

Depends on your goals of course.

But everyone's ultimate goal is simply this: fulfillment.

And you can't get that through any other way but enlightenment.

Of course it's important not to interpret this as me saying, enlightenment is all that matters and everything else is useless. That's not what I mean at all. There is much to learn and master besides enlightenment. But it will not lead to fulfillment unless enlightenment is reached.

So of course positive focus and life purpose are still important and worth pursuing. But they will not complete you like enlightenment will. It's not possible to EVER be fulfilled if deep down you believe you are that body/mind. The body/mind must be transcended and put into their proper place. Right now the equation of life is upside-down. And no amount of lipstick will turn that pig into a swan. Although of course ordinary personal development is still WAY better than nothing.

I'm a fan of this recipe: ordinary personal development + enlightenment work.

Psychological mastery + metaphysical inquiry = Awesome life

[ajasatya]

@LaucherJunge enlightenment is something you can't neither attain nor stop. it's totally out of the ego's control.

you may sit back for a while, but that won't get the job done. you'll know it.

Edited November 1, 2016 by ajasatya

[aurum]

1 hour ago, Leo Gura said:

But it will not lead to fulfillment unless enlightenment is reached.

Yes I got a real sense of this "meaninglessness" when I had my own awakening experience. Totally devastating at the time, showed me how much of a joke everything is.

1 hour ago, Leo Gura said:

I'm a fan of this recipe: ordinary personal development + enlightenment work

Agreed as well. I still favor the balanced approached. The Middle Way, so to speak.

A big click for me was reading Ken Wilber. He talked about how anyone could have a spiritual experience, but it was their level of psychological development that would determine how they would interpret it.

Total light bulb moment. Explains why there's such a wide variety of people who seem to be enlightened. You need both to really get the benefits.

[Leo Gura]

@aurum Enlightenment is only the beginning. Not the end.

And there's a ton of stuff to get enlightened on. Not just yourself.

[Extreme Z7]

2 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Psychological mastery + metaphysical inquiry = Awesome life

I feel so inspired right now.

Edited November 1, 2016 by Extreme Z7

[SBB4746]

@Leo Gura Yeah but after enlightenment life just seems more of a game/movie that your participating in so its definitely a lot easier from there out. 

[Leo Gura]

@SBB4746 Easier but not easy. There's a reason people get enlightened and then spend 10 to 40 years deepening their practice. The ego is a tough son of a bitch, and it will still largely be there after enlightenment. You gotta polish it for decades.

And just because you've had one enlightenment, that doesn't make the next enlightenment any easier. You don't really have control over such things.

And being enlightened doesn't make you a good person. That takes WAY more work than even multiple enlightenments. You could be an enlightened thief, drug addict, molester, and asshole.

There have been plenty of enlightened assholes throughout history. That is not the way.

[SBB4746]

@Leo Gura yeah that is true. I'm speaking from what I know to, as I have had some major awakenings the last couple of months after self inquiring a tonne. The ego doesn't go away but its not much of an issue as your not identified with it anymore, just a thing in the background. I have found that finding humour in it makes it die down very quickly, I find mine is pretty funny most of the time anyway haha. 

Yeah someone could easily be an arse hole if they felt like it because they would not take them or anything else that seriously (life is meaningless after all). At the same time I would think that most would have a sense of compassion and understanding of most people as you know they are essentially the same as you but being deluded by their egos. Everyone has there own authenitc desires at the end of the day though so if someone really wanted to be an arse hole I guess that's ok. Personally I desire to be kind and show respect as much as possible. 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 1, 2016 by SBB4746

[Bob84]

@Leo Gura Enlightenment only makes you stop identifying with the asshole. Others may still project it on you but that has no meaning.

Multiple awakenings do not make you enlightend. Enlightenment however doesnt mean that self development becomes pointless.

[Alphard]

On 1 November 2016 at 1:41 PM, Leo Gura said:

But everyone's ultimate goal is simply this: fulfillment.

And you can't get that through any other way but enlightenment.

Of course it's important not to interpret this as me saying, enlightenment is all that matters and everything else is useless. That's not what I mean at all. There is much to learn and master besides enlightenment. But it will not lead to fulfillment unless enlightenment is reached.

So of course positive focus and life purpose are still important and worth pursuing. But they will not complete you like enlightenment will. It's not possible to EVER be fulfilled if deep down you believe you are that body/mind. The body/mind must be transcended and put into their proper place. Right now the equation of life is upside-down. And no amount of lipstick will turn that pig into a swan. Although of course ordinary personal development is still WAY better than nothing.

I'm a fan of this recipe: ordinary personal development + enlightenment work.

Psychological mastery + metaphysical inquiry = Awesome life

This is merely your opinion and Im glad that it works for you however not everyone subscribes to your view.  You say it as though you think its the truth for everyone. To believe you hold the ultimate truth and know whats right for everyone else is a symptom of spiritual egoism.  I guess thats what this entire website is about, Leo and Leo's views and how everyone should pay attention because Leo knows best. 

[Leo Gura]

@Alphard You can do whatever you want.

But if you want fulfillment, you gotta do what creates true fulfillment. It's not an opinion. Ego is ego. You can't escape the karma that comes with egoic living.

Feel free to try. Let us know how it works out for ya in 20 years.

The arrogant one is you, thinking you can circumvent the laws of consciousness.

[Prabhaker]

31 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

The arrogant one is you

If you attempt to break anybody's sleep, he will take revenge on you.

[Alphard]

1 hour ago, Leo Gura said:

@Alphard You can do whatever you want.

But if you want fulfillment, you gotta do what creates true fulfillment. It's not an opinion. Ego is ego. You can't escape the karma that comes with egoic living.

Feel free to try. Let us know how it works out for ya in 20 years.

The arrogant one is you, thinking you can circumvent the laws of consciousness.

Again this is not ultimate truth but nothing more than your opinion. Sorry to be the one to break it to you Gura, I know you're probably not comfortable with those who choose to think more critically around your ideology, but reading some books, attending some seminars and meditating for a couple of years doesn't actually qualify you to understand or preach about enlightenment and consciousness despite the sound of all the back slapping coming from your disciples inside your self built echo chamber. Its true what they say about you all over the net. You really do have a god complex. Let us know how that works out for you in 20 years when all your devotees have fallen away.

Symptoms of the unenlightened 

1 You think you are enlightened

2 You talk about being enlightened and how you’ve become so

3 You think yourself special because of your enlightenment

4 You know more about enlightenment than an average Zen master

5 You’ve paid hard cash for your enlightenment

6 You have a name for your enlightenment

7 You are a part of some exclusive community, by the virtue of your enlightenment

8 You are competitive (and not just about enlightenment)

9 You use the word ‘I’ often

10 You are unconditionally happy, no matter what happens to you

11 You take yourself absolutely seriously and are aware of your own importance

 

[Prabhaker]

54 minutes ago, Alphard said:

Again this is not ultimate truth

You are correct , for most of the people it is not ultimate truth.

Most of the people are obsessed with food, money, power, domination, sex. Even on their deathbed this obsession continues.