Seraphim

Yes you are right. When those no-self-preachers realize the absolute, and their ego/I-thought disappear completely, they will see that "no-self" was not really a true teaching, the truth is beyond all those concepts, it cannot be put into words, it won't feel right to say "no-self" and it won't feel right to say "I am God" either, it is beyond the mind, it's beyond oneness vs separation too, which is why they prefer the expression "non-duality", it only says what something is not, not what something is.

Yes it can feel like that, but when you realize the absolute and the ego/I-thought disappear, it changes everything. It's an incredible happiness, and you get an understanding of reality that feels very stable and absolute, but it cannot be put into words, it's beyond the mind and it feels perfect.

"there are many beings you may be unaware of, that are having their own experiences." I agree completely. I will become a fan of Leo when he gets the same level of happiness as Ramana maharshi

@Bufo Alvarius Hahaha, you are funny and I really like that you ask other teachers about this. I agree with Bashar's answer, it is perfect! Who will you ask next? Exactly. None of the moderators on this forum share Leo's belief. Nothing wrong with that, but it's funny that they don't seem to understand that their beliefs differ yet

Why are you so sure that you fully understand what you are? Are you really liberated? After my awakening I have felt a constant happiness and freedom, even the imperfect things feel perfect, it doesn't come from "egoic stuff" like you wrote, it comes from within. But okay, you wrote that true liberation is to grasp your eternal being, why? Why should someone follow your advice instead of Ramana Maharshi's for example?

But when you realize the absolute, duality comes back again as the absolute. Other people with their own minds are not a division or separation, everything is the absolute, the Self. You perceive things through your individual mind-consciousness, and if you for a moment are able to perceive its unmanifested form, it can seem like reality is solipsistic, but you fail to understand that other people also have their own mind-consciousness, in order to understand this you and Leo have to evolve further, not just by taking psychedelics and stimulating your upper glands to have temporary spiritual experiences, but to purify and clear away your inner limitations and distortions, eventually you will be able to understand who you are in the subtle/higher realms and see the whole picture. But you don't have to evolve that far in order to have perfect happiness and freedom, for that you just need to free yourself from the ego/I-thought and realize the absolute. What level of happiness and inner freedom do you or Leo have? What is your "awakening" worth? I hope you feel happiness!

When you "wake up" or realize the absolute, you let go of all those concepts and ideas, because you go beyond the mind, and yes there are no "others", we can see and feel that, but you won't take that truth and build a belief like solipsism with it. No others is just no others, like non-duality it only says what something isn't, because when we are in the no-mind or Buddha-mind state, we don't create more beliefs.

Ha! So you do believe there are other minds, just not independent of you? I think your beliefs are non-duality, not solipsism I don't think any of the moderators on this forum have the same beliefs as Leo, nothing wrong with that, I'm into non-duality too, but it's weird when you guys pretend to have the same beliefs. I think when Leo saw the solipsistic perspective, what he looked at was his own mind-consciousness in its manifested and unmanifested form, and he assumed it was the only thing that exists because it seemed like it. Some yogis talk about the mind-consciousness and the nature of reality, it's probably easy to make a mistake when interpreting it, especially when tripping, because it is so profound and our minds are not used to analyzing subtle things like consciousnesses, and it is true that its unmanifested form is the absolute, but its manifested form is not everything that exists, it has many manifestations (many minds exist).

Follow your intuition. There are many ways to connect with your intuition, one is to sit down in meditation and say "I want to connect with my soul", feel it, and then ask your question in a way that you can receive a yes or no answer, then wait for the answer to come, it may come instantly before you have even finished asking the question, or you may have to be patient and wait. You can also ask someone, like an energy reader, tarot reader etc, and see if they give you the same answer.

Leo's beliefs are unique, I haven't seen any teachings like them, Sadhguru's and Leo's beliefs are different, so you will have to choose which one you want to believe in, you can't mix them together. I resonate more with Sadhguru's beliefs, because I don't believe in solipsism and I don't see the point in only speaking from the absolute perspective like Leo does, I believe a human is too limited to know the highest truth, so the Buddhist or true Advaita teachings feel more true and wise.

Spiritual transmissions/Shaktipat. Some guy on the forum made a very good and detailed thread about it earlier, maybe you can find it if you search.

Some signs that the ego/I-thought is gone: No resistance, effortless inner silence, you see and feel that everything is the Self, no more seeking and you feel a great freedom and happiness.

From wikipedia: the "blowing out" (Nirvana) of disturbing emotions and desires and the subsequent freedom or release (vimutti); and the attainment of Buddhahood. So when neo-advaita people tells others that they are enlightened because they no longer believe that they are a separate self, then it creates confusion because most people probably have the Buddhist's definition in mind.

@Yarco If a caveman saw a mathematician write equations he would say something similar. "You're just writing random stuff on the wall to make yourself feel special, it has nothing to do with reality" Just because you're not hip to it, doesn't mean it's not real.

There is something to it! Everyone and everything is connected in the universal consciousness, we can merge our individual consciousness with someone else's. That's what method actors do. You "channel" their consciousness and temporarily become like them (even fictional characters have consciousness). Some spiritual schools use this technique, both seekers of enlightenment and those who seek power. I'm not an expert though, the real experts are channelers, they have both firsthand experience and can channel more info about the possibilities and possible negative effects (many method actors commit suicide or die because of some reckless behaviour after their role). So if someone wants to practise this they may want to speak with a channeler or some other expert before starting.

When Ramana Maharshi said that others do not exist, he probably did not mean that they do not have their own experience, he just meant that there is only the Self (no duality). Leo is the only teacher who says that others do not have their own experience and that God only experiences 1 person at a time, as far as I know. A theologian would probably not classify Leo's philosophy as non-duality, or am I wrong about that? Maybe a new, different version of non-duality.

I'm sure the oceans hold many secrets, but archaeological research needs a lot of money and time. It was not long ago that we discovered that the Romans had visited America way before Columbus and the Vikings. Simply by quickly investigating an island in the Atlantic ocean and the waters nearby led to such a huge discovery, but how many people know about it? Humanity don't have the time for these things, there are more important things to focus on, but a real historian would never say that those spirit-science historical theories are complete nonsense.

Most of it comes from channelings, all of them tell a similar story. I think they are correct about many things. Human history is fascinating, and I love the way historians work, if we had an AI that could read all historical research papers, connect them in its mind and write a book with the result, I think the result would be mind-blowing. Because one of the problems for historians is that no one has enough time to connect enough sources of information and create a bigger picture understanding, or to educate the people on all the new, important discoveries. If you do some research and only look at trusted and generally accepted mainstream sources, you will still find a lot of information that supports the channeler's theories.

1. Yes, because when you really know who you are, and who you are not, then the mind will be silent most of the time. Like Ramana Maharshi taught us, the I-thought goes back into the heart, then the brain/mind is free. You had a short moment like that, but if you do self-inquiry you will get more of those and eventually get permanent liberation. 2. Not sure. 3. Yes we can't force the mind to be quiet, that's something all spiritual teachers agree on, but we can get there without force by doing self-inquiry or other practises.

If you can afford it, maybe it would be worth visiting someone who can see these things and knows how to deal with them, like a shaman, psychic, healer, etc. I have never had any experiences like that, but I don't have any psychic abilities to be able to sense it, maybe normal people like me have been attacked like that without knowing it, I do believe things like that can happen which is why I recommend visiting an expert.

The false self is the thought in one's mind that thinks that it is the body. The real self, depending on how one defines it is either the body and the soul that inhabits it, and the higher self from where the soul comes from, or simply reality itself, the oneness that exists everywhere.

@Space Lizard Well written and a good point! I have read about this tantric black magic thing but would like to learn more, do you know any good books or texts? I'm assuming you don't consider all spiritual transmissions to be malevolent? So it's still a matter of discerning the teacher's character. I know some yogis warn against these tantric gurus, but also work with transmissions themselves and say that the source of the energy and intention determines the outcome. Also, some teachers have energy naturally radiating from their being, so just being near them is like receiving a spiritual transmission, if I understood it correctly this type of teacher is considered enlightened.

Yes, spiritual experiences can be deceiving, but they can also be valuable and show us truths. And it would feel boring and restrictive to ignore all intuition, divine signs and guidance, dreams, etc. We are not robots. I know that my intuition is telling me that I should stay away from Nithyananda, he is not supposed to be my teacher and I feel something is off about him. But maybe it's a bit similar to the John of God situation, some people really did get miraculous healings from him, which is why he became so famous and rich, but he was also a bad person who used his position to rape women and will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Many of the people who became his followers had mystical experiences in his presence or dreams about him, and glimpses of enlightenment after attending his programs at the ashram, and other signs that guided them to join. And some still believe in him, despite all the controversies. I don't think they are stupid, it's more complicated than you think. There really has been a lot of psychics, mediums and channelers without any affiliation to his ashram who have said that he is an incarnation of Shiva, I do believe this is true, but that doesn't necessarily mean that he is a good person.

Hasn't he lost all credibility already? Remember when he started recruiting westerners who were staying in the ashram to do online marketing on youtube? At first they were excited and happy but eventually we started seeing that there was a great darkness there. The sleep deprivation and hard work they all had to endure while staying there, legal troubles, videos of Nithyananda getting angry and yelling at people and then when Sarah Landry discovered that the children were beaten and forced to perform fake akashic readings, their online presence turned against them and most followers realized that Nithyananda can't be trusted.