tsuki

@egoeimai Voice commenting on its own obnoxiousness and dismissing itself

@okulele You do realize that it is the voice that judges itself to be obnoxious, do you? It says things about itself when you say that it says something. It even says that it doesn't let itself out to justify having two faces. The internal and external. It can get pretty wild if you look at it detached.

@okulele What about speaking out loud? Do you 'let' the voice out?

@Rilles During self-inquiry. I never used it as a mantra, but if that's what you do, you may have to try it yourself. When I was in meditative state this pair of sentences would often produce big traction.

What was helpful for me is to repeat: I am not the Voice. The Voice is not the Voice.

When you look for the nature of reality, you are not a man that has been born blind. You do not acquire sight as you become aware of the nature of reality. It is a matter of recognizing what already is and seeing it for what it is. Language can be helpful in doing that.

A lot of my spiritual development came through reconciliation of the abstract and practical. My day-to day job consists of analyzing documentation of various parts of a tool we're building and developing plans for manufacturing. These plans are then implemented by me as programs for CNC milling machines, or as electrodes for EDM treatment. I also work on CFD simulations for injection processes. The abstract and practical are two sides of the same coin. There is no abstraction without practicality and vice versa. I can express my work as 100% abstract, or 100% practical, depending on the given situation. In the abstract terms, my job consists 100% of planning and preparation which is then executed by other employees and machines. I understand various ways in which a part can be machined and decide which ones are optimal for a given context in which the workshop currently is. I then compile these ways as a plan and explain it to various employees and machines. To convey the plan to people by creating 2D and 3D documentation with annotations and talk to them and explain it. To convey the plan to machines by creating programs to be executed on milling machines for specific parts and electrodes for EDM treatment that I also design. There is a lot of theoretical, physical, knowledge involved in this process, and the process itself is mostly planning. I a sense I defer all of the responsibility to other employees they are concerned with execution of what I developed. In the practical terms, my job consists 100% of technical knowledge how to physically manufacture things. I have to understand the optimal ways to do certain things and this knowledge is not conveyed in textbooks. Even though I work on a computer, there are a lot of technical details on how to operate the programs I work with. They are directly linked to the way the manufacturing is performed, so I need to work in a way that makes other people's lives easier. I have to know how they work and what is difficult for them so the we cooperate smoothly and efficiently. In a sense, I have to imaginatively perform every action that a further employee has to do physically when implementing the plan. From this perspective, my job is 100% practical. As funny as I sounds, I now think about my job neither as practical, nor abstract. I just work. I think by performing practical steps to describe the plan. In a sense, I don't think at all. The thinking and the doing became intertwined. Just like in martial arts. I think that it has to do with mastery of skills required for the job. I've been doing this for about 10 years, 3 of which in the current company. I used to do that. I was worried about the plans that were implemented when I was at home. The company works 3 shifts, 6 days per week. The problem with obsessive worrying came from the fact that I was over-emphasizing the abstract perspective on my work. I used to worry that I will not deliver the results, so I created elaborate plans. Then I used to worry that my elaborate plans would not be accepted, so I defended them fiercely. Then, I used to worry that they would not be implemented the way I wanted, so I controlled everybody. It all changed once my expertise became high enough so that I understood that there is no correct way to do things. All plans have their ups and downs that always balance each out evenly. Any irregularity in balancing caused by not looking hard enough, so instead of creating a single, long, plan I explore different options up to certain point and have them on a standby. The work became much more chaotic, but paradoxically - I'm much calmer and have better results. It also is related to the fact that I'm not thinking of myself as highly as before. I'm just a piece of this company and as I understood that thinking is practical - I became much more trusting in other people's ingenuity when things go wrong. Things started to get better as I started meditation, actually. When I was willing to apply the spiritual teachings in my everyday life. It may have something to do with the fact that I'm an engineer. I apply theory to solve practical problems. Spirituality is a great tool for solving all problems. Now, that I mostly don't worry at all at home - I have a lot of free time to learn spirituality. It's been of great help to me. Do you have any more questions? Perhaps something related to your specific problems?

What kind of work do you do? I'm involved in building tools for injection molding. As a technologist, I invent ways to machine parts for tools and oversee the process in general. Do you have any specific questions?

Awareness is equal parts conscious and unconscious. Body is an integral part of the environment. Mind is matter. It is both yin and yang. Reality is such that these dualities are illusory. The boundary between them cannot be strictly defined. The boundary between black and white is Ego. It is arbitrary and fuzzy. Seeming dualities blend when inspected closely. The imprisonment you speak of is the expression of ego. In reality you are both consciousness and unconsciousness. The fact that you cannot 'see' the unconscious part is what makes you identify with the conscious part. The other mistake is that you think that you are 'doing' it. You're not. A tortured person may be hurt, but suffering comes from rejection of the pain. You can be in pain and yet, not suffer. The pain is brought to you by the 'black', 'unconscious', 'unseen' part. It has no origin. It simply is. If you do not accept it as yours, you will fight it. Since it is you, you cannot win with it. Hence suffering. When you don't know what suffering is - you may suffer because of pleasure and mistake it for desire to be satisfied. Suffering is the other face of desire. The argument that you cannot manipulate matter with mind is absurd. Have you ever tried to manipulate matter with mind? Did it work? Is it physically impossible, or perhaps you simply don't know how to do it? Or is it perhaps that it is physically impossible because you don't know how to do it? What if physical impossibility is just lack of skill/knowledge?

Did you ever notice that the English symbol for 'I' is a line? A line that divides to fragments, and yet - all fragments touch it forming a whole. It's like the language itself mocks us. It lets us ask, but forbids to answer. When you know, you cannot say. When you say, you cannot know. Reality is perfect.

Fuck yes it is. A miracle.

We all start somewhere. Even those that have deep understanding of spirituality. Accepting your ignorance is a good place to start if you're willing to rely on yourself in your pursuit of understanding. That is what I meant in the original post.

@Dali Llama Sorry, I was being a smartass. What does our opinion matter to you?

One can never be wrong by calling oneself stupid. You'll fit right in.

Truth resides within the title itself: absolute infinity. The infinity so infinite that it contains itself. It's nonsense. The rest of the video is unpacking of this concept. Reality is a paradox. It does not compute. You are this absolute infinity. An animal that can contain itself within its mind. Nonsense that is existence.

Truth is nonsensical to the mind. It does not compute. It doesn't matter what he says as long as it is nonsense. There is one nonsense, just as there is one truth. I don't think that his video is a satire. It is a honest and accurate explanation.

@Jarrad Your crisis is rooted in your trust in reason. Reason is a man-made concept related to other man-made concepts of cause and effect. You are not doing things because you have reasons to do them. Things do themselves and you narrate them as you go. We think that we do things because we want to do them. To us, will is a cause of actions. The problem is that will is an action in itself and we very rarely want to want before we want. How is then our wanting ours, if wanting is not caused by us? It isn't. Wanting simply is and we define ourselves against or in accord with it. Human animal has no capacity for reason in the sense of imposing its will onto reality through actions. Reality plays itself out through our wants, desires, reasons and meanings. We are mere puppets. Godly puppets but still, puppets. To claim ownership of Logos, Tao, etc is a grave mistake. To let go of control is to gain freedom. Isn't that the greatest paradox?

Difficult to say as people call ego all sorts of different things. If you call ego the body-mind living human being 'name surname' real person, then yes. You can further refine this concept and start noticing its effect in everyday situations. From my point of view, ego is always present even if I'm aware that I'm not the 'name surname' person. This way I'm not concerned as much as being in any state in particular and awareness simply flows and perspective always shifts unconstrained. As for mystical states - I'm experiencing them quite frequently, but I'm not seeing them as the objective of seeking. They are more of an experience of great awe and wonder about the world. Working on noticing obviousness seems to help a lot in moving towards this. So - are you deceiving yourself? Yes. Result of self-deception is reality. In your current reality you're questioning whether you're enlightened or not. You had a thought-image that you thought that you are enlightened, but this thought-image has questionable certainty. You can only answer this question through the same mechanism that creates the deception you are trying to dispel. Even if I answer your question, you will not question my answer if you want to have any sort of certainty. Any concrete truth you cling to is born out of self-deception. You cannot cling to the truth of being enlightened if you are truly enlightened.

I'm strong enough to love my weaknesses.

There is no difference between matter being intelligent and you seeing it as intelligent. Is matter governed by laws of cause and effect and obeys physical, mechanical rules? Or does matter simply move intelligently and you are simply trying to explain its movements with made-up mythologies?

@Colin knew what @Prabhaker said and this is why he disagreed. Isn't that the funniest thing in the world?

@astrokeen I wrote about them here: If you have any questions - ask them there.

Cynicism in the modern sense is a self-referential expression of the absurd. You point out the absurd in others and by doing so you notice the absurdity in yourself. Absurd is rejected by the modern rationalists. This is why cynicism is usually bitter, or perceived by bitter by others. The absurd is a necessary occurrence in the rational world so that humans can keep being human. The absurd has to be cherished alongside rationalism. This is the path that changes irony into sincirety in cynicism. No definition of humans will ever be complete. Even the definition that states that humans are undefinable.

Spirituality is a human game like any other. You can have a perfectly meaningful life as a grocery store clerk, or a lawyer. It is our curious assumption that society is broken that leads us into spititual life because it is somehow pure. Spirituality is pure because it is empty. It has no substance to be corrupted. You live by not-living. You sit and call it meditation. Meditation is just a name that is being marketed as a practice. So is the whole of spirituality. If you cannot see through it, you may use it as a means to strengthen the sense of superiority that had led you to it in the first place. Emptiness of spirituality has advantages, like any other lifestyle. You can stand beside society and see through it. There is no value in that as long as you do not give your insights back to it. You are a part of it by parting from it. You are a singularity. A society within itself. You cannot comment constructively unless you stop being ironic. Inrony is insencire. It has no redeeming quality that gives back to society. This is how alienation is born and perpetuated. In order to see through others, you first need to see through yourelf.

Life is not about you. Did anybody ask you whether you would like to live? No. You were born into this place without any say in the matter. Don't expect life to give you directions on your limitations.