Anton Rogachevski

@SOUL

Why thank you dear sir, I try not brag about it, but sure. I guess my job here is done. *Flies away*

*Deep bow* Finally a true master has arrived. Let's have more "I'm Enlightened" posts!

Your integration is staggering. Teach me oh Enlightened one. Can I ask you any questions now?

Meanwhile I'm pretty satisfied with what is. There's is an infinite amount of depth to Jibber jabber, but there's no use of going there. At some point going around in circles bores you, and you just surrender to wonder, you become one with god, and he takes care of the rest. Just give god the wheel and enjoy the ride. You never had the wheel anyway.

Jibber jabber is all there is. Don't put legs on a snake.

If used correctly a hammer won't break things. Since enlightenment is such a subtle castle of glass, it takes mastery and care not break and ruin it.

All i can say is this: Stop objectifying awareness. All you say is true, but it's a pity to say so. There's a reason Buddha talked in metaphors - it's to prevent this intellectualizing jibber jabber.

There cannot. This is also a thought. How do you know where thoughts "are"? This is a groundless basic assumption. Please explain this statement. How can there be awareness of thoughts?

There can be an appearance of a bird chirping. And then a thought: "There is awareness of a bird." The idea of "awareness of thoughts" arises after the thoughts left, along with the claimer of the one that "Had" thoughts. By calling your ego "awareness" you are putting a sheep's clothing on a wolf.

You can't be aware of a thought because you are also a thought. There can only be one at a time. "I had thoughts" "I didn't have thoughts" are both thoughts and not meditation. Think about the question: "What is a thought?"

It's neither infinite nor finite, it's both and neither. I love the quote by Bodhidharma: "A Buddha is not a buddha." You cannot reach this truth by thinking about it, but if you like thinking then you should keep trying. A good friend of mine said that trying to understand this is like a cucumber trying to explain the gardner.

"Suffering is Nirvana, Nirvana is suffering."

The master is doing many things while not doing anything. (Zen rephrasing) Remember that the truth is neither of the terms, so there's neither discipline, nor lack of discipline. The answer is ineffable. It arises as a temporary solution in the realm of manifestation until one realises there's no use for it. It sure can, but it's really up to you. To reach effortlessness, one must first exert effort. Be very cautious saying this. This is when the master hits you with a stick and ask: "Then who is it that screams." No-self implies self, and therefore is self. To truly know what it means one must contact it directly. One cannot take non-dual truths, and then use them to logically conclude things about the dual, or really believe any non dual truth. These two paradigms are incompatible. Very dangerous activity, Bodhidharma refers to it as devilry. (The zen teaching of bodhidharma - amazing book!) In any case, self discipline is one of the best things that ever happened to me. Meditation is self discipline. Obviously it's best when it's matched with self-compassion, lack of expectations, and learning to love it, as Alan Watts puts it: Work as play.

If you take modafinil watch this. Sorry for wrong section, please move to an appropriate category.

So all of this thread is about beating around the bush, instead of just doing self inquiry. I guess Nike had it right all along: "Just Do It." Is it that simple? Why does one wish to be enlightened? What's the point of life?

@winterknight For the sake of argument let's say I did all of the above and became enlightened, yet still work at McDonald's. Wouldn't I miss anything important?

It's so obvious, yet nobody talks about it. Have you ever noticed that the most talked about spiritual teachers, are also very charismatic? The way that wisdom is transferred is highly affected by how the person is perceived in the eyes of the reciever. And the fact that the teacher is respected, and seen as an authority is the major part of the process of delivering wisdom. Which means shockingly that the quality of wisdom is a secondary factor! That is because we subconsciously determine if the person in front of us is a leader or a follower. When our brain perceives the teacher as a true leader, we easily accept his thoughts as reality. In other words "reality" in a tribe is dictated by the leader, and the rest of the tribe either accepts the new reality, or they get kicked out of the tribe. That's why quotes always come with the name of the person, because if I quoted even the smartest scientist and told you: "My friend Johnny said so.", you would laugh hysterically. For the same reason religions focus on the charismatic character which said it all, the "prophet". The thing is we percieve many ideas as authority, even god (in the biblical sense) is a strong male who dictates rules, it's done to fool people's instinctual perception and makes it easier to control them with the ideas. Also such ideas as "society" are perceived as authority, and it makes people behave socially, in fear of being rejected by the imagined authority figure, which society represents. Yet wisdom is still useful. And it does produce results in the end. Don't let this discourage you. It must be so because that is the systematic method of making sure wisdom is being transferred on, to bring order and peace. This also shows the importance of being a good leader, because your realtionship with the people around you affects your ability to help them. Your top most wisdom will fail miserably if you are not perceived as an authority in their eyes.

So just self inquiry? No other things besides this worth doing?

What other things besides enlightenment and therapy could be helpful in the path?

Does the enlightened one needs a sense of purpose to be fulfilled? *deep bow Thank you master for posting here, I'm in the process of reading all the thread, and I find much inspiration, wisdom and it gives me strength to stay on this path of no paths.

@Serotoninluv I'm afraid you missed the point I was trying to get across. If one believes that the staute is an external god he must persist in this folly to become wise. I will try not to sidetrack.

The statue is a reminder for the monk who lost touch with the true nature of reality and missed it's sacredness. If he thinks the statue is sacred but the broom next to it isn't, he knows he's discriminating. Bowing also help develop and practice humilty and graditude. "Tradition has power. It can serve to help liberate, yet it can also restrict and contract." One could say that about many things that are useful, if somepne falls into a trap he was supposed to fall. It's not an excuse to stop using cars if they could hurt people.

And yet, even knowing this a monk bows. Don't underestimate the power of tradition.

Only a fool would think himself wise.