Why Are We So Deluded?

[The White Belt]

Why are we so out of touch with oneness, if that's they way it's supposed to be?

Why are we so deluded about reality?

Why are we caught up in thought? Why are we so unnatural?

Why are we so insistent on making ourselves so unconscious?

We are we so self destructive? Who is making us this way?

What is making us this way?

 

And more importantly, why? 

[Arman]

the soul takes on innumerable forms because it's fun, what else would it want to do? it's like kids playing dress up

imagine kids playing 'the floor is lava' and they're crouched on top of the couch together, and suddenly one says "what kind of cruel existence is this? who would devise such a lava filled world, where all is fire and brimstone?" - then a few minutes later their mother calls them to dinner and the lava vanishes. that gives an idea of the absurdity of how serious we take this life.

the reason we choose to experience a world with limitation is the same reason we play games that involve excitement, danger and limitation - because it is fun. what would be the use of playing a game called 'sit down and everything is fine.' - it might be nice for a minute or two then you would want more. in order to give in to the excitement you need to temporarily forget where you came from. if everyone knew they were infinite and immortal, they wouldn't be able to play this imagination game called being human, so they opt to temporarily forget the same way kids 'forget' that the floor is indeed not lava. if there was no suffering and limitation in this world, then suddenly the game that we created and CHOOSE to play would cease to be fun and useful. 

to quote the fleetwood mac song 'destiny rules': the spirits are ruthless in the paths they choose

Edited January 24, 2017 by Arman

[RossE]

Eckhart Tolle thinks that we are on the brink of an enlightenment age - to have such a revolution the egoic stage needed to exist. 

Of course nobody can know for sure but if that is indeed nature's master plan then it explains a lot. 

[Bob84]

@BeginnerActualizer we use the tools we are given without the manual  and ego seems the best tool for survival and reproduction.

[PureExp]

@BeginnerActualizer All good questions. Age old and I guess all seekers ask them. Anyhow asking them is a sign of progress , thats all I know. I do not know the answers from my own direct experience, but I will parrot below what masters say.

All that is because of one thing - Ignorance. Obvious question arises - Why in the world the wisest of wise, our own eternal omniscient Self fell into ignorance? Well, no one knows , it is not something that can be easily known. So we have theories. One of which was nicely stated by @Arman above, its a play (Lila).

Another one is - Ignorance is as old as consciousness itself. That is, it has no beginning, and so has no end (I guess). The cycles of enlightenment and ignorance keep repeating forever (the Yuga concept).

Another theory is - whatever drama we are witnessing now, never really happened. Its not there, so there is essentially no ignorance. Nothing can happen. This is somewhat less known Advaita concept. I heard it from Nisargdatta and his disciple Nirgun John. It is clearly far out there, but interesting.

Now, since one cannot know "why" of it, is it impossible to get rid of such suffering? Good news ! Its not impossible. And the old wisdom says - if an arrow hits you, it is stupidity to analyze the cause of it, to wonder about its metal, age, make, skill of the craftsmen who made it etc. etc. It is better to simply remove it and throw it away. Who cares as long as you are free from pain?

It may sound weird, but I sometimes suspect that people are enjoying the delusions and suffering very much, they do not want to come out of it. Try bringing an ignorant person out of it and see the resistance he offers. You will be fortunate if he leaves you unharmed

[jse]

On 25/01/2017 at 3:07 AM, BeginnerActualizer said:

Why Are We So Deluded?

To most of us, ignorance is bliss.

[Deep]

On 1/24/2017 at 3:07 PM, BeginnerActualizer said:

Why are we so out of touch with oneness, if that's they way it's supposed to be?

Why are we so deluded about reality?

Why are we caught up in thought? Why are we so unnatural?

Why are we so insistent on making ourselves so unconscious?

We are we so self destructive? Who is making us this way?

What is making us this way?

 

And more importantly, why? 

We have taken on the limitations of the body/mind to survive in the material world. It's not possible to understand through logic because there is a lot of paradoxes. If you try to understand it, you won't be happy. Just as Arman said, it's a game. Even the concept of God is so abstract that it's impossible to teach people. 

[WaveInTheOcean]

On 24/1/2017 at 9:07 PM, BeginnerActualizer said:

Why are we so out of touch with oneness?

What is making us this way?

And more importantly, why? 

The answer is simple: Because we are. Circular logic all the way.

I mean you cannot really explain it, only parts of it. If you wanna explain it fully, we have to go alllllllll the wayyy back to Adam and Eve:)

"if that's they way it's supposed to be?"

Why do you assume a feeling of oneness/no-self/unconditional love is the way it's supposed to be?

Supposed to be by who exactly?

If you think about it from an evolutionary perspective (from 1st biological cell on earth all the way up to human life now) you can easily see why such an evolutionary mechanicsm in itself never can lead to a feeling of no-self/oneness... 

A feeling of no-self + evolution? Doesn't compute! Evolution depends on: survival, adaption, evolving, expansion, thus destruction, replication.

Now arguably the human race has an ability to take actions independently of natural evolution/instincts (although from a holistic POV it's all 'natural", and all human thinking is instincts... however, we should be able to agree on the fact that the human mind is vastly more complex and advanced than any other animal mind).

Anyway ... Maybe the human race will at some point come in touch with oneness as a whole. Maybe not. Ultimately who exactly cares?

Also see, if oneness/no-self had always been the default feeling for human beings, then how would we know? The feeling of oneness/no-self is only possible because the counter-part, the egoic/materlistic/self-centered feeling also exist. 

Yes, a feeling of oneness/no-self is more in alignment with Reality than the egoic feeling. That is to say, if one ever sees Reality clearly without the filters of the mind, then naturally one will adopt a no-self/oneness-feeling.

But is a no-mind-view better than a mind-fitred view? No. Is it worse? No. Is it more accurate? Well depends .. in terms of pure existence/Reality then yes, it is more accurate.... in terms of Truth, yes it is more accurate. In terms of biological and technological evolution (i.e. one sees higher tech = better) then the mind-filtred view is better suited for that, and thus more "accurate" if one wants more evolution of the human race in terms of technology.

Anyway, my point is... for Truth to ever be known, a misrepresentation/misinterpretation of Truth first has to flourish, just like it has flourished for everyone here on this forum until they began questioning their view of Reality because of having "mystical" experiences. ... If You had ALWAYS known "the Truth", well, how would you then know that it is the Truth? The Truth has to be contrasted with what is false in order to ever 'be known'.

Edited January 27, 2017 by WaveInTheOcean