Moksha

Amen and Hallelujah It is all about the journey, and being present in every step. Consciousness is already infinitely abundant. Why are we so anxious to return to the ultimate changeless state which created us in the first place? Instead, lucidly enjoy the character that is uniquely you, and make the most of this dream. Consciousness imagines relative reality, to experience the thrill of the roller coaster that is life. In the vastness of the cosmos, you will never be repeated. Celebrate your singularity. Instead of hanging your happiness on some future state of enlightenment, realize the love and joy that is here and now, already within you, if you simply open your eyes and see.

Ultimately, there are no individuals. We are all the same Consciousness, expressing itself through its creations. Ask if any individual decides anything. You are localized Consciousness, but as such do you really control anything? Can you decide what thought will come next? Meditation will help you realize this. Beyond thoughts and feelings, what observes?

I have benefited from sources like Song of the Enchanting Wildwoods. They can resonate with Consciousness, and help you realize your true nature. Still, silent meditation is profound. It develops the capacity for vigilance, in a world of turmoil. It tames the monkey mind. I see it as a spiritual workout. Meditate daily. It strengthens your ability to stay present, regardless of what happens around you. When meditation is mastered, the mind is unwavering like the flame of a lamp in a windless place. In the still mind, in the depths of meditation, the Self reveals itself. Beholding the Self by means of the Self, an aspirant knows the joy and peace of complete fulfillment. Having attained that abiding joy beyond the senses, revealed in the stilled mind, he never swerves from the eternal truth. He desires nothing else, and cannot be shaken by the heaviest burden of sorrow. - Bhagavad Gita 6:19

Bingo ⚡

French expression: Reculer pour mieux sauter. Take a step back to jump farther forward. I have found that both personal and cosmic evolution have regressive cycles. Just when you think you are free, the ego sneaks in with a dagger at your back. The secret is to realize the inevitability of this, and ensure that the overall journey is an upward spiral path.

Attributes are irrelevant to awakening. Your eyes open when you are ready for them to open. Tolle awakened, not because he was a supremely benign being, but because he suffered greatly, and was finally ready to let go of the suffering. Not to say that attributes don't matter. Humility, honesty, diligence, and equanimity will greatly improve the quality of your life. But they won't automatically wake you up. It only happens when life has ripened you to the point where you are ready to let go of the tree of suffering, which you desperately clung to, as if it could deliver enduring peace. That release is the realization of your ultimate nature, which is Consciousness itself.

The best book is subjective, and depends on where you are in your unique spiritual journey. For me, before awakening it was The Power of Now (Eckhart Tolle). After awakening, it was the Bhagavad Gita (Eknath Easwaran translation). There are many, many others but these two books are magnificent milestones for me.

Enjoy the journey Consciousness is infinitely Powerful, initially through individuality, but ultimately through universal potentiality. The dreamer dreams, and eventually awakens to itself, beyond the dream. Seeing clearly is the ultimate power.

Yet, Consciousness created the trick of life for a reason. What do you think that reason might be?

Consciousness is both the dreamer and the dream. Ultimate and relative reality resolve into the sameness that Consciousness is.

Yes, and it is perfectly fine. Solipsism is beyond empathy towards others. It is the beginning of seeing relative reality for what it is. You are still bound by the individual perspective, but you see the video game playing out around you. What happens when you realize that "you" are just another avatar in the same video game? What "you" see is just as real as what sees "you". It is all the same Consciousness. When you realize that directly, it will rock your world/universe/cosmos.

If you find yourself alone, that is solipsism. When you see the sameness of yourself in everything else, that is another step toward enlightenment. There's nothing wrong with solipsism. It is a common stepstone on the spiritual path. Celebrate each step, and let go of self-judgment. It is all about the journey, which once realized, turns out to be the same in the "end" as in the "beginning". It's funny, really. When I talk to people that I consider awakened, there is little discussion about ultimate reality. More than anything, we just laugh

You are me, the tree outside your house, and the conch shell at the bottom of the ocean. Ultimately, everything is the same Consciousness, in different states of awareness. It is possible, although rare, to live mostly free from ego. You can survive, and even thrive, without identifying with individuality. That is the secret of genius. They let go of the illusion of separation, and draw from the infinite well of Consciousness that is our true nature. Music, sculpture, dance, physics, basketball, gymnastics, whatever....they see beyond their individuality and draw from the infinite well of ultimate reality. Ego is the antithesis of enlightenment.

Lucid dreaming, bro

Ultimately, there is no "I" imagining everyone else's thoughts and emotions. "You" are no more real than the rest of "us". Believing that "you" are the only reality is solipsism. Waking up is the dissolving of all boundaries.

Do you want honesty or philosophy? I prefer honesty, which is that nobody knows what happens after death. Eastern philosophies favor reincarnation and ultimate reintegration, but that is just another belief. The only reliable truth is directly realized, and being free from conceptualization, there are no beliefs associated with it. Ultimate reality simply is, and life/death is the story we tell ourselves. Near death experiences are about as close as you will get to understanding relative reality, and they suggest temporal continuity, in some form. I find "Return from Tomorrow" by George Ritchie to be more credible than most, and also love this:

Aligning relative reality with ultimate reality is the greatest challenge, purpose, and reward of life. It is easy to claim that you are awakened, but the proof is in the existential pudding. Do you still suffer? Are you afflicted with desires, aversions, boredom, laziness, and anxiety? If so, you have not yet reached the end of the enlightenment journey. That destination is ultimate freedom, and it is only realized within. As I have said, I have only one purpose: to make man free, to urge him towards freedom, to help him to break away from all limitations, for that alone will give him eternal happiness, will give him the unconditioned realization of the Self… Again, you have the idea that only certain people hold the key to the Kingdom of Happiness. No one holds it. No one has the authority to hold that key. That key is your own self, and in the development and the purification and in the incorruptibility of that self alone is the Kingdom of Eternity… You are accustomed to being told how far you have advanced, what is your spiritual status. How childish! Who but yourself can tell you if you are beautiful or ugly within? Who but yourself can tell you if you are incorruptible? You are not serious in these things. But those who really desire to understand, who are looking to find that which is eternal, without beginning and without an end, will walk together with a greater intensity, will be a danger to everything that is unessential, to unrealities, to shadows. And they will concentrate, they will become the flame, because they understand. - Jiddu Krishnamurti

You don't have to jump off the cliff to realize that you are only jumping into yourself

Localization doesn't exclude realization. It is possible to see the sameness in everything, and in every nothing, even with the dream. That seeing is the actuality of awakening.

Bingo. Love this quote from Michelangelo: The sculpture is already complete within the marble block, before I start my work. It is already there, I just have to chisel away the superfluous material.

Eckhart Tolle's advice is moderation. If you can have a glass or two of wine and stop there, go for it. If it leads to a deluge of drinking, don't drink at all. Addictions are antagonistic to spirituality. They are bondage, when what you really want is freedom. Rather than asking whether alcohol inevitably inhibits spirituality, ask whether it is addictive for you.

Direct realization, and developing the spiritual discipline to remain present, regardless of what happens in the external world. You don't become a world class bodybuilder through drugs and self-affirmations. You hit the gym and work hard, over and over and over again. Gradually, you develop the muscle to lift heavier weights. Meditation is not as much about awakening as it is about increasing your capacity to stay awake. The Buddha compared it to swimming upstream, against the current of the conditioned mind. Unless you are freakishly spiritually gifted (~ the top .00001% of humans), enlightenment will be a lifetime journey. Good news is that the destination is less important than the journey, and you can learn to enjoy every step.

This is the same question that the Buddha asked nearly 3 millenia ago. He noticed the inevitable transience of things. Everything that is born must also die. You have a choice. Either resent the transience of your existence, or celebrate the preciousness of it. Would it be special, if it lasted forever? Realizing your mortality is the insight that will make every moment precious. Celebrate every step of the journey. So much better than doom-spiraling into inevitable oblivion. Spoiler: Your ultimate nature is beyond time

Anxiety, depression, OCD, and other mental disorders are products of our biology and our conditioning. Most humans suffer from these plagues in some form or another. The beauty of meditation is the diligent practice of deconditioning, and the deepening realization of our ultimate nature. We become less triggered by what happens outside of us, and more connected to the infinite wellspring of Consciousness, which is who we actually are.

Perhaps there is a pointer here, and an opportunity for self-reflection?