Tim R

*every totalitarian regime, ever*

@Someone here Not sure. But first how do you collapse that duality in the first place? Something seems to be happening and it's self-evident undeniably true. "Something happening, movement/progression" is falsehood. But "Nothing happening, stagnation/standstill" is also falsehood. So what's left? Whatever answer one might give to that is wrong. This is a mystery. It really is and it is not a problem. Something happening and nothing happening are identical. It's neither. Listen to the leaves rustling in the wind.

This is an absolute gold mine? Edit: here's the full version

This is the video Leo shared on his blog And this is the video that made me want to start this thread?

Holy shit that's good

No. That's just saying "time" using other words. What do you think is left when you collapse the duality between "something happening" and "nothing happening"?

Really?? won't they think you're crazy and leave? Using 5-MeO to access enlightenment is one thing, using it to pick up girls is true god mode??

Actually, I wouldn't mind? Because tbh, I still don't know why you said "Jesus".

Having read from and listened to a lot of teachers. @Nahm Now I'm intrigued. You're (we're?) speaking metaphorically... Could you explain the metaphor? Because when someone says "Jesus", I'm thinking of the historical Jesus of Nazareth and not of a metaphor, whether it's a metaphor for God or Love or whatever. Or maybe give us a few names of the teachers you mentioned??

@Leo Gura Can we have a "Epistemic Madness Examples Mega Thread"? For things like what you've postet on your blog (QAnon Karen) or this; There seems to be absolutely no limit whatsoever to the minds capacity of making up bullshit and delusion. This is truly fascinating. Yesterday, Leo posted this on his blog: I propose that we open an "Epistemic Madness Examples Mega Thread" where we can post examples like this to see and study to what lengths the mind will go to delude itself..

That sounds interesting, could you elaborate?

Who abides in what is not ultimate? Buddhism is about nonduality. But they make not fetish out of "higher levels of consciousness".

Why the necessity?

@Leo Gura Yes, but unlike you, Buddhism is not interested in finding out what reality is. They are interested in liberation, which 1. doesn't require the realization of infinity 2. is why they focus so much on no-self and emptiness. Because that's essentially all you need for liberation. The burning desire for "understanding reality" won't stand you in good service when it comes to liberation, even though in order to find liberation, you must understand certain facets of reality (no-self, emptiness, love). "Understanding reality" can be, and in most cases is, an extremely egoic and narcissistic enterprise.

@Goldzilla Ok. Let's be open minded here and suppose for a moment that you are right and that with ever advanced levels of consciousness, physical ailments are beginning to disappear - how exactly does that work? Like if I have liver cirrhosis or cancer or diabetes, how do you suppose will enlightenment heal me from that??

Now we're getting to the core of the problem. "How does the illusion of time work?" Just because there is only the present, that doesn't mean that you can't have memories. Because memories are not something which are the result of the past. "The past" is the result of memories. And so is the future (future = projection of memories, that's what we call "anticipation"). That's the whole trick. We got it backwards you see? We think that memories come out of the past. But they don't. They also come out of the present and create an illusion that something "was". But there never "was" anything. There only is. Everything is always now. Inspect your memories. Do they create the sensation of there being a past? or is there a past which creates the memories? What you call "past" is memories. Not the other way round (memories being the result of past). That's the "mechanism" by which the illusion of time is created. And so this is really all you have to understand. How memories fool you into thinking that "the past" creates the present with its memories. All memories are now. All anticipation is now. Everything that happens, happens now. Nothing ever "happened" and nothing "will" ever happen. Memories are not proof for a past. They are images which come out of now just like everything else. Tbh I don't know how to explain this any better. It's totally obvious once you got it. Maybe there's someone else here who wants to give it a shot. But ultimately, you really just have to realize that memories are not the result of the past, but that it's the other way round and that that's the whole illusion of "time".

What on earth makes you guys think that one's "LOC" has anything to do with being physically ill?? Where did you get this silly and naive idea? There's hundreds of very great teachers and sages who had some struggle with physical health in their life. I've read some pretty f'ed up claims and questions on this forum but this definitely made it into my top 3?? how come this thread is still not closed lol You guys need to learn how to keep a certain level of epistemic hygiene...

@Ilan Why do you even want him try AL-LAD? Like.. what's your goal??

@Someone here Didn't you read my post?? To speak of a "Present moment" would set up a duality, wouldn't it? If there's a "present moment", then there must be something which is not present, right? But how could there "be" anything (presence = being) which is not present, aka which is not? There can't!! Non-existence doesn't exist! Existence is absolute, there is no opposite to "it". That's infinity. No boundaries, no beginning, no end. That's what the "present" actually is. The present is just another word for Being. Present/ Presence= Being = Infinity All you have to do is realize that the present is not a temporal thing. You have trouble realizing what the present is because you think it's (part of) time. Time does not exist. But you must take this insight beyond philosophy.

@Someone here What makes you so sure that time exists? I know you've heard this over and over so I'm not going to repeat any of it here. Past, present, future - all these exist in your mind and nowhere else. Yes, even present. Even "Now" is a thought. And me talking about infinity and nothingness, all that is also just thought. "What is?" Wrong question, it can't be answered. Think of it, with what would you answer it? Obviously just with more of what is. It's a bottomless, infinite mystery. So my question to you is; What makes you think that there is such a thing as "now"? What if it's something like "up" or "left" or "tall" ? An abstraction? A projection? A thought? Maybe "it" is just that and nothing more?

What has no beginning and no end? Now. That's Infinity. How could "now" begin? When would it begin? Obviously never. And when does "now" end? Also never. When would it end? Now?? So you see, "now" is not like a frame. A frame is finite. It begins and ends. Now is in-finite. How do we make sense of something which is not finite? Does such a "thing" even exist? Does "the present moment" even exist? Yes and no. "It" doesn't exist. There is no "NOW!!" like a split second. No "present moment" which comes, exists for a fraction of a second and then goes like you imagine silence CLICK silence But infinity does exist. More accurately; Infinity = existence. What you call "the present moment" is actually just existence. It's infinite fluctuation. "It" never happened. There is only existence, but existence doesn't "happen". Coming into existence = Going out of existence = Neither of both actually ever "happen" because "both" are infinity = Emptiness There is only infinite happening = Nothing happening You must understand what infinity means if you want to understand the present moment.

@Holygrail Oh but the realization of nothingness can go deeper. You've just begun to get in touch with Emptiness and so far, your understanding is almost exclusively on an intellectual level. You still believe in "somethingness" if you're honest with yourself. Only because you have seen through a belief intellectually, doesn't mean that you feel it. But you can. You can feel yourself as nothing and the world as nothing, or both. You will lose your sense of weight. The world may appear like a dream or a hologram. It can be a bit frightening at first, but even that is only because you still think the world is supposed to be something?

Sorry mate but that's just BS. Having bad eye sight is also Truth.

@Goldzilla Wtf bro. You're not actually suggesting that if he had "integrated" the practices, he wouldn't need glasses?

I like her too, but still think she's a bit too Neo-Advaita for my taste. This whole "you are enlightened, there's nothing for you to do"-schtick is not helpful in most cases and mostly just creates delusion and suffering in beginners. If you want to find, you must seek. You must even seek when your very seeking is what prevents you from finding. Because only by realizing that you can't find, you will find. What she says is of course true and you can't find what you've never lost. But you think that you have lost something. So what "finding" means in this context is not "regaining what was lost", but realizing that you have never lost anything to begin with! But you must find that out!!