To those seeking the deathless

[Cathal]

“There is, mendicants, that dimension where there is no earth, no water, no fire, no wind; no dimension of infinite space, no dimension of infinite consciousness, no dimension of nothingness, no dimension of neither perception nor non-perception; no this world, no other world, no moon or sun. There, mendicants, I say there is no coming or going or remaining or passing away or reappearing. It is not established, does not proceed, and has no support. Just this is the end of suffering.” - Paṭhamanibbānapaṭisaṁyuttasutta

The Buddha specifically wrote it like this as he describes the 4 higher Jhanas in this sutra are not quite what he wanted people to realize, as refined and profound experiences of consciousness as they may be - many people here have experienced through psychedelics what you call infinite and nothingness, but that's not it. We might think 'I have experienced enlightenment/infinity' but coming to realize enlightenment itself is not dependent on any condition itself, we see we are just falling in and out in an experience, a momentary lapse or expansion in the sense of I. 

It strikes me over and over and over why the Buddha said to solely focus on ending suffering and to give up on metaphysical pondering or to the 'highest realization' which is promoted so heavily here. What is it we are really seeking? is it that direct knowing, not a thought nor a concept, not a belief nor a cognization of experience, but it is just that to be in the world of form but to remain empty and to be empty as to be all form. Because as two people share a concept of God-realization as the ultimate Truth, for both of those people it's not the Truth. It is not the knowing of now, it is the recollection of memory. 

Which is the whole spiritual progress, the whole burning of karma, either you explode your individuality through devotion or you empty yourself entirely through awareness, those are two ways we can do it. And it is some serious fucking work involved, stepping into the depths of what is binding us to these bodies is not for everyone. After spending 3 months in a forest thai monastery, I came to a serious confrontation about how much shit the mind has accumulated through getting identified, spiritual growth must be at the forefront, it must be absolutely soaked into the core of what we are - to strive for growth, to try our best moment to moment. Love you guys

[Breakingthewall]

Buddha seemed obsessed with escaping from suffering. it seems that he did not realize that suffering is imaginary. the same as that dimension of which he speaks, and everything else. Enlightenment is this, here and now. reality unfolding. enlightenment is nothing, it is not knowing one thing or another, all that is imaginary, just ideas. Well, it's to know that only this moment exists and it's eternal. You just have to remove the barriers that bind us on the surface and let yourself be carried away by the fluctuating present, flow with it, be without resistance.

Edited January 22, 2023 by Breakingthewall

[Cathal]

@Breakingthewall

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he did not realize that suffering is imaginary

All suffering is imaginary yes but just because it's imagination doesn't mean you don't suffer it yourself. You are binded to your past actions of not understanding this regardless, so for you, you suffer, and that is real (for you)

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 Enlightenment is this, here and now. reality unfolding. enlightenment is nothing, it is not knowing one thing or another, all that is imaginary, just ideas

 If you are dissatisfied with this reality unfolding as it is, if you are suffering, there cannot be enlightenment. Only you know if you are free or not free from suffering, so whether or not ultimately that is true, for you, it is untrue. See what truth is? for you, it's not true and that's the only truth that exists (for you)

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this moment exists and it's eternal

As long as you are suffering this is untrue actually in your direct experience, you are an ongoing accumulating self, there is still the motion of becoming for you, as long as there is becoming, there is time and space (for you). The motion of going somewhere in time is real, the suffering is real, so where is this so called eternal moment? in direct experience, there is the direct experience of going somewhere - the ongoing of becoming is not eternity.

So the case remains true, that only ending suffering and ending suffering alone in one's direct experience is the only real goal here. Now is the knowing of what is, are we knowing we are free from dissatisfaction and so becoming in this realm of conditions?

[Rafael Thundercat]

Suppose a warrior, forgetting that he was
already wearing his pearl on his forehead, were to seek for it elsewhere, he could travel the whole
world without finding it. But if someone who knew what was wrong were to point it out to him, the
warrior would immediately realize that the pearl had been there all the time. So, if you students of the
Way are mistaken about your own real Mind, not recognizing that it is the Buddha, you will
consequently look for him elsewhere, indulging in various achievements and practices and expecting to
attain realization by such graduated practices.

- Huang Po -

[Breakingthewall]

47 minutes ago, Cathal said:

As long as you are suffering this is untrue actually in your direct experience, you are an ongoing accumulating self,

Yes, this and everything you have said is true, but the thing is to realize that all that past and future, all that meaning, that karma, is just your imagination. all that layer of ideas, meanings, fears, dissatisfactions, is the survival software of the human collective ego. it's not something real. I think Buddha was wrong, there is no karma or wheel of reincarnation, that is another idea of the ego. you can get rid of everything in a second. reality is a kind of artistic psychedelic trip, like a dance of beauty creation, which is circumstantially veiled by the software of human bias. the software will disappear but reality will continue to unfold forever. you can hold on to the software and create thousands of imaginary meanings or you can let it go. there's no more

[Illusory Self]

It’s about noticing thoughts for what they are. The end of suffering is not being attached to thoughts. Not believing a thing. 
 

the illusory existence of the “I” is what generates suffering. Because that is simply not what you are. It’s an egoic conceptual framework which is other than you. 
 

When the I gets seen through of its illusory nature and thought attachment and then what is left is simply freedom/liberation. Enlightenment is what you are but confusion arose due to upbringing and conditioning. A sense of identity was constructed. The ego. But it’s all just thought activity.