Ishanga

Questioning is okay up to a point, but when its a constant exercise then that means Your too intellectually identified, which will lead You further away from Truth and Reality...

Incorrect, this place is supposed to be more than the normal forum, for sure it is not, yes it has value as all forums have value, but I would say it has not lived up to what it is meant for!

Your one of the worst offenders with Your 14K+ posts! Its all Ego gratification for You that is a certainty... Spiritually Your way off base with this no one here, nothing happening bla bla, its like talking to a person that is totally insane, no point in doing that!

@James123 I respect everyone's Journey, Perspective and Approach, I may not agree with it but there is a respect on my part, since everything and everyone, every opinion, belief, experience, perspective shared, concept described etc. is an expression of a Potential and Possibility, who am I to say it should not be so, but Enlightenment is above all of this, its the concept of being the highest Potential for a Human Life, which on this planet is the highest form of Life in how we can Experience it, live it, be creative thru it, perceive it and so forth.. All this talking, sharing, and such its good up to a point, after that point it gets to be disempowering, and addictive and leads one further away from Truth and Enlightenment, I know, I've gone thru this sort of thing on other forums concerning other topics, but Enlightenment/Spirituality is the highest Pursuit anyone can take up, we have a greater responsibility to ourselves and all Life in this manner than any other activity or pursuit we can engage in, so the standard is higher here or should Be!

Yes, as Awakening is the beginning of new Potentials within You and all of Us, Potentials that are Life Enhancing and Empowering, if You know of it and ignore it then Your not accessing this Potential and that is Tragedy, which is the main problem in the world today, very few are accessing any sort of Potential within them that is beyond basic Survival Instinct and Accumulation of Ppl, places and things which in essence is destroying the Earth as we know it.. The more that try to access this Potential is beneficial to all Life on the planet and sure makes life more Enjoyable!

This is what I've been trying to share with the ppl here but it goes on deaf ears.. They want definitive answers or descriptions of Reality but that is not possible, this comes because they simple are not awake, but still stuck in Survival mode level of Awareness, but they think they are awake due to peek a boo glimpses of reality via drugs, this is the big misnomer on the path... Absolute is just Potentiality, that is all it is, we here are just a certain potential being played out, with duality, karma and a bunch of other things in play, for me the goal is to play it Joyfully vs suffering it, at the least with that in play I have a chance to stop the game in its tracks!

Well this is the way it "Should" be, ppl should look at their suffering as a sign to change things, use it to motivate themselves, only a few do it this way, I think the majority mask their Suffering with Drugs, Alcohol, Sex, and other Addictions, so this is the problem with the Enlightenment thru Suffering path IMO.. First one has to Stabilize, if that is not there then no point in going Spiritual path.. It's like trying to talk About God or Spirituality when someone is starving hungry like in Gaza, it won't work at all, and one does not have to be in Gaza too be Suffering, lots are suffering in palaces with all the Food and Comforts one could ever desire, the the main problem is ppl are living on autopilot, they don't know what it means to be Human, what we are capable of and how this Human Mechanism works..

I differentiate between the concept of being "Awake" and "Enlightenment", being Awake is the beginning stages, like 0 on a scale to 10, 0 is natural Peacefulness, 10 is Ecstasy or whatever God Realization is too You... If Your not in the Moment as a actual Realization, then where are You? If You don't have a starting point then how can one go anywhere if there experience of life is a hellscape ala Gaza right now.. Drugs or Psychedelics, like I've said before have their place, but too say what Your experience on 5 meo dmt is the reality, well Your free to say whatever, but its all a story too me until it is my experience as well, I prefer to get the naturally rather than relying on a substance that only gives a temporary experience then fades away...

To be "Awake" means, You go thru Life, in this Body/Mind with this Karmic makeup, and go Untouched! Your totally involved with what is happening Now, because NOW is the most important moment of Your Life, because it is the only Moment of Your Life.. Everything else is either Memory or Imagination, which do not Exist in reality.. So once You realize this basic concept Experientially, then Suffering is not possible, Peace or Bliss is natural for You now Experientially, and if that is in place, no matter what is happening, You go untouched by it. You still feel pain, physical or emotional, but it doesn't rule You.. Someone close to You dies, You don't Miss them, but feel Blessed to have had them in Your Life, once You go down the Missing road Your done for Spiritually, but Yes you may feel temporary pain mostly for them if they passed on too early in life..

Solipsism is only True Experientially, You have never Experienced anything outside of Yourself, but in all other ways we are not alone, we are Inclusively connected to everything around Us, to each other and nature, but You experience this only within Yourself.. One will only feel "Alone" when they are strongly identified with their Body or Mind, which is independent in nature, but we are neither of those things, when You discover what You are, then You realize that everything is One and Complete, which on a Absolute level of Perspectives means there is no other, no other bodies or mind, just You in a way, but on the Relative level this breaks down and is not so, that is where the paradox exists...

I think most of the NDE's are imaginary states of sorts, like being high on a psychedelic of something, for sure the Experiencer is experiencing something and it seems real to them, its all within themselves, and they say DMT is released at moment of extreme stress or death so this may be responsible for it.. Deep down we are basically all the same, the images and feelings the come up, whether one temporarily dies and sees Jesus, or Buddha or Mohammed, its just a representation of sorts that is culturally based, and with karma in play and the idea of many lifetimes being lived thru a body, someone raised in America and in a Christian Home, may see Buddha or Mohammed in their experience, this means little, its just a representation of what is available to them, which is if You set Yourself up the right way, at the moment of death, you could go on to very Blissful states of Experience and Learning... Its for sure a fascinating phenomenon, and we will all live thru it someday!!

Enlightenment is much more than this, this is basic Zen, where one is supposed to realize that whether You are chopping wood or an astronaut going to the moon, its no different, when You start to place different values on actions, then ppl get messed up.. The smaller your list of likes/dislikes is, the closer to Enlightenment you are.. Enlightenment is just personal Realization of what it means to be Human and too end the cycle of birth/death/rebirth, where the majority of time Your Suffering it. When You can go thru life, be totally Involved with either Chopping Wood or raising a Family or enjoying a Blade of Grass in a park the same way, but it doesn't touch You (You crave it again, think about it often, are ruled by memory), then Your basically Enlightened, everything is your play ground, Life is Leela or a Game to play, you choose how to play it, Joyfully or Miserably, then move on to what happens next after this Human life is over...

There is no denying maya or illusion in a true spiritual system, it is just the system reveals maya too You, as well the point behind equanimity, peace and Blissful states being established is not the goal of the system either, its just the foundation. Its much easier to realize Your UnLimitedness when in at the minimum Your in peaceful states of experience than being in Depressive or Anxious states, its pretty simple.. Most of what You talk & share about is True, its just a matter of How does One Realize this for themselves?? Like anything that Humans have created or found out over the span of our existence, sooner or later it gets organized, its the same here, now there's lots of scams going on in every field of exploration of Human nature, no different in Spirituality, but there are some real ones around too, its just a matter of finding that works for You..

I have a scale, 0-10, 0 is Peace, 10 is Ecstasy, Bliss is 9, Bliss can be said to be the feeling of Infinite Love or God.. All of this is just a matter of Intensity of Experience.. Below 0 is Depression, Anger, Bitterness, Anxiety, Stress... One of not even capable of Spiritual Pursuits if they are below 0 on the scale, it very very hard to go from a Suffering state to an Enlightened State, its possible but very hard.. So the first step is to get to 0, which means Your Peaceful naturally, no need for outside stimuli to make You Peaceful or Happy/Joyful, get to that point and I think everything else will happen allot more naturally and smoothly!

There is a concept called Wu Wei in Traditional Daoism, it basically means Non Doing.. Sadhguru talks about this allot too, one method he promotes to use is putting yourself in a room, no tv, no computer, no phone, no books, and You just sit there, within a few hours he says You will find out what the problems are in your life, the mind will be exposed... So Non Doing is a path onto itself, Non Doing relates to Nothing is Happing, No One is here, which in Absolute Terms means we are all One, Everything is Complete, if everything is One and Complete then what is there to Do and how is there One to Do anything? Problem is most are very identified and caught up in Body and Mind and all the unconscious Activity/Actions taking place, they have to deal with that first, before going the Non Doing, Nothing is Here, No One is here becomes available to them, some may have it naturally but I think most do not..

That is the whole point, from what I know Buddha realized he didn't have to put himself thru the Sufferings to have Realization, as it was always there (as a Potential).. The work is to rid oneself of the barriers to Realization, there are many barriers, its called Karma, which is the residual imprint of all the actions You have taken, Body/Mind/Emotion/Energy actions, how Aware are You of all the actions taking place in these areas of Your Life on a moment to moment basis? Most are less than 1% aware, so therefore they are living by accident, karma is ruling them, but a Human Being is capable of being Totally Aware, this bypasses the Karmic Substance. Suffering only exists in two places, Body and Mind, once You know You are neither of these things, Suffering ceases to exist...

Humans, like all matter are just specks, tiny objects that are born and eventually die, we created the words and concepts (by which most all are addicted to via their addiction to intellect and meaning and definitions etc), Truth or Reality was there long before we came around and will be there long after we are all gone... It is just we can be in touch with it, Experience up to a certain level, merge with it like a drop of the Ocean going back into the Ocean..

Spirituality is not wrong, its just misinterpreted and used wrongly as most things are today, everything that is created that is empowering for a Human Being or all Life, eventually when it gets organized and mass produced or shared gets corrupted, because most human beings are corrupted in some way or form. What is Human Nature anyways? Most of it is Karma passed along thru the lifetimes and the present day conditioning that is promoted in everything that our Culture produces.. True Spirituality does not deny anything, it just tells You that You are not this thing You are cling to, the thing that is causing you Pain or Joy, Love or Hate, Success or Failure, rather it says it is just a game, and that You are in control of it, but its a matter of How Conscious/Unconscious You are of this process and that there is more Potential within You to not let it affect You current State unless You want it too...

@Eskilon I like to promote the Peace or Bliss path as I like to call it vs. this path of insanity or austerity or other paths that too me mean allot of suffering involved.. First, don't concern Yourself with this term or thing we call "Awakening" or Enlightenment or such higher up concepts, just be concerned with where You are at right now and take baby steps. The first baby step is establishing some stability in some ways, making Yourself Physically Healthy, Mentally/Emotionally in a pleasant state of Peacefulness, and Your Energies are free of blockages and are Intense in Your Experience... If You do this, and Suffering becomes practically impossible for You (Pain is always possible, but Pain is not the same as Suffering), then naturally Your Potentials will open up, Kundalini will rise up, what You found interesting before will no longer be interesting to You since Your becoming more Aware and Conscious of what it means to be Human. There are many techniques out there to make this process happen very smoothly, why reinvent the wheel when we have proven ways to make Yourself Peaceful, Healthy and full of Well Being...

lol, the Rishis, Mystics and Gurus have been sharing the information for Millenia, very few listen...nothing here on this forum or shared elsewhere is completely New, its builds upon itself and adapts for the ppl that are here today, what Buddha Taught and Shared was good for that time space, it helps now too but things have to be for what is here today, and the varied Human Being personalities, karma types, and conditioning processes going on now!

Well like I've always said to You, Your half right in many ways... On one level there is nothing happening here, and no one to have it happen too, that is the Absolute perspective, but there is also the Relative perspective, and right now there are 8 Billion + Relative Perspectives, its important on a certain level, as it the Absolute Perspective, both have their place.. My place in this context is practicality, and functioning on the Human level (not the Being Level), while trying to make life and its situations more healthy, peaceful/blissful and mor empowered so someone can access more Potential in their lives and function more from the Human or Absolute Level...

Whether its peeing or any other body or mind function, most ppl live it Compulsively, and this is one of the definitions of Karma, Karma is in play on many levels within a person, peeing is just one bodily function that is happening on autopilot, but there are ppl that do not have to pee if they don't want to, as there are ppl that can slow or even stop their heart beating, or breathing or most any other bodily or mind function, they have total control over those aspects of themselves, but these are masters per say they've spent many years cultivating these abilities. Most all ppl today live Compulsively, meaning they don't know any of the actions taking places on the 4 levels of Action, Body, Mind, Emotion and Energy, which makes up most of the Human aspect of what we are... Decisions are not just happening, they are being made, I choose to believe or buy into something completely contrary to what You believe (that no one is here, nothing is happening etc,), I believe there is someone here, billions of someones, and there is lots happening here, your belief (for lack of a better word) is one possibility, you've chosen it for whatever reason, visa versa for what i buy into, those are "Choices" being made, not just happening!!

The very fact that there are various opinions, beliefs, understandings, experiences of Reality as it is (all this indicates a range of possibilities) proves that Free Will exists, ppl are choosing what to believe, think, understand and experience, its only a matter of how Conscious You are of this process (again its Karma at play, whether You believe in Karma or not it exists, you couldn't function, type, start posts, reply to posts without karma existing).. Why have Free Will? Because Life goes allot more smoothly when You are aware of Your Free Will abilities and it allows You to reach higher up Potentials within Yourself (think Homeless/Broke/Addicted vs. Thriving/Creative Energy/Peace/Blissful naturally).. Deny it all You want, nothing will happen in Your life if You don't have the basics set, basics are ability to use Free Will and Peaceful nature...

Ok,, By the way that is a choice, if there are options available then choice is available, I have my karma, guru and free will, and You have nothing, that is choice as stated above which indicates Free Will...

Where's Your Proof that Free Will/Responsibility doesn't exist?? Are we all just to take Your word as absolute Truth, I don't think so...