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@mandyjw Just try and connect with your direct experience, specially with your inner energy field. Focus your attention on this instead of the mind. The idea is that the mind, being fed less and less energy, will stop being able to hog your entire awareness and is replaced by inner peace and stillness.

@MM1988 Lets rank consciousness like this: 1. Self-realized 2. Mind-realized 3. Sub-mental The first one is blissful. Depression really cannot survive here. A large portion of people at the second level are depressed. Even if they are not clinically depressed, they are not at ease due to the inner sense of separation and abandonment (that they might not even be conscious about). To quote Thoreau: The masses of men live lives of quiet desperation. 3. The third one is very difficult to reproduce in (socialized) human beings outside of extreme cases where an individual's psychology is utterly fucked with. It's hard to know what you mean by "higher than average" but unless you are enlightened then you can most likely be depressed. Although I assume as you feed the mind less and less of your energy then the lower the chance will be.

@Baotrader Please try and connect to your inner body. Just try to feel the life sensation inside, it's very simple. Do this every day, and try and focus on it rather than the content of the mind. It is not difficult and it will end in you feeling an immense amount of joy and peace inside. Forget about being enlightened etc. and just do this. Being able to feel inner joy like this can easily overcome all the negativity in your head space.

@Mada_ When I was 17 I spent most of my energy chasing tail. 10/10 would do it again.

@Baotrader Please don't do it.

The mind God speaks again. Maybe we can have another 50 page thread discussing the man. Please don't take me seriously

@winterknight Yes, It clicked. All I can say is that this is much more profound than I could ever imagine yet was always present. As if I just chose to not see it. Peace, gentle joy, no I. I am not the body, not the mind, not anything and simultaneously everything.

@winterknight When inquiry is made into the source of "I" it is nowhere to be found. There is also the realization that the "I" is simply another label put on phenomena. So it itself is an illusion. At this point, the realization dawns that nothing can be said about enlightenment. There is no longer a seeker, neither is there seeking, because those are also concepts. So the only thing that seems appropriate is silence. Additionally, the worldly functions which were previously thought as being the actions of the "I" are seen to be autonomous, entirely out of the control of a "driver" who drives the body. Is this the "state" the texts and the sages refer to as Sat? Is this enlightenment?

@winterknight Thank you. Most valuable.

@winterknight What is your approach for achieving a dead mind? Is your approach for isolating the "I" thought 'inquiry and discarding thoughts'? If so, how difficult is it for you? Did you notice your mind getting quieter and quieter with each successful attempt or is it still as challenging as it was in the beginning? Basically, is there an element of practice makes perfect in inquiry?

Ego death is such a dramatic term. The whole "scene" surrounding it is what makes it so hard to achieve. All it takes is a quick inquiry into your direct experience. It's easy to conceptually understand how thoughts are not reality, so they are very easy to discard. The same applies to the senses because they themselves are concepts. Same with emotions and the body overall, and ultimately same with everything else. At this point all that is left is for the seeker to realize the "I" itself is yet another concept and let go of it. What remains is pure consciousness, or Sat, and that is the Self. Everything else is complications. But don't let me stop you.

@Vinnie Yes reality is wholly Conscious. @Hellspeed The senses are mostly a matter of awareness rather than pure consciousness.

@SriBhagwanYogi Well judging by The Power of Now I can say that Tolle is in fact talking about the Self and real enlightenment.

@Elysian Good to know. Never managed to do it with breath-work. Regardless, if as you say one can let go of enough to "just be" then only that will suffice.

I maintain the position that use of words is often necessary for helping others. Regardless I do understand your point. As for definitions, the Self (denoted like that with a capital S) is synonymous to God, reality, truth, pure-being etc. in the context i was using.

True but you have to factor in practically. You are teaching someone something that is for the most part outside of their direct knowledge and they are only receptive to dual language so you have no choice but to use words. . Additionally, to throw you off a bit, you inferring duality from anything has more to do with the hold your concepts have over you than anything else. Hehe

Mankind's to-do list: 1. Be

The only mediation that could result in positive changes when talking about realizing the Self is the third one. Self inquiry is not analytical meditation. It will appear to be so if it is misunderstood and mispracticed. The purpose of self inquiry is to get rid of the non-Self so the Self can shine through clearly. The purpose is not to psychoanalyze oneself. In the words of the great sage Ramana, when asked to take out the trash, one takes out the trash. One does not sift through the bag looking at each piece.

Simply surrender. That would be best. A quiet mind would do you very good at this stage. You have already realized that the mind is incapable of finding its own source and is making you miserable. I suggest you practice inquiry. Whenever a thought arises, without completing it, cling to the "I-ness" that is inherent in every thought (for example in "My mind is on fire" you are admitting that there is a 'me' or 'I' that is the owner of the mind) and eliminate everything else. At some point you should be comfortable with realizing that this "I-ness" is Sat, being-ness, and that it alone is the truth. As part of your inquiry into this "I" you have to abandon all thoughts such as "I am a body" or "I am a mind".

@Consilience Traditionally described, meditation is the act of fixing one's awareness upon an object, whether a candle, a thought, or even one's own breathing - with the purpose of quieting the mind. Of course, different people use the term for different practices, and that might be the case with you.

@Gligorije Self-inquiry. It is the only direct method for knowing the Self. Meditation requires admitting the existence of objects which is duality.

What is ego? It's a collection of thoughts anchored on the fake "I" thought. Put a stop to thoughts and the ego disappears. There's no need for all this dramatization. What you wrote is the ego trying to trick you into thinking that it is immortal. How can it be immortal when it doesn't exist to begin with? In your example "I sit alone in lunch..." you are admitting that you identify with a body. Realize that the body is just a thought, and separate the I am from the body. Then try and find the source of "I". Just like that the ego disappears. It's no so hard to make the ego disappear.

That is just a thought. Let it go. It's a common argument the ego comes up with, that it has to die for God to shine through. But the ego doesn't exist in the first place, and therefore cannot die - meaning there is nothing to be afraid of.

The one looking out of your eyes is God. Everything is God.

Beliefs, and an "I" who drives the body is not necessary for the body to survive. As much as it might seem to not be the case, you - the ego - are in fact not in control of the body. To demonstrate that, the next time a thought arises, separate the object of the thought from it's subject - the "I" thought. For example, the next time you have the thought "I am hungry." separate the "hunger" thought-form from the "I am" thought-form". Doing this immediately dismantles the "hunger" thought, because you realize that it's just a name for an appearance in reality, and it by itself has no substance. Mind you, the point is not to get rid of the sensation of the hunger, do not be trapped in that paradigm. Hold on to the "I" thought for a while and see if you can find its source. The answer is that itself being a thought, is also insubstantial. Once you are able to let go of that thought, the division between "I" and the rest of the world breakdown, because all other thoughts are dependent upon the "I thought-form" to exist (if there is no concept of an I, then there can be no concept of a you). At that moment, you will see that the body moves about taking care of its own business by the unfathomable grace of the Self, without a need for an illusory driver.