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Normally, so long as you are carried away by your speeding thoughts, you do not feel disturbed by the thoughts. But if you pause in-between, and study your mind, you realise how feverishly it works, and disturbs your peace. This pause is essential for curbing the over-activity of mind. You have to halt and watch your thoughts; for, if your thoughts are running fast, you cannot know your mind. Take a completely impersonal view of the thought process. Be only an observer of thoughts; have nothing to do with them except to observe them. When thoughts cloud your mind, and harass you, ask them, ‘Oh thoughts! To whom do you belong? Do you belong to me?’ You will get no reply to this inquiry! Because the thoughts do not belong to you! Try and find out. Look for the gaps between the thoughts, increase your awareness then your 1 hour sitting will be refreshing.

@Anton Rogachevski Anton, it's fine. Your path is fine. It's for you to tread. These paths are all valid otherwise they would not be there. Nobody is disputing it . All I'm saying is that there is more. And one day, maybe when you're tired of chasing your own tail you will thank God he left us the sampradaya, because if you hadn't have given up by then you will be tearing your hair out trying to figure out why you're still not enlightened. I'm only interested in liberation. I'm not here to play around with paradigms. It's a waste of time to be frank also. But I do understand. I'm nowhere near enlightened, but I can tell you I'm way further along now ive got a proper map and not just endless talk "about" enlightenment, which is all one hears these days. They don't tell you how to get from a to b and what a and b even look like to "all people". You got to understand that with an individual teaching you're only getting that person's experience that they are trying to communicate. This teaching is universal. You're free to believe that were all different here, but there is only one Self, and it's manifest form in Samsara operates in exactly the same way in everyone - the subconscious. Unless you know what to look for, you're left with netti netti and the direct path. But none of those teachings include samsara, they only talk about the pure self. Most of enlightenment is about understanding samsara and the dharma field. Adyashanti is good. He's an enlightened man. So is Mooji . They are both mature human beings. But try getting anything out of them in the way of a teaching and you just find their opinions coming through. Which doesn't fair well for the student and puts the student in an awkward position , even if they are not aware of it. The student is left grappling and confused and stuck to a subjective experiential description of ONE persons enlightenment experiences. The sampradaya is a complete teaching designed to liberate all people because it's impersonal and millions of enlightened people contributed to it over thousands of years and it's been fiercely defended against corruption. In fact, the anti corruption aspect is built in and this is the scripture and teacher format.

@NTOgen The mind extroverts itself because of identification with the predominant guna (flavour of shakti) we are conditioned by, and the vasanas that appear in our stream of experience as likes and dislikes. The yoga I'm referring to is called Ashtanga Yoga, and it prepares the mind (indirect knowledge) to directly understand and then take a stand as awareness (direct knowledge). Ideally you want to get a routine going that involves a number of Yogas to get the mind nice and quiet: Karma Yoga - to neutralize the vasanas, and eventually cancel your sense of doership Triguna Vibhava Yoga (understanding the 3 gunas teaching) Upasana Yoga (meditation) Here are some comments from a little email satsang from one of my teachers which is a summary of the gunas teaching: The creation comes into existence with the emergence of the 3 gunas: sattva, tamas and rajas. Sattva is intelligence and knowledge; tamas, a heavy dense energy is matter the substance of the creation; rajas is the dynamic active energy also known that transforms objects. Psychologically it is known as the mode of action and desire. The gunas make up everything in creation, from thoughts to gross objects. In effect, the gunas are another word for God. Sattva, rajas and tamas correspond to the three forces in creation: Rajas, vikshepa shakti, which is the projecting energy; tamas, avarana shakti, the concealing energy and sattva, the revealing energy. When maya operates, sattva (pure knowledge-intelligence) is the first guna to emerge. It is known as pure maya and becomes the nature of the mind. Tamas and rajas appear next. Rajas and tamas are the main cause of ignorance; they extrovert the mind, turning it towards objects. When a person is sattvic the mind is turned inwards toward awareness, its nature. This happens when rajas and tamas have been largely eliminated. Sattva feels very good. With karma yoga and the practice of self knowledge it can become the person’s predominant guna. Purifying the mind is to aim for a sattvic mind. Liberation or self-knowledge means that you have assimilated the knowledge that you are whole and complete and that the ‘person’ that you used to think you were is no more than a notion in you, awareness. When ignorance (avidya) of yourself as awareness has been removed by self-knowledge, maya (macrocosmic ignorance and its effects still obtain and the gunas continue to condition the subtle body (the ‘person’)…but they are rendered non-binding as the doer has been negated by self knowledge. They have nothing to do with you, awareness, because you know that you are not the Subtle Body, the person/doer. You are trigunatita, beyond the gunas The gunas are called macrocosmic vasanas i.e. they belong to Isvara or the total, the creation, not to the person. As an apparent person or jiva, (the self under the spell of ignorance) they are in the driver’s seat, so to speak. The person thinks he/she is a doer so they drive him/her relentlessly until he/she gains the direct knowledge of his/her true nature as awareness. There are basically four stages to the guna teaching, which can be applied to people at different levels of their spiritual development. The Four Stages of the Guna Teaching Stage 1 The guna teaching is very effective for doers (karmi's); these are people in the world, not going for moksha. As a karmi, one uses the knowledge to accomplish things in the world and get what one wants. One can gain knowledge of the gunas without realising the self and use this knowledge very productively to live a better life. It is possible to ‘un-couple’ the guna teaching from Vedanta and apply it “on its own”, so to speak. This would be very useful for people in the human resources field, as well as a more enlightened approach to psychological counseling and related therapies. Stage 2 This is for the application of karma yoga. As a karma yogi, how does one really understand what giving up the results of your actions are, unless you understand what makes up the dharmafield? Also, the karma yogi uses the guna teaching to purify the mind as well as identify their conditioning. This is the most powerful way to negate the doer. Stage 3 Once the mind is purified, one uses self knowledge to discriminate the self from the not self. This means that your conditioning does not belong to you. At this stage, unless one really understands the gunas, many highly qualified inquirers get stuck with the most subtle teaching of all, the relationship between pure awareness and Isvara, jiva and jagat. Remember, it does not work to superimpose satya (pure awareness) on mithya (Isvara, jiva and jagat). If superimposition happens, even though the self is known, it will remain indirect knowledge i.e. the self will still appear as an object. And one will still think one has to “get” it. Or one will still wait to have that final experience that will prove he or she is awareness! Direct knowledge and self actualisation is the difficult part. Therefore, full understanding of the Isvara-jiva-jagat identity (aikyam) and the guna teaching is of paramount importance. Stage 4 In the fourth and final stage self knowledge has fully removed the ignorance of your true nature and you know without a doubt that you are beyond the gunas. This means that knowledge and ignorance are both ‘gone’; they are simply objects known to you. Only, you, the self remains. This is moksha. Typical Symptoms of Rajas, Tamas and Sattva Start observing them. Each of your thoughts and feelings are guna driven. See which ones are sattvic, which are tamasic and which are rajasic. Understand the implications of identifying with each kind of energy and the thoughts they cause. Start observing all objects (the world around you or your environment) from this perspective. It will be obvious that no-one is doing anything; it is all a play of the gunas. You will be amazed how clear it all becomes once the gunas are identified: it is like having 20/20 vision. When rajas is operating, the person will be projecting, arrogant, passionate, angry, frantic, over-stimulated/active/driven, extroverted, jittery, can’t sit still, afraid, dissatisfied, insatiable, possessive, jealous, controlling, can’t sleep, bored, wired and tired… (to name a few) Rajas triggers fear based thoughts and actions; the person will project their stuff onto ‘others’ or the ‘world’ and he/she will go “unconscious” (tamas). One tends to speak too quickly, do things too quickly, drop things, bump into things, break them, have accidents and injure oneself. In the extreme he/she will be totally extroverted, driven by passion and desire to gain whatever object he/she is fixated on, certain that the joy is in the object. The mind is turned completely outwards. When tamas is operating, the person will be in denial, blaming, holding onto the past or using it as a reason to justify action or inaction, or as an avoidance strategy to deny his or her fears, making excuses for why he/she can’t be honest or make decisions, rationalising, dithering, living in potentia, can’t wake up or get out of bed in the morning, exhausted, complaining, dull, lazy, depressed feeling a victim, feeling the wrongs of the world on his shoulders, unloved or that the ‘world’ is unloving or a bad place, cruel, uncaring, self absorbed etc. Here the mind is clouded, dull. When sattva is operating, the person is peaceful, calm, clear thinking, balanced, compassionately honest, loving, secure, taking appropriate action, owning all projections, cleaning up his/her karma, dispassionate (especially about his/her own thoughts and feelings), unconcerned, untouched by the opinion of others or the results of his/her actions, enjoying objects for what they are i.e. fully aware of all their inherent defects, satisfied, whole and complete... etc. How Do the Gunas Function? The gunas are programmed ways of thinking and acting. They are totally predictable. All the gunas build on themselves, so rajas will create more rajas, as will tamas create more tamas and sattva more sattva. The gunas all work together and at any given time, one of them will predominate. Rajas and tamas are inseparable. I call them the ‘terrible twins’. James calls them ‘incestuous bedfellows’. For instance, when rajas is operating, the mind will be projecting outwards and tamas will be right there to deny it. They are just the programmes that run the individual (and everything else). They are a problem if you do not have the knowledge of how the apparent reality functions, or if you identify with them. For instance, if you find yourself saying “I am rajasic or I am tamasic today”, you are identified with them. The person may be rajasic/tamasic today but you, awareness, are not. Remember, you are the knower of the person; therefore you are the knower of the gunas. Again, whenever you find yourself saying “I” press pause and ask yourself, “who is talking here... which perspective am I identified with, the reflected self (the person) or me, awareness?” If you can consistently do this, it will change your life forever. All three gunas have an upside as well as a downside, as does everything in this apparent reality. Without rajas, you would never get out of bed in the morning or accomplish anything. Rajas is the active, creative ‘force’. It is the mode of passion and desire. Not all desire or passion is bad however; you need a passion for self inquiry and a strong desire for moksha. It is one of the qualifications. Tamas is the very substance of matter, a heavy and steady energy. Without it you not be capable of endurance. You would not have the staying power to complete anything and would more or less float off the planet. You would not be ‘earthed’...and you would never be able to sleep. With too much sattva you can get stuck in a golden cage of experiential bliss, thinking happiness is the Holy Grail and that you are quite special. Sattva is not the be all and end all, even though sat, awareness (of which sattva is the most subtle manifestation) is actually the true nature of the mind. Sattva however, is a state of mind that is experienced by the doer, the Subtle Body. It is purely experiential and therefore does not last. It certainly will not free the person from dependence on objects or end the subtle existential suffering that comes with it. It is the last object to be released before moksha. Yet it is a valuable energy for inquiry and should be cultivated as it is the guna springboard for self-knowledge. ‘After’ moksha, sattva or peace of mind no longer needs to be the goal, although one will still make choices in alignment with it. However once all the objects have been negated along with the doer, it will be there naturally and if it should not be, that is fine too because you know that as awareness you are beyond sattva. ~ Is it Self-Inquiry or a Spiritual Lifestyle? Many spiritual seekers are looking for a way to cope with their unresolved psychological issues or as a balm to salve their emotional wounds. Often, they have the vanity to think they are pure and holy because they have had some kind of transcendental spiritual experiences or because they have walked away from a samsaric life when their ‘renunciation’ is actually escapism. They build a ‘spiritual’ identity that makes them feel less small and afraid. This is one of the negative effects of sattva. Being “spiritual” becomes a lifestyle. ~ How to Manage the Gunas Other than gaining the knowledge of what the gunas are and how they operate, which is half the battle , you can do a great deal to manage them through self knowledge. This means that you know that there are appropriate actions to maintain peace of mind for the jiva. If you are feeling brain dead, depressed or lazy, you can do something physical, like take a walk or exercise. If you are bouncing off the walls with extroversion, stress, fear or anxiety, driven by desire or action….slow down. Skip the coffee, cut down on sugar. Find some time alone where you can sit quietly and breathe in light. Once you have calmed down, meditate, sit in silence or light a candle, do a puja, chant or pray. Many enlightened people do not bother managing the gunas and simply accept whatever transpires in the dharmafield, knowing it has nothing to do with them. This practice is fine if the underlying motivation is not a refusal to face binding vasanas; or a way to camouflage the doer. If the mind is agitated or dull because of your life choices or lifestyle, freedom will not be that free unless you acknowledge the cause of the agitation in the light of self-knowledge. This is a common trap for spiritual seekers and one the ego likes. Often it is not lack of self-knowledge that is the problem. It is just that the ‘self-realised’ person is avoiding doing what it takes to change their behaviour…meaning staring down their vasanas, and getting their actions and lifestyle to conform with dharma. ~ Practical Lifestyle Management Take a look at your lifestyle and change what you can. Diet is very important for guna management. Learn which foods cause which guna. Examine what you do for a living, how you recreate, spend money and exercise. Stop hoarding unwanted ‘stuff’ (psychological and otherwise). Examine your relationships with people. Don’t keep company with people who bring you down. Or, if you can’t avoid them, see how the gunas run them. See where they want things to be different and the pain it causes. People can’t help being true to their predominant guna when they are unaware that there is choice. The practice of seeing how the gunas operate in yourself and ‘others’, will put you in a whole new world of perception. Of course there really are no ‘others’ as there is only one self with three guna- manufactured bodies. By that I mean that they work the same way in everyone. The gunas run the show for everyone who is identified with the body/mind and the story of personhood. If the predominant guna is tamas, clean out your cupboards; give away everything you don’t really need, stop staying up or getting up late, stop eating tamasic foods, get some exercise. Educate yourself about proper nutrition. Guna management is just common sense. Avoid depressants such as alcohol, sleeping pills and drugs. Be constantly on the alert for denial of any kind. If the dominant guna is rajas, be on constant alert for mindless activity, aggression, arrogance, projection, desire and extroversion. Rajas and tamas are the real problem makers. Check your diet. Too much sugar, coffee and other stimulants exacerbate rajas and induce it. So do many over-the-counter as well as prescription medications. More than half the planet seems to be on some kind of tranquiliser and it is not hard to see why. James says that rajas is the disease of the 21st century. If you observe too much sattva, stop pretending that you are ‘special’ because you have ‘out of this world’ epiphanies, spiritual knowledge and lots of bliss. Or stop pretending that you are very holy because you meditate, chant for hours or have an enlightened guru, (or worse, that you think you are an enlightened guru). Or you think you have the moral high-ground because you are a vegan/vegetarian and live on sprouts. Get real, keep it humble and keep up the practice of self-knowledge. The point here is that everyone has a predominant guna which will not only create their most entrenched tendencies, (i.e. vasanas) but it will also be what has conditioned them to have a particular kind of nature. There is no right or wrong here, no better or worse. We do not make ourselves the way we are; Isvara…the gunas…do. The ‘work’ involved in self-inquiry is identifying the gunas through self-knowledge and allowing the knowledge to help ‘you’ manage the gunas by dis-identifying from them and standing as awareness. ~ You can Choose the Guna Once you find yourself acting a particular guna out, just observe what is going on. As a person you have relative free will to choose what action to take to achieve a desired result and thus success in the world is possible. One can make ‘the best of one’s life’ as a jiva. However, those choices themselves are determined by your conditioning, i.e. Isvara or the gunas. Don’t judge or beat yourself up, be dispassionate about whatever is going on… it’s a movie after all. Trace back the train of events, thoughts and feelings to their source and identify what triggered them. The practice of knowledge, the ‘work”, is keeping an eye on the person and his/her likes and dislikes. Make a note of the guna and adjust it in light of the kind of mind you are trying to create. Make peace of mind your aim at all costs. Each time you do this, it will get easier to manage the gunas and it will be easier to recognize them quicker when they appear as your likes and dislikes. Consider the likes and dislikes appearing in your mind as red flags, ways to identify the vasanas that keep a particular program running. It is like playing a computer game: although it appears as if you are making the moves, all the moves that are possible are already programmed into the game. If you keep up the practice of knowledge, before long, you will have de-activated the like or dislike that keeps the program running. It will no longer condition the subtle body, although it may still appear. You will no longer be a robot acting out unconscious motives by reacting to your environment. If the vasana is still there but you do not have to act on it, it is considered non-binding. As stated above: understanding the guna teaching means that you understand the nature of your environment, (meaning Isvara) which includes you as a jiva. It is also important to remember that it is impossible and unnecessary to de-activate all vasanas. Not all vasanas are bad; you need a vasana for self inquiry and other to motivate yourself. As long as a vasana is not causing excessive agitation in the mind, it is dharmic. Knowing the nature of the gunas and vasanas renders the doer non-binding. Quote from Edwin on the Gunas As it is with all the teachings of Vedanta, knowledge is power. Sadly, many people try to control the gunas without understanding them. This can lead to a painful exercise in what is called “will power.” When we do things we recognize as harmful, but don’t understand the mechanism at work, we make resolutions, manhandling our psyche, so to speak. Sometimes these resolutions are kept; often they are broken. And we suffer accordingly. As the gunas are Maya, they are illusory. They draw us into the world of objects – including thoughts and feelings – and lead us to identify with these objects. The whole point of identifying the gunas, (which are also objects) and managing them is to understand the gunas, not to be afraid of what is bad or become attached to what is good in the gunas. ~ A Fearless Moral Inventory Conduct a fearless inventory of your likes and dislikes and see which guna values they represent. Be totally honest, without shame, blame or fear as you investigate what you are invested in. Be really alert, like a sharp bird with an acute monocular vision; witness the person you think you are and what goes on in his/her mind and life. Triguna vibhava yoga (managing the gunas) is a great way to purify your mind and prepare it for enlightenment. All the vasanas and samskaras (a conglomeration of vasanas) are nothing but the results of the gunas and their conditioning. They become binding obstacles (pratibandikas) when they are not understood and controlled. ~ Prarabdha Karma, the Effects of Ignorance and Karma Yoga If the effects of ignorance are playing out (prarabdha karma) and you cannot change it, accept it. Don’t resist. Do what you can to ameliorate them with equanimity and through dharmic lifestyle choices. Know that it is not you and it will pass; this is what Isvara is bringing your way as the jiva and you must flow with it. Resistance keeps you tied to the person and is a guarantee of more suffering. The gunas are constantly changing and impersonal, like everything else in the apparent reality; what use is control? Karma yoga is the only solution as there is no way to fast forward this process. It is common that people who have realised the self, still struggle with stubborn samskaras and with fears that seem to have no origin. The effects of ignorance take as long as they take to subside; it is not up to the jiva or to awareness. Fear is an acronym for False Evidence Appearing Real, and is the very nature of rajas. It is part of the fabric of the macrocosmic mind and the jiva being an extension of it has unnamed and gripping fears that emerge from the depths like monsters from the deep. Rajas and tamas are impersonal and together these two form the main problematic components of ignorance. They are not real. They belong to the causal body, not to you. It only seems like they belong to the jiva because there is always a corresponding story that comes with them. The gunas belong to Isvara and have nothing to do with awareness or with the person. The person has a story and has suffered; there is no escape if you are a jiva. As long as one is identified with the person, rajas stalks you every step of the way and the pitfalls of tamas are waiting to engulf you. ~ Following Dharma The knowledge of how the gunas function alleviates existential pain and guilt and gives you X-ray vision into yourself and everyone else. It shows that no-one is doing anything…or ever has. You can stop blaming yourself or anyone else for anything you did or anything that happened ‘to you’. Those who think that they are doers have no choice but to follow their natures. When you know you are not the doer, you can choose to drop “your” story’. This is not to say you do not take appropriate action when required or that you would do harm to any part of the creation. You would naturally make choices that give peace of mind, (sattva) and causes no injury, not because you feel guilt or duty bound, but because you are doing what is right. This is what following dharma means. Om and prem,

Disagree with that. Letting it run means dis-identification with it and depersonalising it. I been there done that with the letting off steam thing and got stuck in it for years. So I know it don't work. What does work tho is being vigilant of when the I claims authorship of any of it. Sorry, to have to snuff your out there lol, but mom and pop have nothing to do with it. It's the Gunas and the vasanas and the identification with them that's the problem. And if you understand that then you can let it go because it's all impersonal. But if you continue to buy into this therapy story then that's what you see and that's who you are. So you can either use it as an enlightenment tool or you can use it in a western therapy way to grow the ego. Your choice really.

There is no such thing as conditional love, if it is conditional it isn't love. And the only thing that is unconditional is pure consciousness/being, you could say that consciousness and love are the same thing. If you define enlightenment as the realization and the merging with consciousness then that also means that person aligns with unconditional love. By the way, love can express itself in a countless number of ways. Even hate ultimately consists purely out of love. Just because Mooji expresses himself in such a heartfelt and emotional way doesn't mean he is more loving than guru's who express themselves in a more intellectual or impersonal way.

Hi Fer! This book was also bought to my attention by Dr Wayne Dyer. I was fortunate to see Dr Wayne Dyer at his workshop in Melbourne Australia a week before he passed last September. The Impersonal Life (and The Way to the Kingdom) by Joseph Benner has been my constant journey (and ally) since June 2015. It is so exciting to correspond about. I have read both books (plus numerous other JB work) and listened to JB related audio constantly this last year. With each read and listen the text resonates more. There is so much to say and share. I came across this website after submitting a search in google in reference to forums associated with Joseph Benner. I was very excited to see your comments on here especially as it has been hard to find other JB related connections.. In addition thank you for indirectly introducing me to this site which I have accessed and already found valuable information.

2016, oct 9th healthy meals happiness sharing bike rides meditation self-inquiry & dharma contemplation deep talks compassive listening actualized.org contributions today i gave a free yoga class to a woman. she's on her 50's and we've been doing this for a while. she has 3 herniated discs but she feels MUCH better now. her flexibility and muscle strength are increasing and she's becoming younger. her eyes shine! after the yoga class i also taught her the practice of zazen. we practiced together. she said that it was hard but she also acknowledged the fact that zazen is what she needs. then i headed to meet a friend of mine. we ate açaí while he was talking about some bad stuff that was happening to him and his parents. i just listened to him. there's nothing much to do in these kinds of situation. i just listened with all my body. in the end he said that he wanted to practice meditation and i invited him to the daissen-ji sangha, which meet on mondays. then i came back home and invited the ashram residents to a free-style meditation in the darkness. there's no form to grasp. just sit and observe whatever happens. i could feel from bliss to agony. pretty interesting! i watched leo's new video and i was amazed by his extensive accuracy. incredible video! then we went to a free choro concert near by. it was AMAZING! the musicians were so good. my perception of reality went kinda crazy but it felt good. i love the impersonal and meaningless taste of reality. i continued the actualized.org subtitle work. it's going to be a long run!

Normally, so long as you are carried away by your speeding thoughts, you do not feel disturbed by the thoughts. But if you pause in-between, and study your mind, you realize how feverishly it works, and disturbs your peace. This pause is essential for curbing the over-activity of mind. You have to halt and watch your thoughts; for, if your thoughts are running fast, you cannot know your mind. Therefore, I reiterate, your experience is a good omen. Do not be worried about it, on the contrary, be glad. But then take the next step: take a completely impersonal view of the thought process. Be only an observer of thoughts; have nothing to do with them except to observe them. When thoughts cloud your mind, and harass you, ask them, ‘Oh thoughts! To whom do you belong? Do you belong to me?’ You will get no reply to this inquiry! Because the thoughts do not belong to you! Try and find out. Thoughts are your guests. They have made a lodging house of your mind. It is wrong to think of them as yours; and this same mistake comes in the way of getting rid of them. If you identify as yours, you stand in the way of their exit. And the thoughts which are your temporary guests become permanent lodgers. By looking at thoughts impersonally, you sever connection with them. Whenever a thought or desire is born in you, watch its birth, see it grow before the mind’s eye, and then observe its decline, and the final departure. Repeat this observation with the second thought that enters the mind; watch also its birth, and growth, decline and death. Thus, in a quiet and detached manner—that is, as a witness—observe the constant stream of thoughts. Feel nothing about them, good or bad. Form no opinions about them, favourable or unfavourable. Just watch. Thus, by silent choiceless observation, the traffic of thoughts slows down; and finally, a state of thoughtless Bliss is achieved.

Yes. To understand God takes a fair amount of work using a process called superimposition and negation. God is non dual understanding, we would never get it unless we do the negation process (takes years) and then be able to recognise consciousness in place of the "matter" that normal people see. You're right, I cannot experience your exact same experience at the time you are experiencing it. But we can make an educated guess, us humans are all blessed with the same instruments in the gross, subtle and causal bodies. In the gross body we all have hands and feet, in the causal we all have feelings: sadness, happiness, relief, or the assumption of specialness are universal qualities in all people. Empathy is used to make an educated guess at what others are experiencing. After all, you just confirmed the phenomena of empathy yourself when your friend said he suspects he resonates with your experience!? But, your friend and I may also both be wrong and deluding ourselves. But I know myself pretty darn well and have also understand non dual knowledge, so I can hasten a bet my guess is slightly more accurate. Sorry about that, this isn't personal to me, expertise is yet another impersonal shared phenomena. I'm sure you have special talents of your own in your own field? Anyway, no issues here on my part. I have learned from this

There is likely relative truth to it, as the realization of enlightenment is basically that all is one thing and that one thing is you and that one thing is also God. So, as God, you are the creator of reality itself and can manifest into this reality whatever you want. But it's not quite as simple as thinking positive so that positive things come about. As JJ said, there is really no such thing as positive or negative. So, to think positively doesn't make positive things come as it already pre-supposes that things are negative or undesirable in some way to begin with. To try to manifest things in this way comes from the ego, as the ego is the only thing that labels experiences as positive or negative. The ego has no power to manifest... only the higher self (aka what you actually are) has this power. But it doesn't likely want to manifest things that simply please the desires of the ego. I would imagine (though I'm not sure) that the higher self wants to manifest to itself whatever causes it the greatest level of expansion. So, if that's by making you rich, it will manifest that. If it's by killing you in a fire, it will manifest that. It's a very impersonal force. However, there are probably ways to manifest more pleasant things and greater levels of fulfillment by releasing resistance and creating more pathways by which the higher self can expand itself. But this is all conjecture based only upon what makes sense to me, so take it with a grain of salt. But my advice for manifestation using the law of attraction is to manifest emotions and not things or particular external outcomes. So, for example, if you have a desire to be rich, it's not because you want the money. What you really want is the feeling that you associate to the money. So, don't try to manifest the money but put yourself in the feeling-space of that desired feeling as though you already have it. It may or may not manifest the money but it will give you what you really wanted all along anyway.

I disagree that Feminism is out for female supremacy. All feminists that I know personally are genuinely trying to correct the imbalances that are there and feel deeply hurt about the state of things or the perceived state of things. There really is real pain there and not just an attempt to dominate. I even self-identify as a Feminist despite diverging in many ways from the mainstream ideas that you'll find shouted across all social media platforms. The problem with the current state of Feminism is a lack of awareness of how the door sometimes swings in the opposite direction and using the same backwards ideas about gender to pepper some of the claims. For example, our society has a really backwards social pattern that says man= strong aggressor/woman=weak victim. It's called the predator/pray dichotomy. So, anything done by a man against a woman will be seen compounded exponentially by our social norms surrounding whatever the issue is. So, domestic violence against men is often looked at as less serious or even laughed off like we'd laugh at a Great Dane who's afraid of a kitten despite the disparity between male and female strength and stature being much much closer together. Women are roughly only 15% smaller than men. The metric for strength, I'm not sure. But I'm sure this metric isn't as far apart as we make it out to be either. This automatically paints women as weak and men as strong but aggressive. Even though more aware Feminists seek to dismantle these types of ideas, the emotionality in the group often unconsciously feeds off of the assumption of man=strong/woman=weak. So, unconsciously, when it's perceived that a man has something in a better way than a woman an unnecessary emotion is added to it and a reaction where it would be more beneficial to deal with these types of issues dispassionately. To look at the issue in a deeper way to dismantle impersonal social norms. But there comes to be a lot of shaming and demonization that is just unnecessary and very divisive. So, I agree that this issue too should not be peppered with the "a man should never hit a woman." ideas as it stems from the assumption that men are always the one in the position of power and women in the position of powerlessness. But I do ascribe to the ideas "A physically stronger person should never hit a physically weaker person." and "People shouldn't hit eachother." and "It's unwise to be in a relationship with someone who hits you."

My advice is impersonal, it is from my tradition. I agree that you must do what your desire compels you to do. You ultimately have no control over that, and if you look into your experience you can verify this for yourself. This takes care of the desire part. But the karma yoga, offering the action to the filed (life) is the letting go, we call this prasad, and in Sufism its called Isha Allah. It is accepting that what is, is the will of "God". Or the environment, whatever way you are inclined to think either religiously or secular, your choice, its the same reality . This will bring you peace and will eventually along with the continual self inquiry make the desire to change others vanish. Good luck

I'm making this topic in response to another recent topic called "Do You Have to Have an Enlightenment Experience to Become Enlightened?" I posted something in that topic, but it went off on such a ridiculous tangent that I would have been doing a disservice to the readers. So I pulled a "Pinocchio." I've been skirting around making a long-ass post like this for some time because I personally find this forum to be quite distracting and there's always the risk of spiritual ego...that's why I don't post much anymore. But now, the perspective seems to have changed from getting internet point "bloops" to how I can use this platform as a tool. It's a test of sorts to see how effectively I can use words to express my experience. I'm sure at least one of you will benefit in some way. The urge to write about all this stuff is definitely there...and who knows, maybe a blog of sorts is on the horizon. Now here's the post, paraphrased. The topic question "Do You Have to Have an Enlightenment Experience to Become Enlightened?" is misleading because enlightenment is not an experience. All experiences are fleeting; your true nature is ever present. However, the realization does often happen as an event, and I prefer to call that event an "awakening." Fundamentally, nothing changes after an awakening. Everyone seems to glorify awakenings, like they're so difficult to get. They also make it seem as though it's the end-all-be-all; that once you have an awakening you'll instantly be forever at peace (That happens to probably 0.1% of people). An awakening actually is really dang simple, and it's only the first step on the pathless path of enlightenment. The brunt of the journey is clearing away all the leftover flotsam and jetsam of the self-structure post-awakening; that takes earnestness, as Nisargadatta put it. That's also where meditation and other techniques really start to have a noticeable impact. That's my experience, at least. Right here, right now, an awakening is possible. Sit down, and shut up. Stop telling yourself you're unworthy or you need to meditate more or read "I Am That" for the 124th time, and read this with as much open-mindedness as possible: At this moment, you unconciously believe yourself to be a number of things: an ego, a personality, a body, memory, a spiritual ego, etc. Now notice that all of these things are experiences. Like I said before, all experiences are fleeting, so they couldn't be you. In fact, a lot of your suffering comes from trying to make these fleeting experiences into a solid entity in which you call "you." Kind of like trying to hold onto a rock in the middle of a stream while the water's slapping you in the face. Yet among these passing experiences, something never changes...hmm... At an intimate level, you feel like you're inside the body "looking out." But examine your experience closely...there is only "out". There is no one seeing; there is only seeing. Look at these words. There are only these words. Nobody sees them. The words just appear. The same goes for all other perceptions: there is only perceiving. At a fundamental level, there isn't even such thing as a body; a body is just a part of perceiving. No one is thinking; thoughts just appear. No one hears; there is only sound. There is no "you" inside a body looking out towards an "external world"; in a sense, the external world is inside you. Sights and sounds are just as much "inside you" as thoughts and feelings. You may feel much more open after reading that...good. If all there is is boundary-less perceiving, and you are not perceiving, what is left? What is left when you remove all ideas of a body, of an ego "looking out," of an external world, even of I AM, the sense that you exist? What is left when you remove perceiving? What is left when you remove the entire universe? Forget about your ideas of existence and non-existence for a sec. Just look and see what is! It's not a thing or an experience, but it just is. It's totally impersonal and inconceivable. The moment I try to describe it, I reduce it. It's the silence of sound, the emptiness of a picture, the beingness of touch and taste and feeling and thought. It's the backdrop, not experience but pervading all experience. It's the timeless immovable trunk of a tree, while experience is the transient leaves. It's so empty that it's full. So mysterious, and so alive. Do you see? If you woke up to this, congratulations. Bask in it. Laugh, cry, do a silly dance; the body will probably want to do something. Let it do its thing. Notice how the body animates itself without a "you." Pretty cool, huh? To quote Almost Famous: "It's all just...happening!" Like I said, this is only the beginning. Don't expect that the ego will be completely gone after this. In fact, it may come back even stronger for some time. But that's a story for another day... (In the meantime, this may help.) If you still don't see it, don't fret. Maybe these words just don't resonate with you, and that's okay. Perhaps mind is still in the way. I'd say try refuting more of your beliefs, especially the belief that you're a tiny dot of consciousness in a vast universe full of matter. That's a biggie. What if it were the other way around? (use this and/or this as a possible resource.) And finally, on a side note, those who have examined their experience further may notice the capacity to focus on one perception at a time. I call that the "spotlight," and it can also be used as a gateway to discovering the Truth of what you are. The spotlight may be another intimate sense of "you," but again, it's impermanent (e.g. deep sleep), so it couldn't be the Truth of you. What is the spotlight made of? That's a lot to take in. Okay, that's it! I'm signing off. Go click the like button, share with a friend, and don't forget to sign up to my newslet... Gotcha there, didn't I? Cheers, JJ

'Sand'/ 'substance' are just a metaphor to give an example. They, of course, don't do justice, because what we're talking about here is something that's unknowable and un-describable and primal to any concept. Leo called it 'Pure Transparent Empty Awareness' in his video on the enlightened self - impersonal, timeless, boundless, meaningless, and completely mysterious to the human mind. Edit: Just saw your response to Cetus56 about relativity in another thread. Terms 'duality' and 'non-duality' simply refer to the perception of separateness/ conceptual boundary vs non-separateness, like that sand castle being sand or a wave being ocean (metaphors). No one's arguing on the matter of dimentionality at all.

@Anton Rogachevski Higher and lower self are illusions of the ego. There is no higher and lower self. These are dualistic concepts created by the mind to try to orient itself after an experience.. However once back in the ego after an awakening, it's much easier to spot the seeker. Every time the seeker is starved there is more room for what I'm sensing is the "soul" or some kind of high intuition or objectivity to penetrate and chip away at the subjectivity of the personality. "Enlightenment" I imagine is the end of the identity altogether and what is left is "what is" which is completely impersonal. This is not a "self" at all, but the realization that there was no self to begin with.

Eye on the TV 'cause tragedy thrills me Whatever flavour It happens to be like; Killed by the husband Drowned by the ocean Shot by his own son She used the poison in his tea And kissed him goodbye That's my kind of story It's no fun 'til someone dies Don't look at me like I am a monster Frown out your one face But with the other Stare like a junkie Into the TV Stare like a zombie While the mother Holds her child Watches him die Hands to the sky crying Why, oh why? 'cause I need to watch things die From a distance Vicariously I, live while the whole world dies You all need it too, don't lie Why can't we just admit it? Why can't we just admit it? We won't give pause until the blood is flowing Neither the brave nor bold The writers of stories sold We won't give pause until the blood is flowing I need to watch things die From a good safe distance Vicariously I, live while the whole world dies You all feel the same so Why can't we just admit it? Blood like rain come down Drawn on grave and ground Part vampire Part warrior Carnivore and voyeur Stare at the transmittal Sing to the death rattle La, la, la, la, la, la, la-lie Credulous at best, your desire to believe in angels in the hearts of men. Pull your head on out your hippy haze and give a listen. Shouldn't have to say it all again. The universe is hostile. so Impersonal. devour to survive. So it is. So it's always been. We all feed on tragedy It's like blood to a vampire Vicariously I, live while the whole world dies Much better you than I

@Vishal Yes! And whenever someone is rude to you, make it impersonal. They're acting from their own place, wherever they are psychologically, emotionally etc. and you can cultivate your own inner worth to act from that rather than let other external sources dictate your inner world. We don't need to judge other people based on the place they're in, if they're disrespectful that just happens to be the way they are. And it's perfectly acceptable for them to be that way As long as we have our egos we have to think about this self-worth stuff

This rumination comes directly from my journal today, so obviously it is more difficult to follow, as it is written without focusing on clarity or grammar. Ruminations How unfortunate is it that the most meaningful thoughts or revelations arise at the most inopportune of situations. To follow these ideas whenever they come into fruition is to be a dreamer; to sway merely based upon the flow of certain thoughts is to become a slave to one’s own psyche. Clearly, one requires the regulation to realize that not all thoughts need to be followed, that one needs to enter reality once again and seize the moment. What is most pitiful is when it becomes habitual to conjure the most important of ideas during times when one is preoccupied. Of course, when one sets a time solely for reflection, these thoughts may not arise. It is a shame when one is unable to simply act; surely, it is often beneficial to have enough information and not act with recklessness alone, but the problem lies when one hesitates too much, worries too much about the details of an action, that which will occur and the mishaps that one will make in carrying the act. In some cases, one is perfectly capable of acting despite a complete understanding of the situation or deliberate planning. It seems that even for me, such moments do arise; when, for example, I hear others discussing peculiar or odd topics, such as the reason indigo is considered a color of the rainbow, I feel no hesitation with jumping into explain the answer, granted that my ability also depends on to whom I am speaking, which for the most part is a flaw usually without a rational basis—for the discussion should matter more than the person. In other times, I can notice how difficult it is to simply act, when one is flooded with doubt and questions regarding the proper approach when clearly acting is of greater importance. Constant hesitation will lead nowhere; it only delays the resolution to the problem or scenario. It forces one to worry about tomorrow’s tasks by not seizing today’s, as Seneca would remark. For some situations, immediate action without much emphasis on the details is necessary; of course, charging with no information when more information is required is harmful as well. The words of Colin Powell suffice for such an issue: one should seek at least 40% of the information and stop at 70% for past this point, an unnecessary delay occurs. The fear of the void is certainly a powerful form of motivation, capable of pulling people into a cycle of vices and pleasure rather than virtue. When one glimpses at the emptiness of silence or idleness, one is wont to seek some means of pleasure, some means of escape from the potential emptiness of the world, when nothing seems promising, when nothing seems interesting. It is interesting how the psyche needs only petty reasons to divert from the actualized path, the path of examination and reflection. When, for example, I end up having ten more minutes in the afternoon after a school day, I am more likely to accept the enticing invitations of vices and the pleasures. There will be those moments when one realizes a lie that he or she has been telling him or herself. It is so much easier to deny such a lie, but the more admirable approach is an attempt to understand the nature of such a lie and the reasons for which one was convinced that this lie was not true. Surely, hypocrisy is inevitable in the life of the un-enlightened, but one should not simply use this fact to justify no wish for change. Each contradiction within one’s own ideas, actions, and values should be discovered and understood. The brain and mind are after all imperfect merely for prioritizing survival and the methods which have aided in personal survival or reproduction above all else. Browbeating oneself for these contradictions serves no point; one should be accepting of the fact that such contradictions are understandable given the flaws with human reason and cognition. However, one must constantly examine and notice these contradictions; although one may be unable to resolve these conflicts immediately or in a few years, one can at least begin to examine these issues. To say that I am a person whose actions follow from reason alone is absurd. Among my several irrational motivations, one which I haven’t noticed is pride. There are many words I struggle to say, many actions I struggle to take. I for instance am not one to show much sentiment, not one to be overly complimenting, and —though this may not be based upon my pride—am not one to generate a blunt answer. It seems much more natural to work in litotes, to claim that one “isn’t really correct” instead of saying one is “wrong”; to say that one is “fine” instead of “good”. But even this is not entirely true, for it appears that I am more likely to formulate a blunt answer when my statement is impersonal, when I comment about the world or humanity rather than myself or someone else, hence a tendency to use the third person and the pronoun “one” instead of “I”. End of Ruminations It is interesting that although the ideas which I express during my ruminations seem underwhelming during the time of my writing, the content of these ruminations are much more important to me in hindsight, for I sometimes am amazed that I thought about these certain things at these certain times. Knowing how often thoughts just come and go, I am glad that I began journaling.

You're welcome. I'm glad that it was helpful. The reason why self-esteem problems come up in the first place is because of various ego protections that happen to conflict with one another. The ego isn't a real thing itself. So, it can't be killed, it can only be seen through. It is the difference between ego repression and ego transcendence. The ego is nothing more than a large collection of thoughts and beliefs organized around and connected to a single false belief, that you are a separate person from everything else in existence. Without this central "I" thought, all of the other thoughts within the collection of thoughts called ego become completely impersonal. So, thoughts that now catalyze feeling of low self-worth, now mean nothing about a separate self. So, these thoughts carry no personalized emotional charge. You can accept your traits as they are. Your thoughts about "you" can't harm you psychologically because there is no separate self to harm. So, I wouldn't wait on the enlightenment work. The more you work on it, the less charge your negative self-talk will have. But there are methods for questioning negative self-talk and replacing those beliefs about the self with more positive ones. So, you can do the enlightenment work along with the self-esteem work. But as you do the self-esteem work, keep in mind that your positive thoughts about yourself are just as illusory as the negative thoughts about yourself.

I think we cannot really understand reincarnation until we fully awaken, because the very concept of separate mind and body is somewhat incompatible with the principle of reincarnation. Personally what I (my ego) would like to take with me to the next life is my personal "achievements", memories, thoughts, concepts - everything that creates the false self which I'll be happy to drop in this very life. Once the false self is dissolved, what is left? What is IT that will be carried to the next life? I have no clue, all I know is that it will be impersonal.

If you are interested, you can read Bhagavat Gita "As it is" by Prabhupada. It is like Indian bible, but it has many interpretations. For example, Hare Krishna people believe that God is personal and beyond nothingness, which is was very appealing for me. But other issues of Bhagavat Gita see God as impersonal. Now I am fine, but I was very confused. I think most negative side affect was psychological suffering and social isolation also waste of time. But I try to be positive and learn from from my mistakes. Moreover, Hare Krishna movement is not that bad in other aspects. They don't use stimulants, live clean life and they could be bright and smart people, who want to help others, but the philosophy is very bad and close minded. If you have time and interest, you can study this material: http://www.ultimateselfrealization.com/ . You will get the idea.

@DakotaBaba This is from Leo's video on Free Will Vs. Determinism: "Just because there is no self and you're enlightened you can sit around and do nothing. Enlightened people are the most productive people out there. When they want to, and they have an authentic desire, they will have a force of nature. When you have the kind of faith and surrender to life you are unstoppable because nothing can scare you. Yes we are giving up our egotistical power but we will gain complete oneness and unity with life, peace of mind, unconditional happiness, and we get a lot of power by unifying ourselves with the force of nature by allying ourselves with it. We will have the strengths of a waterfall, an avalanche, gravity. These will be impersonal forces, not ego, only act. No pretense in their actions. Very direct like nature." Great video I would recommend watching again. Whatever choice you make in life, just remember that "you" were not the one making it, but that doesn't necessarily mean to sit on the coach, but to use the illusion of freewill to do good for the betterment of humanity.

@charlie2dogs Yes, the Tao te Ching covers all that. @reflectivist Coming back to your question about effort and permanent realization: "Free from desire, you realize the mystery Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations" Desire is a product of living egoistically. Right now you view effort as a kind of burden right? That's why it's quite off putting to be told that constant effort is required. You desire non-effort so you will only see the manifestations of effort. That is, you will be all consumed by the psychosomatic response your body and mind goes through when you are engaged in something that requires effort. You will be constantly preoccupied with the outcomes of your effort as well. Let's say you sit down for a 5 hour strong determination sit. It will be hell for you because your desires will become all consuming when your legs and back start aching, or you get hungry and bored. After full enlightenment, when there is no longer an ego and therefore no longer any desires the sit will just be a flux of impersonal experiences (manifestations) and you will realize the mystery of the invisible immutable substrate (the Tao) in which all these manifestations are arising and passing. So after enlightenment there is effort but there is nobody left to suffer the effort. Realization is permanent but effort can arise and pass. There are in between stages. I'm interested to see Leo's video on the stages of the enlightenment. I like this video. Work, for the sake of work is a fantastic way of grinding down the ego.

“The strength of man’s position in the world depends on his degree of adequacy of his perception of the world and reality. The less adequate, the more insecure he is and, hence, he is in need of idols to lean on and find security. The more adequate it is, the more he can stand on his own feet and has his center within himself.” Deficiency Cognition/Perception vs Being Cognition/Perception Self-actualized people have B-Cognition! Maslow’s Definition for B-Cognition: A self-actualizing person is more able to perceive the world as if it were independent, not only of him, but also of human beings in general. Therefore, he can look upon nature as if it were there in itself and for itself and not as a human playground put there for human purposes. He can more easily refrain from projecting human purposes onto it and in a word, he can see it is there in its own being rather than a something to be used or something to be afraid of or something to be reacted to in some other human way. A section of cancer seen through a microscope, if only we can forget it is a cancer, can be seen as a beautiful and inspiring organization. A mosquito is a wonderful object if seen as an end by itself.” It is the ability to look at things holistically, as they actually are in a very attentive way, without judging or classifying these thing. It is a egoless and self-agenda-less form of perception; it is unmotivated, impersonal, desireless, unselfish, not needing and detached. It is the ability to perceive an object for itself, not the way it is for you. Your desires and fears and emotions don’t get reflected into the object (physical, living object, institutions, etc.). How you perceive an object is very important since it dictates how you will react to it. If you perceive an object for itself you get the most accurate representation of it. If you perceive an object as it is for you, you get a distorted view of it. You don’t project yourself and your desires into the things you are perceiving. “Self-actualizing people take a non-valuing, non-judging, not-condemning attitude towards others. A desireless-ness and a choiceless awareness; this understanding permits a more clear and insightful perception about what is actually there.” “Concrete perceiving of the whole of the object implies also that it is seen with care; the care that a mother would give to his infant, or the lover at his beloved. This will surely produce a more complete perception than the usual and casual one.” It is the difference between looking at something and seeing it as it is vs what we normally call perception. D-Cognition: Ordinary perception; partial and incomplete form of experience. It is a deficient and anxiety based way of perceiving the world. It is driven by the ego and your self-agenda. The degree in which you have deficiencies and need safety (money, girls, etc), that is the degree to which you are gonna evaluate the things you look at to see if they can give you something that you need. Your mind is very brilliant to filter what it is relevant and what it is not relevant. You perceive things in regard of what you need and want, not what it is in reality. You are constantly judging reality! The D-Perception is anthropocentric, it is the way humans look at the world; It is rigidly rational and abstract (you create your personal model of reality to fit into your self-agenda and ego). You confuse abstractions with perception itself. People cannot stand paradox in d-cognition. It also is ideological and pragmatic. “In ordinary cognition, the object is it is seen not so much per say, but as a member of a class, as an instance of a larger category. This kind of perception is described as classifying and, again, what you need to realize is that this is not a full perception of the object as it is a kind of classifying and labeling. It implies comparing and contrasting.” “Abstractions, to the extent that they are useful, are also false. In a word, to perceive an object abstractly means not to perceive some aspects of it; it clearly implies selection of some attributes, discarding some others and creation and distortion of some others.” “In order to perceive reality fully you need to suspend judgments and classifying, to need and to use. The moment we classify reality we cut the possibility to see it as a beautiful thing.” “Fully disinterested and holistic perception of another human being becomes possible when nothing is needed from him.” “Self-actualizing people can abstract without giving up concreteness and vice versa.” Your own egoic deficiencies distorts reality. The very interaction of you and reality is compromised by your lack of mental health and the accuracy of your perceptions depends on your emotional and mental maturity (the distortion is huge, even though you don’t realize it) and many of the issues you have in your life are created by this distortions. THE PROBLEMS THAT YOU HAVE ARE CREATED BY YOUR PERCEPTIONS. You need to start to notice how your mind distorts and judge reality. You mind creates a model of reality and then tries to fit actual reality in it rather than seeing it as it really is. You are living in an augmented reality. We are the only organism that live in an augmented reality distorted by our concepts, fantasies and ideas (we don’t realize of this augmentation). The ego creates a kind of smog that doesn’t let us see reality as it is. “Thoughts is always doing a great deal, but it tends to say that it hasn’t done anything, that it is telling you the way things really are but it distorts everything. What thoughts takes to be perception it’s actually highly affected by it. Thought can produce experiences without us being aware that they were produces by thoughts. It is this deceptive feature of thought that we have to look for. You need to see that thought is actually participating in perception.” You need to realize that this is a systemic problem and the mind is biased by itself. What can you do? Create awareness around this topic and realize that you perceive life from your own deficiencies. YOU NEED TO LOOK FOR YOURSELF AND REALIZE HOW YOU REFLECT YOUR OWN AGENDA INTO REALITY, PEOPLE AND SITUATIONS. You need to start looking at objects and people for themselves as they actually are, not how they are for you. Projections of your mind that are not features of reality itself: - Labels and names that we give to objects - Categories and hierarchies - Meanings, judgements, values, usefulness and purpose - Emotional Triggers (every time you get emotionally triggered by situations, are also creations of your mind) - Relationships between objects: In reality, everything in the universe is extremely related to everything else in the universe; relationships are infinite. Everything is more complex than you can imagine. - Separations and boundaries: Objects themselves are creations of your mind. If you look upon reality with complete lucidity you will see that there is no single object and boundary in it. - Problems: Problems are creations of the mind, reality has no problems. How to change how you perceive? It requires practice (10,000 hours). Select an object or person that you either hate or love and then see it for itself as it actually is. See it independent of your and its values. Look at the object as God was looking at it. Look at it not even as an object (since it is just an abstraction of your mind). Enlightenment is the dissolution of the ego smog; same thing for meditation and mindfulness. You cannot self-actualize if you don’t improve your cognition. You cannot self-actualize if you maintain your ego (enlightenment). You can improve your life without enlightenment but you will not get to that part of life that it is really juicy and satisfying. You need to make the following choice: - Are you gonna stay faithful to your self-agenda or to reality? Self-agenda is the distortion of reality. “The monster and the little boy metaphor”. If you are wise enough to see the greater good, you will create an extraordinary life!

I have realised that the true-self is actually not a self at all.. but a conscious presence that is quietly observing the changing person. It makes awareness possible. It has been there observing the person grow up and become who it is based on genetics, culture, indoctrination, socialisation, conditioning, experiences.. etc. Some enlightenment teachers teach that we are only the "presence" that is making awareness possible. The problem I am having with wrapping my head around this is that, am I not also the human? It feels so impersonal when I simply think of myself as "presence". Where do we strike the balance?