Moksha

I would rather be it than think about it I don't cling to ideologies, including religious beliefs. Enlightenment is the best part of the roller coaster ride within the dream. There is a limit to which the mind takes you, where you fully realize what you are not. Beyond that limit, the mind is unable to go. It can only be directly realized, and sinking into the absolute is endless, until the dream finally dissolves.

When you realize the same essence within and beyond every form, the idea of arrogance is seen for what it is How silly is it to claim superiority when it is all essentially the same? I am under no delusion that I am superior or inferior to anyone else, including you. We are all absolutely the same, only our forms appear to differ.

The mystery is directly realized, but is not understood. There are no words to describe it. I can write pointing words like light, love, seamless, formless, and depthless but all fall short of capturing its essence. It is the absolute within and beyond every form, but it cannot be comprehended, only realized. This realization requires absolute surrender. Stepping through the doorway is easier when the mind has come to terms with its incapacity to comprehend the mystery. The self must become small enough to fit through the eye of the needle. As long as the mind insists on asking questions like how, why, when, where, and what it will be far too bloated in its self-importance to allow passage. The only question that opens the door is the unconditional willingness to ask what you actually are, leaving all other questions behind and silently stepping through to realize it.

In his book "10% Happier", Dan Harris describes meeting Eckhart Tolle and Deepak Chopra. He felt that Tolle was sincere but questioned Tolle's sanity, and he thought Chopra was sane, but questioned Chopra's sincerity. I agree with Harris People see the enlightened as insane, and the enlightened see people as insane. Choose your asylum.

I understand only what I am not. The human mind is not the enemy. It is brilliant, with the remarkable capacity of metacognition. The only question that matters is, "Who am I?". If sincere, the mind will neti neti its way to the edge of mystery. On the day I received my Ph.D., I realized that the true lesson of all those years of research was how little I actually knew. I have never forgotten that lesson, and have continued along its path to arrive at the same conclusion as Socrates. I know that I know nothing. That admission is the pinnacle achievement of the mind. Don't underestimate the dissolving power of knowledge finally realizing its own limitations. The mind cannot go beyond, but it humbly steps aside and gestures toward the doorway leading within. Stepping through is shedding the cloak of the self, and wordlessly merging with the mystery that is beyond. Call it spiritual BS if you want, but if you see it as such it is only because you have not stepped through the doorway yet. ?

Keeping it relatively real, there is an I to be enlightened

Seeing the layers of reality is a step toward realizing your essence. Most people, especially those before Einstein, see only a proper cause-effect universe that is predictable and comprehensible. Relativity revealed the limitations of Newton's secure universe. It proved, even within the dream, that the cosmos is not absolute. Time, space, and matter depend entirely upon the perception of the observer. Which is scary, considering how poor our perception is It is stunning, and a tribute to the power of the evolutionary process, that the cosmos has the capacity to realize its own impermanence. At the edges of relative reality, extremely large (astrophysics) or extremely small (quantum physics) qualia, the dream begins to fray. We are born with spiritual glaucoma, which only worsens over time. People become blinded by their condition, which further deteriorates with every conceptual layer they add to it. Seeing clearly is the reverse process. Gradually, your conceptions are removed until there is only the direct vision of the absolute through your eyes.

I agree with removing labels and living directly. The mind loves to dissect, categorize, and define everything it sees. This shores up its need for order, within a cosmos that is beyond control. The first mistake Adam made was to name all the birds and the beasts. It is only when you see beyond names that the essence of the absolute begins to reveal itself. The cosmos is art. I pity the critic that stands before Starry Night and analyzes its structure, style, and techniques without setting his brain aside and seeing the essence beyond the canvas. The same is true for laying under the stars at night, which are also art. The absolute within everything is infinite, but the forms that it creates are transient. There is nothing in the cosmos without a beginning or an end. Only the absolute that imagined it is timeless. Your human form was born and will die within the dream, just like everything else. Only the absolute beyond the form is changeless. Nothing transient is real. Nothing intransient is precious. Lucid living is the flow state of the absolute within its creation, making the precious possible without getting lost within it.

I'm glad you see that the purpose is not to answer any question of the mind, but to realize the absolute within, which is beyond all questions. All of the cosmos is art, but be careful not to confuse the art with the artist. Art is only an expression, not absolute reality itself. Enlightenment is the perpetual state, within the dream, of absolute awareness appreciating its creation. If you have realized the light of the absolute as your essence, and are navigating life in awe of your art without identifying with it, you are free and I am happy for you.

Don't conflate the absolute, which is beyond the cosmos, with the dream, which is the imagination of the absolute. The absolute is beyond transience, and the dream is defined by transience. It is true that the absolute is within the cosmos too, but in different apparent states of lucidity. It is my essence, the essence of the dog sitting at my feet, and the essence of the tree outside my window. But each of these forms is in a different awareness state. The same is true among us humans. The absolute has chosen to become lucid within some, but within others it still identifies with the mind. The more you identify with the cosmos, the less lucid you will be. Even the pursuit of realization can become an addiction if you let it. Every addiction ultimately leads to suffering, although some are worse than others. The path out of suffering is letting the light within dissolve your addictions, realizing liberating space, and living in the flow state of your absolute essence, lucidly experiencing life through your form.

Astute personal insight, it will serve you well. Suffering is the result of trying to keep lighting in the bottle from escaping, or trying to force it to return. Either way it is a futile effort, and only results in the entrapment of your attention. Enlightenment is learning to toss away the bottle, and open yourself to the energy of what is flowing through you in this moment. Instead of resisting it or clinging to it, you honor its teaching and allow it to move on. You are in the flow state, where nothing that happens distracts you from your absolute nature. It is seen and appreciated for the transient, phenomenal experience that it is.

@universe ✅✅✅

The deeper you realize the absolute, the more clearly you see that you are creating these experiences for yourself. The absolute within knows what is needed, and is guiding itself toward realization and liberation. Being sensitive is a double-edged sword. When you identify with the personality, it is easy to be hurt. But the sensitivity can also help you realize your absolute essence more easily. Despite the challenges, I feel it is a gift.

Yes, the quote is pointing to the absolute. Nothing personal or transient is real. The absolute creates and is within the cosmos, imagining that it is defined by the appearance of forms, movement, and change. Beyond the cosmos, there is no appearance, only absolute reality which is formless, motionless, and changeless. The mystery is how absolute reality intersects with relative reality. It is beyond comprehension, but the nexus can be directly realized. You are in a flow state, where the absolute no longer identifies with the form, but continues to experience existence through the form. All along, what was thought to be you turns out only to be a thought, and the real you is realized. It can be called a state of enlightenment within this moment, but the state itself, where you are still apparently localized within the cosmos in this form, is not absolutely real. The absolute has no state. I don't know if that helps, or just confuses you The point is to remain in the flow state, and live lucidly in this moment. Not only are you free from suffering, but the light of your absolute nature shines through you and increases the quality of everything in experience.

Absolute reality is infinite unconditioned intelligence, entirely free from conceptualization. It is directly realized, and is not an achievement. I'm not sure what you have experienced in your trips, but have you ever been so absolutely stunned by what you see that there are no thoughts, no images clamoring through your head, and no words trying to express the indescribable mystery that you are? Only profound silence. As I told @Breakingthewall, I can't describe it but when it happens there is no doubt. Every question dissolves in the light bursting out of you. I have no beliefs, other than the minimal thoughts necessary to exist in relative reality. To be clear, I am not a Buddhist, a Christian, a Hindu, or any other mind that is bound by beliefs. I didn't even begin to meditate until after my awakening. If anything, I am a mystic, but even that is not accurate because there is too little of me left to identify as such. There is only an apparent form serving as a conduit for the absolute to lucidly experience its creation.

You can be in human form with a harmonized mind. It's true the vast majority of humans identify so closely with their conditioned thoughts that it's impossible for them to realize any space from them. They sense that something is wrong, but seek for solutions outside of themselves, rather than realizing the absolute within. Relative reality, including the human mind trying to make sense of the cosmos, is overwhelmingly complex. There is no solution to the conceptual labyrinth, other than leaving it entirely. I'm referring to absolute reality, which is profoundly simple. Direct realization stops the mind in its tracks. From your comments, I feel that you haven't realized the absolute directly yet. When it happens, there are no questions to be answered. The what/why/how/when/where that constantly consumes the mind is dissipated by the light that is your essence. It is the perpetual flow state, and the deeper your realization, the brighter the light shines. I can't describe it for you, but when it happens, there is no doubt and it is clear there is nothing to be solved. I agree that as humans, we have far greater potential compared to other creatures on this planet. Evolution has developed life to the point where we are capable of objective awareness. We can live lucidly, enjoying transient phenomena without losing our true identity in the process.

The conditioned mind holds two contradictory beliefs: 1) Reality is inordinately complex, 2) Reality can be comprehended. Neither of these beliefs is actually true. Absolute reality is too simple and too deep for the mind to grasp. It is directly realized, or not at all. Thoughts, feelings, and perceptions are phenomenally blind to it. Until the absolute within the form realizes itself, it will misidentify with the person instead of being beyond it. The only healing for the psyche is the harmony of absolute realization. The light of the absolute dissolves the conditioned attachments of the mind, leaving only the slightest attraction, like the sun being orbited by the earth, just enough to keep the system intact within the dream. Direct realization doesn't require solving anything. It is all about dissolving.

I entirely agree. Whatever breaks the chains of your conditioned mind will set you free. I don't care if it's 5-Me0, meditation, or suffering. Choose whatever boat is most reliable in crossing the river to the other shore, which is direct realization of the absolute within. If you find yourself constantly rowing on the surface of imagination without reprieve, try another boat. Once you are across, release the boat back into the river, and thrive in the lucidity of being.

That 1% though is the anadrome of dogma.

I was referring to the inability of the human mind to comprehend absolute reality. Einstein could only see the tail of the lion, but still he understood that life is less about defragging reality than about directly realizing the light that you are and living lucidly. The years of anxious searching in the dark, with their intense longing, their alternations of confidence and exhaustion, and final emergence into light—only those who have experienced it can understand that. Let us not forget that human knowledge and skills alone cannot lead humanity to a happy and dignified life. Live sober without suffering for a day, and see yourself and the cosmos with new eyes. Everything is seamlessly brilliant, blindingly so to the mind, when you are lucid.

I'm glad it is helpful, and relate to your experience. Awakening is only the beginning. After your eyes open, you have to learn to remain awake despite whatever waves life sends crashing your way. For me, the storms actually intensified after the honeymoon period of being awake. I hope it isn't the same for you, but I had to go through an even deeper suffering to drive the realization home, beyond the suffering that woke me up in the first place. The mind is an amazingly stubborn beast before it submits to being tamed.

Words again, but direct realization is beyond understanding. Your mind is incapable of making any sense of it. When I say there are levels of enlightenment, I am referring to the brightness of the light, not to its nature. The absolute intensifies or diminishes its light, but it is always light. Whatever is illuminated by the absolute is its creation. In the absence of the light, whether human, elephant, or alien, it is nothing. Call it maya, imagination, or the cosmos, none of it is absolutely real. Ask whether your journey is focused on exploring the jungle of creation, or on intensifying the absolute within. The more transparent your form, the greater the light that will shine through you.

Every word is conceptual, including imagination and pretending. They are at best pointers to reality, which is why when attempting to describe it they "turn back frightened". When I write, people usually only see the words, without looking beyond them to where they point.

Absolutely sure, and entirely ignorant of everything else Direct realization is where absolute meets relative reality. It is the purest expression of the absolute. Lucidity is the paradoxical intersection of seeing clearly, even within the dream. All forms, thoughts, feelings, experiences, and epiphanies are seen to be imagination, or the absolute pretending to be other than it is. Comprehension is always conceptual. It is imagination imagining itself. A fun game but not absolute truth, which is only directly realized.

@Brandon Nankivell Great example and self-awareness. It becomes easier to tune out the castigation of the ego when you realize that not only is it unnecessary, it is distracting and destructive. The human mind is more brilliant than we give it credit for. The simple realization that daydreaming can result in fewer grapes being harvested is enough to make you more aware in the future. The lesson passes through you, and its essence stays with you, without needing to constantly berate yourself about it. If anything, self-recrimination makes future mistakes more likely, not less.