Can Someone Explain What Leo Means Here

[SQAAD]

Leo says:

Quote

Even suffering and death & disease, these are things that are arbitrary biases that you have and there is no reason why you should have them or that you should act in accordance with those biases.

I really don't understand this. I don't get it.

Why am i biased against being tortured by some Mexican drug cartel for hours? Because it automatically feels awful, terrible. It's something beyond a mere preference. It's biology.

Something feels terrible just because it feels terrible. And therefore you automatically don't want it, don't like it, don't prefer it.  That is the bottom line, in my opinion.

Why am i biased towards a certain temperature? Because it automatically feels good and pleasant. 

Something feels good just because it feels good. 

Certain biases can be more fluid and changeable. But other biases are more concrete and just a part of reality, part of biology.

 

 

Edited August 29, 2023 by SQAAD

[Breakingthewall]

The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences.  When love and hate are both absent, everything becomes clear and undisguised.  Make the smallest distinction, however, and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart. If you wish to see the truth, then hold no opinions for, or against, anything.  To set up what you like against what you dislike is the disease of the mind.  When the deep meaning of things is not understood, the mind's essential peace is disturbed to no avail.

The Way is perfect, like vast space where nothing is lacking and nothing is in excess.  Indeed, it is due to our choosing to accept or reject that we do not see the true nature of things.  Live neither in the entanglements of outer things, nor in inner feelings of emptiness.  Be serene in the oneness of things, and such erroneous views will disappear by themselves.  When you try to stop activity to achieve passivity, your very effort fills you with activity.  As long as you remain in one extreme or the other, you will never know Oneness.

Those who do not live in the single Way fail in both activity and passivity, assertion and denial.  To deny the reality of things is to miss their reality; to assert the emptiness of things is to miss their reality.  The more you talk and think about it, the further astray you wander from the truth.  Stop talking and thinking, and there is nothing you will not be able to know.

To return to the root is to find the meaning, but to pursue appearances is to miss the source.  At the moment of inner enlightenment, there is going beyond appearance and emptiness.  The changes that appear to occur in the empty world we call real only because of our ignorance.  Do not search for the truth; only cease to cherish opinions.

Do not remain in the dualistic state; avoid such pursuits carefully.  If there is even a trace of this and that, of right and wrong, the Mind-essence will be lost in confusion.  Although all dualities come from the One, do not be attached even to this One.  When the mind exists undisturbed in the Way, nothing in the world can offend, and when a thing can no longer offend, it ceases to exist in the old way.

When no discriminating thoughts arise, the old mind ceases to exist.  When thought-objects vanish, the thinking-subject vanishes, as when the mind vanishes, objects vanish.  Things are objects because of the subject (mind); the mind (subject) is such because of things (objects).  Understand the relativity of these two and the basic reality: the unity of emptiness.  In this Emptiness the two are indistinguishable and each contains, in itself, the whole world.  If you do not discriminate between coarse and fine, you will not be tempted to prejudice and opinion.

To live in the great Way is neither easy nor difficult, but those with limited views are fearful and irresolute; the faster they hurry, the slower they go.  And clinging (attachment) cannot be limited.  Even to be attached to the idea of enlightenment is to go astray.  Just let things be in their own way, and there will be neither coming nor going.  Obey the nature of things (your own nature) and you will walk freely and undisturbed.

When thought is in bondage, the truth is hidden, for everything is murky and unclear, and the burdensome practice of judging brings annoyance and weariness.  What benefit can be derived from distinctions and separation?

If you wish to move in the one Way, do not dislike even the world of senses and ideas.  Indeed, to accept them fully is identical with true enlightenment.  The wise man strives to no goals, but the foolish man fetters himself.  There is one Dharma, not many; distinctions arise from the clinging needs of the ignorant.  To seek Mind with the (discriminating) mind is the greatest of all mistakes.

Rest and unrest derive from illusion; with enlightenment there is no liking and disliking.  All dualities come from ignorant inference.  They are like dreams or flowers in air; foolish to try to grasp them.  Gain and loss, right and wrong; such thoughts must finally be abolished at once.

If the eye never sleeps, all dreams will naturally cease.  If the mind makes no discriminations, the ten thousand things are as they are, of single essence.  To understand the mystery of this One-essence is to be released from all entanglements.  When all things are seen equally, the timeless Self-essence is reached.  No comparisons or analogies are possible in this causeless, relationless state.

Consider movement stationary, and the stationary in motion; both movement and rest disappear.  When such dualities cease to exist, Oneness itself cannot exist.  To this ultimate finality no law or description applies.

For the unified mind in accord with the Way, all self-centered striving ceases.  Doubts and irresolutions vanish, and life in true faith is possible.  With a single stroke we are freed from bondage; nothing clings to us and we hold to nothing.  All is empty, clear, self-illuminating, with no exertion of the mind's power.  Here thought, feeling, knowledge and imagination are of no value.  In this world of Suchness, there is neither self nor other-than-self.

To come directly into harmony with this reality, just simply say when doubts arise, "Not two".  In this "not two", nothing is separate, nothing is excluded.  No matter when or where, enlightenment means entering this truth.  And this truth is beyond extension or diminution in time or space; in it, a single thought is ten thousand years.

Emptiness here, emptiness there, but the infinite universe stands always before your eyes.  Infinitely large and infinitely small; no difference, for definitions have vanished and no boundaries are seen.  So, too, with being and non-being.  Don't waste time in doubts and arguments that have nothing to do with this.  One thing, all things, move among and intermingle without distinction.  To live in this realization is to be without anxiety about non-perfection.  To live in this faith is the road to non-duality, because the non-dual is one with the trusting mind.

Words!  The Way is beyond language, for in it, there is no yesterday, no tomorrow, no today. 

 

Hsing hsing poem, written in 6 century in china. Id say it's a complete guide for enlightenment. No more is needed.

Edited August 29, 2023 by Breakingthewall

[Razard86]

59 minutes ago, SQAAD said:

Leo says:

I really don't understand this. I don't get it.

Why am i biased against being tortured by some Mexican drug cartel for hours? Because it automatically feels awful, terrible. It's something beyond a mere preference. It's biology.

Something feels terrible just because it feels terrible. And therefore you automatically don't want it, don't like it, don't prefer it.  That is the bottom line, in my opinion.

Why am i biased towards a certain temperature? Because it automatically feels good and pleasant. 

Something feels good just because it feels good. 

Certain biases can be more fluid and changeable. But other biases are more concrete and just a part of reality, part of biology.

 

 

It's a bias because it is subjective. There are actually people born who love pain. There are also people born who cannot feel pain. So your interpretation is subjective, and therefore not an ABSOLUTE and therefore a bias. Bias is the source of conflict, bias is the source of all confusion, bias is the source of all violence, subjugation, and discrimination. 

If you entered a society of people who culturally loved torture and that was there way of sharing love with each other, when you entered that society you would demonize them and if you had enough power you would slaughter them so they couldn't SPREAD THEIR EVIL (from your perspective). If they had the power they would defend their culture and aim to annihilate you for trying to suppress their expression of love. THIS is only something you can understand if you open your mind and stop being close-minded.

Bias makes you stupid, because it limits your ability to understand. The only difference between God and Human when it comes to intelligence is BIAS. As long as you hold your biased beliefs of how things  SHOULD BE, you will be an ignorant evil human who demonizes anything they do not understand and justifies their point of view as ABSOLUTE GOODNESS.

So do you want to actually get closer to your divinity and increase your intelligence? Or do you still prefer to be an ignorant human who kills things everyday but creates self-serving distinctions to avoid feeling bad. For example....God does not love insects any less than humans. But as a human you value human life more than insects. Its why when you see an insect in your room you kill it. Just understand that  humans are self-serving demons who go around convincing themselves that they are the HIGHEST GOOD and as a result destroy the environment, animals, and each other and have to deny they do this by playing the victim and demonizing the other.

Edited August 29, 2023 by Razard86

[Leo Gura]

3 hours ago, SQAAD said:

Why am i biased against being tortured by some Mexican drug cartel for hours? Because it automatically feels awful, terrible.

You have to look at it objectively, from an absolute POV. From an absolute POV feeling terrible is no better or worse than feeling good. The very notion of better or worse does not exist at the absolute level.

How you feel about a thing does not mean anything in the absolute sense.

Edited August 29, 2023 by Leo Gura

[Butters]

45 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

You have to look at it objectively, from an absolute POV. From an absolute POV feeling terrible is no better or worse than feeling good. The very notion of better or worse does not exist at the absolute level.

How you feel about a thing does not mean anything in the absolute sense.

Why isn't the absolute and the relative the same thing? I though solipsism means it's just me, just me, one thing. 

[Osaid]

The quote itself is limited and biased in a very human way, and you are just intuitively sensing that. It's putting another experience on a pedestal and discounting the human experience, which is ironically a very human thing to do. It hasn't integrated the logic of the human experience with the psychedelic experience (since the insight is being accessed through memory), and it's just like "This is absolute Truth and if you don't experience it you're wrong."

[SQAAD]

@Leo Gura

On 29/8/2023 at 9:09 PM, Leo Gura said:

You have to look at it objectively, from an absolute POV. From an absolute POV feeling terrible is no better or worse than feeling good. The very notion of better or worse does not exist at the absolute level.

How you feel about a thing does not mean anything in the absolute sense.

Why is that the case though? I don't understand.

You say that from an absolute POV feeling terrible is no better or worse than feeling good. 

I guess when you use the term ''better'' or ''worse'' you are talking about desirability.

[Razard86]

18 hours ago, SQAAD said:

@Leo Gura

Why is that the case though? I don't understand.

You say that from an absolute POV feeling terrible is no better or worse than feeling good. 

I guess when you use the term ''better'' or ''worse'' you are talking about desirability.

You keep thinking like the character, you need to think like a creator. When you write a story, if the character always lived in bliss...there is no story. If you started up Netflix and there was a story of a guy who always had from his perspective favorable outcomes and never any adversity...would you watch it?  No!!! It would bore you!! If someone told you that somewhere in that movie that he discovers he is God you would say that it was bad writing because of course he is God everything is always going his way!!!

Now notice what I just said? Understand that the ego is a construction of God...but also a limited, through both love and intelligence version of God. The ego is naturally a conditional, loving and honest actor. For it to develop it must be placed in varying conditions. This is why from the Absolute perspective feeling terrible is no better or worse is not better than feeling good because the purpose is not how you feel, the purpose is how close or far are you aligned with truth.

The way awakening is set up, the way God Realization is set up, it is a complex mental construction of trickery done by YOU!!! YOU have tricked yourself. We can call this you, the higher self or collective intelligence. What you think of yourself is a compartmentalization, the ego, and this compartmentalization needs to be deconstructed so you can access the infinite and awaken. Now every thought, emotion, and action is watched by your higher self for its INTENTION. You literally cannot lie to your higher self if you want to awaken. Your higher self KNOWS what you can handle and KNOW what you cannot as it can see INFINITE STEPS ahead. Awakening is the process of you learning to TRUST YOUR SELF. 

Notice that theme has always played out when it came to dealing with fear. A lack of trust in yourself, is self-judgment. A lack of faith in the awakening process is SELF-JUDGMENT with a capital S. Both SELF-JUDGMENT, and self-judgment are mirror reflections of each other. The only way to awaken is with a deep surrender. You have to OPEN YOUR HEART, with a desire to freely fall into the warm embrace of all that is with complete trust that Love will conquer all. Basically the path to God is an INNER ROMANCE. 

[Breakingthewall]

From the point of view of reality, everything is a perfectly balanced structure. Everything fits together, complements itself, in perfect synergy. nothing is missing and nothing is left over, to make the cosmos rotate in the precise direction. Birth is not better than death, or health than illness.

From the human point of view, everything is divided into good and bad, this is the engine of the evolution of life, if it were not like that it would be static. Life is born with a carrot to chase and a flame to run from. This is our basic software and from there all human complexity branches out. The carrot is the continuity of life, the flame it the end of life. Both are illusion because the life has not end, but they are the engine of evolution to more complex patterns. As they are illusory, they can be transcended, and the true nature can be realized. That's the work that we are doing, not easy of course

Edited September 7, 2023 by Breakingthewall

[Leo Gura]

On 9/6/2023 at 10:49 AM, SQAAD said:

@Leo Gura

Why is that the case though? I don't understand.

You say that from an absolute POV feeling terrible is no better or worse than feeling good. 

I guess when you use the term ''better'' or ''worse'' you are talking about desirability.

Think of it like this: consciousness can take on various forms. Each form is like an ice cream flavor. Objectively speaking no ice cream flavor is superior to any other. If you like one flavor other another that's due to a bias you have.

Can you see that all ice cream flavors are equally good?

Edited September 7, 2023 by Leo Gura

[tuku747]

"I like good things and I don't like bad things!!"

vs.

"I love everything!!"

Who's gonna have a better time?

Edited September 7, 2023 by tuku747

[Thought Art]

What about people who are into feeling pain?

[Yimpa]

3 minutes ago, Thought Art said:

What about people who are into feeling pain?

Masochism. 

[Leo Gura]

29 minutes ago, Nabd said:

But why does that matter?

It doesn't much matter if your goal is feeling comfortable. But there is another pursuit at play here which is truth and pure understanding. If you are trying to understand reality it matters very much that you recognize all of your biases as biases and don't confuse them with something fundamental.

The issue you're having is that you're not appreciating how much bias distorts your whole understanding of reality, and then how much that distorts how you live life.

Self-deception matters in the long-run.

Edited September 9, 2023 by Leo Gura

[Inliytened1]

On 8/29/2023 at 1:55 PM, Butters said:

Why isn't the absolute and the relative the same thing? I though solipsism means it's just me, just me, one thing. 

Because you make it two separate things.   You divide it.

[Razard86]

The Absolute and the Relative are the same thing. The Absolute, is the absence of all qualia. The Relative is the prescence of all qualia, with an ego identity that relates to it.

Close your eyes....Notice that black screen. That is the absolute. Notice you can push your awareness in any direction on that black screen and it will go on forever. Notice if you allow it...that black screen is also transparent and can turn into a dream if you allow your mind to wander. Notice that you can also go BLANK and there can be NO SCREEN and absolutely nothing....this nothing...is your true nature. You can then realize if you pay attention that everything that you call something....is the SAME as that blank. It just vibrates. These vibrations express themselves in an infinite number of ways. But each vibration is impermanent, while the screen is always there...unchanging. Both are awareness. 

What is totally mind boggling is that screen is always aware....even if there is a blank out. That screen is eternity itself. That screen has always existed and will always exist....because it is a transparent nothing. This is why death does not exist and is a fantasy. What you call death is no different than you closing your eyes and going to sleep. This is why Awakening/Sleeping....are the same thing. 

[Princess Arabia]

32 minutes ago, Razard86 said:

Notice that you can also go BLANK and there can be NO SCREEN and absolutely nothing....this nothing...is your true nature.

Is this the same thing as when we say, " I just stared into space and came back". You know, like when we got jolted back into Reality from spacing out which only lasts for a few seconds? Hope you know what I mean. Our eyes are open when this happens.

[Yimpa]

@Princess Arabia I see it the opposite way. Instead of spacing out, it’s expansion of consciousness. Your sense of reality expands. 

[Princess Arabia]

Just now, Yimpa said:

@Princess Arabia I see it the opposite way. Instead of spacing out, it’s expansion of consciousness. Your sense of reality expands. 

Yea but I wanted to know if that's what he meant. Ever had that happen when you space out for a few secs and come back. Like you went blank.

[Yimpa]

@Princess Arabia Yes, yesterday in fact while I was out grocery shopping. It was unreal, until I snapped back to mundane human crap.