UnbornTao

Who hasn't done what?

They said it - informed by their "sober" enlightenments. And I've done my fair share of thinking. Not only that, but I've had 5-MeO breakthoughs too. It's an experience.

I find that incredibly hard to believe, unless the books are very short and/or he breezes through them. In any case, he likely reads a ton, so that's probably good.

Arguably, exercise and moving your body are even more crucial. Bring to mind astronauts who spend weeks living in a space station - a zero-gravity environment. Without the force of gravity, their bodies quickly deteriorate unless they exercise in some way. The effects on the body wouldn't be the same if they simply took up fasting, for example - abstaining from food. (Which is obvious but I wanted to highlight the contrast between lack of physical movement and lack of food.) Anyway, just a quick sidenote.

Precisely. Although, if we're talking about the nature of reality, that might turn out not to be an experience. But that's speculation. It does apply to the world we live in.

Thanks.

That's a good question. Here's a series of initial questions that might help get the ball rolling (a rough list made quickly): The estimation that something is beautiful seems to be an assessment. An assessment is made or created. Can something be beautiful to itself? For example, can a rock be beautiful to itself? Is beauty limited to physical objects? Imagine you have no perceptive faculties: no sight, hearing, smell, etc. Where is the quality of beauty then found? When we say that someone is beautiful, what could we be referring to?

From A Course in Miracles?

Yes, and coming from your present experience. Beyond intellect. Based on real wondering.

What would you call it in your experience if you had never heard of the term, and its associated worldview, in the first place? How would you go about describing this apparent principle?

Definitely. Still, I'd watch for the tendency to keep these considerations in the abstract. Asking experiential questions helps counter this tendency.

@TheGod A suggestion that comes to mind: Start by spending a few couple of days with no distractions whatsoever, allowing yourself to feel bored. Sounds easy enough on paper, but look at what we tend to do throughout the day (and throughout our lives.) Many activities are undertaken in order to avoid confronting that fact. And then, we can question what that condition is all about. It might not be true in the ultimate sense.

Inherent to one's self - the very experience of "me" as it's currently taken to be.

@Natasha Tori Maru Lonely. And it's felt deeply, like a constant background hum, even when we're surrounded by people. The function of distraction often seems to be to cover up this raw condition. It's not that entertainment or socializing are bad, or that they should be avoided - just in case some people start assuming that. Again, it's something profound. Krishnamurti probably explained it better above.

Vernon Forward

Right. Which isn't to discount the potential value and benefit of his work, by the way.

@zurew Probably because the questioner - who isn't shown - has been misinformed and is approaching the subject with wrong preconceptions. Not everything is about enlightenment. Obviously, practices like focusing the mind help in that regard, by giving you more control over your mental state. That's likely what the "real work" sentence refers to - at least, that's my guess. Desire, intention, and intent aren't the same. Intent co-arises with the "doing" of something. In that sense, it's almost indistinguishable from the action itself, though in this context it isn't an action per se. So, if something ends up being done, intent was a component of it, whether one is aware of it or not. You might want to ask him, but what you're probably referring to is awareness - being aware of something. For example, there may be aspects of your current experience that you're not aware of: a sensation, an object, a part of your body, an emotional disposition, a belief, or a thought. This occurs entirely within experience.

Sadhguru isn't even enlightened. Check out Spira, Adyashanti, and even Shinzen Young and Vernon Forward.

I'd add that loneliness is a deeper condition than we might initially think. I enjoy solitude too.

It's about the inherent limits of representation. But yes, language remains incredibly useful in many ways, despite that. It can draw attention to certain realities and open doors.

OP Give it a try, if you want.

Okay, sounds good. I'd say it depends on what distinction you're using for knowing - awareness could be called a form of knowing, and yet it's prior to intellect and mental understanding. Don't combust, though.

The frustration may arise from deeply experiencing our apparent impossibility - or the elusiveness despite all our effort - of grasping things in themselves. Language and thought are never the thing itself. What you may be pointing to, perhaps, is our shared ignorance of anything that exists for itself. The more we do the work, provided we are honest about our experience, the more we realize our consciousness is currently out of alignment with the nature of pretty much everything. Getting to the core of reality involves becoming conscious - an "act" that intrinsically transcends human faculties. It is deeper than figuring something out or coming up with an explanation, as you suggested. Perhaps the place you are speaking from is the very source of our drive to adopt so much beliefs and "knowledge" - which, by the way, never seem to hit the mark either. Yet this is a useful and powerful vantage point from which to ask deeper questions about anything, such as: What is language? What are experience and perception? How can we reach direct knowledge of something, if such a possibility exists in the first place?