Leo Gura

@Aftermarket I have a good book on my book list about the problems people face with kundalini and how to deal with them, and how to awaken your kundalini safely. Seems like your kundalini awakening was more of an energetic thing, and gave you little insight into the nature of reality. That's okay. That's further than most people have gotten, so don't get discouraged. You just need to learn how to integrate it properly, and then continue with other practices like self-inquiry. If you want insight into reality, I recommend doing more contemplative practices rather than just meditation. You need to actively wonder about what reality is, not just sitting in silence or pumping energy into your body. You need to begin existential questioning. Like... Why does reality exist? What is death? What is awareness? What is God?

Consciousness of the Absolute is beyond the mind. You're not being asked to trust the mind at that point. In fact, you're conscious there is no mind. Skepticism takes you to the very edge of the mind, then you go into direct nondual experience, which is beyond mind, beyond concepts, beyond doubt, beyond skepticism. The Absolute is the end result of skepticism. Skepticism goes full-circle into absolute knowing that everything is unknown being. No, "OMG, I'M GOD, I'M INFINITY!" is not ego. That's the Absolute. To the outside observer, of course, they cannot tell the difference.

@Martin123 He/she asked about "being fully awake".

@Aftermarket Do you know what reality is? Do you know what you are? Do you know what the world is? Do you know what God is? Do you know what the Absolute is? Do you know why everything exists? Do you know what death is? Do you know what other beings are? Do you know that there is no doership and everything is inevitable? If you said NO to any of the above, you've got further to go. If you are unsure, or unclear about any of the above, you've got further to go. And even if you said YES to the all the above, you still probably have further to go. You want to go so deep that you can no longer distinguish the rest of the world, and all the people in it, from your physical body. Every object you look at should appear as the Absolute to you. You should be able to sit for 4 hours straight and be at peace, content, without any restlessness within you.

@Angelo John Gage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia You seeing Lucifer reveals more about your mind, than it does about me.

Yes, the Absolute is the most ordinary thing. During an awakening moment, it will feel extraordinary and mindblowing because you're going through a breakthrough. But then, when that passes, you look around and you realize that the ordinary world you've always been stuck in is none other than the Absolute. The turd floating the your toilet is the Absolute. And so is everything else. The Godhead can be glimpsed, and that's amazing and mindblowing. But then you realize that everything is God, no matter what state you are in. I did mention it a bit. I'm not in any kind of permanent state of samadhi, but I do understand that everything I look at is myself, and God, and the Absolute. There is nothing but the Absolute. But of course my mind is still not fully peaceful. It still wants more. Which is where I have to train myself with mindfulness practices and so on. This is where Eckhart Tolle's advice really shines: BE IN THE NOW. But this only makes sense AFTER you'd really penetrated through to the Godhead. Until then, that advice falls flat because you don't know that the NOW is the Absolute, and you don't know what the Absolute is. I am trying to be more mindful that all human beings who I interact with are in fact myself. I understand the truth of it, it's just that my mind has 30 years of bad habits to unwire. If I'm mindless in my interactions, I treat people as "other". If I slow down and practice deliberate mindfulness, then I remember, "Oh yeah! This person is actually myself!" The whole trick is that you wake up to the truth, but then the mind loves to fall back into its old unconscious ways. So I'm trying to practice a lot more mindfulness now to keep myself reminded of the truth.

@Max_V Yeah, I used to get that a lot. It's a very sneaky defense mechanism. The more you practice, the more you break it down. Doing the work right after a nap is a good trick. But watch how the ego tricks your trick. It will come up with excuses for why not to self-inquire after a good nap. So if it's not sleepiness, there will come up some other "legit" excuse.

That's why it's called the Gateless Gate. Neo-Advaita has some good stuff in it, but it's also very flawed. People following Neo-Advaita are not likely to go all the way to the full depths of consciousness. Because consciousness is more nuanced and complex than Neo-Advaita leads us to believe. It over-simplifies things too much and can lead to Zen devilry. But there are dangers with every teaching, so... whatever. If Neo-Advaita were strictly right, why would any other teachings exist? Why would there be so many books written on this subject? Why so much complexity discussed?

@Mighty Mouse The elephant has many parts.

@Mighty Mouse I always leave room for broader and deeper.

@NoSelfSelf Yes, there is much more to see and understand.

Which is a commonly recognized trap: "When you meet the Buddha, kill him." But of course, saying it and doing it are two very different things. The problem with devotional paths is that the devotional figure itself becomes the chief obstacle. It happens all too often with Christians. They are too afraid to realize that they literally are Christ.

@AlwaysBeNice There's a good reason they were quickly banned in the late 60's. People's minds were being opened too easily, and that doesn't bode well for the status quo and the egos in power. But also ordinary people abuse them too easily, misunderstanding the truth being shown.

Both A sudden strike is often years in the making, like a dormant volcano. And much work remains afterwards for integration and embodiment, and further enlightenment experiences. There's no easy, binary way out, the way most people love to assume.

That is interesting. Yes, I supposed in practice even dogs have a sort of proto-ego, because they are rather advanced animals. But usually, animals are surrendered to the moment. Even if they are sad or angry, it's less of an ego thing than with humans. Enlightened people can also be sad or angry. They just don't resist it so much.

Life is a constant struggle for physical survival. This is true for lions and antelope as it is for an enlightenment master in a Zen monastery. Modern society just allows us to outsource much of the "dirty work" of survival. But survival must still take place if the physical body is to stay alive for longer than a few weeks. Enlightenment actually deactivates the Default Mode Network in the brain. So it's sort of like getting a lobotomy. You basically go brain dead at the deepest levels of enlightenment.

@captainamerica I will explain everything in the next video.

1) It will happen, just accept it. This journey is often 2 steps forward, 1 step backward. Sometimes 2 steps backward. Sometimes 3 steps backward. The key is to just keep going and re-commit yourself every new day. 2) Have a strong vision and think about it frequently. So you have some noble beckoning you. 3) Pace yourself intelligently. If you bite off too much too fast, you're actually slow down your progress. You need to learn -- through trial and error -- just how much change you're able to stomach in a given week, month, year. The more noble and compelling your vision, the more change you will be able to stomach. When my vision is really HOT, I find myself able to make lots of changes and they stick pretty well. When my vision is weak, I find myself backsliding a lot. 4) Learn to be your own cheerleader. When you fail and backslide, learn how to console yourself, reassure yourself, and cheer-lead your spirits back up. Learn positive self-talk rather than dumping all over yourself. 5) Mindfulness is huge 6) Psychedelics are huge. I've found that nothing gets me in touch with my authentic motivations better than psychedelics. They clear out all the extraneous materialistic crap. Although they too can have their own backlashes.

@Steph1988 Moving out and become self-sufficient is a huge step forward for anyone in their 20s. It will be tough to do serious development work while living with your family. They will suck you back into your own patterns. They will be threatened by changes you're making. So it's best to do that on your own. Your mind will entrain to your family's level of consciousness. You also feel a sense of power and autonomy when you're not beholden to someone else paying your bills or providing you a roof. You want to become independent so you can set your own healthy standards and not have to put up with low consciousness crap from other people. If it takes you a few years to establish this level of autonomy, it will be worth it. I'd consider it a foundation for all future personal development work. Then again, if you're stuck living with your folks for the next year or two, don't make that into an excuse not do the work. You can still grow enormously if you apply yourself. And since you're young, you've got a lot of energy to invent into this. So really, it's good both ways. The more toxic your family is, the faster you should be aiming to move out. To be financially independent feels so GOOD!

These videos are meant to be stepping stones for people. To get people interested in doing the work. It's hard to get someone to do the work without first titillating their mind with cool concepts.

@MM1988 Animals don't need to become enlightened, they're already surrendered to reality. They have no illusion of doership. They already flow. Which is why you don't find depressed cats. The only one who needs to become enlightened is YOU. Nobody else. Once you are enlightened, the whole world is enlightened because you are the world.

@ZX_man Nonsense. This is why we question dogma and think for ourselves rather than listening to Buddhist scriptures. "Man" or "Woman" is a false identity anyhow. What you are isn't a man or woman. And in fact, your consciousness is identical to that of every other living creature, from an ant to an elephant to a space alien. All of you are identical.

Yes, the weekly videos will continue. I'm just working on making myself more authentic within them, and trying to make them more potent.

Lots of speculation going on. That's okay. As expected. Firstly, I appreciate all your support and love and passion. Secondly, I just shot a new video which explains and gives context to the last video. That should answer most of your questions. So just hang on. It will be uploaded in the next day or two. I do not claim any kind of "enlightened" status. It's best to see me as just a guy, like yourself, who shared a powerful experience via one video.

I've been under full anesthesia when I was a teenager. But it felt no different than deep sleep. Just a blank, and then I woke up in a foul mood. I wonder why some people remain conscious???