Consilience

Enlightenment is the only solution to true happiness. True happiness can only be achieved from a foundation of truth. All other forms of happiness are distortions of the ego mind. True happiness is not found in the many manifestations of form, nor is it found by abiding in the formless (yet abiding in formlessness is actually much more pleasurable than form, once the taste is acquired). True happiness is found in the simultaneous expansion and contraction of form and formlessness, birth and death, arising and passing, in breath and out breath. True happiness is neither perception, nor non perception, neither being nor non-being, neither everything nor nothing. True happiness is that great equilibrium that unifies all, that is one. Don’t mistake this for neutrality though. It is only by stepping into this emptiness can one be truly happy. So overall what is the point of this work? To become conscious of what you really are. Overall, what is the point of becoming conscious of what you really are? Lasting happiness. Overall, what is the point of lasting happiness? All beings naturally, and spontaneously move towards this type of satisfaction, yet from a place of ignorance hence why they are never satisfied. Even if you pretended happiness wasn’t what you were seeking, your actions say otherwise. We’re all always moving in an attempt to cope with our existential circumstance ie moving to find happiness in this world. We’re all already doing it, effortlessly, but failing spectacularly. We could never not chase happiness either. Even depression, self destructive behaviors, and suicide are forms of seeking happiness, it’s just much more obvious how these strategies are failing than if one is say, running a successful business and ‘happy’ with their work. Both examples are still suffering due to a fundamental ignorance. Samsara is not where ultimate happiness resides. Only you are.

?? ? Yes, my god. Combining 4 of these books is gold. Very interesting resource as well!

I think this is a really balanced way to approach her content.

Because it's seen that hard work and effort are too, part of the effortless flow of life. As the ol zen saying goes, "Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water."

If one is doing the work "correctly" the seeking and "work" will be coming from a place of emptiness, an automatic happening. Consciousness begins to unknot itself through complete spontaneity, awakening to infinite degrees on autopilot, and one step further would be that each moment is recognized as being complete, an opportunity for the infinite to be expressed as well as experienced directly. The idea that there was ever someone working, or that there was ever an exertion of egoic will is too seen to be empty. When all of the hard work and effort is transcended, when all of the hard work and effort is seen as it actually is, this is not the end of all of the hard work and effort. Instead, a radical re-contextualization takes place and everything is as it was. At this point, consciousness will either keep "practicing" and the mind structure will continue to purify, transform, and embody principles aligned with absolute truth, or it won't. All is in perfect equilibrium.

Many hours of meditation and contemplation. Id pick up Peter Ralston’s “The Book of Not Knowing” and Dr. John Yate’s “The Mind Illuminated” as books to dive into. Combing the material with these two books through hardcore spiritual practice before you take psychedelics would provide enormous benefit, as well as make your entry into psychedelics enormously more powerful.

Ive not heard Papaji, Mooji, and certainly not Ramana Maharshi (so Id be surprised if his followers say this) say this at all. Specifically, Ive heard Mooji in many videos give instructions to stay with the question “Who am I?” Over and over and over. Which is the opposite of saying you’re already enlightened. In the Anna Brown thread you mentioned a whole list of teachers who, as far as Ive observed, fall much more into the group of “there’s nothing do to you’re already awake.”

Actualized black pill video! Would love to listen to Leo tearing into them and then relating it to God and Infinite Love at the end?

? Equally, if a mind can‘t comfortably navigate competing, sometimes outright paradoxical positions, this is a huge sign the ego has built a conceptual self structure out of the new position. If a mind can’t understand the relativity, wisdom, and unity of these competing and paradoxical positions, it’s due to a lack of clear seeing and a lack of fluidity with the self structure. A self with more fluidity is easier to see clearly and to notice unconscious blind spots. The seeing through ALL points of view in a simultaneous integration of ALL points of view is the activity of a powerful mind, and the quality of an awakened consciousness.

When you are conscious of that which is not time, not space, not perception, that is no self. That is the self. It is literally not everything yet is the context out of which everything arises out of and passes into, and therefore is inextricably connected to everything, and due to the nature of such a unified inextricability, IS everything. For me, id recommend being able to reliably access deep states of formlessness, and letting it guide you into the absolute, which is qualitatively different than formlessness, yet is infinite nothing. It is more formless than formless states. Confusing these formless states + unconsciously reifying these types of ‘unrelenting non-duality’ talks = conceptual no self. Can happen even without the access to formless states of consciousness, as with what happened in my case. All this to say, THIS *is* it, but god damn is IT subtle and no easy feat to truly grasp. But hey, the only time become enlightened is right now so go for it ?

Took me a few reads but das it mayne ??

@Raptorsin7 @The0Self @OneIntoOne So yeah that’s the thing! She seems to be speaking from experience and the message is extremely on point from a very raw, unfiltered, and authentic point of view. But for me, I can only recognize it after shitloads of relative practices, such as rigorous mindfulness, self inquiry, tripping, etc. Early on during my heavy seeking period, this stuff just never clicked. And I actually for a period observed myself creating a conceptual no-self self because of listening to more direct teachings like these, which was a very tricky beast to see through.

“I don’t like it” because it doesn’t represent “my” path at all, so there’s an immediate recognition of its limitations relative to “my” path. It’s very unhelpful, un-precise, and easily co-opted by the ego towards reifying a ‘no self’ self image and spiritual bypassing. The possibility for self deception via uncompromising non-duality is huge. Hopefully it provides genuine help for some, given the popularity of these types of channels.

Leo’s never claimed the goal is to transcend, but to understand. If you watch more you’ll know this. Furthermore, there is the possibility for transcendence, at least degrees of transcendence. Buddhism 101, classic spiritual model, is about transcending suffering. The only way to fully express one’s humanity is by transcending one’s humanity. Transcendence is not a denial, as you seem to implicitly imply, but is instead a full embracing of the actuality of whatever is true. You are not a human, you are pure consciousness. In order to actualize your humanity or “to be a human” you need to be grounded in what is true. How could you live with honesty, integrity, compassion or wisdom if you’re operating from delusion, self deception, and more directly, lies? This work is about Self Actualization. To actualize who you are, you first must know what you are.

That’s cold. Ice cold. Appreciate you Leo. Those of us who are serious about this work sincerely appreciate you. Keep going man. ?

Realm of Infinite Space - 5th Jhana: https://dharmaseed.org/talks/60883/ May be fun to start here, but it would be more useful to review the other recordings and build your way up. Hope this helps.

Can confirm. Self inquiry after learning how to access jhanas became exponentially more powerful.

Ive mentioned this in multiple other threads, but Ill mention it here too because of how powerful this series of talks is, but anyone interested in learning how to access all 8 jhanas should look into Rob Burbea’s Jhana retreat on Dharmaseed.

I know it’s probably a bad idea to start the whole spiritual dick measuring contest, but very curious - where would you place someone like Peter Ralston compared to these guys or Leo?

@Blackhawk You’re grasping man. You either see the wisdom in what Im proposing or you don’t. Given that you’re evening asking these questions, it’s obvious there’s some part of you that resonates with what this work presents as a possibility. Trust that curiosity, in this life or another. Namaste ?

How is paying attention to your moment by moment experience going to brain wash you? This is not about adding beliefs, ideologies, positions, or contexts. This is about removing those and looking at reality with a ‘naked’ lens. See this is a classic trap of the ego. So sure if you think this work is about adding more to the mind, like religion, then yes the possibility for brain washing is there. But this work Im proposing is literally about paying attention at deeper and deeper levels, paying attention so deeply you see through your existential assumptions such as time or space. Not to get too into the weeds but Ill point something out - a sense of self requires time to exist. You are only you relative to how you were a moment ago, and who you will be in another moment, and between these two conceptualizations of mind, a mirage of “me” appears. Yet when you’re paying so closely to your actual direct experience, ir can be observed that there is no such thing as past or future. When this illusion of past and future is EXPERIENCED not believed, part of the conceptual scaffolding holding a sense of self collapses. This is one of many mechanisms creating you though. More generally, imagine a smudged camera lens taking a picture vs. a lens that‘s just been cleaned. Which one will have a clearer view? Through spiritual practices such as meditation or contemplation, we are creating a mind capable of seeing more clearly. If you think you can trust the programming your parents, culture, and society handed to you growing up, there’s not much I can do for you. Perhaps noticing how miserable and dysfunctional everyone is could be an eye opener into the possibility no one really understands what’s going on. Perhaps not.

Experience interpreted through unconscious beliefs and fabrications gives rise to the appearance of this illusion. Look more carefully. Look for hours and hours and hours. Thousands of hours and this belief, along with many others, will fade. Good luck dude.

Because when one follows the philosophical inquiry deeply enough, the logical holes in option A can be recognized. Further, when one studies the actuality of direct experience, the truth of option B reveals itself. And finally, when one observes the embodiment of wisdom, compassion, and presence of apparently enlightened individuals compared to the average person, the possibility that these people know something we don’t sets in. These are a few reasons.

If people get triggered or weirded out by your meditation, that’s on them not you. There’s nothing non-polite about practicing in a park, that’s like the perfect place to practice meditation. @RMQualtrough if people approach you, just be friendly and understand that may be their first exposure to a real practitioner. You may be planting seeds for them to practice one day, or turn them off completely. But your emptiness, tranquility, and presence while practicing can be a powerful teaching tool for others.

The fact that you’re breaking through at all is huge though, seriously. It may take a bit of time to fully stabilize and even deepen, but even if it took 1-3 years (worst case), what’s 1-3 years in a lifetime? Id HIGHLY recommend a meditation retreat of some kind. Not only would you likely breakthrough into this level of insight, you’d probably break through even more deeply.