winterknight

No, it is not wrong. Do self-inquiry at all times. Yes, you are not concept or object. So who is that "you" who is not those things?

No prob. Sounds like you're making progress. Keep going.

Nothingness doesn't have to worry about these questions, does it?

Unconditioned brahman is beyond form, beyond creation and destruction and all dualities.. Conditioned brahman is more like the normal conception of God: the creator/destroyer/entire universe. Yes, if you are devoted to God, you are devoted to conditioned Brahman. But ultimately that devotion will take you to the unconditioned: the ultimate devotion is the recognition that you are that (unconditioned) brahman.

"You are right. This is without a doubt enlightenment." --> that's not what I said. I said enlightenment is "beyond doubt," meaning that when you are there you will know it without a doubt. "Where to take this?" --> who has this question? Well tell GeoLura to align his actions with his emotions & desires and to engage in systematic self-inquiry.

Just fine, but there isn't the same craving associated with it. It's not grandiose, but it is beyond doubt. But if you're at peace, just drop the whole idea of enlightenment. You're at peace. What else do you need?

Nothing particular If there's no illusion of control and no illusion of self, who is wondering where you are on this journey? Stop worrying about ox stages. There's only one thing called enlightenment. Inquire into who wants it. If it's no one, then there would be no waiting, right? If there's a feeling of restlessness then that's ego that's remaining that needs to be inquired into or attempted to be surrendered.

Motivation in its essence is being honest about what you actually feel and want, not what you should "should" and aligning your actions in a way that integrates all the different feelings, desires, and voices within you. I mean that right now, even though it doesn't seem like it, you're staring at a movie and are worried that if you don't duck out of the way, the character on the screen won't duck out of the way. It's like that, sort of. But don't worry about it. It's impossible to understand until you see it for yourself. As I said, just do self-inquiry while you are doing the things in the world you feel like you have to do. Who is waiting? Who is on a precipice? In my case at the very end there was an intense raging battle to get back to that state of no-mind again and again and again (just like I suggested to you above)... the periods getting longer every time, but also the pain of being out of it more intense... an increasing surrender... desire and frustration mounted, until finally the penny dropped and I was like "oh." It's not about "forgetting" the I; it's about the recognition that it never was what it seemed to be. It is beyond "thorough" and "non-thorough." And whether "I" have an "I thought" -- see how paradoxical that question is?

Remember the rule of self-inquiry. There is a very simple knowledge that "I am." You are certain about this. You're trying to feel and hold this certainty, to trace it by feel. Now if you think you've found it in some particular object, and if you then ask yourself, "who knows this?" and receive the answer "I do" -- then you haven't found the source of that certainty. So, to apply that to, say, this idea that "I am the seeker." Are you aware of this thought? You are. Who is aware of it? "I am," right? So when these concepts come up, use them to refocus on who is aware of those concepts, and again, feel where the certainty that "I am aware of this concept 'I am the seeker'" is coming from... The same is true of bodily sensations. Bodily sensations are not the I. You aware of them, right? So you apply the exact same method. Actually, you don't have to do these things. You think you do because you are still identified with the mind. But anyhow -- do these things and at the same time reserve part of your mind and ask who is aware of this doing? Who is aware of the mind that is thinking in terms of the personality? "I am," right? So again feel the "I." See how it all comes back down to that?

I've had several, but I basically come from the advaita vedanta tradition. Why do you ask?

Self-inquiry is itself a form of meditation -- the most effective kind for many people. Meditation just means concentration, and self-inquiry is concentration on the knowledge that "I am" -- while stripping away all the things that that feeling wrongly attaches itself to.

What it means is that you are not being honest about what you actually want -- and pursuing that, instead of what you "should want." How do you get honest? By paying attention to your feelings as you do various things, what you like and dislike, by expressing how you feel in words/drawing/other art, and by going through therapy.

Try self-inquiry instead.

Luckily, that's not all that's been said. Do you have a question about the path? Hold to the no-mind... whatever takes you to the experience where the mind is silent "without even having a thought about existing" -- get back there, and stay there. And if you travel out of it, get back there again. And again and again. Don't worry about how long it will take. Eventually it will stick. Yes, and that is enlightenment.

There is no reliable external sign, since there are really no Buddhas, only the single shining Buddha Which Is. But for a seeker looking for a guru, see if there's someone who makes you feel peaceful, who seems to have patience, and who can understand and respond intelligibly to your questions.

If someone has very thoroughly dis-identified with ego, this question does not arise. The ego is the sense of 'doership.' No doership -- no question about what course of action to take for a someone. So if this question disturbs, the question arises: who asks this question? It is beyond space and time and form, beyond even existence and non-existence. Yes, it is not coming from anywhere in particular. Different. Yes, there is no particular sensation or feeling that corresponds, correct. No -- there is an end to the search. Something witnesses the very act of witnessing, something beyond the "I that witnesses." It is the recognition of our true nature as being, awareness, and bliss. Though for seekers it has to be viewed as something to be achieved, it is actually but a word for something that is already the case.

Well, you have a few options: -treat it as a motivational problem. Remember, my philosophy is that you have to be honest about what you want. If you are having resistance to going to the gym, it's for a reason. Take it seriously. What is that resistance all about? It is not laziness. Listen to your feelings and express them. And/or go get therapy like I always recommend and figure out what it is that's really holding you back. probably something unconscious from the past. -self-inquire into who is having this "playing tennis" back and forth conflict -surrender and let whatever happen happen -- including the "playing tennis" back and forth... You were getting glimpses/flashes of the Truth, that, because you weren't prepared for them, felt very scary. That's not enlightenment. Enlightenment is when you're not glimpsing anymore; you're permanently realized and established in the Truth.

Permanent spiritual awakening -- as opposed to a glimpse -- usually requires that substantial shadow work has been done already. And then it will begin a process where much of what is left is eventually brought to light and integrated. Not familiar with the Wilber model, sorry.

No, I am not drawing a distinction between pain and suffering. There are many different ways of answering this question, because the real truth is beyond words and you will just have to see it yourself to really understand. One answer is to say that there no distinctions at all: no pain and no pleasure, and thus no emotional pain or suffering. This is the truest answer. Another is to say that there may be emotional pain, but it is not identified with -- i.e. it is not recognized as "yours." This is second truest.

Ok, clearly analogies are not getting across here. Enlightenment will give you freedom from the emotional suffering evoked by bullies, but is about far more than that, and requires a great deal of emotional mastery to get there in the first place, just like even to become a Navy SEAL one must be quite physically fit already.

Heh. Not really my point, but clever.

Will becoming a Navy SEAL help you defend yourself against the neighborhood bully?

Yes, I understand the question you are asking, and it is based on a misconception. No, with enlightenment there cannot be said to be "experiences, sensations, thoughts, feelings, etc." That seems like nonsense to you now, but get there and you'll understand. The question you are asking is within a frame of reference that is incorrect. When you see that, the question will dissolve. As your question is framed now, the only possible answer is: God might know, but no one else can or does. It sounds like you are heading in the right direction. If you feel frustrated, then ask yourself who it is aware of feeling frustrated. "I am," right? Feel that I am and try to find out where that feeling is coming from. (And next time, can you separate your sentences out, please? It is hard to read and understand what you are asking otherwise.)

Anything that pulls you away from inquiry, that distracts you from it. That could be a thought/feeling either about the short- or long-term. As you say, you could respond to any thought that distracts from inquiry with either a) "who is it that has that thought" or b) by addressing the thought in some way -- seeing what it's getting at. It might be doing the action (e.g. exercising) that seems connected with it, or it simply might be exploring what the feeling is -- what desire you might not be admitting to yourself, or trauma that you are not dealing with, etc. The first approach might work with minor or trivial thoughts, but the second approach needs to be used for more emotional thoughts, or thoughts/feelings that keep recurring, etc. Investigate and you will see that "you" are not in fact "yourself" -- at least, not the yourself that you think you are. Enlightenment has no depth.

Not really... though you should know if there's an analytic institute nearby, there's a good chance you could get analysis with a candidate-in-training (supervised by someone very experienced) at very reasonable prices, particularly if your finances are bad. And even if there's isn't an institute nearby, many analysts have sliding scales that vary based on income.