cetus

Remove the word "their" and yes that would be about it. Enlightened realize what they are is higher awareness itself. In actuality, everyone is already that. Most just don't realize they are because of the illusion of self that masks the truth. If you have a location, you can't be everywhere, can you? But most won't dare to let go of themselves, so they cling to the safety of ego-self and it's confined existence.

@Seyed Surrender= ego death: the renunciation, rejection and, ultimately, the death of the need to hold on to a separate, self-centered existence

@Jhonny Your probably meditating with a wrong approach. 2-3 years and you could be stuck in this same place. Too much emphasis on "I am meditating" won't get you very far. That's just more "me" which meditation is the opposite of. I assume the "difficulty" lies in the fact you can't stop being "you" during meditation. Change that up to-"No one is meditating, meditation is just happening of it's own doing".

@wellbranding Any sense of well being is going to effect your overall immune system in positive ways. Stress is a big factor too. No self= no stress for the enlightened. I was wondering the other day about the effectiveness of meditation on Multiple Sclerosis. The immune system attacks the nervous system. Could just meditating be beneficial to slow progression of certain diseases? All important questions. Keep up the good work!

@mr lenny That sounds like good stuff there!

@mr lenny You gotta transcend TIME. Nothing will ever happen within time because that's just another aspect of "you". Your mind may be creating resistance by holding on to time (you), even though you may not realize the sneaky ways mind will hold it's ownership. Override that mind by transcending time, space, self/patience- and all those worldly confines. Do that and 30 minutes of meditation will seem like 5. You'll be amazed. Some days the mind just refuses to behave. When I realize that is happening, I "STOP" everything! Than put mind in it's proper perspective as "just mind", than move on. Usually that works. If not, approach meditation again when it feels right. The last thing you want is to experience frustration or impatience. That is the mind's way of winning over you by inducing a negative aspect into the practice.

@Neo It is thought that during Samadhi, one part of the brain becomes quiet, and another part becomes suddenly active. That shift, when it happens is unmistakable. Unless it's experience it as you did, one would never know that possibility even exists.

@Neo I remember the first time it happened to me exactly a year ago. I was saying to myself "Wow, what was that?" Amazing isn't it! I never realized that could happen before that first experience. After looking into it, the best description I can find is called Samadhi. A lot of that going around now. It seems to come in waves. Maybe that's just coincidence?

@Neo Did it feel as if awareness suddenly came to a point of perfect focus? Like hyper awareness kicked in or something?

@Dhal-Sim This sounds as if you experienced Samadhi- Union

@Kuba Give yourself the time you need but face that ego down. By doing so you render it powerless. Someday you'll see and you will get the biggest smile on you face that you ever had. Sure it's not easy the first time, but so well worth it! After that it's a piece of cake to face it down anytime because you will see that it's only power is what you give to it. You will know that as a fact.

@Kuba You say you have been meditating for a year now. For what? This is like buying a boat so you can catch fish, only to let go of the rod at the first signs of any resistance. All your doing is feeding the fish (ego).

@YoungSeeker Annata (no-self or selfless self), Samadhi (union) Yes, different to experience at first but very cool at the same time. Good for you. It's not easy to take that first step into the unknown by letting go. Especially once you have established a stronger sense of self. I say that because I had this experience happen from time to time as a young child. One minute it was just me playing with my truck in the sandbox, doing my thing. The next second I felt a shift suddenly and I became one with existence. I would have to stop playing just to look up at nature around me. Almost as if it had called me by name. There was no separation. It felt great and comforting! Than as I got a little older I lost it and it stopped happening. But it left an impression that I never forgot. And now, many years later it's back again from time to time. I'm glad you found it too! It's wonderful! I like to get out into nature and sit with a still mind and just let it happen. That works best for me personally. Good luck.

Here is something I read yesterday that may relate to that. "Give up even the desire to be experiencing the bliss of being it all".

Right now I'm in a really nice space. As Mooji would say, "It is not a shared space because that would imply there are two."

A divine presents that pervades all. Is that the I am? I think so.

http://www.enlightened-spirituality.org/

Reality of Absolute, Infinite Awareness. Countless people today ask what it means to live a deeper spiritual life.... Beyond the old dilemma of whether to renounce the world or immerse oneself in it, the enlightened "Free Beings" (the Avatâra-Incarnations and awake adepts) show us how to freely transcend yet pervade the world with Love and Light through the Power of Pure Awareness. This Divine Reality of Pure Awareness, Open Presence or Spirit, the one Sacred Principle, is both beyond all yet within all. As the theologians say, this Divine Awareness/Reality is both transcendent and immanent. Not any kind of "thing" but the Source, Witness and Reality of all things, this God-Self is other than this world, yet right here animating and embracing this dreamlike world and all her deliciously unique beings. Let's be completely clear about This: Awareness is Who You Really Are, right HERE, right NOW, the Infinite, Open, Imperceptible (but quite live-able or be-able) Host for all "guest" experiences, as the Zen masters say. Awareness is the Supreme Self, the unseen Seer of seeing, the unheard Hearer of hearing, the unthinkable Thinker of thinking, as the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (our oldest wisdom text) revealed Divine Truth nearly 3,000 years ago. Hence, anyone living and flourishing in/as Divine Awareness-Bliss-Love can be totally involved in the world while entirely uninvolved, fully engaged while completely free as the One Who Alone IS, the I AM THAT AM. This God-Self or Divine Dreamer, the true Living God, Pure Open Awareness, sports and adventures as "I am this" or "I am that," delightfully playing the always-poignant role of the individual human being or any kind of sentient being, eventually awakening ItSelf (from Its egocentric soul condition) to the clarity of Divine Presence, the only Reality. One's life, therefore, can be a beautiful unfolding flower of virtue, eventually fully blossoming into a life of Divine splendor.

This is good. Maybe it's all just my ego working on a more subtle level, but I can't shake this feeling that there is an underlying presence that I can't explain. A divinity maybe? Maybe that's just wishful thinking though? I'm going to look into that one a little more.

I think the words I Am is a bit misleading. If the I Am is pure awareness there is really no "I" in it. Maybe I'm just seeing it differently but to me I Am suggests the core being as a raw perceiver of reality. Beyond the individual as a separate self.

It's all a wonderful mystery. I mean, who can really say for sure from this perspective. What is awareness? What is the I am? what is nothingness? What is this? Why does existence happen at all? What happens to me when I pass? Is there anything that remains of the "I am" after the body falls away? These are questions that can't be answered by the mind. I have heard many different answers to all these questions. Which would be truth? There are so many inspirational teachers out there. There has always been for all of time. But so many differ too from each other too. My gut feeling is what it has always been since the first day I realized that there is more to us than meets the eye as an individual self. For some reason this universe (existence) wants to experience itself through awareness. It does through the entirety of the universe. Through different expressions of itself as different organisms that best suit it's environment. Imagine the diversity out there. The human organism being just one of a countless number on different planets. But one thing remains the same, awareness of the surrounding environment. When that organism dies, it's individual experience of awareness comes to an end. It's cycle is complete. But awareness is unstoppable, it continues without missing a beat through producing a new organism that continues that cycle of awareness that the previous organism physically produced ( the children of the human organism for example). So do I think there is an I Am? I think " I am that I am" answers that best. As long as the "I Am" remains within the awareness of reality- there is an "I Am". After that, it's lights out. If there is anything of the "I Am" that continues after my mind and body drops away, that would be an extra bonus. But I'm not counting on it at this point. At the core of the individual as a separate self there exists the I Am or beingness. As Mooji has said, "The I Am is not the final state". I wonder what that "Final State" could be and what of the I Am will remain if any? Who really knows what happens???

@Akeberg I'd call that progress. The mind can be a lot like a closet that needs to be cleaned out of old emotional memories. Usually lots of junk in there you forget about until you start digging. Let it come out. If there is emotion involved with a particular memory, observe both the memory and the emotions it stirs. Don't cling to them, acknowledge them and release them as they arise. You will find doing this very liberating and a lightness will remain from the acceptance and release. Be kind and loving and to yourself during the process. Remember, emotions and memories only have power when you give it to them.

@Beam I just looked this up. Thought it was interesting. It seems to fit here. Mental model[edit] Further information: Mental model, Representation (psychology), and Cognitive model In cognitive psychology and philosophy of mind, a mental model is a representation of something in the mind,[10] but a mental model may also refer to a nonphysical external model of the mind itself.[11]

@Beam So true. Enlightenment exists only in the conceptual mind.

I was under the impression it's not that easy for a heroin addict to get clean. Doesn't the physical body get addicted to the drug also and that is the toughest part of quitting? Not true?