Joseph Maynor

Chime I'm in on this please I'm starting to see thIs but I want to hear your point of view. It's kinda paradoxical. Firstly, I realize now that no person can be enlightened. This is a paradox too. But I don't want to pollute the waters too much with my own monkey-mind. Let yours do the talking now. My monkey is on a strict diet.

I know about Varanasi, city of Shiva if I'm not mistaken. Let's say I wanted to do like a 2 week spiritual vacation in India. What cities would you recommend I visit. Remember, I'm a semi-spoiled tourist who does like to stay in a hotel that is not too far below Western Standards. I don't want to be living like a Sadhu in an Ashram for 2 weeks lol. But at the same time I want to get off the Tourist Trail, if you know what I mean. North or south? East or west? India is so large. And assume I'll be going by myself for 2 weeks. I know it's trendy for people to do the Golden Triangle.

This was fascinating to watch. Thank you! Right from the horse's mouth. That's the way I like to get my information if possible.

Watch this video.

I got a big challenge with this too. I'm gonna fix it.

@Nahm I'll start meditating sitting up. Thanks!

Can you relate enlightenment to a point in time in Star Wars? That would be illuminating. Or maybe the Lion King? Where in the hero's journey is that "oh damn!" Moment found?

I would say you are attaching too much to ego. You're labeling yourself too much. Stop doing that. Practice self love and self acceptance more. Work a little bit on drafting a plan for your life to move forward.

Very quality post. This is what I need to hear right now. On point. Leo should do a video on this. I posted the appropriate request in the video request sub-forum. I think this is very important and a common trap. It was for me.

Thanks for this. This is valuable and worth reading 3 times.

I don't understand the argument yet, sorry. Is there some kind of spiritual energy flowing through the spine? Maybe I don't believe in that energy theory. So, its no harm no foul for me to continue to meditate laying in my comfy bed, no? Are we just doing this because it's always been done that way, or is there a reason it is done that way outside of tradition? I don't like tradition merely for the sake of tradition.

The idea that outer seeing is illusory? Outer seeing is in contrast to inner seeing. Inner seeing is mental. Outer seeing is done with the eyes. Or is it that ordinary visuals are no more part of mystical reality than drug-induced visuals. Existentially, they are the same, no? I'm not a drug user so I need some help with this. Maybe one day I will do more. I've done shrooms a few times. So, I get the idea of a hallucination. Also with shrooms you get that deep feeling of love and sensitivity. That tripped me out more than the visuals. This was like six years ago the last time I did it, but I was kind of a masculine guy then, and the fact that I got so vulnerable was very off-putting to me. I wasn't prepared for that. Also I had some demons that I wasn't ready to come out. I'm more in touch with my loving side today than I was then. So, I've changed a lot. But I just wanted to say that I have experimented a few times with pretty high amounts of shrooms, and I paid the price with some bad trips too. But ok. Here's the question. You saw some visuals, so what? What does that do for you with enlightenment? What beliefs are shaken or reinforced?

Got it. This is deep. Thanks for the information. I need to work on experiencing reality that way. Thank you!

Yep. Most of the regulars are. And Leo is way up there too.

I'm watching this now!

Many people on here are enlightened. It took me 3 weeks to notice this. And I've been on here every day during this 3 week period.

One might say -- True for human purposes, for our purposes. The proposition "Killing an innocent elderly old woman merely for amusement is wrong" is true with a lower case T. And it's pretty obvious what the argument for it is. Look inside your heart. That's the argument, paradoxically. That sense of injustice and inhumanity -- unfairness. But this has no existential import whatsoever. So, is this truth with a lower-case T basically a human morality built for human life and well-being?

Yes. My first big enlightenment experience was followed by a lot of pain, negative emotions, anger, and depression. The enlightenment experiences after that were less disruptive to me in that sense. The first one was hard because I basically came to the realization that my self didn't exist. And I was angry at myself for clinging to that self for so long, and I was angry that I had held myself back in life by internalizing weaknesses in my self-image. You gotta get through it though. It took about a week for me. Don't cling to the idea that you are depressed or angry. That will make it worse. Try not to label yourself. Just accept the negative emotions fully and try and release them. Become mindful of your dwelling on these emotions. When they pop into your consciousness, acknowledge it -- oh this is a negative emotion -- and then try and let the emotions go. You can release the negative emotions in this way. Note, label, savor, and then release. Repeat this. Don't consider the emotions as yours. Think of them as like trees, as aspects of reality. You can look away from a tree or release a tree from your consciousness. And you wouldn't consider the tree to be part of you. Well, you can do the same thing with emotions. They're just phenomena in reality that you are aware of, not yours and not attached to you. Don't try to block or bury the emotions either, that will just make them bigger and last longer. Accept and release. Say -- oh, this is an emotion. Let me look at it. Ok, it's just an emotion. It's not me. I don't have to identify with it. Could I release this emotion? Will I release this emotion? When will I release this emotion? Ask yourself this set of questions. Then try and release the emotion. I think this is called the Sedona Method. If the emotion comes back up, repeat this algorithm. Remember, no trying to bury or block emotions. Releasing is different from blocking. Releasing is you savor the emotion fully, acknowledge what it is, and then try and let it go. Let it in fully, and then detach from it. Over and over and over again. Eventually the emotions will stop haunting you.

Pardon my ignorance folks, but I still don't understand this. Somebody please help me. Are other people illusory? What about their minds? Their minds are not in my reality so am I to conclude their minds don't exist? This sounds absurd to me. Maybe they're just like me and I am part of their non-dual reality. But that's concept and has no bearing on my reality. In my reality other people lack minds. Are their minds part of my reality or not? It seems we cannot say that they are. Well what does that do to our existential claim that others exist? It seems to go bye bye because we cannot confirm that claim by referencing reality alone, we would have to cling to concept too, and that's a no no when we're talking about reality.

It's gonna be ok. Enlightenment people are no more ornery than regular people are. Maybe just a little more in denial about it. Denial ain't a river in Egypt. None of us are immune to it. That said, I think Leo is just pissed that he has to deal with the pettiness on here. He seems to be a very focused guy and doesn't want to waste his time. I can appreciate that. Maybe we're all wasting too much time blathering on here. This stuff needs to be applied and I think being on this forum is a distraction from doing that. Sure, dip your toe into the books for a short while, but you gotta know when to get off the dole after a while too. Otherwise we're just all talk and no action. Myself included. And you wonder how much help our opinions really give to others, and if they are even listening. You spend time to craft a beautiful response, and the other person is not even in the space to hear you. So, you kinda wasted your time, did you not? Better to focus on your own growth. At least your work goes directly towards your life purpose then. I still like to contribute on here and will contribute on here. But I came to that realization myself yesterday. Being on here -- can be but is not always -- a subtle form of procrastination. Balance is key. People that are here all the time probably do themselves a huge disservice, Leo included. Unless you are really putting into practice everything you learn on here. In that case, you should be more enlightened than Leo is by now. You should be more enlightened more than even Osho was by now if you really study here and make a practice of it. But nobody really does that. We often come here not to work, which is problematic. And I realize this tough medicine applies to me too, I'm not taking exception for myself here. If the shoe fits . . . .

Ok.

Maybe I am asking too many questions. I probably am. I'll take a break for a couple of days. Too much of a good thing can be harmful too. I gotta let things re-harmonize for me so I can integrate my new findings and information. I'll give you folks an overdue break from my neurosis for a while.

No, the questions are different. Go back and read them again if you have to. Don't accuse people.

True. I do fall asleep sometimes.