Search the Community

I think about morality and freewill just like you. I also wonder what the "nothingness" and "emptiness" is. I've had occasions where I have become aware of this pure endless space. And I just want to understand that, but with everything else in context. I have had multiple insight about reality, but my ego just doesn't know what to make of it.

I know of many people that has realised absolute infinity but then gone beyond it and into the personal god. It's a direct experiance, of seeing the 'personal' god in nothingness. I would say realise absolue infinity, then dont stop you Journey. Stare at a picture of someone like anandamayi ma, Jesus, krishna or ramana maharshi and connect to them. This will trigger purging, and more will be revealed.

Realization of nondual awareness and ultimate reality as Oneness of impersonal Brahman is only one out of three aspects of Absolute Truth. And its not the main and final aspect but only a first step towards the highest form of spiritual realization which is realization of Bhagavan - forming personal relationship with God - with the Supreme Person/Lord aspect of God. Buddha's realization was of ultimate oneness - of Brahman or of Paramatma, but it wasn't perfect and highest from the perspective of natural spiritual evolution. While Jesus went beyond Buddha, he realized God in its highest form as a supreme person (Lord, God-the-Father). So beyond undifferentiated impersonal oneness of Absolute there is differentiated relationship between human and God as Lord and Servant, Father and Son, Friend and his little human Friend. 'God is the dude in the sky!' is actually end up as the most accurate metaphor of absolute. While infinity, nothingness, consciousness, impersonal Brahman aspects are only half of the story. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/its-all-onenot-vaishnava-response-advaita-vedanta-steven-rosen “It's All One”—Not! (A Vaishnava Response to Advaita Vedanta) Krishna in Bhagavat Gita also said that realization of relationship with personal Absolute God is higher than realization of impersonal aspect of Brahman. And forming such obedient relationship can itself lead to spiritual realizations. So monotheism of Judeo-Christian and Islamic traditions based on faith, total submission and obedience to Supreme Being were indeed the highest form and understanding of all spiritual seeking of human history. For any being to live in this reality in its most proper and natural and apparently the most happiest way is to fit himself in the hierarchical order of God and Human - reality simply works in such hierarchical order, adult-child, adult is personal aspect of God and child is human-being. God the adult is the one who does everything and child is one who simply plays while doing what God 'tells' him (God's will = nonpsychological actions not based on mind's stereotypes and desires) without being bothered by all the adult-staff. Truly, reality is simple and genious. God is simple, its not complicated. Reality in its true design is the eternal childhood with God-the-Father watching after his kids while kids obey and trust to the father. Archetypes of lost divine father makes sense now.

My opinion and experience told me that doesn't matter much. Just practice the Do Nothing technique and you will be fine. Your ego will become Nothingness and you will start to see Nothingness everywhere. Whereas previously you saw Ego which then intern created more Ego. Ego loves to cling to a certain perspective and then projects that perspective into reality. Try to meditate and not to cling to a certain perspective so that you will become every perspective and neither perspective at the same time.

Wow, it's funny you ask I have tried this recently and feel like "deadly combo" is a highly accurate description. I was tripping hard, listening to music and playing rocket league. It was hitting me how absolutely insane it was that I was alive in that moment, with all of the incredibly beautiful colors and music and how immensely fun it was, and felt an intensely deep feeling of gratitude as I had the most real sense of "melting into my experience". It was absolutely amazing and pure bliss. I stopped and thought it would be a great time to do some Kriya yoga, as something of a sacrifice and to show my appreciation for the life I've been handed. I was performing the first Kriya initiation (for what it's worth I wear grounding straps when doing yoga), only got to Om Japa when things started getting really weird... I was in the corner of my room, sunlight coming through the windows and mini trampoline in front of me... and it started feeling like I was floating up high above in some sort of nature scene (despite being inside my room). And that everything around me was "mind stuff" and a dream which had quite literally been thought into existence by me (maybe reading Arthur Eddington's section in Quantum Questions prior to tripping intensified this feeling). The floating sensation was intense, it felt like I had absolutely nothing to hold on to. It felt like I was sorta floating over a road (again was inside) kind of about to leave earth. It was at once really cool, and then the next moment really freaky and scary. It felt like the first lucid dreams I'd had, in which I would immediately get scared once I realized I was dreaming. I tried to have pleasant thoughts about it, as it felt like I was sort of floating in nothingness, with all of this mind stuff surrounding me. I started feeling like I was leaving my body, and it hit me hard (whether or not this was an accurate description of what was happening), that I was dying. I was like oh so this is it, I'm having a death experience. Kriya became too powerful, and I asked sorta fearfully like "should I be laying down for this?" I did lay down for a while and it continued, as I sorta went back and forth from something of a non dual state to "real life" (which was seeming more unreal than it ever had before). My breath felt like my connection between me, awareness (aka source or whatever you wanna call it) and me the ego. I felt intense purging of negative emotions as I tried to let go and surrender. I was a bit too freaked out so I got up and started walking around in my apartment. Pacing back and forth felt like I was walking through infinity. I felt trapped and like I'd been running around for an eternity. What was "killing" me was that I'd completely lost it, and felt completely insane and like there was no going back from this. It still felt like I was dying. Like there'd be no return to normal life after this. I was a bit tired and thought to nap, but it occurred to me that going to sleep would kill me. It was all a bit much for me at the time, it felt like external forces were leading the way and I was helplessly trapped in eternal moments, and that in one breath I would feel and think soooo much. I kept thinking that it would pass and I would be back down to earth eventually, but that wasn't very consoling. I was thinking like "please go easy on me" and "this is a lot for me, I'd be okay with more slow spiritual growth through yoga and meditation, and right living." It felt like the external forces (my higher self? Aliens?) were communicating to me through my heart. I would ask questions about what to do in life, some things I've been struggling with going back and forth on having cognitive dissonance over, and my heart would start beating super fast as I thought about different answers to my questions. I felt intense sorrow for the wrongs I'd committed in my life, and the most overwhelming feelings of hoping the absolute best for everyone and all of existence. And to be purified and to only have the most benevolent intentions, and to do whatever was best for the highest good. I decided to get in bed for 20 minutes. Put my sleep mask on and closed my eyes. It felt almost eternal. Feelings of existential despair ensued, it wasn't super pleasant. But I found comfort knowing it was extinguishing karma and would pass. Eventually the 20 minutes were up. I was still in this feeling dead state, but tried to go about my day. Got a more thorough walk in which felt great, some healthy food, meditated deeply later at night, and went to bed. It was profound to say the least and something I'll not soon forget. Trip safely!

LWAM Season 1, episode 3 I willingly exited reality. Now what? What the hell is this? Old reality vanished along with anything familiar. I feel like something launched me into the unknown. If I got abducated by aliens it'd be less radical than this. The driving force of my life is gone - the self. To use Adya's analogy, it's like picking up a dead cat and expecting it to walk. I can't even imagine how long it'll take me to learn how to function in this 'state'. I only know how to operate in the dream and old ways do not work here. I'm nearly waiting for the honeymoon period to settle down and to be stopped by the nondual police with a sign: Not so fast young lady. To get to you a taste of the unknown, this is what fell away: No subject- object relationship No perceptions/ perceiver. No other people. No other period. No space/ physical reality/ boundaries. No time. I feel stuck in the present moment, I can entertain ideas about the past and the future, but they are disregarded as being fictional. My memories appear like quick flashes that have no substance and are ultimately dissmissed as unreal. When I'm talking about my past experiences, it feels like I'm talking about someone else. No beliefs/ positions - I come empty - handed, I have no passion nor will to have a stance on things and believe it's valid and convince others it's true. No highs and lows. It's all the same thing. I'm actually starting to look at sadness with nostalgia. No empathy. This one mindfucked me because I used to consider myself an empath, but that had to go along with everything else I identified myself as. People's suffering doesn't effect me the way it did before, I can't see it as wrong or sad. It is what it is. It just looks delusional. I used to do good things for others because I had that label, but now I'm doing more "good" than ever and this time it's completely spontaneous. No morality. Since I can't draw the distinction between good and evil, it's all acceptable. Murder, rape, pedophilia, getting rick rolled, anything you think of as obscene and evil is the same as anything good. That distinction is imaginary. No meaning. Not only life's meaningless, but the idea of meaning is absurd!!! Only humans can come up with such a ridiculous notion. Meaning is merely a part of the package that comes with the other countless delusions. No suffering. You cannot suffer without a story, it's impossible. Give it your best shot! No ownership. Not over body, not over what you call mind, not over people. Nothing is yours. No life/ no death. There is an illusion of things being created and destroyed, people being born and dying, but in actuality all that ever is nothingness; for eternity. Here's what arose: Detachment- from people, things, values, beliefs, everything. It arose from the no ownership. Songs, movies, people, values, traits I thought of as being mine or 'me' stopped being me and from there a huge level of detachment came. Openness/being expressive - because the editing process is gone, I've been spitting out truth at everyone and much to my surprise, people like it (so far ). People are drawn to authenticity like flies to scheisse. Humility. I permanently got rid off the idea I got this life handled and know things. Acceptance. Everything is welcomed with open arms. Unconditional love for whatever arises. Automatic surrender. I used to practice surrender, now it comes naturally. I know on a very deep level that things can't be otherwise, so I don't see the point of resisting anything. Feeling of wholeness. Pretty indescribable - even though existence is empty, it's so FULL of life. I finally know who I am and I'll never mistake myself for the character I'm playing, but I just started. I may be done with the whole exhaustive spiritual seeking, but now have even more work to do. Closing credits: Void, void, void I'm looking for a good time. Directed by God, the only prankster in existence.

I would give up thinking of reincarnation in conceptual terms because it is not something the body and mind can use. You've already reincarnated an infinite amount what recollection do you currently have of it? Probably none if you're being purely honest. You're already an alien on a planet in infinite space, if you're thinking about other aliens you've just grown bored of your current experience. There is nothing you can hold on to, absolutely nothing, everything you do in this body is temporary and nothing will be kept permanently, your true self is the nothingness or whatever else you want to call it. And the death of this body will not only mean you lose the body and experience but the entire reality, literally meaning any history till this date is lost in an infinite amount of possibilities, even people like the Jesus or Buddha are only relevant within this experience.

First of all, I will describe the experience so that we are on the same page about what we are talking about. The experience tends to go generally along the lines of this: 1. through yoga, or meditation, the mind becomes reasonably still. There are still thoughts, but the mind is so still that the body feels like it isnt being controlled by anything. The ego still exists but its not the focus or in control of anything. I like the analogy I heard for this feeling: "its like your supported by steel at either ends of your consciousness". 2. The world seems like its fading away. I don't know how to describe this. Its like going to sleep, except you're wide awake. Also you don't feel tired. Maybe you could say its like you're entering a void? Literal nothingness? 3. The scary part. In yoga at least (not sure about self inquiry because I haven't had this experience through any other way except kundalini type practices) this is where you feel heaps of energy permeating your body. The energy feels like a more strong, intense version of 'a chill up your spine'. Again I don't know how to describe this feeling. When you go to the gym sometimes you can feel it. Its similar to that energetic burning sensation. 4. If you keep going with the 'world is fading away' step, using the energy to explode the world, it feels like you could die. Like literally, forever. None of this you will come back crap. Maybe I'm wrong and my ego is just over reacting, but it certainly feels extremely scary. First of all the lost control over your body means you can't stop it after a certain point, and your heart tends to rise to levels that could kill you, if I'm not over reacting. Has anyone ever exceeded through step 4? How did you make sure that you didn't get hurt? What was the circumstances that led you there? Would you recommend people to exceed past step 4? I've never tried psychedelics, but would be super interested if someone out there has had this experience using a psychedelic like lsd or something.

That was very inspiring in the first half for me, then when he started to get into nothingness.. I got lost and very drained honestly. I will not be involved in discussions about it, but as someone who came from middle east to America, I can easily see why the western world won't get it.

The recent videos Leo has been making basically proving everything is ungrounded, including logic has been fascinating. I posted this a while ago that all logic is circular, which was an insight that came to me after watching the strange loop videos. If reality is a strange loop, then anything inside of reality must also be a strange loop, so even logic itself. I myself am a very logical person, as an INTP personality type, that is how I primarily see the world, yet there I saw, my own world be destroyed with the very thing I use lol. It is funny, but sad. The infinite strange loop is essentially this: no matter what level we achieve, we go back to level one, and level one is also the last level. Just imagine that shit, like playing the old Nintendo game Super Mario Brothers, and just running across the screen to pop up on the other side, forever. What a terrible and torturous existence this is. I lately have said to myself, why even exist at all? The utter peace of nothingness before I was born must be way better than being stuck in a strange loop. And the fact I was not asked to come to this existence, is almost like a form of slavery I was put in against my will in hindsight. Of course I had no will when I didn't exist, and I was created to now have one, which apparently isn't mine. I actually partially feel bad I had a child and I hope my son doesn't think like I do about this life. Now I see why these logicians got depressed, some have even killed themselves, and no wonder why these 'idiots' we see in the world, seem so happy. Well maybe it is because they believe the illusion is real! Ignorance seems to be bliss for sure. Yet we came looking for truths and we certainly got them, and here we are depressed as fuck learning it. So now what? We can't even take the blue bill to go back to our ignorance. Is there a happy ending to this post? Depends. Even though knowing the nature of reality sucks, and that literally nothing has any meaning, this allows us to play demi-gods. Since we know this reality is fake, we can "game genie" this bitch and make it how we please. We can assign our own meaning and know that this is essentially the greatest video game we will ever play in. We can write our story as we please and live life however we wish. This is not to say that the matrix won't fuck us up with consequences of our actions, so we have to be careful because we do not control the absolute infinite, nor could we ever even fully control ourselves, as we are infinite. To me, it seems the most logical decision rather than offing ourselves is to make the best of this game, to enjoy maximum pleasure and reduce suffering as much as we can. WE cannot reduce physical suffering, especially if it is inflicted upon us, but we can certainly reduce our own mental suffering, which accounts for most of our suffering. And if we can teach others the same knowledge we have, we can help them do the same, and further level-up this reality....but of course, once we do that, we will be back where were started. Nooses anyone?

1. Psilocybin cubensis + Cannabis 2. About 6-7 grams of mushrooms made into tea, gravity bong hit of cannabis 3. I was young, stupid and irresponsible. Really had no idea what I am going into. I drank the tea and in a few minutes took the bong hit. I think I literally blacked out for a moment or two and when I came back I couldn't really recognize my room or the reality at all. Few more minutes in I managed to get to my bed, where I melted into all of existence and laid there as Nothingness for hours. It would take a few years for me to understand what happened. At that time I kept telling my friends: "My body was gone, my mind was gone, but I was still there!". They thought I was nuts. 4. Yes, but please have some more theoretical understanding of non-duality before you do

@Nahm honestly I don’t understand when people say ‘there is only being’. What is being? And don’t expect me to understand ‘god, superposition, nothingness.’ Please talk from your own direct experience using only your words. @Truth Addict but did it really happen? I’m starting to doubt it did.

@How to be wise The past does not exist, but neither does the present. Present is a relative term to past and future, present is a term that describes you. You, exist, and are nothingness, nonexistence. It is the formless appearance in form. Spacetime is a form. Light is a form. Etc. Quantum erasure is useful in opening this freedom.

What exactly is meditation? Facing boredom is meditation. What does a meditator go on doing? Sitting silently, looking at his own navel, or watching his breathing, do you think he is being entertained by these things? He is utterly bored! If you go on looking into boredom without escaping the explosion comes. One day, suddenly, looking deep into boredom, you penetrate your own nothingness. If you don't escape from boredom, if you start living with it, if you start accepting it, welcoming it.... That's what meditation is all about: welcoming boredom, going into it on one's own; not waiting for it to come but searching for it.

People are trying to describe the reality as awareness, consciousness, nothingness, emptiness, God or other things. Everything is consciousness the question is are you aware of that?

not bad, but one step is not clear: how is awareness attaching to a belief, holding on, why it attaches to some beliefs, some not? Imagine this, awareness (no propetis, nothingness) gets aware of two beliefs (i'm human I'm a chair) and it attaches to I'm human... why, how, who choose, how does it hold on, what happends by letting go, who is doing this...

Yes I feel you in that sense. It might be that the experience of highly altered consciousness (as with e.g. 5MEO) gives you experiences which then answer some questions better than language can. Taking Leo´s "Awareness is precisely NOT the thing being awared." Of course, the question is, how is it possible to know that consciousness is infinite and not finite. Answer: The "I" which is asking this question, can never grasp infinity as it itself is a finite body-mind. If nothing is there to be awared, Its just nothingness (which might be awareable in different stages of consciousness). Even darkness or objectlessness is something, thus not nothing.

btw. there are yogis that claim beinf aware when they sleep, but befor being born, or dead, or on things on other planets they are still not aware... Awareness beiing aware of nothing is nothing. but how can nothingness be me then?- hmm what would a smart non dualist say, who is asking that? haha, Ok, lets be serious: Awareness being aware of the hand as example when looking sharp lets you see that there is really no hand, and no senzations, evan go to the bottom of the hand and you will see that this nothing, it is made of pure awareness, and awareness is made of nothing, youre not the hand (because the hand does not exist or it acutally exist us nothing or as awarness). Everything is made of nothing, awareness is made of nothing, so awareness by being aware is only aware of nothing or of it self, so everything is pure awareness, nothing or the one and the same self... How can you know, just by experience, you can littelary experience all of this, realize it as clear as it gets, fuck the talk, it looks like the bigest strongest and most obvious truth... now turn on your brain, think, and be open that this also can be just a state of the brain that feels so, and then you delude yourself and give it UNIVERSAL SPIRITUAL MEANIG and properties... what happends in deep sleep, what happend before you were born, why do you dont see my toughts, why when we damage the brain awarenes changes and those hard questions point to such stuff, non dualist have no clear answers again be open minded, if they cant expailn it does not mean it not possible that they are still right, but its not likely and we should not take it for granted...

My two cents. I agree with @Spiral I think that the one who can't experience nothingness as in deep sleep is the ego. Awareness is always there. Because there's nothing to experience it seems like a gap in consciousness. But, consciousness also appears in awareness. They are not the same, at least in vedanta teachings. The ego can't experience nothingness, we believe we are the ego that's why we think in deep sleep we lose consciousness, and we think awareness is not constant. But we don't experience awareness, awareness is experiencing "us".

Yes indeed. The problem is that Leo and non duality teachers like Rupert Spira claim to know the infinity of their awareness. I can realize awareness being aware of itself but couldnt see a way to say if the present is only what is and it will be there infinitely or if Im a finite awareness localized within my organism somehow which believes being infinite awareness. When sleeping, there cant be an enlightenment experience to what I know. Thus, this awareness is not constant. Awareness beiing aware of nothing is nothing. but how can nothingness be me then?

Not dreaming is an indication of the immeasurable or nothingness. If there is wholeness and embodiment in ones daily life then dreaming can cease all together. This is the closest you will ever get to nothingness or that which is beyond words. Or that which can never be spoken of. Sleep for one with such a quiet mind Implies true and total harmony with THE HAPPENING Its really quite sacred

I've had 2 - 3 occasions where during sleep I felt extreme existential terror, and it felt like the whole world was slowly fading away. I felt like I was going into just nothingness, it felt like drowning in idk nothing. The ofcourse I would wake up and just remember the experience as a weird dream. I actually posted about one of them on here, but I think the description I wrote was too weird for anyone to comment on, so it was just a post rather than a discussion. EDIT: here is the post

So I experienced/got it ("enlightenment") (note that I is horrible incorrect but how can I else speak?). It was free movement - yoga - walking meditation - contemplation - neti neti method - bam. Two thoughts arose which would be great to discuss. Those are 1) As life from the "I" perspective is quite difficult, working on permanent awareness of nothing is the only work which can bring peace? 1.1) Can only this focus dissolve this endless illusion? 2) Who am I asking? Who is this "I" asking ? 3) So noone has done nothing ever..!? 4) Why are there teachers and books etc. about that? "Everyone" who gets enlightend knows that there is actually no one to teach. In teaching they´d succumb to their "I" perception and its desires of whatever sort. So people who live within society and are enlightened try to make this dream as nice as possible for "them"? As there is nothing like "a person", "my" enlightenment is the only real one but another person will say:" no my enlightenment is the only real one", why would he say that? Why would the experience talk to the "I" perception to have an interaction between them? 5) What´s the reason for this thing called "perception, experience, nothingness perceiving the perceiver/ being the perceiver- status)? 6) I am Confused/Shocked/Freed and I feel like someone who was forced to watch 10 years of television straight without blinking.

abre los ojos. What are you? A body? A pair of hands? Fingers? Legs? Toes? Knees? A nose? A mouth? A set of teeth? A tongue? A pair of black pupils? A penis? A vagina? A nosehair? A snot bubble? A moving body? A heartbeat? A vocalization? Touching? Tasting? Smelling? Seeing? Hearing? Thought sensations? A gross body? A subtle body? A causal body? Consciousness? Awareness? Attention? How about a conceptualization? A mind? A brain? A thought? A symbol? A "you"? A personality? An INFP? An Enneagram 7? A life path number 8? Gregarious? Shy? Ambitious? Lazy? Lovable? Unlovable? Perfect? Defective? An ego with a past and future? A spiritual ego? An asshole? An entity behind the eyes? God and the million other names for God? Labels upon labels upon labels. A mass of labels you desperately try to hold together. A mass of labels you are hard-wired to defend. See through the labels, and nothing's left. Go watch some TV. Look at the people on the screen. Look at the movements, the vocalizations, the sounds coming from nowhere and going nowhere. Look at their pupils, and realize there is nothing behind them. They are Black Holes. When you stare into someone's eyes, you're staring into the Nothingness that you are. You're staring into Life, into Death, into this. Abre los ojos. Where are these words coming from? Nowhere. Who's writing them? No one.

Who is asking this though? You glimpsed it because you we're in a state of "not knowing". This is why Leo says in the beginning that someone who's never heard of spirituality might have a good chance of having an enlightenment experience. Now you're trying to force the experience to happen again, your're trying to get "somewhere", but that nothingness is always here and right now.