Enlightenment Guided Inquiry
By Leo Gura - May 2, 2016 | 56 Comments
The Neti Neti Method
Paz says: Is it me or you seem to be becoming enlightenment obsessed? Won’t be long before you go to that cave to really ‘find yourself’ or something
Mayur Ghule says: Not watched video yet but really exited, will watch soon after my college exams .
Thank You in advance
Exited to watch- not this not that method
Mayur 
stephanie says: After your last enlightenment video you had lost me, now watching this I understand what you mean. One question: you say the nothingness is a field. What makes you come to this “conclusion”?
HuskyGuy says: Shit Man, Damn!
Has been experienced..I was just sitting on my bed in the dark Room…this has fucking gave perspective to( my )entire freakin existance!
It had like at first, yeah, I’m not the senses, their (experiences)within this self aware nothingness field ..
DAMN! Then when Leo said “OK, now try to locate yourself” I tried and thought “oh my freaking god! I can’t because it is my thoughts looking for a (sense of me) its like playing hide and go seek with myself..
I don’t know about you guys but my existential experience (not I ) within this nothingness field is on board with this!
Over time I’ll crack this nut but and my view, perception, understanding of self and experiences will drastically transform for ever
Xueying says: Thank you Leo! I’ve been learning related stuff for a while thus feeling in resonance what you talking about, although only in a theoretical way, no real experience that yet. What I like most about your work is, these stuff are kind of abstract and fuzzy, sometimes I feel I can understand it but cannot express it out. But you are doing a really good job, bringing spiritual stuff closer to “common people” in a very relatively clear way. Actually not sure whether it’s really clear enough for everyone but at least you are providing a path connecting everyday personal growth/management to higher possibilities.Thank you and good luck with everything!
Gavin says: This video is amazing. I’m pretty sure I got a glimpse of enlightment by following along yesterday! I really didn’t think I’d be capable of experiencing anything, but then I got to a certain point of the exercise… I literally felt like I was clawing/grasping inside myself, like my body was an empty shell, looking for some sense of where “I” reside… I started to get very frustrated that I couldn’t find what I was looking for.
That’s when Leo informed me that that’s what I am, that something clicked… that I wasn’t there to be found. I got the briefest “experience” where I kind of started to both laugh and even cry a little bit at the same time. I could’ve sworn it felt like there were cold rays emanating out from my chest in all directions, sort of like piercing through me to the outside. It all happened so fast and was over so quickly, that I’m wasn’t even sure what had happened or if I really had had an enlightenment experience. I definitely feel like I got a sense of what the technique was trying to evoke!
Thanks so much Leo! Should I just keep practicing the technique / watching the video over and over? Or should I meditate on what I “experienced”? Not sure what to do next!
Leo Gura says: Do both!
Dave says: Amazing video Leo.thank you.I followed along and definitely got to the point where I couldn’t find myself anywhere and the nothingness seemed to be expanding and deeper somehow.I’m a bit unsure though as thoughts kept popping up now and again if it was completely aware of itself or I was conceptualizing through thought..I didn’t want to open my eyes though when you said it was the end
neil byrne says: I almost fell asleep so I had to open my eyes but I felt a strange sense of calm and peace for a split second and then I could feel it all rushing away from me and I tried to hold on to it or remember how it felt and ended up becoming frustrated and confused because I could barley remember how I felt.
Kevin says: Or…I AM THAT. No difference.
Monika says: i actually never write comments but now i must to share that at the peak of the visualisation where you was guiding to really look for myself and when i found nothing and then i accepted that i could be this nothing wow i believe that was a moment, only few seconds of literally nothingness but that was very emotional too suddenly tears dropped from my eyes without realising at all. very very short experience followed big emotion. could i be wrong about having that moment ?
PG says: Perfect timing for this video. Just finished a week with Ralston (just missed you by a couple of hours apparently) and had an excellent experience. Ready to push forward with the contemplation. I’ve listened to the majority of your videos at least once and all of your enlightenment-related videos multiple times. The information you provided gave me key insights at times and at other times I felt it stifled my “not knowing”. Hard to say what and how much information is a good thing when dealing with this topic. Overall, I look forward to your enlightenment-related videos and find new insights every time I listen to them. Overall, they are very encouraging and keep me moving forward along the path to enlightenment! Keep up the great work!
Lei says: I have to say this video more like from a Buddha’s talking.
An says: Thanks (i think). Me is like the not ending universe. I cant figure out that in my mind too.
Kevin says: Leo, will enlightenment essentially extrovert a person? Make them abandon the search. Abandon the psychic?
Leo Gura says: It tends to extrovert a person in the sense that it gets you realize that you are out there, and not so much in here.
bahaa says: we have reached to this theory since one thousand year, where we believe in reincarnation, all what you own even your body is not your’s. You really are the soul, that transferred from body to body and permanently.
thank you Leo, you are taking me to the depth of the life, to self actualization despite I am still far from it.
Mark says: Extremely fascinating Leo! I have always asked myself, “How did I get to be me?” “Why me?” “How did my consciousness become who I recognize as me?”
Okay, so this infinite nothingness is having trillions, if not infinite experiences. For what purpose does it do this? Does it benefit by this. Does it have a singular consciousness? Does knowing this benefit the experience of me? Does this nothingness control the experience of me, how the experience of me plays out as my life?
Do you think that your thoughts, as Leo Gura, influence this infinite field of nothingness, or do you think that it works only one way? If not, why not? Is this the universe experiencing itself? Can I use this knowledge or my vague understanding of this nothingness field to make the experience of me, my life, better than it might otherwise be?
I truly find this utterly fascinating. Any insight you might have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Kasia says: Thank you, Leo! You are an amazing trainer.
Brett Miller says: Leo: Thanks for this interpretation of Neti Neti. I have tried this technique a few times before and always felt the experience was one of the attempt getting quickly crushed by my conceptual mind and the fury of reason trying to butt in.
This time, there were a few subtle pointers that I seem to bring this technique finally within reach. No dramatic breakthrough yet, for me, with self inquiry, yet I now have a detour around some of my earlier stumbling blocks, to the point where I think this technique may now be useful.
Also, I may know where it leads, having had a few experiences of a more “natural” or unintentional kind that actually lead to the fruition of this, or at least the phenomenon which should have been so, except that my ego was quaking in fear of the unknown such that by the time I sorted out the insight, it had likely been distorted by the overconceptualization of time and imagination.
But having several experiences in a similar vein, one might develop an internal compass pointing in the right direction for Neti Neti…perhaps.
I will just say that much of our fears, as beings, lead back to this. …and that’s not as bad a thing as it sounds, for those on such a “path”.
Really great communication Leo!!! Not too much, not too little.
If everything goes right, I may do some consciousness work with Ralston in the fall.
Great video Leo. Definitely did not experience the life-shifting nothingness but this was the first enlightenment video you’ve made that I feel has really gotten through to me and given me the proper direction towards enlightenment (not knocking your other videos). Thank you!
Carol says: How dare you tell me I’m nothing! Wait a minute…this is not so bad, not bad at all. If I am nothing, I have nothing to fear.
Seli says: What is change then, and everything that changes? Is there “everything”, or “everything” is “nothing”?
Thank you Leo for this insightful episode! “I” have found nothingness four years ago, and since then “I” have been trying to repeat that, and watching this video is the closest nothingness to that nothingness “I” felt four years ago.
If you don’t answer to my questions, I will embrace them as paradoxes of personal development and life in general. Thank “you” anyway…
This is truly the deepest thing to know, feel, be…whatever!
Mike says: first time commenting, here goes.
Dear leo,
firstly, idk where id be in life had i never clicked on your enlightenment intro vid in youtube & eventually subscribing to your website. probably stuck full speed in pointless egoic pursuits… so an infinately HUGE thanks to you brother, i think your work truely is an asset to humanity!
about this weeks visualization, the fact that i honestly ‘dont know for sure if i had a nothingness experience or ego death’ probably speaks for itself that i didnt
What confuses me tho, is the fact that ive been watching your material for almost 6 months now and never had as intense of an emotional reaction as i did w/this visualization the moment you started to mention about i ‘am’ the nothing that i fail to find myself in. After learning so much about reality and the truth of no self for months now, i thought i was past the whole ‘getting mind fucked’ by your vids, but holy shyt!! Idk if it was the way you worded it, or my ego having a fit, or maybe i DID experience being nothing for half a second, but it was like a jolt of lighting going down my spine and my body got intense shivers w/some watery eyes on the side!
a question for you tho, i always assume youre against it but i walways wonder why: ive been so jealous of my roomate as he’s had an ego death experience in the past from while tripping on shrooms, and has described it to me just as you have w/enlightenment perspective. Have you thought of trying to enduse the perspective by such means before? Why why not? email me? thanks again!
Leo Gura says: You can’t get enlightened through psychedelics. They just produce temporary states of oneness, which is not gonna cut it, not even close! It’s like cheating on a physics test and expecting to become Albert Einstein. It won’t work!
But you’re welcome to try.
Ana says: The only experience I had is that I am something out there not inside here…I have tried to think/imagine/feel the nothingness but it’s not working
Ahdriam says: Wow it felt as if the video was 20 minutes long. I actually felt the nothingness but I still fail to grasp it, if I didn’t have a mind I could not watch this video and I could not come to the realization that I am nothing, won’t it make the part of my mind that was looking for ‘me’ and not finding ‘me’ actually me?
Leo Gura says: It goes way deeper than that. You’re still identifying with experiences. Nothingness is not located in the mind, head, or body.
Mike says: It was a freeky experience. I experienced stillness…like there is no past, present or future in this nothingness.
Fernando says: We join spokes together in a wheel,
But it is the center hole that makes the wagon.
We shape clay into a pot,
But it is the emptiness inside
That holds whatever we want.
We hammer wood for a house,
But it is the inner space
That makes it livable.
We work with being,
But non-being is what we use.
Jess says: Beautifully said Fernando. Same to Leo. there is, presumably, always more to uncover. Keep up the search as always, there seems to be an underlying pattern that is at the root of all existence, (maybe…) and that seems, to me, to be a blessing for anyone to appreciate should their minds be open enough to the nth degree? Now what is it for real? I’d be quick to say that it’s knowledge that, if used correctly, would become sacrifice to new, fresh “knowledge”, only for such newly gained knowledge to surrender itself for different (knowledge? Or is it beliefs?), but really I…
aiswaria says: for the first time I felt what I am….!
Italo says: Hey Leo!
What do you think about Kriya Yoga technique to achieve enlightenment? I am reading The autobiography of a Yogee, and it is put as the fastest “path” to free the “self” from ilusion.
tks
Leo Gura says: It is ONE path out of MANY.
There is no fastest path. Every person is different and will resonant with a different path. The fastest path for you might be the slowest path for me.
For this reason, I recommend studying multiple paths.
Michael says: So.. I had a vague experience of nothingness
Not all the way pitch dark but a little bit..the love was deep and
Unexplainable.. it was awesome, I can’t imagine what the full experience feels like… my new drug! If I can get the full experience.. seems to work good at night time and in darkness.
The word that nothingness that I think of it is love
But that doesn’t even come close to explanning how beautiful
The mini experience felt.. I WANT more!!! Can’t wait to try tonight
Is it harder during the day? Lol
Leo Gura says: Just be careful not to confuse whatever mystical experiences you’re having with Nothingness. They are a different things. Nothingness is much harder to get to.
But yeah, keep going.
Eelco says: Hi Leo, the first time I did the visualization (the day the video was launched) I had an experience like seeing a black hole. I stepped into it. I felt like I was falling. Like walking through a dark room and then stepping in a hole. It was unexpected and I flinched. Sometimes during the day when I have a moment of peace and try to be nothingness, I feel this sensation of falling. If I persist it is like trying drowning myself. Or to suffocate myself. Am I on the right path? Or have I just created this experience with my mind? Secondly, the more I watch the video, the more my mind objects rationally: why should I be a constant? My mind says that I am the brain or part of it and yes it is changing, but so is the city of New York. New York today is not what is was when it was created, but it is still New York. Have you got tips to silence these objections of the mind? tnx.
Leo Gura says: The body is of course changing. But who said it was you at all? Like seriously! Why do you think you are a body AT ALL??? Because the mind says so? And why do you think you’re the mind AT ALL??? Because the mind says so?
You see how circular your logic is? You only identify with the mind/body because mind says so. But mind saying so has nothing to do with it being actually true. If the mind said you are a racoon, would you believe that too? It’s insane!!! Literally insane!
New York city doesn’t have a problem because it doesn’t identify itself as a city. You do. In effect, New York city doesn’t exist. It only exists as a label in your mind. And you only exist as a label in “your” mind.
Whatever experience you have is by definition not you. If you think you’re a black hole experience, that means whenever the black hole experience is absent you don’t exist.
You are not an experience or emotion of any kind.
If you want to claim you aren’t a constant, then you have to resolve the problem of why you experience consciousness continuously, as a constant. Your awareness of the world doesn’t black out except during deep sleep. What is it that’s aware? Nothing?
Elton says: If I use this audio while meditation will my meditation session still be counted as a session? Or do I need to do this outsidemy meditation session?
Ryan says: Leo why make to first 40 min of a video something that you already went over in previous videos. Just tell people to go check out past videos and please just get straight to the point!I can understand doing a over view but this is crazy!It gets really DRY after listening to the same thing over and over again. Please just get straight to the point!!! Thanx Leo
Elisabeth says: No “enlightenment” for sure, but enough to get me scared by the experience that I cannot find myself.
Yvonne says: Nothing is anything and everything is nothing. That totally blowed my mind!
Ani says: Hi Leo
Mind blowing – could this nothingness also be refered to as energy? Constant, everywhere but nowhere to be located? That is how I ‘see’ myself……
Gergely says: Hey there!
I don’t know if the experience (or lack thereof to be precise) was “it”, but it sure was so damn profound that towards the end I had to laugh, because it was so simple, and total bliss washed over me. Hell, I’m still a bit awed.
Words – concepts – truly can’t describe it, just as you said in your other videos. Anytime I try to think about it, it escapes me, because it really was so empty, that there is really nothing to describe, so it isn’t even worth discussing, I feel I can’t communicate the essence of it, however hard I try
It was the most incredible video of yours concerning enlightenment in my humble opinion.
Take good care, and thank you for doing the awesome work that you do!
Greetings from Hungary
Stefon says: The search
Hi Leo-
Do you think in our vast field of infinite self awareness of nothingness do you think we go on after our physical bodies die and we are self aware eternally? Does this make sense?
Than you in advance
Leo Gura says: There is no “we” to go on. “We” doesn’t exist! There is only Nothingness. It’s what you currently are and what you always were before “you” were “born” and what you will be after “you” die.
Yann says: Here is a clue that the self is not an entity but only a thought: when you try to talk to it ( to your “self”), and ask it for example : “do you mind if you collapsed?”. Notice how it does not react, in fact! It does not care at all ! Because it’s not an entity…
Jess says: Extraordinary. Potentially Awesome! Thank NO thing for what “experiences” are “experienced” because no thing truly exists. Beautiful but never absolute, your videos are; looking forward to checking in on this same video some time later and to stay tuned with your other ones of course. Well done. Good luck on your journey. Thanks a million, till next time.
Natalia says: i follow you, and cant find myself and then became scared cause I thought I was going to die, so my question was: who is dying? Me, Who is me? a voice? a Voice is dying? what is dying? is change.. change is always happening. am I a change? what is change? change is transformation.. but those all are words.. so if i cant define what I am with words. am I silence? what is silence? is nothing? what is nothing? nothing is nothing…. so I freak out… but still let pass the feel of scared be on my body.. but i know Im not fear.. What im? What the universe is? can my mind ever get that?
hahahaha so this where i am, am I too lost? haha
Nothingness is a concept. Not non-duality. Careful.
“The tao that can be named is not the Eternal Tao.”
(If memory serves me right)
If one must i prefer, size up VOID if you will, which is so empty that it even lacks nothingness.
Why ? Coz I say so!
? Does VOID lack voidness?
Opps, now you got me……….boom…….brain explodes.
Tadeusz says: From my early years I was imagining myself: “How there can’t be nothing, emptyness”, and damn, I just can’t conceive it till now. Can You?
Is the “reality” (not ours phisical but that all infinitely nothingness) much more complicated that itself can figure out?
Karel 
Max Raoy Gron says: What I found out in this primitive technique is simple, I understand. This nothing’s a contradiction, I’m not anything Leo, you or me say I am, except that I’m me, I’m not nothing, that leaves room to just be myself and do nothing, just being, I’m me holding onto beliefs of what I think and norms I ascribe myself, therefore I’m a believer and I’m normal or conventional.