Inliytened1

Because it's an illusion! How could anything happen after something that is a fallacy?

I don't believe I do. Yet, on further investigation there may be many beliefs to uncover that I never realized I subscribed to. Who knows? 😀 I believe it's possible 😀

Youre right! There is so much to be found there.

No worries! I mean - Saruman started out as part of the white council but then succumbed to his own need for power and went to the dark side. His strength was at that time greater than Gandalf's. But Mithrandir returned from his battle with the Balrofg the White One - and was able to defeat Saruman. Sauron did not exist in body so could not be brought down in battle. Only the destruction of the Ring could be his demise because his power was wielded through the ring. And it took a little hobbit- the smallest being on the planet, to take out the largest threat that existed. If that isn't irony I'm not sure what is. But Hobbits are humble- so perhaps that makes them taller then they stand by measure of feet and inches. That symbolizes that it's not stature that is a measure of a man, but rather his heart.

I think you are thinking of Sauron not Saruman...but yes those are very good points indeed 😉 Saruman was part of the white council but his mind was bent by Sauron and he became a servant of the Dark Lord.

I agree a thousand percent! We don't disagree about that.

That's an interesting take - I like that a lot! I never thought of it in that context but it makes perfect sense! The ring itself, you could say has a lot of symbolic meaning. The slow, but steady corruption of the mind via selfishness and greed. And the need for power. Yet breaking free of the Ring in a sense is the liberation of self or ego falling away. But the longer one holds onto the ring, the more difficult it becomes. Until it completely consumes the individual and any selflessness and goodness that was there has vanished under the power of fhe ring.

There is the concept of alone sure. There's a concept of the Absolute too 😀 but one could also argue that the Absolute can so too be divided into Absolute facets - depending on how one views the Absolute or experiences the Absolute. Goodness, for one - or Divinity for another. Perhaps love, maybe? And maybe Aloneness too! It's possible anyway - in the Infinite expanse that is reality

But then that would be your belief.

Yeah but that just means they have turned a compilation of a group of different beliefs into one.

I don't see how that would be possible if you truly believed in one thing your mind would be locked.

Thanks ...i forgot to add that although Tolkien was brilliant i don't believe he was enlightened or knew much about mysticism. But his mind flowed with mystical thoughts. I believe he actually knew some visionary scientists who played fundamental roles in the discovery of quantum physics. And yes I know this is a thread from 2017 but as a huge Tolkien fan I couldn't resist.

But also there is an Alone as an Absolute- just as there is an Absolute Self with the collapse of self/other.

I refer to it a lot - mainly pertaining to Gandalf the Grey's battle with the Balrog, where he dies and returns as Gandalf fhe white. This is analogous, in my opinion, to ego death and enlightenment - dying and being reborn.

It did pass - it was only in that state of consciousness where self and other had collapsed.

Yes it certainly is blissful and liberating. There's definitely that. But I will never forget when I had that awakening , which I call Oneness - which for me was the final in a series of realizations spanning a 3 month period It was the most incredible experience of my life. However, at the same time I remember an awful feeling as well, that came over me. It was a feeling of complete aloneness in the universe. I had to pull my car over and sit at a gas station in absolute shock over what I had just realized - but in that mystical state of Consciousness it was laid bare for me - so there was no denying it. It was like the entire universe just opened up for me and my eyes were now wide open to the Truth. There was no going back for me. I also vividly recall looking at some of my coworkers at the time and realizing they were my own mind. Having conference calls with some people still in an enlightened state and knowing they were taking place within my own mind as God. It was beautiful but at the same time mind blowing and frightening to some degree. I was forced to leave work but I wasn't able to make it all the way home without pulling over in awe but also in shock that I was alone as God. There is nothing more wonderful, but like I said there was also a feeling of deep aloneness that really cannot be described until experienced. But that aloneness was also accompanied by the miraculous sense that the entire world was all mine as God and that I was the entire thing- creating all of it. So, for me it was a very complex, deep awakening that was a mixture of both terror, amazement, and bliss all wrapped nicely into one. Tears of joy flowed knowing I was God. But the shock and awe of being alone could also not be denied.

He will be warned for thread cluttering next time - ignore him.

@Ahbapx he's cluttering the thread with useless nonsense. The tv analogy was OK - but not delivered to expectations. If such behavior persists, it will be met with dire consequences.

@Hojo it's OK to be afraid of the possibility of Solipsism its horrifying to actually become directly conscious that everything and everyone is simply your own mind. Even the idea of it is hard to swallow- for any mind. The possibility alone is staggering. But to actually know it. Now that is a whole other matter.

There is also the non-dual realization that is enlightenment- it is truly the totality of all of infinity. While Infinity can also be ever expanding- there is such a thing as total Enlightenment. The awakened one can then proceed on to have an ever deeper understanding of reality. But enlightenment itself is total - so, in short, there are two perspectives of looking at this - making Inifnity paradoxical by its very nature. There is the enlightenment of total Infinity - but then there can be the further expression of infinity through actually living out new potential possibilities

Me too.

@Hojo it could just be a bunch of phat asses.

Haha. You seem to have a strange fascination with fat asses. I won't get between that. No pun intended.

You're quite welcome. Your understanding of God and tables was already quite advanced. I simply bumped it up a notch, you might say.

Oh but you are a table right now. Separation between any object in your direct observation and yourself is made only by your own mind creating distinctions. If you can somehow remove these distinctions from your mind, you will find that you and a table are not so different. In fact, by such logic it would not make you so different from God either.