axiom

I think his face shows that he’s wondering how long it will take to cook his stir fry because he’d like to go out later on. There’s also a small amount of “shall I get a dog?” in there, but he’s unsure he wants the responsibility of looking after an animal. The uppermost portion of his left cheek hints at plans of a holiday to Europe.

@Javfly33

You are identifying with the dream character. Everything you think you are, you are not. The dream character is not in control.

@RendHeaven You've got a talent for dissecting metaphysical puzzles with an exceedingly rare linguistic fluency and creativity. Very impressed.

Everyone here is a mirror I guess. One of the reasons I started that thread was because I thought he might close it.

This is true. In the dream, drinking water appears to quench thirst. Going to a Vipassana retreat or taking 5MEO appears to have some impact on the state of consciousness. My point is in relation to control. There is no control. The sense that you are able to make a decision which has some sort of impact upon the world is illusory. It is illusory because there is noone there to make a decision. It is illusory because the sense of ‘I’ is appended / added to all appearances. Then be reassured that I don’t have any such feelings. Just explaining my POV here

... seems to be a very popular, albeit tacit, kind of posturing around these parts. Whilst noone will come out and say "I'm enlightened", there is the sense that many would love to be considered to be enlightened all the same. Maybe Leo should introduce an "enlightened member of the week" here just to fill this apparent need. Playing games of dominance (in the vein "you're laughably wrong"), or passive dominance (in the vein "keep trying") is not the way to convince others of your spiritual prowess. It's a bit reminiscent of those peculiar handshakes - when someone attempts to present alpha status by twisting their hand so it is on top - all the while not realising that this is, of course, a flashing red signal of weakness. For avoidance of doubt: Noone here is enlightened. Noone here will ever be enlightened.

You do not know this.

Well, let's be honest. Everyone here knew that all along!

Wow - Me... me... me again! Actually, kidding aside - the life story of this character was one of extraordinary suffering. Poor me. This seems to be extremely relevant to the character of course. It imbues all of its hardship and all of its seeking with profound meaning. But it's just a story.

This is an easy one. 1. Speak to a genetic engineer, and have them combine your DNA with fish DNA. 2. Use this to grow a fish tail that can be grafted on to your lower half - in place of your legs, of course - to circumvent chances of the limb being rejected by your auto-immune system. 3. Get a boat 4. Set about saving the world from a cosmic deluge.

This is impossible to know by definition The dream is everything, literally. Actually I just ate a pizza. I chopped up some spring onions and scattered them over the top... and if I do say so myself, it was a pretty good combo... but may not be to everyone's taste of course.

Agree with everything you say here. I hadn't realised though that Neo-Advaita was essentially religious thinking in that sense. I have had completely Earth-shattering experiences on psychedelics. I have also had Earth-shattering experiences with Vipassana, but quite opposite types of experience. The latter I can't really call an experience per se because the experiencer was gone. On a related note, have you come across this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FXQ38-ZQK0&t=30s Read through this list as it plays: “Bart Simpson bouncing” “Rotating pirate ship” “That isn’t my receipt” “Lobsters in motion” “That is embarrassing” “Lactates in pharmacy” “I’m chasing Martian” “Baptism piracy” “That isn’t mercy”

Yes, it seems to me that no-self and God realisation are the same thing. That is how it feels at least. Leo suggests that they are different, I think? I don't really know what is meant by neo-advaita. It seems that many (or most) here dismiss advaita though.

The dreamer stirs in its sleep, then wakes up. It's grace. It wasn't Vipassana that caused awakening. That was part of the story. If the dream character believes the story causes things to happen, then it may be reassured to find itself on a Vipassana retreat. After all, in the story, a Vipassana retreat seems to lead to awakening or at least consciousness expansion. Sometimes. In the same way, taking 5MEO and experiencing God realisation has nothing to do with 5MEO. 5MEO is just a story you're telling yourself. All experience is a story - nothing more, nothing less. Take simply breathing for example. Focus on it long enough, and the sense that it's something you're doing intentionally will begin to emerge. The self really wants to take credit for everything.

I am not particularly interested in Neo Advaita. I find it entertaining, and parts of it seem to resonate. Bits and pieces of others’ apparent experiences here too seem to resonate. But I am not merely theorising as you seem to be suggesting. Noticing the witness was profound when it first happened here - while the dream character was sitting in extreme discomfort at a Vipassana retreat - a year later and it seems to be locked in. I suppose that once it is seen it can’t be unseen. I still do not claim that spiritual practices cause the illusory self to fall away. If your paradigm is causality, then it could be said that the true cause was the Big Bang (or whatever may have preceded it, until you reach the beginning of all causes billions of years ago. But all of this is illusory. The character believes it has some kind of unique agency that is greater than all of the cause and effect relationships of the rest of the apparent universe. It does not. No single component within the dream, including you, have any special ability to change the trajectory of the dream. Causes, as far as they seem to exist, cannot be separated out - the entire universe of all apparent causes flows together. The dream is all made of dream stuff. Also… just to say… people getting hung up on differences here. None of it actually matters :-) There is a 100% chance that “everyone” ultimately ends up in the same place.

You are talking about sequences of events appearing to result in particular outcomes, but this is part of the movie. The later scenes in a movie are not decided by earlier scenes. They are already there (check out any youtube video and scrub to the end if you want to see this for yourself) Spiritual practices are part of the movie. You are watching the movie.

But you do not experience control. Noone does. The sense of control is a form of self-hypnosis. Anyone paying attention to thoughts arising will quickly realise that they are not selected ahead of time - they simply appear. You are identifying with the dream character. *You* did not sign up for a Vipassana retreat. The character did. The character has no control over anything it does because its thoughts and its actions simply arise. It is an automaton caught up in a game of life. A simulation of action and reaction. Re suffering and well being: When awakening happens, it is recognised that all of the trials and tribulations experienced by the character were always imaginary, and had nothing to do with anyone.

It sounds like you believe you have some control over life, and that things with "utility" can be somehow useful to get you somewhere. But in reality you have no control at all. You have only ever been watching.

Truth is not needed. This is a projection of the self seeking to sustain itself by imagining it is not whole.

Yes, more or less. Nothing is needed. There are no methods. Nothing is verifiable. Nothing works. All of these ideas assume some form of control over outcomes is possible. There is no control, because there is noone there who could control anything. Nothing is needed either - this is just a human projection making an assumption that things are somehow imperfect.

God works in mysterious ways.

How certain is the illusory self that it hasn't deluded itself?

@Salvijus A change of perception appears to happen, yes. Of course. This has nothing to do with awakening though. All apparent changes of perception happen only in the movie / dream. A change of perception is not needed. Actually, nothing is needed. Even if something was needed, nothing could be done about it.

If there is noone walking the path, then there is noone there who can keep walking.