Ishanga

WE = You and I and all of Us! Effort is Intention first, Intention can be determined or Consciously manifested, I would say for most ppl their intentions are predetermined, they are living on the surface of life, only wanting more and accumulating/gathering more, more ppl, more stuff, more security, more entertainment, more of really nothing meaningful, like true internal self manifested Experiences, they are slaves to the outside basically! If You apply Effort that means You want change and doing action towards making that change, that is as aspect of exerting Free Will.. I am too fat, to overweight, I need to lose weight and become healthy, so You actively watch the type of food You eat, the quantity of food You eat, and You workout and become more active physically, this is an example, you can do nothing about being overweight/unhealthy or do something about it, that is your choice... Mind = the basic are Mind is Intellect, Identity, Memory and Consciousness or Source Intelligence.. The Intellect is a Survival tool, it allows You to live better and safer for another day, we have super intellects because we so weak physically compared to many animals, so because of that we dominate the world, it allows us to invent things, and plan things out better, but its all on the Survival level of Life, Intellect wraps around what You are Identified with, male/female, rich/poor, health/unhealthy, religious/not, etc.. The basic identity should be that of the cosmos, but if that is not possible identify with being Human which means You have lots of Potential in You.. Memory is Karma, we need it to have life as it is on this Earth, no Karma/Memory/Foundation, no life here..Karma/Memory is also a survival thing, you can either get wise or wounded by memory and karma, better to be Wise from past experiences, not wounded.. Consciousness or Source Intelligence is God/Absolute within You, if You touch that aspect of what You are then Your Enlightened! Awareness = is another form of Intelligence, it is knowing and being in Experience of God/Absolute, which is an sort of Intelligence that is not influenced by the past or memory/karma.. We can be low in Awareness, like a low powered light bulb and know/see little of what it means to be Human and what this world has to offer, or it can be a highly powered bulb and we can see/experience everything that we are and what this world has to offer.. You cannot take a finger and point or find a particular YOU, since we are not the Body or Mind, all we can know is that it is within Us and found in everything around Us that is living! So it cannot be pin pointed (this is intellect wanting to see it, touch it, feel it, taste it, smell it and the dissect it, but this is a separation process, not a coming together/connection process)/ So the basics are You can choose how to feel each moment of your life, You can choose how healthy and energetic Your Body feels, and how Your Mind functions and what Intentions You want to have for Your Life...If You were born with a bad body per say, you can make it the best it can be or let it rot, same with mind and everything else there is about us, Spiritually I understand it that most all of Us are on equal ground, all of Us have equal opportunity to be Enlightened Experientially, it is just that each of Us have unique Karmic Makeups, that will determine if it is easier for You or Harder for You to Experience Enlightenment!

Yes, I also think the way most ppl are is not from natural evolution but a manufactured one, we are heavily conditioned and controlled in our societies, the power players do not want us to be Conscious Beings, they want us Unconscious, as slaves and simple beings so we can be controlled more easily.. The guy in the video, he claims that humanity is actually millions of years old, and that great societies have come and gone many times over.. Societies like Atlantis with their higher tech and knowledge bases could have easily existed and then became extinct, from what I know we are already in our 6th extinction event, its inevitable that maybe soon this event will happen more forcefully and lots of humanity will be eliminated, sad but true that this is all our fault for not being as Conscious as we could be!!

We have limited ability to control our Body, so you can make it stronger and more healthy, but lots of it is more predetermined although with enough effort(free will in action) you can do allot of things with the Body. The Mind You can control completely if You put forth the Awareness and Effort! How You Experience the World, You inner nature and Feeling/Experience is where Free Will really is, this is totally up to You, its just a matter of How Conscious You are! If Your highly Conscious, then You have complete control on your Inner Experience, if You not highly Conscious, then You have no control and are a slave of sorts to outside situations and influences! So Free Will is mostly about Your Inner Nature and Experience, not about controlling every event or situation around You!! Your lucky if You have 50% control of what is going on around and situationally!!

This is correct, the Essence is Absolute, and Absolute has no limits! But we here have a Body and Mind to deal with, Body is limited, it is an accumulation from the Earth, which is also limited, everything physical is limited and cyclical.. but the Body and Mind allow Experience and Expression to happen, this does not happen in Absolute realm, as there is no physicality and no way to have Experience and Expression there.,. So even though our Essence is Absolute and unlimited, we "While" Embodied are limited in Body and Mind, the whole basic point of our Existence is too find out we are not the Body or Mind and be intouch with the Absolute as an everyday real Experience.. So Body is not God, it is Earth, and it will go back to the Earth when Your Body dies!

Sharing for all to explore! Not trying to convince, just share! Its Your "Choice" to buy into it or not:)

The very fact ppl have different opinions, as above, proves Free Will Exists lol! How much more obvious can it get when one say there is NO FREE WILL, and another Says there is FREE WILL, that is a choice being made on each understanding... We have choice that is for sure, Ppl are choosing to participate on this forum, the choice though can be Conscious or Unconscious, Conscious choice are the Wiser way, as You now have more choice and a deeper choices to make. Unconscious Choices means Your more influenced by whatever it is is, karma, societal pressure, seeking pleasure or security outside of Yourself, etc, there are millions of forces out there that can influence Your choice, but it is still You that makes the choice, its just not as natural as being Conscious of Your Choice.. Even Your Body, mostly it is predetermined, but if You want to You can reshape Your Body, take it from unhealthy to healthy, and almost eliminate all genetic semblance if You want to, its just a matter of Will and Determination! Bruce Lee was not born into the body he had to make him one of the greatest Martial Artist ever, he crafted it, worked it and made himself into what he became! Now not everyone can be world class in what they want to do or be, but they can be the Best Version of themselves that is a Choice and available to everyone!! So Free Will for sure exists, the ppl that say it doesn't exist are either depressed, or so wounded by their past they see no hope...

I think he believes we are half way thru it, with another 180 million years to go... Sadhguru does not believe we are in Kali Yuga either... I just find it interesting how much the Hindus knew about the World and Reality with no scientific equipment and how science now is confirm allot of their findings! Proves the theory that if You know Yourself completely You know the Universe too, as we are micro Universes imo!

We all want the samething, but we go about it in different ways. We all want a Sense of Bliss, which I would say is a combination of Intense Happiness, a Sense of Completeness, Fulfilment, Inner Creativity being Expressed! Lots of Us look outside for a stimulus to feel this Bliss. The simplest way is Orgasm, here You get a short intense Experience of Bliss. Other ways are getting into relationships, at certain points You feel this Bliss, some call it Love, its chemical in its basis to allow procreation to happen, we have to bond with our partner to allow proper child raising to happen so the species lives on another day.. Another way is to do activities, gamble, watch movies, play sports, start a business, do crime, work in a creative field of interest but fundamentally we are looking for a sense of Bliss, feeling Bliss is life enhancing, feeling Depression/Anxiety/Fear is does the opposite it dis empowers life, we are here to enhance life ultimately. So I want Bliss as a natural Experience without outside Stimuli needed!

It's True Now as a Potential only! If One is not in Experience of this Potential, then it is not really True Subjectively.. So Objectively (me looking at You and saying You have the Potential of Enlightenment!), and You not in Experience of it and saying I am not close to it.. Of course in the beginning we have "Ideas" of Enlightenment, what it means, what it is, etc from outside sources, this is just the past masters and those that experienced it sharing, this is good for Us, its gives us hope and a method to a way out of "not knowing".. Its like this in everything in Human Life, we learn from the past and should become Wise via that process, most do not for a variety of reasons!!

The basics are: 1) There are Levels to Existence, Gross to Subtle to No Thing (Shiva), Physicality to Non Physicality, Unconsciousness to Consciousness. Non Enlightened to Enlightened.. 2) Cycles of Karma, Creation to Destruction back to Creation, are a Reality! 3) The Body is Real, not Imagined. The Mind is real, not Imagined, You are not the Body or the Mind, You are Atman, Soul, the very thing that started it all and was there before Creation started, You are Timeless, Brahman, God, Absolute, Source Intelligence! 4) Source Intelligence is Spirituality, we are Spiritual Beings, Absolute within a BEING like Form or Structure, bound by Karma (Impressions from Past), made up of many things... 5) On this Planet we Human are the only Life Form that can Realize Absolute as Spiritual Beings having a Human Experience, at anytime we can Access the Source, its just a matter of Willingness, Seeking, Going beyond Karma (Impressions) and Maya ((Illusions) to know Source or Absolute.

Kali Yuga Survival - What the Vedas Say About the Next Reset | Michael Cremo

I think what he means, could be wrong, is that if one super concerned with survival, accumulation process of collecting food, money security, residence/housing, and other basic needs, then Enlightenment is out of touch for them, even though it is always there as a Potential to be tapped into or explored. Monks still have cores to do because we still have to deal with the body and mind while pursing or attaining Enlightenment for the most part. Ramana spent lots of time in a cave, didn't do any chores or was concerned with his Bodies condition, enough so that magots were eating his body up, until they got him out of that situation... In a normal Householders situation we cannot do that, we have mouths to feed, and stuff to do, but deeper down we know our direction and true purpose here....

No, You have more than a Mind, you have a Body with its own intelligence, Emotions and Energy, and you also have Karmic Substance, so we are all made up of a few things not just Mind, or Thoughts, or picked up Ideologies.. The thing is today ppl are super identified with Thoughts, Ideology, thinking process that they believe this is all we have to use while here and Embodied, that is not so...

Its not Force, its Intention, when You set an Intention, then things happen more naturally, but in the beginning of starting anything new, You have to apply alot of Intention and a bit of force, just too get You over the top of the hill per say... In Martial Art, after a Skill is Mastered, then Wu Wei applies, You drop the Skill set, you don't focus on it at all, and then You randomise your training and especially Your Application, using it in sparring or fighting. Bruce Lee said "You want to be Unnaturally Natural, or Naturally Unnatural" when You fight, he said if Your too unnatural, you will be robotic, if Your Too Natural, Your too wild and inefficient, to scattered! So it is like this in Spirituality.. First something comes up, life is not fulfilling, something inside You wants to be MORE, then intentions and seeking happens, You go online and search things, something pops up that catches Your Eye (Actualized.org), and Your research, then test somethings out and repeat, this is a "force Process" but it gets less forceful as time goes on, and You become Free and Natural... That's my take on it..

This sounds like non dualism bla bla bla, nothing exists, no one is here, nothing needs to be done.. Its true the past does not exist, only as a memory, the future never existed, only as imagination, this is the basics of what the Mind is, Mind is past/memory and future/imagination orientated, combine this with a tool we call Intellect, then You have a great Survival mechanism which allows the almost the weakest creature on the planet to dominate it now.. All of this is real, but none of this is what You Are! If you deny what is real, then Maya/Illusion will rule You. Maya does not mean something does not exist, it means that it exists but not as Your perceive it or understand it. We only Perceive with our 5 senses enough to keep us alive another day, they are basic tools, they don't tell us the True Nature of Reality, but they are very good survival tools like our Intellects! Past Memory on many levels is basically Karma, Karma is about previous Actions that we have done on many levels and the impression those actions leave behind on Us, like not dealing with unresolved emotions or an injury that happened, if You don't deal with it it will come back to bite You down the road.. So the foundation of Life is Karma, its past Actions, with no Foundation then there is no way life as we know is possible..

The worst part of getting older is Your Body starts to break down, and if Your an active person, like to do things and such, You feel it more and recover slower. and basic energy levels decrease (all of this can be lessened if You maintain a basic fitness program, starting when Your young and maintaining it over the years, especially strength training and flexibility!) The best part is Your much Wiser, or should Be..You have experience, You know the game of life, see patterns in Yourself, and should have more clarity on how to break disempowering patterns and make changes, so its a trade off. Since Your smarter/wiser now You can do things more efficiently and quicker, so You don't need the energy of Youth to get things done, and with Maturity comes calmness and balance/equanimity which is nice as well too... I'm in my 50's now, ppl think I am 40, but I don't feel 40 after a long days work lol:)

Wu wei is actually a concept used in Chinese Martial Art, I've been studying Kung Fu since 1988.. In simple terms it means Being Natural, the problem is in the context of Martial Art is that you need to learn something, You cannot do nothing and then think You have Skill Development in Fighting or Defending Yourself, some basics have to be learned and mastered. The process of learning and mastery is doing things over and over again, now unless You Love it (which I did) then it comes really easy, if You don't Love doing it then You have to force Yourself to do it.. Its the same thing here, you have to find a Sadhana (Spiritual Practice) that is effective and is something You want to do and look forward to it. In the beginning for sure You may have to force Yourself to do it, over time it should get easier and results should be showing.. A key thing, which is sort of a paradox, is too not really expect change or look for it, just do the practice with dedication and a spirit of giving, not receiving.. I think the problem most ppl have is 1st they have expectations built up (this is living in the future, bad idea) which says "I should be this way by this amount of time..:, 2nd is the discipline part, you have to be disciplined and consistent with Your practice, same time same place each day, if Your not then it won't do anything for You really.. Effort is always needed to make change and transformation, don't kid yourself, but over doing it by extreme forcefulness is not good either, Balance is the Key!!!

Well regarding the Responsibility part, we can Respond to Everything/Everybody just like we Respond to our loved ones and things we like like our car, house, prized possessions, as well when one is living in very bad situations and circumstances it is very important to know how to Respond to it internally vs. reacting unconsciously and stressing out everyday and not being able to figure a way out of it.. Responding is akin to being Highly Conscious, its not a moral thing or blame thing, its about how much you are allowing outside situations and ppl affect how You Experience Life within Yourself.. Clarity comes when You are Highly Conscious, Clarity is what will help You get out the bad situation, Stressing out will not! I can respond to a war in another country, but I am not responsible civically/morally for that war happening, I have nothing to do with it, so there is a difference in the context of using the word Responsibility, I'm using it too mean my Ability to Respond to things around Me.. We are connected to everything that is alive and living around Us, but if You let it influence You too much then Your a slave to situations/things outside of You, this is not wise.. Its been said to Never Suffer another's Suffering, if You do then there is more suffering happening, the conscious way to Respond to another's Suffering is to first take care of Your own Internal Experience, make it Joyful or Peaceful no matter what is happening, then via that stable base go out and do what You can to help those that are Suffering, when You do it like this, then You will go full speed ahead and not worry about "What about Me", you go 100% toward elevating the Suffering of others, because You are not worried/concerned about Your own Suffering cause there is none or its not possible for You since You have choice in the matter...

Well what is Reality and Existence? Is it a special Entity or Being? Or is it in another place in the Universe, a realm of sorts? My take is that within this Universe full of Duality, Karma (Action, Cause/Effect), Materialism/Physicality, Non Materialism/Physicality, all sort of Life Forms, and us Humans, the Source of all this doesn't care because its not capable of caring in the first place.. The only thing that is capable of Caring are You and I and Everyone else, and in all reality its up to YOU to want to Care or Not Care.. Purpose and Meaning are completely Subjective, Objective reality does not have a true or fundamental Purpose or Meaning, these concepts come from Us Humans. We are all here to play this game we call Life, your job is to decide How YOU want to Play IT, Joyfully or Miserably is a starting point, if You go thru it Joyfully then Life is wonderful, full of Possibilities and Experiences and Situations, if you go thru it Miserably then its full of Suffering, Contempt, and no choice or possibility available to You, that is all we can do.. If You start to think and wonder, Why did God set it up this way, then You will go insane.. God/Source Intelligence or Brahman set this place up to be a Paradise, we have everything we need to Thrive and Fulfil all our desires, but it is Us, Unconscious Human Beings making it a hell hole for ourselves and everyone around Us!

I agree, with language it never really conveys the message correct. With the word "Seek" or "Seeker", its just means a process of discovery of all the things you have listed as Potentials for a Human Being to Experience and it includes words that you used like rearranging, cleansing and removing.. And for sure, those that say nothing is happening, no one is here, that there is only 1 Being and everything is a figment of that 1 beings imagination, well that is just pure insanity. We are here and now, if you don't deal with what is here and now, then You on the path of suffering thru life which in the end is a wasted life.. We can talk all we want about what is God, Absolute, Enlightenment but at the end of the day it is about the Quality of Your Life Experience, is it what you want, it is Joyful and Intense and Creative and Fulfilling? If not then we have to seek a solution, when and if we find the solution then things are transformed, we don't need to Seek anymore, to find answers from outside of ourselves, or anywhere, as we are the Answer already, its found in the latent Potential found within all of Us one just has to realize it!

I would say Seeking is the beginning stage, one has to be a seeker to find the Truth or Enlightenment, but if You reach Enlightenment then there is NO SEEKER or ENLIGHTENMENT lol, so its a bit of a paradox here. Eckhart Tolle says, maybe others too, that Suffering is needed until the day you realize it is not needed when on the spiritual path, so this is full of paradox and doesn't fit into logic or intellectual pursuing via reading what others say, following teachings and such things.. The methods passed down are only there not to make you "Enlightened", but to rid you of the obstacle preventing you from realizing You already are Enlightened!

The Solution is to be intouch with Your own unique Body and listen to what it is saying! Don't look for info on this from outside sources, they are not You! Your Body has its own intelligence, get in touch with it and then see what it is telling You to eat, how much to eat, when to eat and how to eat... The basic theory is that animals before being slaughtered realize this and stress hormones are released before the slaughter, this is what we are eating, yes its good for Men especially on the level of Survival only, but if You want to live beyond the Survival process then meat will be less and less a part of Your diet.. Living veggies, and natural foods that digest faster and take less energy to process are the way if on the Spiritual Path, if not then eat what You want, but in the end Your Body knows what it needs and we can get in touch with our Body to find out what that is..

You want all of this for one simple reason, the feel Happy and Fulfilled, but if You try to get this via outside sources and process, then for sure You will fail and suffer it as You are.. You have to take the process and make it an internal thing, so that You alone bring about an Experience/Feeling of Happiness and Fulfillment, and then Life will change and transform for You.. Its hard to do today because we are so conditioned to believe that life is outside of Us, that is why we look to find it in other things like dating, relationships, career choices and money, but it can be done, work on little things step by step. As someone mentioned first try Acceptance, the process of Accepting more and more things as they are, this will lower or stop all together the Stress Fight/Flight that is going on in all of Us, if this stops then for sure Your ability to be a Peace no matter what is going on around You will come forth much easier, this is a starting point, from that life will open up more and you can explore more that life has to offer!

As we age we lose things, in that we are "Supposed" to become Wise to this process, and dis identify with Things and via that we come to a Spiritual Realization that we are not these things, the Body or Mind, and that we should explore to find out what we really Are! But that doesn't usually happen in modern day societies, we are brainwashed and conditioned so heavily that over time when we begin to lose things (family, friends, jobs/careers, relationships, youth and vitality, etc) we cling to those things and wished we had them back when we don't, this process is a fast track to Suffering Life not Enhancing Life and living to a higher Possibility and Experience that enhances Well Being, Joy and Intensity of Life Experiences. So Life is a tricky game, we need to pay attention to what it means to be Human and what it means to be Alive and have Clarity in these areas, otherwise as we age life will get worse and Suffering will increase!!