VeganAwake

There isn't a you and then a separate thing called an ego. They are the same illusory experience of individuality.

Yes, Sense of self/I am/Ego: are all 3 words pointing to the same localized experience of individuality. This illusory self construct(ME) isn't a real entity although it feels very solid and intact. It feels like I am in here and everything else is out there. But there's no one inside or outside of the body.... it's an illusion of identity that takes itself very seriously and subtly believes it's the most important identity in the whole world. There's nothing right or wrong with that experience.... it's just what apparently seems to be happening. Awakening is the disentangling AS this separate identity. And when it SEEMS to happen, it's simultaneously recognized that this separate identity was never real in the first place.... which makes it a non happening. ❤

Do "you" think my dog bailey is also God? I don't think he really thinks about that stuff but nevertheless he seems pretty happy or all set as you put it.

Nonduality is not about attepting to metaphorically smash everything together into some kind of imagined non-dual soup within a thought process. For example a race car in a japanese auto factory is never going to appear the same as your grandmother's rocking chair on the front porch.... there IS apparent separation in that sense. Nonduality is the recognition that the separate sense of self within the body("you") or any body for that matter("them") was never real to begin with. It's the END of the experience of being a separate individual that needs to find something. OR It's the END of seeking because it's clearly recognized that the very one seeking is just an illusion of self. AND simultaneously Nonduality IS ALSO the experience of being a separate individual because there is no real separate experiencer for that experience to be separate for.... there's NO WAY to get outside of EVERYTHING to point back at it. No real individual = No real separation Not two = THIS exactly as it appears "The separation never occurred" - A Course in Miracles It appears or seems hidden by already being the case. The phrase "Non-dual awareness" is not used because that would suggest that there is "someone" who could become aware that there isn't any separation. Nobody becomes aware, nobody becomes awake, nobody becomes liberated.... and yes that seems like a big let down for the "sense of self" that so desperately wants to wake-up.... totally get it! But they're already isn't a separate individual which is exactly what the word Awakening is pointing out. ❤

What's being said is there already isn't a you that could do anything about it. The body may or may not decide to get a prescription for a muscle relaxer & weekly scheduled massage therapy, and or adjust its posture with a chiropractor. There can be pain or pleasure in the body but it doesn't belong to anyone, it's what's happening, there isn't anyone actually experiencing it. ❤

It's more than just distinctions or conditioning though, it's an embodied experience. Kind of like if you thought you found a 10,000 carat diamond, and was now wealthy beyond imagination and the owner of the biggest diamond on the planet.... Only then to find out it wasn't a real diamond, it was just a giant cubic zirconia which was essentially worthless. It's a real and simultaneously unreal experience. The exciting experience of finding the planet's largest diamond was still real but under a false assumption that it held life changing value.

Exactly or another way of saying it is: Conditioning creates a dream story or overlay of meaning, purpose and value over top of reality and then functions from that perspective.

There is apparent separation between objects like the body, a cat, a dog, a rock a tree, a fence. It's the sense of self or individuality within the body which is the completely unreal part. The "I am" is not a real entity. No real individual = No real separation ❤

It's the best and only show in town!

The negative aspect of pulling out or living off the dividends is that you lose out on the compounding interest. Rental properties are great for passive income because you can have someone paying you rent while the value of your properties go up about 3 to 5% each year. If you worked for 5 or 10 years and you already had a place to live, you could easily save up enough money to buy a couple rental properties with cash. Then you could probably just work a less demanding job for money to live off of.

Well it's unknowable in the sense that anything said about what reality is and or how it seems to behave is just a mere concept that can never actually be verified. Who would verify it and what would that even mean? Reality or consciousness as you call it, is just exactly what seems to be happening. There isn't a deep truth embedded within it or hidden somewhere. It's THIS exactly as it seems to appear. So simple and already the case that it seems complex and hidden. ❤

Nailed it ?

Then that's what's being experienced there, its whole, complete and perfect! ❤

It's only recognized when the you gets out of the way.... it's already not there which is why it's referred to as an illusion of self. Hasn't it always felt like it's right under your nose? It's so already the case that it seems to be hidden! ❤

Your welcome! And yeah the big surprise or cosmic joke is that there already isn't a you to become enlightened or not. ❤

Reality is everything you just described. It simply can't be missed. I think the so-called problem is that you are convinced it's somewhere else and will have to feel different than what is currently being experienced. When it's recognized there's nowhere to get to and no one in which could get there, it feels like a huge weight off the shoulders. ❤

No problem ? Awakening isn't about acquiring enough so-called spiritual knowledge that one becomes all-knowing, cleared up and enlightened or what not. It's the recognition that the very individual attempting to acquire knowledge to achieve enlightenment is completely illusory. "Enlightenment is a destructive process. It has nothing to do with becoming better or being happier. Enlightenment is the crumbling away of untruth. It's seeing through the facade of pretence. It's the complete eradication of everything we imagined to be true". "Do not think that enlightenment is going to make you special, it’s not. If you feel special in any way, then enlightenment has not occurred. I meet a lot of people who think they are enlightened and awake simply because they have had a very moving spiritual experience. They wear their enlightenment on their sleeve like a badge of honor. They sit among friends and talk about how awake they are while sipping coffee at a cafe. The funny thing about enlightenment is that when it is authentic, there is no one to claim it. Enlightenment is very ordinary; it is nothing special. Rather than making you more special, it is going to make you less special. It plants you right in the center of a wonderful humility and innocence. Everyone else may or may not call you enlightened, but when you are enlightened the whole notion of enlightenment and someone who is enlightened is a big joke. I use the word enlightenment all the time; not to point you toward it but to point you beyond it. Do not get stuck in enlightenment". - Adyashanti ❤

Nobody wakes up and that's the thing that's impossible for the ME to grasp.... it simply can't fathom its own unreality. It's the Revelation that the very individual attempting to wake up or realize it's God or whatever, was never real in the first place. It's never what the individual expects it to be...BTW And it's not just some concept about what no separation would seem like and trying to "live from that state of mind" It's clearly seeing that there just never was a separate individual in the body in the first place. And when it's clearly recognized the energy used to uphold this unreal self construct begins to dissipate or collapse. This can happen rather quickly in some cases or seem to slowly unfold. ❤

Its completely unknowable but nothing wrong with trying. ?

Exactly, its very needy and has to constantly perpetuate its reality by seeking something it feels is missing. And if it hears not seeking is the answer it will try to become the non-seeker lol....it's hopeless because it subtly turns the non- seeking into a form of seeking(trying to get what it thinks it needs). Sometimes this sense of self is recognized to be unreal and can loosen up and start unraveling sort of speak. But it doesn't really die or evaporate because it's already not real. ? ?

Notice the benefits of having so-called meta knowledge is imaginary. There is no real difference between the so-called open minded meta knowledge-seeker and the so-called closed minded bible thumper. It's unknowable and timeless.... But not because someone knows it. Because the individual that seems to be moving through time acquiring so-called knowledge and or finding the so-called correct spiritual belief system is recognized to be completely unreal. In other words there's no getting closer or further away from truth because there isn't one. This is recognized by no one when "I" goes bye-bye. It's actually very rare and already the case. ❤

Sounds like it's time for your own place.

Everything is mysterious bro! Literally mind blowing ?