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The collective Shift in consciousness is really happening. At first I was skeptical but there is no denying of this. I can see there is being a vibration separation happening. A lot of relationships are breaking, including mine. I can see people real intentions at first sight. They cant hide and lie anymore. I can see my fake friends and still accept them as they are. And I can see all my darkness rising aswell. I feel more alive and present out of nowhere. Sometimes I get into no mind and bliss states out of nowhere, which was not normal in the past. So, Yeah at this pace, by 2030 the world will be another thing.

@SQAAD yep. same here. been stuck in this for years now. this is what i like to call ignorance is bliss.

@Salvijus My take on fear of death after enlightenment: There are many facets and stages to awakening.. But to try and summarize.- after awakening it really comes down to attachment to form - how attached are you to your current form and what attachments do you still have in that form that you wish to retain... ...in other words on an Absolute level , you are conscious that you are Infinity/God - and thus cannot die.. yet after awakening (which is death or actual dissolution of the ego in which you become the Absolute) there is a return to the ego - where you regain a sense of self (despite being conscious it is imaginary - as there is no actual entity behind the eyes.. The entity or the you and any sense you have of you is being imagined by you as God) ..this in a nutshell really alleviates all suffering and fear...yet still, as a finite being one may still have attachments and do not yet wish to melt into permanent Infinite Love. In fact as God you have designed this reality precisely so that you can experience separation, attachments, an egoic state within some particular form, and the desire to survive as that particular form. ..The thing that the awakened one is conscious of though is that as Infinity - you are a singularity - so all your attachments actually collapse into One and thus there is nothing you are really going to give up or lose...your wife, yourself (your body or form) and your kids for example would all collapse into One. All of reality would collapse into One - as there would not be any disctinions to be attached to - such as a family or a loved one. It is Infinite Bliss and Love - complete and total. But, the awakened may not yet wish or be ready to let go of being finite and separate or distinct. Its this attachment that will still result in fear - ..well, i should say the desire to survive, and fear is a subconscious survival mechanism..it is there as a surivival mechanism to keep you alive and thereby retain your atatchments; the question is does the awakened one wish to stay alive or not......see, the difference is they have already died or had ego death before - so they are conscious that in the big picture its all the same and this fear is unfounded. they have transcended it so to speak - yet it may still occur due to the very fact that you're still alive as a particular form - again because you have attachment or desire to retain separation...do you see the circularity here and it's fun in fact to dream but when the time comes that there are no more attachments, even to yourself, then fear goes too because the desire to stay in the dream ends... thats truly when the dream ends and you will melt into Infinity. Right now, though, If you were completely void of any fear you would very soon be dead. @Consilience nice post and I agree that I think sometimes people get lost in the concepts and forget what spirituality is really about. To me it's really about what's actual. Meditation is a fantastic tool for collapsing all concepts into Being/Actuality/Truth.. You don't "know" reality..you ARE reality! No self is paramount in becoming God because it is the direct consciousness that the self was an illusion that results in a shift in consciousness into becoming the Absolute. I think if you talk to a lot of neo-advaitans they will not know even what i am referring to by becoming the Absolute/God/Infinity because it is all just conceptual for them or they think it's a really nice story but believe the concept that there is no self in the body. Yes there actually is no self, but when you actually realize there is no self, you die and become Infinity.

To add to that pain is something that "does not want to be itself". In my personal experience I have never experienced only pain, it was always felt with another sensation. I conjecture that if you reach absolute pain you would not be yourself, that is destruction. We can only observe others destruction most of the time unless, we are destroyed along something other than pain , pleasure/bliss is the movement of "creation", "that which loves itself, which wants more of itself and which is timeless and therefore has no quantity", it has no "extra quantity" because it is already whole and it is already as much of itself as it can and should be since it's perfect bliss, however that which "cannot ,will not, does not desire to be itself" exists anyway in the same existence as that which needs nothing else more to exist. Bliss by itself cannot be everything, cannot be more than one because it already is but pain can precisely be because it does not want to be itself it never encounters itself because it never is itself, but are somehow different nothings when mixed together even though neither can exist by themselves, bliss doesn't exist by itself or with something else because that would mean the existence of a self and in perfect oneness you don't need anything more, I guess the only difference is that maybe when we add consciousness, if I pretend that non existence is perfect pain and existence is perfect bliss where is even the being there, not alone as Being itself that's for sure for that would be perfect existence with nothing yet here I am and we are so that's how we make the impossible even in something as trivial as time and space without even needing to go somewhere else. Nham's response is probably more being level based, we can define dimensions of understanding just for fun since we are all completely right and completely wrong at all times. You can replace pain with suffering though I'm sure it works decently well too I just like to use both interchangeably.

Even the notions of selfish and resistence are concepts of a self or doer or so called perceiver. Go out and poll so called enlightened people, at a certain point you'll realize that there is apparant differences. Some will say selfishness disappears, others will not. Some will say bliss remains, some will say bliss comes and goes like anything else. Ask these teachers what they mean by selfishessness, you'll notice here differences, commonalities and what not. You won't find an agreed definition. This is IT, so called selfish, so called good/bad, so called comfortable/uncomfortable. Even in pain/suffering area's, you poll some teachers or random people, and you'll find out one persons pleasure is anothers pain. I like to poke my gums till they bleed sometimes, others find this painful, I do not. Some like really salty, others feel sick from this. Now you could come up with all pains = pains, maybe mine comes from hot water and yours comes from dildo's in a ass (some like this by the way). But you could say my pain = your pain. Maaaaaybe... but you still don't know what my pain is nor your pain is in relation. All interesting things to consider. From my point of view, you really can't nail down ANY-THING, perhaps because there are ultimately no-things, just existence appearing as things and non-things. Also realizing existence doesn't necessarily mean it will eliminate what you call selfish. Hell you could be mother theresa, but another person may find your driving habits or friendship dynamics selfish. This is their experience, but doesn't mean it defines a real thing called objective selfishness.

That's really a good point & reminds me of the phrase "ignorance is bliss". And what's crazy is although enlightenment is usually described as an impersonal experience, it's simultaneously very personal in the sense that every experience is different. Some seem to have an open receptiveness to it, and it can seem quite ordinary while others experience life shattering or debilitating reactions. Even heard it described as a terrifying realization. It's like a box of chocolates you never know what your gonna get. Here it could be described as shockingly ordinary and simultaneously extraordinary but completely unexpected. In a weird way it feels like death and rebirth yet it's recognized no one is living it. ?

The only thing I wanna know is who I am, the ultimate truth, that alone will bring me bliss Im sure, meanwhile Im just gonna live my life in whatever way I want.

My opinion is that meditation needs to be practiced in an experimental, holistic way - learn multiple techniques from multiple masters and in a sense, follow your bliss. If that means jhana practice for a bit, do that, if that means switching to vipassana, do that, maybe shikantaza is what's resonating now, so go do that. The key is to developing enough skill to where we can reliably follow our intuition. It also seems that true momentum with meditation is impossible without dedicated retreat time, whether in a group or solo. I had a full blown, utterly profound Enlightenment experience using Shinzen Young's See Hear Feel vipassana technique on retreat so I am a bit biased towards vipassana. From what I can tell, alternating between a discriminatory practice like vipassana and integrative practice like do nothing all the while throwing in shamatha/jhana for when things get particularly heavy (dark night of the souls like) seem to be the most powerful. The key though is to practice with the clear understanding that what is true is always true, and no matter where we go, we are never moving towards or further away from this actuality. When the increases in consciousness from meditation are grounded in this actuality... This is meditation. At least, that's how I frame it. It's extremely difficult to even communicate or understand conceptually for myself. So yes, generally I'd recommend: - Deconstructive - Vipassana/Self-inquiry - Unifying - Do Nothing/Dzogchen - Enjoy wholesomely - Shamatha/jhana/loving kindness - Retreats at least once a year, if not more First two have provided more depth to consciousness for me though, as in are more non-dual. And sometimes the mind gets into such a state that the first 3 jhanas are really distracting compared to the bliss of resting as consciousness, directly. And anyways, I'm pretty sure you're beyond my level with meditation so what would be your advice regarding "proper meditation?" @BipolarGrowth

@Breakingthewall the freedom of eternal peace is better than infinite bliss.

what to fight the hair loss or to lose the hair? what's funny is when i had awakenings/or near awakenings i came out of them playing with my hair first went through hell, then came bliss then i was pondering the universe while playing with my hair which was a lot of fun. now playing with my hair kind of reminds me of enlightenment and such

Felt like melting into my surroundings, with intense bliss

@Fkdel 6 years non stop spiritual education and practice. Doing RASA with Ramaji, bipolar mania going full circle, meditating 247 basically for 60 days straight and physically detoxing my body for months at a time on juice fasts and raw vegan/occasional meat. it’s gonna be 1000% different for you because you have different weaknesses and strengths. Follow your bliss and basically listen and take action on almost every single thing Leo says. he’s the highest guru and does not lead you astray. Everything he teaches is verifiable through thousands and at my point, 10K hours of mastery involved. remmber, growth is exponential curve. I’ve been doing this since 15 basically, so 8 years before Leo even.

@Endangered-EGO I physicall detoxed my body aggressively for two months, and enlightenment just came naturally as a byproduct of having the energy to follow my bliss. that was my weakness. Drug abuse, trauma, suicidal thoughts. The physical detox got rid of all the limitations of enlightenment from my mind, and now I’m just pure love. Always. Sober or not. however long this lasts, I don’t really care. I’m satisfied at this point in my journey. No more chasing. just enjoying the pleasures of life and sharing love with other sentient beings. im done with the idea of enlightenment and now just living like a child. DM me??

Oh glorious summer lake. Swimming, sunshine, sunsets. Fucking bliss. You're gone. Cold, wind, dead leaves, dark nights. You lied. You're a liar. It was all me. Searching for light while I'm already shining. I stole that line. I wrote it. I'm a plagiarist, I'm the original. I'm unparalleled, completely parallel with all. Spin me, spin me like a globe. I'm tilted, angled, and totally parallel. The whole world is your hands. You don't have any and you don't hold it up. You don't have to hold me up. Outside appearances, I'm drunk. I'm high. I'm addicted. my hero in. in. in. in. I'm insane. I'm in. in. in. I'm so creative I create the worst trash you've ever seen and the masterpieces so you can't compare. And I laugh. I laugh. Unparalleled, parallel. I'll dissolve myself, I solve myself and dissolve myself. Don't you know, it's all for you? Yet to see, yet to realize? You GET to. You GET to be. You get to BE THIS. I'm an unwrapped present. I'm totally naked. My beauty is so perfectly complete, I'm hideous. Hide o us. Oh, us.

Excessive Experience. Excessive Theory. Practice. Mastery. Music is my bliss. Not working at lululemon. Priorities. Anything BUT music and consciousnsss is a distraction. Girls. Anything.

My experience is that everything is bliss. But the desire for bliss creates pain. Thus bliss becomes the seed of pain. The entire universe of pain is born of desire. Give up the desire for pleasure and you will not even know what is pain. Nisargadatta

Oh man. The ox is neither dead nor alive. The ox is pure bliss, the point between the two polarities yet neither. It's like becoming blind, just a blind energy that is Not-Knowing. I'm riding this motherfucker home.

I spin around and spin around looking for someone to praise, someone to thank... for... this. For the spinning, the vortex, the orbit, the momentum and I never find anyone. I'll raise you up to the highest level and flatter you till you're perfectly flat again. One thing leads to another, and they all lead back to Me and I am no thing. I'm so Famous, so Universal, so Celebrated I'm an over-looked cliché that means nothing to anyone. I'm a total hit and a total miss. I'm the bullseye with no center. I'm pure, open, circular darkness. I'm your Pupil, the apple of your eye. I'm the vortex, the waterfall, the rush. I'm the power that sweeps you away, the controller that is the controlled. I'm the flush that appears on your face when you come to close to me and try to hide. You must shed your clothes to enter Me. I'm the door that is not there. I'm pure, utter darkness. The door to the house that is not there, the home that has no walls. I never built them. I'm home everywhere. I don't know where, I'm just aware. I'm untouchable. So untouchable that one touch fills you with utter bliss. I'm warm, I'm so warm I'm a fire that consumes without making contact. I'm so cold, I burn. I'm so distant, I gleam with your own light. So close, you long for me. I'm already yours. And you're mine. I'll mine you for secrets, but I know I planted them there. I'm so wild and free that I was planted right here. I'm so perfectly round and spherical, I'm completely cornered.

I can’t remember exactly or which inspiration came first or in what order but I do know that ironically, one of the reasons I got into it was for purely egoic purposes. Like I thought how cool it would be if I got good at sitting like a statue for multiple hours on end. So I started doing that and it worked. Just by sitting perfectly still and keeping your attention on the breath everything slows way way down and it gets easier the more you practice like with anything. I got into yoga for similar reasons. On a side note, doing asanas regularly is super helpful if you want to get good at strong determination sitting. I also found out it can remove a great deal of suffering and get you super high if you practice enough so after learning that I was pretty much sold. After my first ten day vipassana, I felt like I was fifty pounds lighter and my raging mind was a whopping 50-60% quieter for weeks after, no exaggeration. And the peace kept on growing the more I maintained the practice. The bliss grew so strong I almost didn’t know how to handle it all. Easily the closest I’ve ever been to full enlightenment. The danger with me saying all this, however, is that the recipient will hear it and say hell yes, sign me up! The natural tendency is to expect to feel blissed out from all the meditation but that expectation actually blocks you from making progress because spirituality doesn’t like greed. So you have to be very patient. You can avoid that trap by finding the right technique. Vipassana has stood the test of time but it can be ridiculously difficult to get into. After my second retreat, I didn’t get anywhere close to the same result like I was expecting to. So it goes to show just how deep this work actually is.

@BenG these are great questions , happy to help through sharing my subjective experience (p.s. I don’t claim to be a guru nor do I want to be) There was certainly doubt at the beginning. But the key is not halting your inquiry after your mind comes up with doubts for the sake of protecting your worldview. A key here is being skeptical of your skepticism. Ask yourself this question: “If me (and by me, I mean your human name, body and history) never existed, how many problems would I have in life?” What you’ll realize is that most, if not all, of your suffering comes from your identification as the human you think you are. Ridding of this suffering, which created by your Mind, happens when you are able to let go of your human construction. What is left is what I would call bliss…you don’t take life personally, which means you get to play. God realization is the key to getting to this mind-space The sheer fact that no one in society, including people and institutions, is spreading this to the masses. The realization itself would fix 99.999% of the issues we see in the world today. Even further, it is surprising when one expressing Truth, how they are aggressively demonized…as you can see throughout this thread. Something so beautiful to God is very threatening to human Egos. This is the great challenge that all sages and mystics have faced throughout time. We should be very thankful to Leo and Actualized.org for literally putting their life and reputation on the line for teaching these things. Hope that helps.

Ya, I suppoze it's possible. It's interesting since I find, in these moments, I often get more "aroused" when just staying in the subtle realm and "staying with" the awareness or practice or sensations etc. Rather than start physically touching myself, deliberately creating sexual thoughts, etc., which tend to bring me away from the bliss or arousal you speak of. Not always perhaps. But it seems similar to what you describe.

@Shin Unity or letting go of thoughts that seem to feed the illusory sense of separation from complete and utter okayness or bliss. Sex, drugs and rock and roll are just good excuses to be what you already are. Then after the experience more thoughts can come in that say "that felt amazing and now it's gone" which strengthen more thoughts that say you're not ok, and you NEED such and such, which feels awful because that's not true. Then addiction is thought to be a problem had by a separate someone, when in reality, it's all a huge misunderstanding.

We often associate bliss with sex. The body often isn't used to interpreting bliss, passion, arousal as being uncaused.

It can go a million ways but here's how it can go, and it's perhaps not very likely that it will be this way for any particular individual. The stages are largely concurrent but the order is somewhat meaningful. 1. Mystical experiences -- transcend ego to a small degree. Insights such as "through me, reality imagines it is judging itself." 2. Bliss on demand -- relax clinging 3. Relax awareness of any particular object; totally detach from objects -- panoramic figure ground reversal -- Witnessing 4. No separation; field syncs up with itself and there is no hidden sensation appropriating itself as a knower -- there's only wholeness and nothing can be done to get closer or further away from that. 5. Entire field is a philosophical zombie in a sense -- nothing is needed for the empty appearance to be what it already is. No more mystical experiences.

@Bazooka Jesus lol, you mean to day that you feel at bliss at times and then your mood drastically shifts?