Moksha

@Someone here, thank you for sharing your thoughts. And sorry for all of the questions, but not really since I didn't choose to ask them I see reincarnation as a story too. But in a broader sense, what are your thoughts on our role in the awakening process? Aspirants practice the paths of yoga to receive enlightenment, but is all of that misguided and unnecessary? Krishna approves the paths of karma yoga and raja yoga. I understand the nonduality of uitimate reality, but "we" are in a world of time and space. If it's all an illusion, why go through the motions of realizing enlightenment? Agree with killing the snake for protection, but many criminals are punished beyond the point of protecting society from them. Are these punishments unjust since the criminals weren't responsible for their crimes? Even following an egoic act, why apologize? If we can't control whether or not the ego is at the helm, aren't we guiltless?

I agree with you. Ultimate reality is unitary, infinite, nonconceptual, and timeless. It is the convergence of all choices and of no choices. From that perspective, there is no "you" and there is no "personal choice". Individual free will is an illusion. How then do we explain the law of karma? If our life experience is the result of the choices we make, and we continue to suffer until we transcend, is this not a contradiction? Does free will exist only within the world of form? Or even here, is it nothing but a series of causes and effects, which ultimately originate in Source? And what about responsibility? Are we responsible for our own awakening? If not why are we here in this forum pursuing the path of an awakened state? If there is no free will, aside from protecting society, how do we justify condemning criminals when they had no part in their own crimes? Should we never apologize for anything, or seek forgiveness for "our" mistakes?

Care to expand? How yes and how no?

After coming across a couple of quotes from ACIM, it's on my "to read" list. The religious pointers are slightly off putting, but I just plan to replace "God" with "Source" while I'm reading Here are the quotes that convinced me to read it, if you're interested: “Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God.” (Introduction) “It has taken time to misguide you so completely, but it takes no time at all to be what you are.” (15:1)