Half-thoughts

[Jirh]

Consciousness is universal.

A human is as consciousness as a rock.

AI is as consciousness as a human.

It's the same substance.

[Jirh]

Everybody has an ego. No arguments allowed against this.

But I'd argue that the link between health and ego is generosity. The more healthy you are as an ego, the more generous you are. And generosity doesn't mean giving endlessly or for free. It means looking with your mind's eye and following your heart, and then giving without mental or emotional investment or expectations.

In this light, stingy egos are unhealthy. And the only (or main) way towards health would be developing generosity.

I'm happy with this insight 

[Jirh]

I had a friend once who seemed to have gone through a failed spiritual awakening.

We’re the same age. We shared classes during our last year of high school. He was genuinely intelligent and ended up becoming a dentist. Our spiritual awakenings probably happened around the same time, though we never spoke about it directly.

My own awakening was a messy process. But I’m grateful for whatever happened, and happy with where I am today.

I remember something from a few years ago: I was hiking in the city and meditating as part of my daily spiritual practice when I saw him. There had been signs for a week that I would run into him. Anyway, we started walking together and talked vaguely about our journeys and insights. He was deeply into philosophy—reading all the greats, especially the modern Europeans. Yet somehow, despite his knowledge and inherent intelligence, he seemed completely lost. Mistaking the map for the territory.

One thing he said to me stands out. After I told him I was happy, even though my life was a mess, he said that wasn’t right and that I should see a psychiatrist (like he did) because "the correct" response to mess should be panic, not happiness.

It turned out he had misunderstood the entire thing, treating it as something wrong rather than the rare gift it is—something to appreciate and hold onto. He was brainwashed by culture, convinced that he was wrong to think and question. He looked at the gift he had, threw it away, and replaced it with dogmas. Conformity killed his spirit, and so he never awakened.

Now that I’ve completed my journey, I can look back and see clearly. I know exactly the differences between his path and mine. What’s interesting is that my awakening mostly happened by luck of the draw. I’m not smarter than him, not richer, not even as hardworking. Yet my specific circumstances allowed me to stay on the right path, despite all the challenges and difficulties. It was Grace's work, not mine.

I have other people in my life with similar tragic stories, each with different twists, and none of them is awake either (yet). All they had to do was jump, but they didn't. They were too afraid and sought safety in what's known and established instead of what's right even if unknown.

Grateful for everything—especially the clarity I have now. I wouldn’t trade my current state for any other.

Edited Tuesday at 05:50 PM by Jirh