VeganAwake

I got you, yeah there are no prerequisites to Enlightenment work, no should or should nots. It's the pathless path to the gateless gate where nobody discovers their everybody.(my experience) My thought process or belief system differs a bit, as in I don't believe in belief systems. For example: I don't believe anything has to be done a certain way, but if in the moment I feel like perfecting something I will, but if I don't I don't. I don't hold myself to a standard. Now if it's for my job and I don't want to get fired yes there are standards one has to follow but I don't buy into their standards as a way one should live their life. I don't believe in right or wrong ways to live life and ultimately from what I can tell "nothing really matters". But that's just my opinion haha. Awesome and interesting conversation thank you!! I'm going to read about the Buddhist right action you talked about.

From Osho: Only a nonachieving mind can be at peace. But a nonachieving mind is possible only with the background of a cosmic purposelessness. If the whole existence is purposeless then there is no need for you to be purposeful. Then you can play, you can sing and dance, you can enjoy, you can love and live, and there is no need to create any goal. Here and now, this very moment, the ultimate is present. If you are available the ultimate can enter you. But you are not available here; your mind is somewhere in the future, in some goal. Life has got no purpose and this is the beauty of it. If there was some purpose life would have been mean — just futile. It is not a business, it is a play. In India we have been calling it leela. Leela means a cosmic play… as if God is playing. Energy overflowing, not for some purpose, just enjoying itself; just a small child playing — for what purpose? Running after butterflies, collecting colored stones on the beach, dancing under the sun, running under the trees, collecting flowers — for what purpose? Ask a child. He will look at you as if you are a fool. There is no need for purpose. Your mind has been corrupted. Universities, colleges, education, society, have corrupted you. They have made it a conditioning deep down within you that unless something has a purpose it is useless — so everything must have a purpose. A child playing has no purpose. At the most, if the child could explain he would say, “Because I feel good. Running, I feel more alive. Collecting flowers, I enjoy, it is ecstatic.” But there is no purpose. The very act in itself is beautiful, ecstatic. To be alive is enough, there is no need for any purpose. Why ask for anything else? Can’t you be satisfied just by being alive? It is such a phenomenon. Just think of yourself being a stone. You could have been, because many are still stones. You must have been somewhere in the past, sometime, a stone. Think of yourself being a tree. You must have been somewhere a tree, a bird, an animal, an insect. And then think of yourself being a man — conscious, alert, the peak, the climax of all possibilities. And you are not content with it. You need a purpose, otherwise life is useless. Your mind has been corrupted by economists, mathematicians, theologians. They have corrupted your mind, because they all talk about purpose. They say, “Do something if something is achieved through it. Don’t do anything which leads nowhere.” But I tell you that the more you can enjoy things which are useless, the happier you will be. The more you can enjoy things which are purposeless, the more innocent and blissful you will be. When you don’t need any purpose you simply celebrate your being. You feel gratitude just that you are, just that you breathe. It is such a blessing that you can breathe, that you are alert, conscious, alive, aflame. Is it not enough? Do you need something to achieve so that you can feel good, so that you can feel valued, so that you can feel life is justified? What more can you achieve than what you are? What more can be added to your life? What more can you add to it? Nothing can be added, and the effort will destroy you — the effort to add something. But for many centuries all over the world they have been teaching every child to be purposive. “Don’t waste your time! Don’t waste your life!” And what do they mean? They mean, “Transform your life into a bank balance. When you die you must die rich. That is the purpose.” Here in the East — particularly the mystics we are talking about, the Upanishads — they say, “Live richly.” In the West they say, “Die a rich man.” And these are totally different things. If you want to live richly you have to live here and now, not a single moment is to be lost. If you want to achieve something, you will die a rich man — but you will live a poor man, your life will be poor. Look at rich people: their life is absolutely poor, because they are wasting it transforming it into bank balances, changing their life into money, into big houses, big cars. Their whole effort is that life has to be changed for some things. When they die you can count their things. Buddha became a beggar. He was born a king, he became a beggar. Why? Just to live richly… because he came to understand that there are two ways to live: one is to die richly, the other is to live richly. And any man who has any understanding will choose to live richly, because dying a rich man doesn’t mean anything; you simply wasted yourself for nothing. But this is possible only if you can conceive that the whole existence is purposeless; it is a cosmic play, a continuous beautiful game, a beautiful hide-and-seek — not leading anywhere. Nowhere is the goal. If this is the background, then you need not be worried about individual purposes, evolution, progress. This word progress is the basic disease of the modern age. What is the need? All that can be enjoyed is available, all that you need to be happy is here and now. But you create conditions and you say that unless these conditions are fulfilled you cannot be happy. You say, “These conditions must be fulfilled first: this type of house, this type of clothes, this type of car, this type of wife, this type of husband. All these conditions have to be fulfilled first, then I can be happy.” As if by being happy you are going to oblige the whole universe. And who is going to fulfill your conditions? Who is worried? But you will try for those conditions, and the effort is going to be so long that they can never be fulfilled really, because whenever something is fulfilled, by the time it is fulfilled the goal has shifted. A meditator needs a nonachieving mind, but a nonachieving mind is possible only if you can be content with purposelessness. Just try to understand the whole cosmic play and be a part in it. Don’t be serious, because a play can never be serious. And even if the play needs you to be serious, be playfully serious, don’t be really serious. Then this very moment becomes rich. Then this very moment you can move into the ultimate. The ultimate is not in the future, it is the present, hidden here and now. So don’t ask about purpose — there is none, and I say it is beautiful that there is none. If there was purpose then your God would be just a managing director or a big business man, an industrialist, or something like that. Jesus says…. Somebody asked him, “Who will be able to enter into the kingdom of your God?” Jesus said, “Those who are like small children.” This is the secret. What is the meaning of being a small child? The meaning is that the child is never businesslike, he is always playful. If you can become playful you have become a child again, and only children can enter into the kingdom of God, nobody else, because children can play without asking where it is leading. They can make houses of sand without asking whether they are going to be permanent. Can somebody live in them? Will they be able to resist the wind that is blowing? They know that within minutes they will disappear. But they are very serious when they are playing. They can even fight for their sandhouses or houses of cards. They are very serious when they are creating. They are enjoying. And they are not fools, they know that these houses are just cardhouses and everything is makebelieve. Why waste time in thinking in terms of business? Why not live more and more playfully, nonseriously, ecstatically? Ecstasy is not something which you can achieve by some efforts, ecstasy is a way of living. Moment to moment you have to be ecstatic, simple things have to be enjoyed. And life gives millions of opportunities to enjoy. You will miss them if you are purposive. If you are not purposive, every moment you will have so many opportunities to be ecstatic. A flower, a lonely flower in the garden… you can dance if you are nonpurposive. The first star in the evening… you can sing if you are nonpurposive. A beautiful face… you can see the divine in it if you are nonpurposive. All around the divine is happening, the ultimate is showering. But you will be able to see it only if you are non-purposive and playful. – OSHO

Haha me to... nice to meet you!!

@Matt8800 you have some great information my friend!! I don't think Osho is really describing a path to enlightenment. It's more of a recipe to live a happy non achieving non grasping non-attachment way of life. You just live free and spontaneous. It's a you can take it or leave it mindset. I believe his Buddha story was just an example of how you don't have to physically be rich to live richly. I looked up the definition of asceticism: Severe self-discipline and avoidance of all forms of indulgence, typically for religious reasons. This was not osho's work nor my own. I love what you said here: Whatever one does, they should do it all the way. Nice !! ❤

@ivory wow that makes complete sense I totally agree. You are a great person to have around especially on a forum like this ❤ I love how Osho describes living spontaneously like a child, living in the moment and doing what makes you happy without needing any Rhyme or Reason. My friend described a great example of this: he saw a child hitting a metal bar on a tree and listening to the funny sound it made and laughing. Being free to do what makes you happy. Yes purging yourself of the conditioning is wise indeed. This is my work also, I would describe it as becoming nobody so you are free to be anybody or shedding the layers of the false self to realize what you truly are. No person can enter the gateless gate so be nobody. Here is a video that describes this path so well I stumbled onto it after my own Awakening....thank you!!! ❤

@ivory Well of course I know Osho didn't say that because I read it thoroughly before I posted it. Why would anyone do nothing until they die, is that what nihilist do? Yes we are free to play and enjoy life. I guess if I had to place value on life it would be equal across the board, as in nothing would be higher than the other. Do you think children know what they value when they enjoy life? These are really interesting thoughts thank you.

Thanks, I understand what you mean. Nobody has to adhere to any values though. Like there are no real responsibilities. Those are just beliefs. Meaning, purpose and value of life = The meaning, purpose and value someone places on it. I dont believe our existence requires meaning purpose or value, existence is enough. It is so very beautiful ❤ ❤

Yes the layers and labels of the false self are just opinions ideas beliefs perspectives about yourself they are not who you really are. When the labels and beliefs are dropped, you realize there is nothing there except the pure consciousness that is not limited by time or space. It's the nothing that is everywhere and nowhere. It's the isness or being itself.

I like how Osho described everything, he said to react spontaneously to life in the moment... if you feel like explaining it explain it, if you don't, don't. Avoid making plans to react in a certain way live life in the spontaneous reality of the NOW!!

Pregnant nothingness the nothingness that is nowhere and everywhere. It's everything and nothing. Between nothing and everything is. Everything equals 0, it's perfect contradiction.

Try turning within and identifying who this one is that needs to attach meaning. Sometimes there's deep conditioning that needs to be seen through. Once the light of awareness is shining the problem can dissolve. Awareness alone is Curative. The problemless problem is using words to discuss the wordless no way, yeah that's the false truth - "me"

At first I teared up and then it seemed laughable like Alan Watts describes it's one giant Cosmic game of hide-and-seek with yourself. And when you're ready for some more action, you can dive back into the game and ruffle some feathers if you want just for the drama but while still knowing deep down it's just a game. It might sound a little silly but who is judging?( nobody it's just you AKA God). Apparently not a lot of problems tend to pop up when you realize you're responsible for everything.

A strong dose of full acceptance and some Peter Ralston Enlightenment videos always helps me, that guy seriously cracks me up in every way. He is awesome!! Good luck my friend..

@Inliytened1 Thank you!!

Everything you see, feel, touch, hear or think comes from and manifests in pure Consciousness. Time and space emerge from pure consciousness. Your body and that of millions of other human beings, as well as trees, animals, rivers originate from and appear in this pure consciousness. When you understand that all that exists is the manifestation of a single substratum, Being, there is no more conflict. You are that pure consciousness; it is your true nature. You are that! You are the ocean. All the waves, whether gentle or rough surf, are a product of the ocean. It will never be otherwise. You are the ocean, not the waves. The waves come and go; the ocean is unchangeable. Pure consciousness is what you are. Recognize who you are and live your life in peace. There is nothing else to do. There is no learning curve, there are no challenges to master, no problems to resolve. Just BE. The ego always needs a challenge to prove that it is competent, that it is better than it was yesterday and that it is making progress. It wants to be better than the others so as not to feel unworthy. It creates a future and spends its life trying to live that future. Beyond the ego, which is based on duality, there is your Self, the oneness in which all is manifested. Pure consciousness is not divided into either two or a hundred parts. There is no division; there only is the One eternally undivided. This truth cannot be understood with the mental, because it is beyond the mental. Only your consciousness can apprehend this truth.

@Inliytened1 that's awesome... I just recently had a big realization of the magnitude of this oneness understanding. It brought tears to my eyes, my ego had resisted letting it fully sink in. Once the bottom of the bucket falls out, it does not hold water any longer. It is so beautiful ❤

I see what you mean although it's only when you perceive the waves as separate from the ocean does it become so. Although the ocean water evaporates into clouds and then rains over the land the water always returns to the source and was never actually separate, it always remained the ocean. Duality is actually an illusion, a figment of the imagination, all there is is non-duality or Oneness. The reason they are indistinguishable is because non-duality is all there is, so there's nothing to compare it to. Haha I apologize if we are saying the same thing I just wanted to tweak it a little bit. ❤ ❤ Thank you for the nice comments!!

That is really interesting I've definitely listened to some long manly P hall speeches. Wasn't he a high rank freemason? Smart guy!! Something that always brought me inner peace earlier on, was a quote from A Course in Miracles: " Nothing real can be threatened, nothing unreal exists, herein lies the peace of God.

@Serotoninluv thanks yes I try to paint short and sweet pictures. It's incredible how simplistic yet meaningful something as short as " I am that I am" or " be still and know that I am God" can be. Thank you for your work and all your service as well ❤

Haha that's great I've never heard that before I love it..

@MAYA EL I see what you are saying. Do you think it's possible that because thousands of people have had similar experiences, people that did not know each other and in different parts of the world, without prior knowledge that there could be something to this realization. This resonated with me because when I experienced the dropping away of the false self(no self), I realized I was nothing and simultaneously everything all along, under the illusion of a separate limited self. The realization that the boundaries of Duality were a fiction, a trick played on myself. It's like our own mind keeps us locked in a prison to stay safe. When one becomes awake they have jailbroken their mind and there Consciousness shines through their masks, the illusions of Duality crumble away. I like your big picture thinking ..You are right to be skeptical. Thank you for replying and as always I'm here to help with anything. Let your heart guide you. Have a good day my friend!!

Yes this is all good stuff, just accept the fact that you are unmotivated about anything at this point in your life. Maybe you won't be motivated by self-actualization later or maybe you will....but currently you are not so just accept what is currently the truth. Resisting the truth is like rowing a boat Upstream, you will get worn out quick. ? ❤ ✌

@The Don Do you think it could be your resistance to life being meaningless that's causing your depression. If you could just accept the fact that life has no meaning, do you think it would cut yourself some slack and just allow what is to be. Eckhart Tolle talks a lot about how suffering is the resistance to what is. The unacceptance of Truth. Just a thought hope this helps good luck have a good day!!

@MAYA EL Good questions... because waking up increases Consciousness, and Consciousness is the truth and Truth is our nature... I'm not forcing anyone just offering my assistance. I guess you would have to trust that somebody is awake and can safely guide others to this realization.( Enlightenment is difficult to prove because it's a realization of what is already true but hidden behind a veil of Illusion). Enlightenment is a dispelling of ignorance. It's a falling away of the false self and simultaneously a realization of what's true. It's not a process to be feared or a gaining of knowledge that may be incorrect. I completely understand and you are correct to be skeptical because there is a lot of misleading information out there about awakening. My best advice is to follow your heart do what you think is best! Have a good day!! I am here to help anyone seeking it.