WelcometoReality

It's good to distiguish these things as they can be quite subtle.

Good. Could you tell me those things I asked you so it's clear what we are talking about for me as well.

As you say only awareness can observe these things, but it's easy to group different experiences into a concept such as the ego and then it's not a discussion anchored in experience. If you look within can you find any ego there? What does the new and the old ego consist of? These problems you talk about what do they consist of? You'll know it's the infinite. No need to think about these things that have yet occured.

@RendHeaven It's good to see this early. "I SHOULD be happy." That's a big sign that thought is trying to look for reasons for being happy. Happiness is not about logic reasoning however. Maybe you should sit down and start to FEEL what really is true for you because you won't find real happiness until you do.

Nothing wrong to prepare for the future as long as the present isn't just the means to get in to the future moment. It's not about the end point but the journey there.

@SoonHei Beautiful.

I wouldn't do it but is that the right thing for you to do? We learn early to listen to others opinions and learn little about finding what feels right for us. Find the answer within yourself.

Does it help to think that way? What if you instead think that it's ok to be sad, that it is a natural part of life?

Sometimes there is happiness and sometimes sadness. Perfectly normal. Also perfectly normal to enjoy happiness more than sadness. Can you see that there is resistance to the sadness? This post is in essence resistance to it. What if you were writing a post about being happy for the last 5 days and what to do about it? The sadness can't hurt you and the thoughts are just thought. No need to listen to them, rather feel in the body how the sadness feels. When we listen to the feeling instead of resisting it, it will pass rather than intensify.

I can't really remember the specifics. I do remember giving you some pointers but can't recall if they were any good. Probably not..

Sounds like someone I knew on this forum. Me that is.

Not that easy to say after a 30 minute meeting. Maybe you should take a test to be certain? Autism or not it won't take away what you have "seen"

We'll see then. Good luck in your endeavors. @robdl if you have the time. Please contact me.

@Faceless I'd like to continue the discussion if you don't mind? Maybe we could continue in a private message to not hijack the thread more than we have already done?

Is it some kind of communist manifest? I'm sorry!

Those beliefs are just thoughts and they won't matter when you feel you are about to die. Can you be still when you feel that death is inevitable? You can't really answer that question in words. Only in action.

Thought can't focus on the other senses. Consciousness (or whatever you want to call it) is that which focus. I do agree that thought cuts the given experience to pieces. Words are like that by nature. Thought are like that by nature. However that is not the same thing as focus. Thought wants attention. It does not want to give away attention to the other senses because it needs the attention to prolong the illusion of self. When we stop giving thought attention the illusion of self starts to fall apart. Focus and concentration does not sustain thought. It's when we lack focus and concentration that awareness dips down and thought start to appear. How would the human race have survived if we started to think about what we should eat for dinner when a wild animal attacked us?

Ego is the identification to thought- and sense-patterns. So if you define enlightenment as "complete loss of ego" it is to no longer have any identification to any thought-sense patterns. There is no self, and there will never be a self. There is just identification to the I-thought. There will be opinions but no identification to those opinions. So no belief in that they are true. They will not be held onto as truths and can easily be reformed because if that.

That is just a thought. Seems like you had a glimpse. Now the real work begins.

It's just a shift of focus from mind to the body. It doesn't feed the self, actually it gives less attention to it. To mentally masturbate is to focus on thoughts. You're saying that focus on the senses fuels mental masturbation. How is that so?

@Tistepiste This is good advice. Ego won't give up easily. It will create whatever is needed to get back into control. You can read about it here.

Yes I agree with what you are saying but how does that help the OP?

@MarkusSweden In each moment focus more on your senses than your mind. Make triggers in your daily life that remind you to be more mindful, like a doorway trigger. There are a bunch of Mindfulness techniques you can use that will help you stop listening to your thoughts, so I recommend you do some research about it.

@Cortex Yes enjoy life! It's meant to be enjoyed. Just don't fall into the trap of avoiding lifes hardships because they will cause you to grow.

@MiracleMan All these conclusions are from the mind. The question to ask moment to moment is: Is there identification to the body-mind. Belief in thought. Belief in being the body, the person? As you wrote. There isn't anything you can 'do'. It's futile. But do you really see that? Because if you do you STOP. And STOPPING isn't anything you do. If you don't see the futility you continue to 'do' as you always have.