eputkonen

There is no path...there are no steps. How long does it take - that is a question assuming a path and steps. It assumes a process and progress. Enlightenment is not a process...it is realization...Self-realization. A realization regarding who/what you really are and seeing through the misidentification and illusions of the mind (especially those that create division). You have either seen or you have not seen...there is no such thing as partial seeing. Enlightened can be described as seeing through the illusion of ego. Therefore, you can not willfully do anything to become enlightened. What can the ego do to see through itself? Any willful action (which is ego) only reinforces the apparent reality of the illusion. This is why some have called enlightenment a grace...it happens to you. The realization is sudden and complete...an "aha moment" and reframes everything (or perhaps deframing is a better word). An old Zen saying is - when the bottom of the bucket drops out, all the water goes with it. So when enlightenment happens - you clearly see through the "I" that you have taken to be who you are. With this, suffering based on the "I" goes with it. If you don't clearly see and so there is doubt...the "I" remains believed and suffering continues. Seeing (i.e. sensing) is not a willed action. As long as we are conscious, we hear what is around us...we see what is in front of us...etc. You could call it awareness...I just say seeing. Seeing can be gently led; like your breath - can be led, but happens of itself when not led. If you wanted to truly see an orange, you would just hold it and look at it. The longer you looked, the more you would learn. Seeing brings understanding. Science knows this...they observe...that is how you come to know. We don't know who we are. And so we could just look at ourselves. You could just look at the "I". What is it? Is it really who you are? What is the source of the "I"? Just by looking you may understand what you are not...just look at the "I" and also look for the source. Understanding what you are not may make it easier to realize what you are. Also a help, is just being present (that is - not taking away from the experience of now by thinking about the past or future). If you were just sitting and being present, this would be called meditation. Periods of "just sitting" is of value. But do not get stuck with only being present when you are sitting. Do not sit with ego and pride at how long you sit and expecting to gain something...again you are creating your own obstacle. Always be present. We do not wake up partly because we are lost in thought. Enlightenment can only be realized here and now...any thought distracts from seeing what is here and now. If you are 100% devoted to the experience of this moment...you still could not be aware of everything because there is just too much data for our senses and brain to handle. But if we are 100% devoted to the experience of this moment, there is no room left for thought. Thought would cease. Thoughts are only about the past and future. Thought is never about now, when the mind tries it is already thinking about the past or trying to anticipate the future. Thought is never about the now...experience is about the now. When you are totally present, thought ceases...and in that silence of mind...then ask yourself but once - "who am I" or "what am I"...and then don't think about it or make any efforts to answer the question. Just send out the question...and in silence just be. If you are lucky, you will gain nothing...but lose much. In the end, be present and look at oneself is all I can recommend. Neither is really a doing. Thought is a doing...and so not being present is a doing. If we did nothing, we could automatically be present. Also, we can't help but to be aware...to see...and so just look at yourself out of curiosity. Don't you wonder who you really are?

Yes. Woke up in 2005. So my reply was my own experience.

Reality continues on whether you are thinking or not. Thought actually is the only screen between you and reality. If you ceased thinking for a bit, you would see what is as it is. You motivation to do things may decrease, but it is only the ego that needs motivation to do things. You can still do things simply for the enjoyment of it.

Yes, there is sitting, lying, standing, and walking meditations. You can really do anything while meditating...physical posture or activity does not matter.

You just experience the world as it is. The illusions of the mind simply drop away (with enlightenment). So you recognize the illusions of the mind you were taking for reality...and then you see the world as it is. This is far more ordinary than it sounds. Enlightenment is more about realization...a eureka moment in which prior you believed the illusions of the mind and after you don't because you see they are illusions. Afterwards, the world is still experienced...but without the illusions of the mind (the blinders and colored lenses we are accustomed with).

Dino, I woke up in 2005. You can realize who/what you really are as well. It is not a matter of reading a lot, going to seminars, taking psychedelics, meditating a lot, time spent on spiritual paths, or even talent. It is about being still, being silent, being present...and really looking at who we think/feel we are. I don't care about beliefs or theoretical ideas...what do you really feel you are...and is it true. Look deeply at the "I". What is the origin and source of the "I"? Look at the illusions of the mind and question their reality (of course, right now you are taking those illusions for reality...so I am asking you to question reality). Be still and know (through just seeing).

I like what Eckhart Tolle said in one of his seminars - this is not a personal development seminar, it is a personal diminishment seminar. Self help and personal development may make you more expert in living within or manipulating the illusion, but enlightenment is seeing through the illusion itself.

Realize/see that suffering is mentally self-created. We do it to ourselves...but we don't know it - otherwise we would not do it. For example, worry is one of the ways we make ourselves suffer. The Tibetan Buddhists have an interesting saying - if a problem can be solved there is no use worrying about it. If it can't be solved, worrying will do no good. Now, if you were to delve into worry...and you clearly saw the futility of worry, the harm it causes, and its total lack of positive benefits...then you would not worry. You would understand there is no point - no gain, only suffering - and so you would not put yourself through that. Instead, you would do what you could to solve the issue and if nothing could be done you would accept it (hopefully the situation changes so that something can be done later). As I write this, I guess it does involved accepting uncertainty and the lack of control. All suffering is like this. We create it ourselves in our minds. Suffering is any hurt beyond the pain perceived by the nerves of the body. Suffering is a translation of the work dukkha in Buddhism, and the term could also mean discontent or dissatisfaction. We are never satisfied...because of the mental illusions we are believing. We believe them because of ignorance (being uninvestigated and unseen). This was the whole focus of the Four Noble Truths of Gautama (the Buddha). Dukkha exists. Dukkha can cease. It can cease because it has no reality outside of our own imaginations.

By pain, I think you might mean suffering. Either way, if there is no suffering and no pain, by your statement and logic the ego would cease to exist. Actually, the ego continues to exist even without suffering or pain (based on my direct experience)...so I would have to disagree with your statement. Suffering does strengthen the ego quite a bit though, but there is a bit more to the ego than just suffering and pain.

Meditation is not concentration...so the idea is not to focus your attention, which is concentration. Meditation is not contemplation...so the idea is not to think about stuff, which is contemplation. Meditation is practicing present awareness. In Zen Buddhism, their seated meditation is called zazen...aka 'just sitting'. They are just sitting...nothing else. Just fully present and aware of what is as it is. Not adding anything to it, not subtracting anything from it. There are walking and moving meditations...that is practicing present awareness in motion. Really, anything can be a meditation. Mowing the lawn, for example. Of course, if you are truly present - 100% devoted to the experience of now - there really is no room for thought. Thought is only about the past and future, never about now. So when you are successfully meditating...there is no thought.

With this logic, you would not be most of your own body. You are not aware of what the adrenal or pituitary glands are doing right now. You are not aware of what cells in the body are dying and being replaced by new cells. You are not likely aware of your shins right now...well maybe now that I brought your attention to it. You are not likely aware of the inside of your nose nor the inside of your ears. You are not aware of your ear drums. I can go on like this...but I won't. My point is...not being aware does not mean separation or not being it. Most of our awareness only comes from the senses on and around the head...which is why so many people think they are in there somewhere (in the center of all the senses). Hearing, sight, smell, and even taste are all in the region of the head. Then we have the skin covering the rest of our bodies that provide sensations. But the skin sensations take a back seat to the major senses on the head - most people focus more on visual and auditory. Do you feel your liver? Are you aware of your brain? Right now...are you aware of all the organs of the body? So by your own logic, because you are not aware of everything in your body...you are not your body. This is a false conclusion because you don't have to be aware of it for it to still be a part of you. Conscious awareness is not required. In fact it would get in the way...how does a centipede control its hundred legs...it doesn't think about it. If you were consciously aware of everything inside your body and had to consciously control it...you wouldn't manage to get out of bed. Most functions of the body happen unconsciously...but let us say superconsciously instead...giving it a plus instead of a minus. Superconsciously, you are beating your own heart, you are digesting foods that you eat, etc. Now breathing is interesting in that you can consciously be aware of your breath...you can consciously control your breath, but most of the time you are not consciously controlling your breath and you may not even be aware of your breath. And yet it happens. You don't have to be aware of breathing in order to breath. And so do you breath or don't you? Alan Watts once said, "If you find out that it's you who circulates your blood, you will at the same moment find out that you are shining the sun."

You can meditate while lying down. There danger of falling asleep is increased, but as long as you don't fall asleep...you will be fine. Meditation is not solely a seated practice. In Buddhism, they talk about the four dignities of man - standing, walking, sitting or lying down. And so while there is sitting meditation..there is also standing meditation, walking meditation, and lying meditation. Really, you can meditate in any position and doing any activity. So best wishes...hope you feel better...and just meditate lying down. (sometimes with eyes close, open, or partially closed.)

There are subconscious (unconscious) thoughts as well...that are part of consciousness. Haven't you met someone and immediately liked or disliked them, but didn't know why? I mean consciously know why. In psychology, the subconscious is a big part of our consciousness. Consciousness is the entirety, but conscious and subconscious are parts. Superconscious is potentially another part (depending on the terms you want to use). If you look at it and investigate, you will see you are conscious of very little...but that does not mean it is outside of consciousness.

I have no thoughts or opinions about either.

One does not need a theoretical background at all. When I woke up, it was unlike anything I had ever read or studied before. (I had never read or studied about awakening/enlightenment or nonduality prior to waking up and realizing nonduality directly). So there was no theoretical background for me and yet it happened. I do not blog to provide a theoretical background. I just like talking about the subject. And there happens to be many who like reading about the subject. There are many questions and I answer them so I can talk about it. Also, there are misunderstandings and ongoing myths that I like pointing out. I know that for every question answered multiple more questions will arise...and I know that the thinking mind (of the questioner) will never get it. Enlightenment can not be figured out. Enlightenment does not come from acquiring the right knowledge. In fact, the accumulated knowledge may become an obstacle to enlightenment...because if that knowledge is wrong or misunderstood, you could wake up and then deny it because it does not conform the the prior knowledge you gained. And so this allows the ego to stay in power (this isn't it...so I need to do more)...instead of simply seeing through the ego and recognizing it for the mirage it is. The concepts won't liberate...they are just more chains. So when I am asked, how to wake up...I recommend to just be still, be quiet, be present...cease thinking and be 100% devoted to the experience of the moment. Then perhaps ask yourself but once, "who am I?" Then don't make any efforts to answer it, don't think, don't refer to past or future. Just be still, be silent, be present. Or variations...like what I posted to Afonso.

Joy and play has been my answer. However, play is something done without a purpose, only done for its own sake. Having fun to have fun. Joy for the sake of joy. I think we are same the same thing in different ways.

The answer will not be found in the books. The concepts gathered cause confusion and make enlightenment more difficult to realize. Just be still, be quiet, be present...cease thinking and be 100% devoted to the experience of the moment. At that moment...are there any problems, do you lack anything, is there anything missing, etc.? Without thinking - which means referring to past or future.

1) 2) Krishna Kali, Krishna Kali Ama, Kali Kali Krishna Krishna Krishna Radha Krishna Radha Kali Kali Krishna Kali (repeat) 3) Mediation, Kirtan 4) This is my spiritual pick-me-up song. Reconnection with Divinity and Joy. Always feel energized, grounded, joyful, and at peace after this song.

No, the ego does not disappear. But .you don't identify with the ego and you are not fooled by it anymore. This changes everything. If you are still worried, you are still being fooled by the illusions of the mind. There is a Tibetan Buddhist saying to the effect - if a problem can be solved there is no use worrying about it. If it can't be solved, worrying will do no good. So, if you truly realized the futility of worry...and that there are not benefits to worry...why would you cause yourself that unnecessary anguish? From my experience...one doesn't. If you see through "worry" and the illusions of the mind you are believing (like worrying about it will somehow make it more likely to go the way you want to)...then you cease to worry. I have had no worries for over 10 years. Even losing my job and being unemployed during the recession (2008-2010) did not cause me to worry. Instead, I did what I could and accepted what could not be changed. If you still identify with and believe the ego...then you worry, fear, etc. If you realize there is no other and never was any other...what is there to be afraid of? Fear requires an "other".

It would be better to not hold onto any image or belief of what an enlightened person would look like. A caterpillar could interview as many butterflies as he wants...and then say to himself, "now I know what it to be a butterfly." But one day that caterpillar will enter the cocoon and when he comes out...the first thought will be, "I never thought it would be like this." I can say there are no limitation on what an enlightened person could do. Eating cheeseburgers, pizza, fried chicken, or whatever is fine. It does not matter what they eat. Some may teach or become monks, but others could be taxi drivers, waitresses, plumbers, entrepreneurs, etc. It does not matter what they do for a living. Even homeless vagrant is possible. There is even a story of one who woke up in prison (From Onions to Pearls)...so even in prison there may be enlightened people. I would say the most outwardly visible trait is the one the Buddha spoke about. Enlightenment is the cessation of dukkha. Dukkha is often translated as suffering, but could also mean discontentment or dissatisfaction. So the enlightened person doesn't really suffer anymore and is satisfied/content with himself/herself and life. There were may teachers and "gurus" that talked a good game and many were convinced they were enlightened, but then Trump was elected as president in the US. Suddenly, some of these teachers/gurus Facebook posts were nothing about how the world is ending, this is not right, etc, etc. The suffering and discontent was visible to all. Now if it was a flash and passed (like surprise and disappointment)...I wouldn't call that outright suffering and discontentment...but for many of these teachers it was days, weeks, or months on angst. They exposed themselves (in my opinion) of just talking a good game but not being enlightened. So if you have problems, fears, worries/anxieties, guilt, etc. (i.e. suffer)...then you are not enlightened yet.

Jim said something to the effect of "I wish everybody could get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it's not the answer.” Love him.

The ego has conscious and subconscious components. The ego is everything we think we are, but there are also conditioned and largely unconscious aspects of the ego. Like how many people feel they are incomplete or something is wrong with them...and yet have no idea what it could be. It is subconscious. Self-sabotage is because of the ego and usually a subconscious part...as people don't knowing do themselves harm.

There is no self, nor not-self, nor both, nor neither.

@Natasha Sure that linguistic game can be played (because loss and gain are opposing dualistic words and so there are no losses without relatedly worded gains), but then you miss the point of the one-liner.

A few cartoons I created years ago...