Enlightenment

[Jirh]

It is simply the deep, stable, and constant recognition that you are not the body, that the body belongs to you, but isn't you. That you are something beyond the body, beyond logic and the mind, and beyond any labels.

It's the complete dis-identification from the human story and agenda, as in being separate from them by a space of awareness.

In other words, it's the lack of enmeshment in life. There's an awareness that stands between you and the human. The human is related to you, it just isn't you.

It's not the thought that says "I am not the body". It's the actual feeling of being something beyond.

 

Life before enlightenment:

You believe you are the body, you can't even question or doubt it. You are your human story and agenda.

Life after enlightenment:

Same on the outside, but completely different on the inside.

 

However, this should not be confused with mental disorders such as depersonalization or derealization. These conditions are not enlightenment even though they share some characteristics. The major difference is that enlightenment comes from high awareness that's likely the result of proper practice, while those come from lack thereof.

Edited 7 hours ago by Jirh

[Carl-Richard]

You are the body and the mind as much as the chair you're looking at across the room. I.e. there is no distinction (that your identity relies on). Any form appears as just form. Previously some forms were taken as self and others as not-self. That vanishes.

Edited 6 hours ago by Carl-Richard

[Leo Gura]

Just now, Carl-Richard said:

You are the body and the mind as much as the chair you're looking at across the room. I.e. there is no distinction. Any form appears as just form. Previously some forms were taken as self and others as not-self. That vanishes.

Well said.

[gengar]

37 minutes ago, Carl-Richard said:

You are the body and the mind as much as the chair you're looking at across the room. I.e. there is no distinction (that your identity relies on). Any form appears as just form. Previously some forms were taken as self and others as not-self. That vanishes.

Except "mind" isn't a form like the body or other forms right? You can never take your human mind, or any mind at all and point out its form.

Edited 6 hours ago by gengar

[Jirh]

1 hour ago, Carl-Richard said:

You are the body and the mind as much as the chair you're looking at across the room. I.e. there is no distinction (that your identity relies on). Any form appears as just form. Previously some forms were taken as self and others as not-self. That vanishes.

If I understand correctly, you are suggesting that form and formlessness are identical, or at least that the distinctions between them go away somehow. That is perhaps interesting, but does not explain why form is appearing in the way it is. In other words, it does not address the question: Why something rather than nothing?

From my pov, there seems to be something out there (an objective world, a dream of some kind), and something inside here (a subjective witness, a dreamer). There seems to be something beyond the dream that is somehow actively generating it, or a formlessness that is generating form, including a consciousness (special kind of form) that sits between form and formlessness and connects them together. The distinction is still intact in my experience. There's just an added awareness that the body which seems to be a container of the "I" is not the "I" itself.

You are suggesting that consciousness is the substance of the Self and that everything is the same consciousness in essence. I am interested to know the reasoning behind this correlation.

[Lazarus93]

2 minutes ago, Jirh said:

If I understand correctly, you are suggesting that form and formlessness are identical, or at least that the distinctions between them go away somehow. That is perhaps interesting, but does not explain why form is appearing in the way it is. In other words, it does not address the question: Why something rather than nothing?

From my pov, there seems to be something out there (an objective world, a dream of some kind), and something inside here (a subjective witness, a dreamer). There seems to be something beyond the dream that is somehow actively generating it, or a formlessness that is generating form, including a consciousness (special kind of form) that sits between form and formlessness and connects them together. The distinction is still intact in my experience. There's just an added awareness that the body which seems to be a container of the "I" is not the "I" itself.

You are suggesting that consciousness is the substance of the Self and that everything is the same consciousness in essence. I am interested to know the reasoning behind this correlation.

The substance of everything is Nothing. The reason form appears the way it is right now is because that is currently what you are dreaming. However, the substance of the dream is ultimately Nothing. Consciousness is not a special kind of form and it doesn't sit between form and formlessness. Consciousness is Nothing. Consciousness is God's POV as it dreams up this current moment. God is, of course, Nothingness.

Are you sure the body is a container for the "I"? Your Ego is simply a series of thoughts occurring in your Mind (which is located Nowhere) which have falsely taken ownership of God's POV and created an illusory identity. But the substance of thoughts is also Nothing. 

[Breakingthewall]

It's not about knowing whether you are or are not the body, the chair, God, the other, but about being open to the nature of what is.