Hero in progress

@Colin no I haven't checked that out yet, what's it under?

@Nahm love & peace my friend x

Ramakrishna- God is in all men, but all men is not in God. That is why we suffer. Krishnamurti- It is no measure of health, to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. Eckhart tolle- Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have. Meister Eckhart- It is only the hand that erases that can write the truth. Marcus Aurelius- Everything we hear is a opinion not a fact, everything we see is a perspective not the truth.

@Live Life Liam Thankyou

@WouterWe are in a dream right now, a dream of separateness, waking up, let that be your focus, What you are is right now, if you see it as a big aspiration forever, you will never come to truth. the disconnectedness comes from thinking, comes from thinking about other, when we think about other we separate ourself from Other. Because we are seeing other from ego. And of course I don't know your situation, and I do apologise if I am miss interpreting the reality of your situation, maybe it's best you enquire into that yourself to see exactly why you feel a certain way in regards to what we are talking about, your family, your friends, and what they would think? not knowing whether to tell them or not. Its best you try to be as honest with yourself as you can. enquiry is the key to the door to the light.

Bodhidharma - "If you use your mind to study reality, you won't understand either your mind or reality. If you study reality without using your mind, you'll understand both." This is a great quote by the zen master, bodhidharma. Thoughts come & go you stay. emotions come & go you stay. Sensations come & go you stay. Image of you, come & go you stay. Story of you, come & go you stay. That which doesn't come and go is you. Its really that simple. Awareness naturally Gives attention to the comings and goings, pull identity back from these comings and goings. That which you are trying to look for is that which you are already looking from. Truth is so simple, effortless.

@Wouter What I would do is, observe the fear of being judged & seeming unusual to other people and let that observation, increase awareness. In that very moment you get a sensation dont you, that sends you a message, probably something like " Oh what if they think I am weird" right? And "what if they don't approve of it, ect. So you feel inauthentic and feel like you are hiding. Be awareness of this only and do not muddy the water of this, let it come, be aware of this fear of Disapproval of other people, which many have. How long are you going to buy into this paradigm of giving others so much power over you, outside of the thinking about it, it doesn't matter what others say or think about you. Only matters to the conditioned mind, thought. You are not this, you are something far greater, to find your way back home is what is important, not what other people think about it, you are on your own path to find truth, to live in accordance to truth, Others are on there own path, what they think only comes from ignorance. You find truth from observation of mind and behavior of yourself, to really see what's going on. What is the truth outside of limited thinking, and truth will emerge.

@Mondsee From the bottom of my heart my friend, take all this seriously if you have any sense that there is more to all this. To wake up from a dream inside the dream is something so unexplainable and can only happen, if something in your heart calls you to this, I hope you can find your way home. The truth of what you are is benevolent and beauty If there is a intuitive knowing that what I say has got some depth to it, because it comes from my heart and your heart. If something pulls you to the light of your own being, what you really are, then go for it buddy There's worse things one can do with there life. If you look at all the masters who are fully awake! They all agree! No matter from what time period, or what culture, doesn't matter they all agree they are all pointing to the same truth, you are consciousness itself! And you can only really know what thats Gona be, when you wake up to that! Its happening right now! Always. Peter Ralston The book of not knowing, That book is gona be a good start. And leos self enquiry aswell.

@Mondsee See this is the thing, anything I say to you is just going to become a idea, and that keeps you in the pull of thoughts. But I will give a concept in regards to the human body as a machine. The human is very mechanical, running on patterns and habits, so in that sense yeah sure. But don't get to caught up on that. Maybe download leos self enquiry video in mp3 form, and really really look into it for yourself. Do it over & over again but each time look like its the first time your looking, look intensely. If you really want true liberation, true awakening! Like Peter Ralston, this guy is a true sage, he has such profound understanding, and that comes from being aware & enquiry, for years! Thoughts are like little dreams that have such a illusory pull, and you just doing the do nothing meditation, isn't going to be enough if I am honest mate. Not many get enlightenment because people just dip there toe in the water so to speak. But anything is a start.

@poimandres

@Loreena very beautiful pictures.

This first picture was taken In 2003 it's been known to be called "Gods eye" We are in a vast & beautiful dream! From the vastness of the cosmos, to the tiny beautiful details of this dream, that which is the driving force of everything, is more profoundly intelligent than we can comprehend. The fundamental nature of this dream is without form, we know that, nothingness, but I think really its so much more than mere nothingness, it is beyond our limited understanding as humans, but chances are it is truely unlimited in every way, and the best way I could describe it is "Magic" To the true beauty of this earth, to the unfathomed depths of space, count yourself lucky, that we are awake and conscious of anything, let alone this wonderful life. We are all one. I hope you enjoy it. Like he's said in the movie American Beauty, there is "A incredibly benevolent force that wants me to know there is no reason to be afraid" The Light of God is already within you.

@Mondsee okay, so its the first time you have tryed it, it may take you a lot more time intill the monkey mind subsides, and it may feel like you are the one thinking because, this has been your way of being your entire life, identified with thoughts, so it may seem like you are day dreaming at first. If you think its you thinking, then try this test, sit down for 5 mins and before you start, commit to yourself that for the next 5 minutes you are not going to think at all! See how long last before thought comes. You think its you thinking because there is a entire collection of concepts you have about yourself, so it creates the experience of a thinker (you) But there is in fact no thinker, just thought. Observe this.

@ExtraAwesome Dont worry my friend, the ego will try to reinforce itself over and over again, just keep going, eventually the power of awareness will prevail.

Self enquiry We already are consciousness, But there are very subtle channels of thought that identify us with stuff, that we are asleep to That are somehow keeping us asleep. Consciousness is identified with various things in experience, such as body, thoughts, emotions, sensations, beliefs, ideas, voice, self image, even a post on this forum is a extension of ego, possessions and so on. Thoughts You don't think all the time, thoughts come and go, happy ones, sad ones, funny ones, judgments of others and so on, they are not what you are fundamentally obviously, you don't really believe you are the thought do you? No you say I thought or I am thinking. When thought is not you still are, so thought is not you, if you choose to identify with thought, the thought then becomes a extension of I. emotions Emotions again, come and go, sometimes, you feel happy, sometimes you feel sad, sometimes you feel jealous or angry, but again you would say I feel angry or I feel happy, people even say "I am angry" like me and anger are the same thing, so clearly there is identification with the emotions that arise for most people. But emotions change all the time, and you still are regardless of what emotions are perceived, so emotions are not what you fundamentally are either, again if you choose to identify with what ever emotions arise, they have become a extension of I. Sensations, Sensations can be anything from, the heart beating, to the feeling of your feet, hands ect. Even things like a itch or some pain that's felt. Again they all come and go, sometimes you feel the sensation of being uncomfortable sitting in your chair, or you may feel cold one moment and warm the next, sensations vary, You would say I feel. so again the sensations of your body, such as your feet or hands or bum, isnt what you are fundamentally, because they always change, they come and go, so when you choose to identify with your bodily sensations, they become a extension of I. Same with beliefs, they become a extension of I, I believe in god, I believe the next door neighbour is a asshole, Same with possessions, like car, phone, house ect, you say its my car or my phone, so possessions become a extension of I. Self image is a big one, because its in your head all the time, its got a feel to it, and it gives you a sense that your someone, but if you look straight in front of you for a min, without moving you may get a moment, were that picture and feel of you, that image will cease and you will see image can't be you, it comes and goes, and also its being put in front of you so to speak, and by definition if its being shown to you, its not you is it, you are that which sees it, experiences it. But again this is normally identified with without you even knowing, and again it becomes a extension of I. You gona find yourself, by eliminating all that is not you, it can be difficult because your in a habit of identifying with everything in the experience of being someone. But you are not a experience. You are that which is conscious of experience. Consciousness itself.

@username i will try to give you some very simplistic advice my friend, because the biggest motivation for enlightenment work in my case, was insecurity, I have acne and that is why. First of all identity why you are insecure, there is a reason. Now that insecurity is going to be your liberation, as rumi said "pain is were the light enters you" I know it can be hard, but the very sensation of insecurity is going to be your new best friend. You want to know if you can eliminate it through enlightenment, yes you can!! absolutely. But it will never leave, by you resisting it! By trying to run away from it. That's what you are doing anyway, and that perpetuates it. Feel into it from now on, the raw sensation of insecurity, how it arises, how it feels, when arises. Ect Don't be insecure about being insecure, if you're insecure then that's what Is, you transcend it by being one with it. not creating a division of the insecurity and The Entity that is running away from it or resisting it. This is all very difficult to explain. because the work happens not through thinking about it trying to figure out how to get rid of it, but shine awareness on it! Every time! You might learn to love it

@Inglorious If your starting out and you find it difficult to meditate with noises, then do it in a quiet place. But otherwise meditation with sounds in awareness can be beautiful, things like birds tweeting & cars going by.

Listen to what is being said, The true self, the observer of the conditioned self, is pure & innocent. Uncontaminated by the past, untouched by the scars of life. The conditioned self is the accumulation of experience, gavering belief & association and so on. The conditioned self is past, always old, you can observe this yourself, every thought is the response of memory, always old, even a apparent new thought, like imagination, is still using the information of memory, so even apparent new thought is still the old. Its important you spend time by yourself, to observe. The true self, "unborn awareness" Is timeless, its new, fresh, it observes the conditioned self. It holds no grudges, holds no judgment, no prejudice, its not burdened by those things. It is all alone. Wake up! Never think you have found the final destination, there is always deeper to go, renew the mind every day, be the innocent self, uncontaminated by time, timeless.

The more "Person" you let go, the more empty you will know. Let the light of yourself bleed away the suffering of time. There is a infinite field that doesn't talk, you can only hear when your mind is quiet. The impersonal is one with all personal. The observer is the observed, the thinker is the thought, life knows only itself. Impersonal awareness, is all inclusive. There is a deep affinity with nature to rekindle, that can only be found again when you look intensely. Last quote by rumi "Out beyond all ideas of wrong doing and right doing there is a field I'll meet you there"

@BeginnerActualizer Dude this is a good thing, I have the same thing its pretty much constant with me now, let the tip of your nose guide your eyes if that makes sense and with a little bit of attention you will start to feel the pressure. If one stays like this it speeds up enlightenment, in getting fully enlightened, this was said by a Taoist master once. I can't tell u what happens after a while, it is awesome though. Hope this helps

@key its cool anyway pal, I hope your doing good, thanks for the input I appreciate it, I know what you mean, I will contemplate what said.

After some time, everything starts to fall into place, emptiness is our natural state. After the minds confusions have subsided, a natural state of peace is apparent. The ego, is a very simple thing once we are out of the illusory pull, the ego is simply identification with thought. In this way of being, we are in a constant proccess of learning about ourselves, there is no longer a bias to pretend there is not fear arising, when fear is arising for example, because we are no longer trying to grandise the self image. Thoughts come & go anyone with sense will know this, so if there is a coming and going there must be that which sees the coming and going. The thinker is actually just another thought, or layers of thought on top of more thought. Its one thing knowing this intellectually, but it being what is for you in your life is the only thing that matters in this case. Because the words are not the fact, holding onto ideas won't help, won't make you happy. Spending time by oneself and acknowledging the emptiness is important. At first it seems like you as a person is abiding in emptiness intill the sticker of ID, is pulled off of this sense of a person, and you wake up to the fact that you are not abiding in emptiness, you are the emptiness, thus being in a meditative state is effortless, regardless of whether you are at work or shopping, walking in the park ect. This could happen rather quickly for some, and longer for others. You can see that we don't see life as it is, but we see it through the screen of our own thoughts first, thus distorting our view of the world, other people and so on. We see reality in accordance to ourselves, creating distinctions, interpreting any given situation in terms of its relevance to us. " we don't see the world how it is, but rather how we are" Again it won't help taking this in only intellectually, seeing this for yourself is what matters. The mind can't help you, but will appear to try to help you, be wise enough, to see this is thought trying to establish its control again. There's nothing wrong with thinking, its deriving ones identity through thought that's the problem. Stay empty that's all you need, after a while things will start to click into place, because this awareness has a intelligence to see with clarity, and seeing with clarity naturally one will see what's really true. I will leave you with wise words of mooji, There is a presence, a silents, a stillness, which is here by itself. There is no doer of it, no creator of this stillness. It is simply here in you, with you. It is the fragrance of your own self. There is nothing to do about this, it is naturally present. This fragrance of peace, this spaciousness, it is the fragrance of your own being.

@key Okay I see what your saying, What I wrote was "emptiness is our natural state of being" Meaning it isn't something that needs to be kept up, with effort. Thus its natural. This is the case for me my friend, if you are interpreting it in a different way, as in its ego driven, then that's okay. The reason I made the distinction, that it is our natural state is because some people have the tendency to think that inorder to stay empty (out of thought) you have to exert effort. And at first it may be that way, but eventually its effortless and natural to be empty & present.

@key Thankyou my friend, I appreciate it. Ego driven? Maybe I am missing something, would you care to elaborate?