abrakamowse

I love that Temple!

I am not sure if my path is following Non-duality or Christianity I feel lost as usual. I found Non-duality to have a lot of common things with Christ sayings, but I feel that somehow focusing in Christ and praying makes me more aware than meditation. But I am not sure, maybe is time to practice and see via direct experience.

Adyashanti was bald too, not so long ago...

One of the best videos Leo did so far... IMO

Here you can find some interesting books that in my opinion are closer to what Christ wanted to say: http://www.christianmystics.com/Ebooks/Christian_Mystics.html

No one is going to tell you that, and if they tell you what is true. Are you going to believe it? The most important thing is "What do you think?" or better yet... "What's your direct experience with Satan?" What is Satan? Look into yourself for the answers.

Maybe that's the problem, I call consciousness the universal consciousness and the personal consciousness. Nis makes a distinction, he calls consciousness the personal one, and awareness the impersonal or transcendental/universal consciousness. The OP thinks that there's not such a thing as universal consciousness, so matter is something outside of consciousness in a world "out there".

If I am conscious it is in relation to being unconscious. If "I am" it is always in relation to the "not-me." If I am conscious it is always conscious OF something. Consciousness always has an object of which I am conscious. So while the realization of my identity as the "I am" is very much closer to reality than the idea that "I am so-and-so, a person" it is still a step away from the final realization of the absolute, that I am the non- dual awareness which is allowing the consciousness to be conscious. Awareness is that which is shining through the consciousness, but it is beyond the consciousness itself. So " awareness" is different from "consciousness" in Nisargadatta's talks. The pure awareness is the absolute, without which there can be no consciousness. More here: http://www.prahlad.org/disciples/premananda/essays/NISARGADATTA CONSCIOUSNESS AND AWARENESS.htm

Skipping? I am telling you that awareness does not need a brain to function. It's all around everything, it pervades everything. I told you I had an experience that showed me that, but you still think that my experience is not good.

If you didn't have consciousness. How did you body continue breathing, blood circulating, all the functions were working... how this happens if the consciousness is not there? The brain creates consciousness? What is that consciousness that continues operating in your body when you are in a coma or deep sleep? Is the brain that continues working while consciousness has gone? Where has it go? Maybe consciousness went shopping while you were asleep and then it came back, so you "regained it".

So, you were aware that you were unconscious. Do you see that? You are awareness.

Were you conscious of nothing happening when you were in a coma? You are aware that nothing is happening when you are in deep sleep, aren't you?

Consciousness transcends experience. How do you know that you did not experience anything during a coma? You just know that there was no experience while you were in a coma. You were aware of that fact, right? If you were not aware of it, you wouldn't say that during the coma you didn't experience anything. Experience is experience, awareness is awareness. I had this very discussion with a supposed "teacher" of non-duality. You have to equal consciousness to experience, because you think that something that transcends experience cannot be known. That's wrong. You know when you have no experiences at all, like when you are in deep sleep.

You are going somewhere now. Consciousness is aware of the lack of experience. Awareness (consciousness) is always present even when there's no experience. That consciousness is the real "you", not the limited ego that you think you are. Consciousness is aware of nothing happening. Think about deep sleep.

Yes, I have... that website talks about the ego from the body point of view. It tries to explain how you act and react when you feel you are bounded into a body, into a bag of skin. The consciousness that needs a reality to exist, is the consciousness that is focused in your experience, that creates and idea of you. That consciousness is bound, but not the whole consciousness that pervades everything and is in everything. The only way for you to see that is through a kind of spiritual experience. As you had a coma experience, I had an experience where I saw that. I saw how consciousness is not something that "I have", is the other way around, my body is inside consciousness. QM has destroyed the concept of matter. Of course now there's some scientific who will deny that, but if you read about the pioneers of Quantum Mechanics (Plank, Schrödinger, Niels Bohr, etc) you will see that. Of course "society" won't accept those experiments and their conclusions, because is a hit to hard for the ego to accept. Reality is too harsh for the ego to see it. This is what Niels Bohr said about matter:

How matters creates consciousness? How can something intelligent came out from something that has no intelligence, and be "dependent" on it (matter)? Is it (intelligence) created randomly? Quantum mechanics has just proven that what we think is matter is nothing in reality. What do you think about that?

How do you know that? Was it in your direct experience? Admit that you don't know anything. We all have belief, you have a belief that consciousness arises from matter. I have the belief that is matter which arises from consciousness. I don't want to convince of my point of view, but at least be open to other possibilities. No one knows if matter creates consciousness, and you don't know either.

Leave all the concepts aside and you will see that the only thing not dependent on anything is consciousness.

Just continue posting and it will change soon! :-)

Eggcellent!