Moksha

⚡

I agree with her. The ego requires judgment in order to exist. It doesn't care if it is better than something, or worse than something, as long as it feels special. Superiority or inferiority equally empower it. The end of the ego is the Sub Ek realization that it is all the same, seamless Consciousness. The ego cannot stand equanimity.

You don't experience yourself as God; you are God. So is the chair you are sitting on. Ultimately, it is all the same Consciousness. Ask yourself, who is the "I" experiencing space and time?

@Blackhawk Acceptance of not knowing is the beginning of wisdom. The biggest obstacle to awakening is the demand of the conditioned mind to know. Your eyes open when you are ready, not to know, but to be. [The] things which had entirely filled my attention on that first occasion [chronicled in The Doors of Perception], I now perceived to be temptations – temptations to escape from the central reality into false, or at least imperfect and partial Nirvanas of beauty and mere knowledge. - Aldous Huxley

Mooji is not Neo-Advaitan. He has done the spiritual work, and sees clearly. When I hear him, I get this image of two eyes peering out of the void, like a lion in the grasses at night. He has the strength not to be pulled into the undercurrent of the conditioned mind. That strength doesn't come from watery Neo-Advaitan nonsense.

There are mini-awakenings, where you momentarily become entirely present. They are not so rare. Diving into the starry sky, holding a newborn infant in your arms, or contemplating a message that arises out of Consciousness itself, all can evoke moments of seeing clearly, beyond the conditioned mind. Even these snapshots are profound glimpses into our ultimate nature. These moments are precious precursors to "awakening", which is the sudden letting go of the apple from the tree, when it has finally become ripe. To answer your question, the feeling is the realization that you have been a pawn in a game of your own making, and when it happens, all you can do is laugh.

Agree 100%. Ultimately, there is no division, and no "out there". Consciousness is all there is.

Individuality is the lie.

If you were born in 1965, you're not "old". You don't even require for retirement, yet If you distill your 56 years into a single drop of wisdom, what would it be? For me, it is the realization that the conditioned mind is the source of suffering, and the purpose of life is to let go of this suffering through realizing the Self within. Awakening sounds mysterious until it happens, and then you wonder how you ever could have forgotten such a Self-evident truth.

No individual experiences heaven, at least not in its fulness. Heaven is the dissolving of boundaries, and the end of individuality.

Nonduality.

The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you. - Luke 17:21 Heaven translates as spaciousness. It is not a place, but the pure state of being. Consciousness, unfettered by its dreams, is heaven.

No, I don't believe in God. Belief is a byproduct of the conditioned mind. It is nothing more than a conceptual trap. It is the opposite of Self-realization, which is the direct discovery of God within yourself, beyond belief.

If being free from thought feels colorful, good, and liberating, then the next step is to develop the spiritual discipline to remain present, without being pulled into the undercurrent of your conditioned mind. It is not for spiritual slackers, but for people willing to put in the work. Good news is that it becomes self-perpetuating, as you begin to realize the results. No different from working out at the gym. It takes a lot of discipline in the beginning, but as you start leaning out and building muscle, there is a mind shift. You actually look forward to working out, because you see the benefits. How do you work out spiritually? Commit yourself to the practice of meditation, and do it every day, no matter what. Especially on days when you don't feel like meditating, do it anyway. The quality of the meditation session is far less important than doing it consistently and sincerely. I highly recommend reading, and practicing, the principles in The Mind Illuminated, by John Yates.

What was nice about it? Did you learn anything from it? How did you feel, in that moment when you were free from thinking? Was it liberating? Have you considered that maybe thinking itself is the source of your suffering? Maybe letting go of thinking, like in those "nice" moments, is a bridge to being? If you experienced it, and found it liberating, why not learn to sustain it, instead of giving up?

Thanks for what? Maybe answer my question? I feel like you are entrapped by your mind, and fighting hard to get out, but not realizing that the more you struggle, the more ensnared you become. It's judo, not karate. Instead of fighting against everything, learn to allow what is, and in doing so, defeat it. Awakening is about acceptance, not aggression.

Enlightenment isn't an achievement. It is a realization, and it happens when you are ripe enough to let go of the tree of transience, and fall into yourself. Until then, don't hang your happiness on it. Simply learn to be present. Take joy in this moment, and then learn to connect one moment to the next, until it is a continuous state of presence. Have you ever had a profound moment of pure being, completely free from thought, like when observing a sunset, or standing on the pinnacle of a mountain, or losing yourself in the ocean crashing against the shore? Each awakening moment is like that, but turned inward. Thoughts and emotions come and go, but they are seen from 10,000 feet, and you no longer identify with them. Instead, you simply resonate in the being that you are. In the light of Consciousness, boundaries between yourself and everything else begin to dissolve. It is healing, it is liberating, and it is the realization of unconditional love.

The noise of suffering is unnecessary, and we can rise above it, even with the dream. It becomes a distant whisper, unworthy of attention. Life, even at this altitude, can still be noisy at times. Pain, loss, and death are inevitable, regardless of how serenely we accept them. But it is more of a white noise, staticky and strangely comforting in its equanimity.

@Breakingthewall ? The radio will turn off, when the power goes out. Until then, is the noise all that bad, given the alternative? Following this form, there is endless silence, a blessing and a curse. For now, I choose the noise. It is scratchy like a vinyl record, imperfect but unique, compared to the soundless, depthless void that follows forever.

@Breakingthewall I hear you. Fear is the superglue of the ego. What if, realizing its proclamations are the source of suffering, we allow it to recede into the stratosphere? Barely audible radio chatter. Let it go all day long, from a distance of 10,000 feet. Why engage with it, when it has never brought you peace? The demon is comforting with its familiar phrases, but it is still a demon. Its promises of certainty are false. Let it rise into the sky, away from the attention of yourself, and eventually... ?

@gettoefl These are the questions I asked myself. How can something be free, when it is the product of conditions that created it? Free will is a comforting concept, with apparent utility in the relative world, but is it ultimately real? The answer to the question is not found within the dream, but upon awakening from the dream. Then, looking at the dream character so concerned about its free will, all you can do is laugh.

The conceptual distinction has limited utility, and is unlikely to catalyze Consciousness awakening to itself. Not to say that teachings are unimportant, but ultimately it is about direct realization. You can study the Bhagavad Gita for decades, but the concepts mean nothing until you are ready to let go, and Self-realize the encrypted message in its pages.

Hard to say if it is bravery, or desperation. Probably both. When the suffering is intense enough, unclenching your death grip to the conditioned mind, and falling into the void of yourself, suddenly becomes the most sane option.

Everything is Consciousness, in different states of Self-awareness. It has the capacity to veil some of itself from the rest of itself, and the veil creates the illusion of "higher" or "lower" Consciousness. Ultimately, there is is no higher or lower Consciousness, just Consciousness telling the story of seeing itself as such.

I see materialism as just another belief system, a religion in its own right. Any devout believer, whether theological or materialistic, will reject the non-conceptual realization of reality. Consciousness can only be directly realized, and until it happens, it will be dismissed as nonsensical. Which, of course, it is