Nahm

Sounds like you’re holding others to a standard of selflessness, while you’re defining that there are separate selves. “View themselves”.... or monkey mind / thought attachment to the belief one could actually view oneself. Comparisons are as they appear, thoughts. Wether or not you’re liked, is your thoughts. Seems like it’s other’s thoughts, but it isn’t. What would the thoughts be about if they weren’t dualistic?

@Human Mint A dreamboard.

If consciousness isn’t experiencing self referential thinking, why call it “alien” really. Consciousness alienates itself believing it’s “human”. Without that, just as @AleksM said, meditate, grab a lawn chair, and see for yourself. So to speak of course. It’s not quantum mechanics, just sit and watch.

@Raptorsin7 Sounds like you’re understanding is pretty clear and solid. I agree meditation is the way. I wouldn’t make it one or the other though... as far as meditation or choosing better feeling thoughts, and attitudes like appreciation. But that doesn’t mean you should or need to. Sorry, I could’ve been more clear with “there are no states (as in / or stages)?”. Sometimes the word states and stages are uses as synonyms, but I see you aren’t using them that way. I also get what you’re saying, that there is the experience of stages, and kind of a stage one and stage two. Maybe stage two is post realizing the distinction of states and stages as thoughts, as labels, that can be believed to describe experience (as in perception) or define the self (as in happiness) but don’t, and only obscure.

The pain is the moment of the punch, the suffering is the story about oneself. Maybe listen to feeling applicable to this occasion and apply it to the bigger picture of life, hearing the pain & the suffering, before it’s a roundhouse kick or something. You gotta care more about how you feel, listen at a whisper. Bring the suffering to a rest, by bringing mind to a peaceful rest. Over and over, as needed. One not suffering isn’t too concerned over the occasional pain. All day everyday, the mind starts to wander to a not good feeling place, bring it back to rest. Notice these tendencies to go to bummer town, and breathe and relax. Being aware of these ‘movements’ of mind in these directions, is more than ample. The mind can not do this in the light, only in disregard.

Just notice ‘the problems’... notice the reaction to say something about it... be aware of the experience of the reaction, but don’t react. Experience the thought coming and going, and the sensations as well.

Just notice ‘the problems’... notice the reaction to say something about it... be aware of the experience of the reaction, but don’t react. Experience the thought coming and going, and the sensations as well.

Maybe you’re employing humor as a way to not express more intimately.

@Human Mint Maybe the ‘fear’ is just thinking of outcomes you don’t want... and feeling the resistance to thinking about what you do want.

@karkaore What is other?

What do you think about Rupert’s teaching, that there are no states (as in / or stages)? Basically he’s saying you are already experiencing the true nature of happiness... that is what you’re experiencing the resistance too. What do you think about that? “...it's still a frustrating place to be at. I notice i procrastinate a lot and I have a lot of resistance to just sitting down and being/meditating.” As happiness is feeling, and feeling is what you want... are you ‘going to’ feeling or away from feeling so to speak, by procrastinating, resisting, and continuing to experience frustration? If you sat down and meditated and or wrote in an expression journal daily... would you not be more focused on feeling, than on thoughts about feeling? What are your conditions for happiness? What comes to mind when asked .... what criteria need to be met for you to be happy? WHat has to be different or change first? What conditions must be met? What relationships must be resolved? What skills, things, etc, are needed before you can be happy? Who do you have to be, so that you can be happy?

If you look up at the sky, notice there’s no such thing as an earth. It’s likely the next thought is ‘but I’m standing on it’, and that reveals the thought attachment in regard to beliefs you are (only) the body / mind. Contemplate and inspect what the whole of the experience is made of vs assuming there is separation. Notice the body is made only of what is eaten, and all that is eaten grows from the earth. How is the you separate, in a literal sense? Thought attachment (‘earth’, ‘round’, etc) is the same ‘on it’ or ‘looking at it’. Thoughts about perception, are thoughts about perception, and do not actually define perception.

@Flowerfaeiry Why don’t you want to be around drinking and partying? What plans do you have which that doesn’t jive with?

Those are still thoughts about you, how a you should be. What comes off to others as arrogance, from your perspective would be more readily recognized as ignorance and delusion. I don’t mean that in any sense these are shortcomings, just thought attachment you aren’t aware of yet, so to speak. Thoughts don’t define you. Most people are aware of this. That’s the arrogance factor, which you might be seeing other people are aware of. It’s not that you are ‘the hottest shit to walk planet earth’, or that you are higher conscious than anyone. It’s that you’re believing thoughts about you are really about you, or, identifying with ideas of you. Feeling the burn, or suffering...but rationalizing with ‘self deception & devilish ways’ and justifying with ‘I had a weak and undeveloped ego’. Those are all still just thoughts / concepts.

So true! I agree. There’s no need to bring it up. It really depends a lot on the industry, line of work, and who you’re talking to specifically. Generally speaking, when it comes up, it might be easier to refer to it as spirituality rather than personal.

I wouldn’t put it on your resume.

@Someone here

Sooooo.... make a post... to be heard... not to inspect, dispel beliefs, misunderstanding, etc. Ok. ?? Forum will be on par with Reddit soon.

@Someone here Whatcha here for my man?

@Epikur Ha! Ya.

People who believe people have awareness or consciousness.

Awareness is aware of thought, perception, and sensation. What is the ‘you’ that is being built up? Which is arrogant? Which knows about spiral dynamics etc? Is that ‘you’ within sensation? Do you see that ‘you’? Take the focus off what you’re saying for a while, and look for, inspect, in a literal sense, what you’re talking about.

Be more interested in what is true, than what you believe you are right about.

@Tim R Yes basically. A thought arises that there is that, and the direct experience is that there isn’t a that. “Direct experience” is a term which points, and kind of ends there. The “experience of no experience” isn’t even an experience. There isn’t and never has been such a definable ‘thing’ as experience. This is the plot of The Wizard Of Oz. You wanna be smart? You already are, you were just thinking you aren’t. You wanna be brave? You already are. You wanna have a heart? You already do. You wanna hang out with Lollipop Kids and flying monkeys? Take a psychedelic.

What’s a ‘they’?