Any genuinely enlightened people I can speak to for guidance.

[cetus]

[Moksha]

@gettoefl @Water by the River I've never seen Dan Brown before, thanks for sharing.

He mentioned that 100,000 books have been written on meditation, within the Tibetan tradition. Dan Brown clearly has an exquisitely detailed internal model for awakening, informed by ancient libraries, his own academic research, and personal experience.

So, so, so many instructions, practices, and milestones delineated here, and by extension in elaborate systems like Mahamudra and Dzogchen. I understand better what Ramana Maharshi meant about self-inquiry being the direct path to the absolute. It's like skipping the sequence of increasingly luxurious properties on the Monopoly board, and moving directly to Go. The catch is that you have to draw the appropriate card, and are at the mercy of the deck.

Regardless of the relative tribulation of your token, there's no pride in arriving at Go sooner than someone else. Who can say the careful path of someone like @Water by the River is better or worse than the via dolorosa path of someone like me? It always ends in the enigmatic buddha smile, when you realize that all along it was only a game within the imagination of the absolute, regardless of the face it wore or the path it chose.

[PurpleTree]

I also want to talk to some enlightos

[Yimpa]

9 hours ago, PurpleTree said:

I also want to talk to some enlightos

[Princess Arabia]

11 minutes ago, Yimpa said:

Lol

[Inliytened1]

On 6/8/2023 at 3:29 PM, ChrisZoZo said:

If you are genuinely enlightened could send me a private message. 

Please don’t message me if your not enlightened as I won’t be taking any of your advice. I will be able to tell very quickly due to my questions. You can’t take someone to a higher level only the level you are on.
 

I would like to ask some questions and would like some guidance. Preferably over the phone or audio communication. Maybe Setting up a regular-ish thing every few times a weeks or months.  If you feel that it might not gonna be worth the time (as in i’m not a genuine seeker) give me it a short while and I assure you I will prove I am Dead serious. My seriousness is so strong that it will kill the false abiding within this body. 

 

A teacher ain't gonna enlighten you bro.  This takes turning inward.   I recommend you perform self inquiry and do nothing mediation practices.  But it's a terrible trap to put your faith into an enlightened master.  For even if they are enlightened you would be putting your authority into them and thus never taking back your own as God.   Self inquiry will allow you to realize no self and bring you God realization- where a teacher can only feed you concepts and keep you stuck in them. 

P.S.  @SOULis doing you a favor by refusing his services

 

Edited June 10, 2023 by Inliytened1

[Brandon Nankivell]

On 09/06/2023 at 6:33 AM, Spiritedness said:

@Leo Gura Would you say Frank Yang is 'woke enough' and a good source of info for spirituality?

For semi-serious seekers he's good

[Yimpa]

1 hour ago, Inliytened1 said:

A teacher ain't gonna enlighten you bro. 

*When you realize YOU are the teacher*

 

[Princess Arabia]

3 minutes ago, Yimpa said:

*When you realize YOU are the teacher*

 

Where's the Meme. C'mon you're getting lazy ?

[Yimpa]

Just now, Princess Arabia said:

Where's the Meme. C'mon you're getting lazy ?

Awakening is the most serious and most funniest thing evaaaaa 

[Moksha]

8 hours ago, Inliytened1 said:

But it's a terrible trap to put your faith into an enlightened master.

This is an overgeneralization. There is no prescriptive path that works for everyone. Learning through a master is a spiritual tradition that spans millennia. I encourage direct self-inquiry, but it is too steep a slope for many people.

Only trust a master to the extent that his or her teachings currently contribute to your inward journey, and don't feel constrained to stay with the same master during the entire journey.

Q: Is it right to change Gurus?

M: Why not change? Gurus are like milestones? It is natural to move on from one to another. Each tells you the direction and the distance, while the sadguru, the eternal Guru, is the road itself. Once you realize that the road is the goal and that you are always on the road, not to reach a goal, but to enjoy its beauty and its wisdom, life ceases to be a task and becomes natural and simple, in itself an ecstasy.

- Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

[Inliytened1]

35 minutes ago, Moksha said:

 I encourage direct self-inquiry, but it is too steep a slope for many people.

 

And maybe that's a poor assumption. 

[Moksha]

1 hour ago, Inliytened1 said:

And maybe that's a poor assumption. 

Spiritual practice is more diverse than you imply.

Ramana Maharshi, and most other masters, recognize that the ideal spiritual path varies from person to person. The superior path is whatever takes you inward, and varies according to the psyche and circumstances of the individual.

All the yogas - karma, jnana, bhakti and raja - are just different paths to suite different natures with different modes of evolution. They are all aimed at getting people out of the long-cherished notion that they are different from the Self.

Yoga enjoins repression of thoughts whereas I prescribe quest of oneself. This latter method is more practicable. The mind is repressed in swoon, or as the effect of fasting. But as soon as the cause is withdrawn the mind revives, that is, the thoughts begin to flow as before. There are just two ways of controlling the mind. Either seek its source, or surrender it to be struck down by the supreme power. Surrender is the recognition of the existence of a higher overruling power. If the mind refuses to help in seeking the source, let it go and wait for its return; then turn it inwards. No one succeeds without patient perseverance.

- Ramana Maharshi

M: If you have no problem of suffering and release from suffering, you will not find the energy and persistence needed for self-inquiry. You cannot manufacture a crisis. It must be genuine.

Q: How does a genuine crisis happen?

M: It happens every moment, but you are not alert enough. A shadow on your neighbor's face, the immense and all-pervading sorrow of existence is a constant factor in your life, but you refuse to take notice. You suffer and see others suffer, but you don't respond.

- Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

[Yimpa]

2 hours ago, Moksha said:

You suffer and see others suffer, but you don't respond.

The paradox of responding by not responding, and vice versa. 

[Moksha]

18 minutes ago, Yimpa said:

The paradox of responding by not responding, and vice versa. 

The paradox of suffering being its own solvent.

[ChrisZoZo]

@Inliytened1 you and @SOUL have never been deadly serious about enlightenment and it shows.  

Edited June 10, 2023 by ChrisZoZo

[integral]

45 minutes ago, ChrisZoZo said:

@Inliytened1 you and @SOUL have never been deadly serious about enlightenment and it shows.  

Doesn't over seriousness become a trap?

[Moksha]

30 minutes ago, integral said:

Doesn't over seriousness become a trap?

Only to the extent it doesn't lead you to surrender.

[SOUL]

@ChrisZoZo I'm actually quite unserious about it...my focus is on well being and any awakening to absolute is simply a byproduct of the well being I experience. Although, I appreciate the kind words.

[ChrisZoZo]

58 minutes ago, integral said:

Doesn't over seriousness become a trap?

Yes when you need to die.