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What is Buddhism? Buddhism is a religion to about 300 million people around the world. The word comes from 'budhi', 'to awaken'. It has its origins about 2,500 years ago when Siddhartha Gotama, known as the Buddha, was himself awakened (enlightened) at the age of 35. • Is Buddhism a Religion? To many, Buddhism goes beyond religion and is more of a philosophy or 'way of life'. It is a philosophy because philosophy 'means love of wisdom' and the Buddhist path can be summed up as: (1) to lead a moral life, (2) to be mindful and aware of thoughts and actions, and (3) to develop wisdom and understanding. • How Can Buddhism Help Me? Buddhism explains a purpose to life, it explains apparent injustice and inequality around the world, and it provides a code of practice or way of life that leads to true happiness. • Why is Buddhism Becoming Popular? Buddhism is becoming popular in western countries for a number of reasons, The first good reason is Buddhism has answers to many of the problems in modern materialistic societies. It also includes (for those who are interested) a deep understanding of the human mind (and natural therapies) which prominent psychologists around the world are now discovering to be both very advanced and effective. • Who Was the Buddha? Siddhartha Gotama was born into a royal family in Lumbini, now located in Nepal, in 563 BC. At 29, he realised that wealth and luxury did not guarantee happiness, so he explored the different teachings religions and philosophies of the day, to find the key to human happiness. After six years of study and meditation he finally found 'the middle path' and was enlightened. After enlightenment, the Buddha spent the rest of his life teaching the principles of Buddhism — called the Dhamma, or Truth — until his death at the age of 80. • Was the Buddha a God? He was not, nor did he claim to be. He was a man who taught a path to enlightenment from his own experience. • Do Buddhists Worship Idols? Buddhists sometimes pay respect to images of the Buddha, not in worship, nor to ask for favours. A statue of the Buddha with hands rested gently in its lap and a compassionate smile reminds us to strive to develop peace and love within ourselves. Bowing to the statue is an expression of gratitude for the teaching. • Why are so Many Buddhist Countries Poor? One of the Buddhist teachings is that wealth does not guarantee happiness and also wealth is impermanent. The people of every country suffer whether rich or poor, but those who understand Buddhist teachings can find true happiness. • Are There Different Types of Buddhism? There are many different types of Buddhism, because the emphasis changes from country to country due to customs and culture. What does not vary is the essence of the teaching — the Dhamma or truth. • Are Other Religions Wrong? Buddhism is also a belief system which is tolerant of all other beliefs or religions. Buddhism agrees with the moral teachings of other religions but Buddhism goes further by providing a long term purpose within our existence, through wisdom and true understanding. Real Buddhism is very tolerant and not concerned with labels like 'Christian', 'Moslem', 'Hindu' or 'Buddhist'; that is why there have never been any wars fought in the name of Buddhism. That is why Buddhists do not preach and try to convert, only explain if an explanation is sought. • Is Buddhism Scientific? Science is knowledge which can be made into a system, which depends upon seeing and testing facts and stating general natural laws. The core of Buddhism fit into this definition, because the Four Noble truths (see below) can be tested and proven by anyone in fact the Buddha himself asked his followers to test the teaching rather than accept his word as true. Buddhism depends more on understanding than faith. • What did the Buddha Teach? The Buddha taught many things, but the basic concepts in Buddhism can be summed up by the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path. • What is the First Noble Truth? The first truth is that life is suffering i.e., life includes pain, getting old, disease, and ultimately death. We also endure psychological suffering like loneliness frustration, fear, embarrassment, disappointment and anger. This is an irrefutable fact that cannot be denied. It is realistic rather than pessimistic because pessimism is expecting things to be bad. lnstead, Buddhism explains how suffering can be avoided and how we can be truly happy. • What is the Second Noble Truth? The second truth is that suffering is caused by craving and aversion. We will suffer if we expect other people to conform to our expectation, if we want others to like us, if we do not get something we want,etc. In other words, getting what you want does not guarantee happiness. Rather than constantly struggling to get what you want, try to modify your wanting. Wanting deprives us of contentment and happiness. A lifetime of wanting and craving and especially the craving to continue to exist, creates a powerful energy which causes the individual to be born. So craving leads to physical suffering because it causes us to be reborn. • What is the Third Noble Truth? The third truth is that suffering can be overcome and happiness can be attained; that true happiness and contentment are possible. lf we give up useless craving and learn to live each day at a time (not dwelling in the past or the imagined future) then we can become happy and free. We then have more time and energy to help others. This is Nirvana.

... Because we are lazy ... After awakened from the dream of thoughts, the only reason why we still seek is either because: We don't do self-inquiry enough (30 minutes a day is not too much to ask). We don't "practice" presence/awareness enough (it has to become a second nature) We let our mind wander too much (bad diet, bad sleep schedule, no/volatile meditation habit) We let ourselves be too inconscious instead of having an iron will to discover the truth (relationships drama, too much video games/shows/tv) If we've really awakened, our thoughts doesn't matter anymore We know it can't be an experience/state of mind, and we clearly see through the illusion of what is called "future". If we remove all this shit, it comes FAST. FAST like months or even weeks ... It's all up to us There is no traps except our own lazyness at this point.

@Leo Gura What you say makes perfect sense from an awakened minds perspective. From an awakened hearts perspective it does not. I have a hard time seeing how gassing jews and raping little children is based on love and kindness. Maybe there is more to the picture than that absolute perspective of yours?

@username Ah, that's interesting. Of course just capitalizing the word still fails to address a distinction that rarely ever gets made. The thing that people often refer to "nothingness", small "n", isn't an absence of anything, it's the presence of all things undivided, it's the all of everything in unity manifest without any delineation in the state of it that exists before any separation takes place in existence. The "Nothingness" with the big "N" is another distinction that can be made but it's the type of understanding that comes from experience in awakened awareness of a personal revelation. Without it there is no way to describe the understanding to another person, it's actually possible to conceive of but it likely is impossible to communicate.

Jim has had tough times in his life - failures, depression, divorce, deaths of loved ones, etc. Intense suffering is known to either make you self-distruct or to trigger awakening. I read somewhere Eckhart Tolle's teachings played a big role (pun not intended). Glad Jim was able to transcend all the nonsence of money and Hollywood fame. Richard Gere is another awakened Hollywood celebrity, his path is through the Buddhist tradition, though.

Does that awakened person have a name?

Or you could just shine the light of awareness on what would make you want to tell your boss to f*off (hint - the ego). So, you'd rest in that recognition and say nothing not out of fear to be fired, but because you wouldn't want to further feed the ego by saying those words. If Jesus was an awakened and highly conscious being, he would have most likely understood the remifications of his teachings. When he said, for example, that God and him are one, he was teaching from a non-dualistic point of view - everyone and everything is one with God, because the Relative and the Absolute are one. However, the religious leaders took it from dualistic point of view, which such claim sounded like heresy according to their law. Thus Jesus was accused of blesphemy and crucified. He knew the law, yet he continued to speak and teach, very much knowingly.

I witnessed an amazing satsang today, which for me had a much greater effect than ever watching them online, because you see the living example in front of you, which is giving you more trust and willingness to follow the instructions diligently. Summarized: -You are NOT suppose to be okay with your suffering, it's natural to not want it, it's real intelligence to see your life is not working, don't judge it, use your frustration. - So seek as hard as you can (he said this in the context of showing you you cannot be found in your objects of perception, because what ever you focus on or feel, the feeling is not feeling itself, YOU are feeling it, YOU are feeling your body parts/sensations through your shining your attention on them). - Spirituality and advaita are often a big trap for the ego (this was eye opening and new for me, despite having seen a lot of satsangs): People often use the knowledge of the absolute (I am not the body, nor my thoughts, emotions etc.) and hang out in the 'blissful consciousness' to escape! And meanwhile not reach liberation. 'My buttons are getting pushed? Nah, that's not me, let me distance myself from it, I am the observer.' 'let me become just the observer of it', big trap! That's solidifying the split mind, putting you farther away and creating a subtle spiritual ego. No, see it and feel it all! (Probably bit by bit, practice this, you can see it will simply open up and that contrary to the feeling it's not scary at all to allow it! These are your gifts). You will get better at this and situations that normally bother you because you are triggered will now become more easeful opportunities, allowing you to live more freely already. Also observe how with the feeling there often is a belief attached to feeling: 'I am not suppose to be angry' 'I am not suppose to cry', stay attentive to these beliefs when feeling your feelings and don't look through them anymore. Becoming awake is about with becoming true to yourself, become very very intimate with yourself, and when you can be really open to yourself, that way life can actually open up to you. - Ego and even identification with it are not bad, they are great gifts! Just partial identification, of not knowing who you also and really are, is creating the nightmare. You solve it by going a step further than it, not by suppressing them. - You can't awaken yourself. It will happen by it's own accord, you just do your best opening up, becoming as honest and open as you can, and when you are ready, the ego will seen through once and for all and you will be in a different world. Awoken, free, no more 'losing it'. I like how he kept using the word gift, humorously at the end he mentioned someone saying to him: 'I didn't chose this life..' No. It's a gift. It's a dutch teacher, he had been searching seriously from when he was 14, he's like 64 now, Ad Oostendorp is his name, but yeah, Dutch. Great guy though.

It proves that she is awakened.

Don't assume anything about the states of higher consciousness, you can't know about them by reading or viewing videos, unless you experience , you can't know. When you are awakened, your memories are not lost but you don't identify yourself with them , you remain witness to them, you don't judge them. Then memories don't disturb you. If past memories can disturb your serenity then you are not awakened. Don't think that only you have suffered in the past and your miseries are greater. My childhood was very horrible , my elder brother committed suicide but I managed to survive. Now my past can't make me miserable.

@Prabhaker Awakened or not, memories of trauma remain in the central nervous system, even after awakenings. @Seeker_of_truth Her concepts are fine. She does sound logical. I don't know much about what she has plagiarized, personally. You guys are very gullible.

If she is awakened then her past can't influence her present behavior, if she is awakened then her past can't disturb her now. Don't expect that she will behave like normal victim of abuse, even after spiritual progress. Spirituality is inner transformation.

Ok. I am basing it off of personal experience in going through something similar, and having grown up with and have known many victims of childhood abuse. It's my intuition. They are. One of their comments: "OMG, a whole army of Tealers (Teal's followers) has found our video Look at all the comments. Don't worry guys, you can still follow Teal. This video is for people who already have awakened a little bit intelligence and intuition. To reassure them that they should not listen to Teal. I don't expect you to do that, so relax."

I've had this idea before, but the thread didn't take off. I don't remember if I actually decided to post the thread or not. I feel somewhat validated by seeing this idea again. It strokes my self-image; I haven't really let go of my need to be a wise person. I enjoy wisdom for it's own sake, but I also get a dirty high over the impact that has on my self-image. I'm somewhat jealous of @Hungry_Duck for being awakened, even though I can only take his (her?) word for it. I'm also a bit self-critical for being jealous. I am stroking my ego with my self-honesty as a sign that I am a much more developed person that I used to be and most others. I have a fear that as clear as my growth seems that it is just pure self-delusion. I often feel like this might all be one big lie and I'm just participating in a cult instead of a genuine self-development community. As much as my life has improved. I don't think my misgivings are more than misgivings completely, however my self-doubt is strong enough to have a somewhat emotional impact on me. I am afraid inner work is just my defense mechanism of running away from the world. I am afraid all my sagely insights are delusions and that I'm not really on the path to becoming a sage at all, just a fraud. I am hoping people here will reassure me, and there's a part of me that just wants to use this place as an echo chamber because the ambiguity of this work is frightening. I don't feel as burdened by negative emotions and self-doubt as I used to be, but there are still feelings of that perhaps being my own bravado and self-deception. I feel repetitive and not particularly insightful as I write this, which brings forth some insecurities I have about my innate intelligence.

In the direction of living in Truth, it is important to remember these two rules: (i) Life is a dream; (ii) We are the witness. There are very few fortunate ones who realize the truth of existence. The majority of us live and die in slumber. We have to awaken from this dream life, in order to realize That which is not a dream; we have to become aware of the drama in order to recognize that which is not a drama. Since all lies belong to the dream-world, they are false and untrue. Once this is experienced, one realizes that one was always free! What immeasurable bliss and joy this knowledge brings in its wake! There is no way of gauging its dimensions, nor can it be expressed in words, nor is there a method of conveying this joy. It can only be lived and experienced. As we proceed in this witness-state, so the path unfolds before us; and once the door opens, no matter how little, there is so much left to be done by ourselves. That lithe opening then, keeps calling the individual; it attracts him so that he cannot help but be drawn towards it. If a man jumps from a roof, he cannot stop to ask what he has to do next; the ground will do the needful – the gravitation of the earth will pull him down. His work is over as soon as he leaps; the earth then takes over and finishes the rest for him. Once a man leaps into the witness-state, he has nothing more to do himself. Then the pull of the Universal Spirit, the gravitation of God, does the rest. As long as we stand in the dream world, this power does not work, but as soon as we break through the dream world, and jump out of it, the pull of God begins to work. Then, when a man walks one step towards God, he walks a thousand step towards him. Then, a slight effort and the reward is a thousand-fold; one feeble call evokes a flood of response from Him! But we are such, we refuse to budge even an inch from our dream-state. Rather, we are forever occupied in strengthening its walls from all sides. He who is surrounded by lesser things, begins to dream of bigger things. The dream of living in a hut is a painful dream; the dream of living in a palace is an enjoyable dream; so all those whose dreams are painful, dream of more fulfilling dreams. And the more we dream, the further we are from Truth. Dreams are to be destroyed and not nurtured – but we are displeased and upset if anyone talks of destroying our dreams! Those that sleep are the losers; those that have awakened, they alone attain the wealth, the beauty, the prosperity of life. Please remember these two short rules: Life is a dream and man has to be only a witness thereof. As the witness-state develops, the dreams begin to break until only That remains in the end, which is the Reality, which is the Truth.

It is not a dream life to you; it is real. When you see a dream the dream is real. Somebody who has awakened from sleep may go on saying that whatsoever you are seeing is just a dream, but the person who is dreaming, he is dreaming a reality, not a dream. In a dream, howsoever absurd, you cannot feel it as a dream. You believe in it, because once you feel it is a dream the dream disappears. The dream cannot remain there, your cooperation is withdrawn. You can cooperate only with reality, not with dreams; and if you cooperate dreams become reality -- it is through your cooperation. In the night, deep in sleep, you dream that you have become a king. You may be a beggar, or vice versa: you may be a king and you dream that you have become a beggar. But in that dream you are so identified you cannot think that it could be a dream. If you can think that it could be a dream, the dream will stop immediately. It will be broken, you will come out of it. If you realize in dream that it is a dream the dream is broken, the dream cannot exist. It exists through your cooperation, your identification is needed. If you are committed to it, if you get involved in it, only then can it continue. And the same happens with the greater dream which is life. When you realize this is a dream, immediately you have become a Buddha, you are enlightened. But this enlightenment cannot happen to you by others' knowing, others' wisdom. Buddha may go on calling to you that this is a dream you are living, but you will only feel that this man is a disturbance, a constant nuisance, he is disturbing your life. That's why we kill such persons. Socrates -- we poisoned him because he was a great disturber. Jesus -- we crucified him because he was a nuisance. Everybody is dreaming such beautiful dreams, and these persons unnecessarily, and without being invited, go on disturbing people and saying to them, "Wake up! You are dreaming. This is a dream." And the man may have been dreaming such a beautiful thing that he could throw away all life for that dream. If you become alert a dream disappears; if you become alert of your misery, the misery disappears. You cling to it because you think it is not misery, or some happiness is hidden somewhere in it. It may be misery outwardly, but a deep treasure is hidden behind it, so you have to cling to it for that treasure. Your life is misery -- but not for you. Realize its misery, it falls down. The very truth transforms you. And the moment misery falls the divine is revealed. To a miserable mind the divine cannot be revealed. To a celebrating mind the divine is revealed. Remember, only to a celebrating mind, to a mind which is happy, blissful, enjoying moment to moment, ecstatic, is the divine revealed. To a miserable mind the divine cannot be revealed, because a miserable mind is closed. The divine is here and now, but you are not here and now. If you are also here and now then the divine will be revealed to you.

Interesting. Hard to get around the time-delay effect of our biological information-relay system.. but what if we skew our perspective or widen it and shift the context a little? Are we not truly present fairly easily just by maintaining or prolonging any current run on awareness of our present moments, moment by moment, as consistently and as often as possible? Hmmm, I'm pondering as I write, and my gut says that (as we become more and more awakened) we manage (or realize?) more of an actual reality as presence than a 'pseudo-presence' that's retarded or offset in any manner by biological limits or time constraints. And actually, how excited are we going to get about labels and symbols? What's stopping us from embodying our essential nature as being outside of time and not coached or limited by such constructs? Sure, practical clock-time as a tool so I can pay my rent on the first and meet you at two for lunch, but... let's strive to just recognize our self-limiting concepts and delusions for what they are and work towards transcending all that.

@Prabhaker I see. 'Enlightenment' is just a term, a label. There are more enlightened/awakened people around than one might think (even on this site), they just won't reveal it. If you have shifted to dis-illusionment of who 'you' are (self-realization) and there is permanence to that realization, that's IT. It could happen to anyone anytime, with or without meditating even...from a yogi to a drunk on the way home from a pub. It's unpredictable, sudden, simple, yet profound. After the initial seeing, there is usually a process of deepening that can take the remainder of one's lifespan. Self-inquiry is a good way to help trigger the shift (there is logic involved in self-inquiry, btw). I had mine while doing a guided self-inquiry meditation in one of Leo's Enlightenment videos. Life just went on as usual afterwards. Before chop wood, carry water... It's also true when they say that once it happens, you just know. Peace

@LifeandDeath Our consciousness in it's most illuminated state is aware that it is awareness which manifests in the mind as our self conscious of itself. As we awaken our awareness to being aware our ego awakens to itself being an awakened awareness.... monkey see monkey do.... hehe Duality is just a paradigm of the mind, one that it uses to 2d "model" reality but awakening is like a quantum collapse in our consciousness so entangles infinite potential.

@Michael119 Congratulations, man! You're making a lot of progress. My awakening was severely impacted by a same experience. You'll find details here : https://www.actualized.org/forum/topic/9709-am-i-awakened/

Those are some deep words, the crowd continues to scream i love you but no one is really listening.. do you see the wisdom behind his speech? the purity of his soul was one of a kind, a true angel, he always talked this way and we never saw it until he passed away. His soul was among the most highly evolved, if he had a different more spiritual path maybe he would of become an enlightened master? He was always so child-like, innocent, kind, loving and pure, in the present and free-spirited but due to his tough schedule and rough life he never really had time to connect to himself. At least now his back with source and free to be and express completely. How did we miss this? What we need to learn from children isn't childish. Being with them connects us to the deeper wisdom of life... which is ever-present and only asks to be lived. They know the way to solutions that lie.. waiting to be recognized within our own hearts.

@Shin awakened already you are and appreciated deeply, he says..

Me an awakening can he give. Yes, hmmm. @Sevi I be awakened without knowing it, how could, hmm? Hmmm, hmm?! Hmmmmmm ????!!!!

Do you know where you are posting? Spiritual enlightenment is about using awareness to enlighten consciousness. This isn't philosophical enlightenment, which uses logic to enlighten understanding or scientific enlightenment which uses information to enlightenment knowledge Sure, the spiritual enlightening of consciousness can bring understanding and knowledge of ourselves but that is not it's primary impact, it brings fulfillment. Spiritually enlightening consciousness influences every facet of life through bringing fulfillment and is one of the most practical exercises a person can have. Awakening and enlightening provides a well being fulfilling our experience in life that transcends knowledge and understanding, even of ourselves. Spirituality may involve finding ideals and purpose for someone but without awakening and enlightening of consciousness it's just an ideology in the mind that doesn't fulfill. There is no spiritual enlightenment other than being present in the moment, being aware of being aware, and no amount of logic can replace that. That's what spiritual enlightenment is and merging it with every day life, not just in meditation, is the task of one who seeks this for their own experience and what constitutes living an awakened life. Logic doesn't provide that and has actually proven to be a hindrance to it as people chase ideas and concepts around their mind so are distracted from just being present in the moment. If you ever awaken the impacts of enlightenment will be revealed in your consciousness.

The problem really is with language. There have been so many times that there is just no way to put into words what I am trying to say. On top of that, a lot of the things seem contradictory. To someone who is first starting to meditate, that can be difficult. For me personally, meditation came natural. I had been doing hypnosis, so I knew what "trance" felt like, and it was easily adopted into meditation. I actually read nothing and knew nothing about meditation, so the approach was organically to understand myself. I awakened before knowing what awakening was, so I obviously started researching, and when the insights started coming, it was pretty obvious what was going on. The concepts i acquired in research slowed me down in many ways, but also collectively provided a basis. Maybe it would have been faster if I hadn't looked it up, but that is irrelevant because that's not what happened, and in the end, it taught me a lesson. Nothing that anyone says will affect how someone proceeds in regards to their "strategy". It is good for there to be practical applications for people that would otherwise maybe read info that would side track them with grandiose concepts, but frankly, the self wants to find those concepts anyways generally. See... Fuck language, so much of that is contradictory because I really don't have a position on it, because there is so little control over it. You basically just have to do what you do, and in the end realize that you have done none of it. I love all y'all.