Moksha

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.

Is it better to fight fire with fire, or to fight fire with water? The best solvent for another's ego is to remain present yourself.

What is Self-awareness, other than Self-knowledge? Consciousness is not entirely Self-aware, by design, in order to experience its creations. But ultimately, it is.

Yes, he was homeless for some time. He describes crashing with various friends when he didn't have a place of his own. During that period of his life, following his awakening, he was entirely engaged in the dimension of being. At some point, he felt the Conscious compulsion to transition into the dimension of doing. He went into a small church in Europe, and asked the universe to help him. He describes it as a profound and overwhelmingly energetic response, which led to him moving to the west coast of the U.S., and writing The Power of Now.

Why would the Absolute invoke you if there is no purpose? The creation of "you", as a transient expression of Consciousness, is born of intent. What do you suppose that intent might be? The richest of kings, in his opulence, is enslaved by his infinite wealth. Perhaps there is adventure in leaving the palace, for a time, and pretending to be a commoner.

The journey is unique for each of us. For me, it was the culmination of decades of suffering that finally ripened me to the point where I was ready to fall from the tree. Many of us have a series of awakenings, followed by periods of sleep. From what I have seen, the more intense the awakening, the greater the risk that it will be followed by a commensurately harrowing dark night of the soul. The ego doesn't die easily, and the closer it comes to its demise, the fiercer it fights. When I directly realized my ultimate nature as Consciousness, and that I no longer needed to suffer, it was profound and enduring. The awakening was followed by 7 months of effortless bliss. I knew that there was still work to be done on dissolving my attachments, but I saw everything through new eyes. My entire lifestyle and my relationships changed, for the better. I remember a conversation with my mom where I told her that I no longer suffered, and we laughed, knowing what my life had been like before. Sadly, the honeymoon came to a grinding halt, and my ego was back with a vengeance. Still, I knew what I had directly seen. It just was no longer effortless. That was when the real work began. I talked the spiritual work recently, here.

@Adodd Yes, and the direct realization is what leads to the laughter. All the unnecessary suffering and angst is seen for what it is. After your eyes open, life becomes less serious.

@gettoefl You are kind, thank you ?

Nice insights! For me, realizing that everything in relative reality is transient, and inevitably leads to suffering, was the catalytic insight that set me on the spiritual path of integration. Unfortunately, the insight is only the beginning. It points you in the right direction, but it doesn't magically decondition your mind. There are still attachments and aversions to overcome, many of which have haunted you since childhood. It is unrealistic and self-defeating to expect enlightenment and equanimity to happen, solely by virtue of seeing truly for the first time. I realized this after awakening. I saw a long, sinuous spiritual path ahead of me. Here's something I wrote back then: The Bonfire Consciousness strikes the spark of my undoing, Catching in the kindling of thought, Consuming it to soot, intensifying, Crumbling the timbers that it wrought, Purifying fire ever rising, Burning through the ropes of my desire, Devouring the karma of my making, Soul wind stirring these flames higher, Scattering the ashes of my suffering, No delusion left, only the fire. Meditation has been my mainstay since then. It has gradually loosened, and in some cases even dissolved, the bonds of my conditioning. Life is much lighter these days. I also find inspiration by contemplating spiritual sources like the Bhagavad Gita and the Dhammapada. Realizing your ultimate nature as Consciousness is profound. This life is a dream, but as long as you are bundled with a human form, there is wisdom in learning to dream lucidly, and enjoying each step of the journey.

@Consilience Well said! ?⚡

I heard that analogy as a kid in high school. Made me realize that eternity is so infinitely timeless. No wonder Consciousness creates.

The ego is all about judgment, and it doesn't care if it is judging others or judging you. For people like Trump, it is about denigrating others, to aggrandize the self. For people like you and me, it is about self-deprecation. Neither is more egoic than the other. The ego doesn't care, as long as it gets to judge. Realizing Love shrinks the survival of the ego, but not the survival of You. It is the dissolving of boundaries, and it is beautiful. There is no "this self" or "that self", just the seamlessness of Self.

If you contemplate and practice it, beyond simply reading it, your mind will be illuminated. For me, the value was less about Self-realization, and more about Self-integration.

@Adodd I have laughed

Maybe the meaning is in the story itself. Have you ever dreamed that you could fly, or that you were running from a monster that would inevitably catch you in its claws? Clearly the dream has value, beyond timeless, unchanging, relentlessly formless reality. Otherwise, why would Consciousness dream? The best of both worlds is to be awake, within the dream. Enjoy it for what it is, but don't take it too seriously

What if there are different dimensions of reality? In relative reality, there are separate subjects and objects. There are causes and effects. It is a tidy Newtonian universe, never mind that it starts to fray around the edges at extremes. When you push the universe to its limits, macrocosmically or microcosmically, you see relativity for what it is. Einstein realized this, as have quantum physicists and astrophysicists following in his wake. In ultimate reality, there is no separation. The subject is the object. Consciousness is the incomprehensible uncaused cause. People bash their heads against the conceptual wall until they are bloody, refusing to relent until they "understand". Eventually, if they are lucky, they directly realize the truth. And when they do, they inevitably laugh.

This. Knowledge is bound to the conditioned mind. Humans have such a hard time accepting mystery. Let go of knowing, and be. We have the macrocosmic mystery of the universe, and we have the microcosmic mystery at the subatomic level. Underlying that is the deepest mystery of all: the mystery of Consciousness. The one thing you cannot doubt about yourself is that you are Conscious. - Eckhart Tolle The more one studies attempted solutions to problems in politics and economics, in art, philosophy, and religion, the more one has the impression of extremely gifted people wearing out their ingenuity at the impossible and futile task of trying to get the water of life into neat and permanent packages. Religious ideas are like words--of little use, and often misleading, unless you know the concrete realities to which they refer. The word 'water' is a useful means of communication amongst those who know water. The same is true of the word and the idea called 'God'...The reality which corresponds to 'God' and 'eternal life' is honest, above-board, plain, and open for all to see. But the seeing requires a correction of mind, just as clear vision sometimes requires a correction of the eyes. Belief clings, but faith lets go...Our minds have been prepared for it by this very collapse of the beliefs in which we have sought security. From a point of view strictly, if strangely, in accord with certain religious traditions, this disappearance of the old rocks and absolutes is no calamity, but rather a blessing. It almost compels us to face reality with open minds, and you can only know God through an open mind just as you can only see the sky through a clear window. To discover the ultimate Reality of life--the Absolute, the eternal, God--you must cease to try to grasp it in the forms of idols. These idols are not just crude images, such as the mental picture of God as an old gentleman on a golden throne. They are our beliefs, our cherished preconceptions of the truth, which block the unreserved opening of the mind and heart to reality. The legitimate use of images is to express the truth, not to possess it. 'Unless a grain of corn fall into the ground and die, it remains alone. But if it dies, it brings forth much fruit'...What religion calls the vision of God is found in giving up any belief in the idea of God. By the same law of reversed effort, we discover the 'infinite' and the 'absolute,' not by straining to escape from the finite and relative world, but by the most complete acceptance of its limitations. Paradox as it may seem, we likewise find life meaningful only when we have seen that it is without purpose, and know the 'mystery of the universe' only when we are convinced that we know nothing about it at all. - Alan Watts, The Wisdom of Insecurity

@Bodhitree Go where you feel the resonance. Enjoy your realizations beneath the bodhi tree. Only you know the shade that will bring you rest. I am an outlier in this community. I'm not young, have no interest in psychedelics, and have seen little of Leo's content. Still, this was the sanctuary that I stumbled across after my eyes opened, and I will always honor it for that. Our community is a melange of mirrors, Consciousness gazing upon itself, diffracting its reflections in every direction, but somehow ultimately pointing to the sameness of us all.