Moksha

Religion can have some benefits, but there is always a catch. You cannot awaken through beliefs, only through direct realization. The more engrained someone is in their beliefs, the less likely that they will be willing to let go of the mind, and realize that it is a cesspool of self-fulfilling suffering. For that reason, I see religion, and all belief structures, including spiral dynamics, as more of a hindrance than a help.

Chasing mystical experiences is the least likely path to realizing them. Happiness is like a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. Instead of chaining yourself to the result of your actions, learn the art of being in the present moment, regardless of the results. Presence is its own reward.

Nothing can rise higher than its nature. As a human, you are bound to the limits of humanity. Even dreaming lucidly doesn't dissolve these limits. If you want to be an Olympic gymnast, no matter how gifted you are, you have to do the work. Consciousness has no limits, but that is a blessing and a curse. It cannot rise higher or sink lower, because there is no directionality in its ultimate nature. It can only dream about change, and the dream characters are inevitably bound by the limits of the dream.

Forget the doing, for the most part, and learn to be.

Letting go of distractions and desires, what is left? The sages did this, through the Neti neti process of Self-inquiry, like peeling an onion. After letting go of "this" and "that", the reality at the center of it all is Consciousness itself. Inquire into yourself and you will see.

Who is believing in God? It is all God, in different states of Self-awareness. There is nothing outside of God, to believe in God.

@Kykeon Do human beings fit the definition of a noun? Within relative reality, of course they do. Relative reality is like a pinball machine of causes and effects. From the ultimate perspective, it is all Consciousness, and the dream of nouns, verbs, and adjectives dissolves.

The senses are higher than the body, the mind higher than the senses, above the mind is the intellect, and above the intellect is the Atman. Thus, knowing that which is supreme, let the Atman rule the ego. - Bhagavad Gita 3:42-43

There are nouns, but only in relative reality. A noun is the subject of a verb. Ultimately, there is only Consciousness, which is the eternal object.

Beautiful. If I may suggest, let go of belief, which is bound to concepts, and see that love, grace, unconditional acceptance, and sacredness are already here and now, not as an external deification, but as an internal realization.

To see God 24/7, nothing is required other than to be present 24/7. Are you willing to let go of the distractions, desires, and delusions of your life in order to see the face of God? Forget 24/7, just do it in this moment, which is ultimately all there is.

I hear you. Intellectualization will get you nowhere. The question is whether the message deeply resonates, regardless of the messenger. I have read one of his books, and have seen a few of his videos. I'm not a cult follower of Alan Watts. What I have heard resonates with what I have realized. Given that, I don't care how integrated he was as a human. It is all about the integrity of the message itself. Alan Watts is not a lone voice in the wilderness. I recently read Being Ram Dass, and see a lot of parallels in his experience. He experimented extensively with psychedelics, but ultimately moved beyond them. They were only a temporary medicine. I had thought of psychedelics as a spiritual path, and now he was pulling that conceptual rug out from under me. From the place of oneness where Maharaj-ji sits, psychedelics are just a fragmentary shard of a vastly deeper reality. He showed me they are a limited window, all the while reflecting back to me the deeper place of love within myself… These medicines were known in the Kulu Valley long ago," he said, "but yogis have forgotten about them." He said psychedelics could be useful if you took them in a quiet, cold place and your soul was turned toward God. "They allow you to come into the presence of Christ, to have darshan, but you can only stay for two hours." It was good to visit Christ, Maraj-ji said, but it was better to be Christ. "This medicine won't do that," he continued. "It's not the true samadhi, absorption in God. Love is a much stronger medicine."

Alan Watts saw clearly. His ability to integrate his realizations is another question, but does it invalidate the wisdom of his teachings? I don't care how successful someone is in their integration. I care more about the resonance of the message itself. If the teachings are true, they have intrinsic value, regardless of how successfully they are modeled. How many prophets do you know that have been perfect?

At least Alan Watts realized the value of stepping away from the spiritual microscope, and working on what you have seen. Who am I to judge what attachments he was able to dissolve, in doing this work? Maybe he didn't overcome alcoholism, but there are other deep attachments that he was able to release. I'm hard-pressed to think of any human that overcame all of their aversions and desires. Maybe superheroes like Jesus and the Buddha mostly did, but even here, I am confident they were not entirely perfect. Humanity itself is an attachment. Enlightenment is a process, not a destination. Don't discredit people who aren't perfect, because in doing so you will nullify the collective wisdom of the ages. None of the sages was perfect either, and yet they realized their ultimate nature, and worked toward Self-integration.

What has been will be again, What has been done will be done again; There is nothing new under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 1:9

@BorisAb When you realize your ultimate nature as Consciousness, you don't choose to let go of fear/resistance. The direct realization itself puts fear/resistance into perspective. What is there to be afraid of? Enjoy relative reality for what it is, but also realize that everything in the dream is inevitably transient. Don't cling to it as if your ultimate nature depends on it, because it doesn't. Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God. - A Course in Miracles

Would you, as a human, enjoy reading a story that was only about butterflies, sweet butter, and bliss?

When you realize that birth and death are bound to relative reality, the question resolves itself. Maybe the dream "you" continues in some form, maybe not: Ultimately, when realizing that we are all the same Consciousness and differences dissolve, does it matter?

Have you encountered a good story that doesn't revolve around crisis? What kind of dream would it be without heroes and villains, peace and conflict, love and betrayal?

Why does Consciousness create? Because without creation, there is only infinite, changeless, featureless, unexpressed potential. What a waste of a good dream.

Equanimity is the realization that aversions and desires are opposite ends of the same stick. You can't have one without the other. Hawkins is telling you to let go of the stick.

The paradox of enlightenment is that as Consciousness, the Self is already enlightened. It is only in the relative journey of finite forms, where Consciousness infuses itself into different states of awareness, that it is possible for the little self to become enlightened to its ultimate nature. Awakening is the beginning of the end of suffering. You see your ultimate nature, but are still bound to the dream of relative reality, with its associated conditioning. It is only after awakening that the real work of dissolving your attachments becomes possible. I am still dissolving my attachments, and I suspect most of us are. Equanimous enlightenment, where all desires and aversions disappear, is extraordinarily rare.

One of the most honest expressions about death, which resonates with me: The essence of who you are is beyond death. That comes out of inner realization. I don’t know much beyond that. You’ll have to wait and see when you actually die. - Eckhart Tolle Reincarnation, near death experiences, ghosts, etc. are all possible, but still they are bound by relative reality. Ultimately, does it matter? We are all the same Consciousness, dreaming, in different states of awareness. When you realize that, the rules reveal the game itself.

@somegirl It's human to fear what others think. Our brains are wired for attachment to the praise of others. Ultimately, what matters is that you are doing what you love, regardless of what people think. Is the doing inherently fulfilling, or do you require adulation for the doing? Maybe both. When you do what you desire, free from attachments to the fruit of your work, you are being. You have the right to work, but never to the fruit of work. You should never engage in action for the sake of reward, nor should you long for inaction…Seek refuge in the attitude of detachment and you will amass the wealth of spiritual awareness. Those who are motivated only by desire for the fruits of action are miserable, for they are constantly anxious about the results of what they do. - Bhagavad Gita 2:47,49

Maybe the message of the trips is true, but your interpretation is superficially literal. I've never done psychedelics, but have delved into the subconscious mind. It is a shadow puppeteer. See the deeper symbolic meaning. Maybe your mom not treating you fairly, or a girl not liking you, are merely symbols for a more profound message waiting to be realized.