Johnny5

Leo may not intend to become a deluded narcissistic cult leader, but he is at serious risk of it nonetheless. Likewise you may not intend to become a cult follower, but what you just wrote is exactly what it looks like...

Because almost nobody knows what it even means. It's not lack of interest in psychedelics, it's lack of interest in what's true.

Yep just means I agree, upvoted, etc. In this case I was agreeing with Nahm and James.

First of all that's not possible. But more to the point, I wasn't talking about me.

I never said anything about switching identity. Identity is appearance. It only matters when believed.

If you want, sure why not. But that in itself is not enlightenment. Let alone that increased transparency is more/better/higher enlightenment or something. That's just not true. And enlightenment is about what's true.

Huge difference, Leo... Difference between actual enlightenment and chasing super duper states.

I am the field, and yet I am aware of the field.... Field = Self. Brahman = No-self. Field can be opaque or transparent. As observed by Brahman which is always infinitely conscious.

@Tim R That's it ? EDIT: Alas Leo "accidentally" deleted your post....

Not siddhis. Can't really explain unless you're at least somewhat familiar with altered states. Actually any emotional state is also an altered state. But, that may not be very helpful right now for understanding what that means, sorry. What is aware of the difference in transparency......

@Tim R "More" is "higher" states of consciousness. They can definitely be achieved. And they can even be used for enlightenment. But in and of themselves they have nothing to do with enlightenment. It's just another ride in the park.

@Javfly33 Many thanks ?

Oh dear... That's what you get for thinking that absolute = relative... ?

@Javfly33 Nice, happy for you ? I'm back in raincloud season recently, please shoot some blessings my way ?

+1 Some complain about the raining on his parade, but in all fairness, when you start a thread like this you are literally asking for it...

Actually the present moment is always infinitely conscious. ? Where would we be without some scale of "progress" to mark our "nondual" achievements... The longer the better! But enlightenment is nowhere on that scale anyway, so... there's that. Btw. I'm not saying everyone is already enlightenment, or "this is it" or something. Even though, technically, that's correct. I'm just saying it has nothing to do with levels or states. At best those are byproducts. But alas it doesn't work both ways, i.e. superhuman levels or states don't automatically confer enlightenment. More often than not they don't. Precisely because of all these mistaken and unexamined assumptions about what it supposedly is.

Who said Leo is?

Anyone with an urge to announce their new status unasked casts immediate doubt on their claim, imo. For reasons that should be obvious. Either way, most of them are pretty easy to see through. It even seems that one can "experience the infinite" and still be blind as a bat. But! Who cares...

To be honest I'm not sure what that phrase even means. Either way, as individuals, there's just no possibility. Although it can be a slippery slope if someone uses that as an excuse. If it's true now, it was always true, and yet it never stopped anyone before. But as an insight it can be used to correct certain things like guilt, shame, blame, etc. and of course the urge to control against all evidence to the contrary. As regards our true nature, I'm not sure that the question (or answer) makes sense. And I think that's really the only answer. It just stops making sense to try and conceptualize it. Firstly because you can't make it make sense that way, and secondly because it's really just another way to try and stay in control. At some point you're not left with anything but to shift from thinking to observing, and from doing to being. Alas, you can't "think" that or "do" that, so it can be confusing times. That's where surrender comes in. Which ego hates, no doubt about it. But often times the only way to surrender is to exhaust the urge to fight it. That's why it's a good sign that you're getting tired of it. Indeed, it is frustratingly tiring.

It's just not easy to answer, partly because beliefs are by definition blind spots. But if there are any specific things you want to talk about, no problem.

Because the only satisfaction you'll find in this, is when you stop trying to adopt other people's views and finally return back to yourself. Self-realization is never "out there" Way too much still...

I'd take that as a good sign ?

Not sure what more there is to say about it. There can be only one truth, but you can't reduce it to any particular view. And yet views is all we have "down here". Everyone doesn't just have a different view, they ARE a different view, and so are you. There's just no way around that. Truth is absolute, views are relative. And there's the finger and the moon thing. The only way to find out who is pointing to the same moon and who isn't, is by looking for the actual moon yourself. But what you can be sure of right now that no two fingers are the same. They can't be, they don't need to be, and they're not all that interesting. Ironically, I'm sure everyone will be talking about their fingers on that nothing conference. Maybe you should go and ask them about it. Nobody can speak for them but them.

@Sam Johnson Not that I'd know, but sounds to me like you're doing just fine. @Javfly33 I think that much meditation is pretty rare. But some people just really take to it. Everyone is different.

By discovering your own rather than picking someone else's.