I am enlightened. Sincere seekers: ask me anything

[EvilAngel]

@winterknight are enlightened beings permanently happy? 

[winterknight]

1 hour ago, EvilAngel said:

@winterknight are enlightened beings permanently happy? 

There really are no enlightened beings, only enlightenment. 

[Monkey-man]

What to do to cease desire, movement of action, thought, attention, seeking? 

Do you think that desire, action, seeking, thoughts and all other mind games are result of mind’s chemical imbalance ?

[winterknight]

39 minutes ago, Monkey-man said:

What to do to cease desire, movement of action, thought, attention, seeking? 

Do you think that desire, action, seeking, thoughts and all other mind games are result of mind’s chemical imbalance ?

Follow the guide to self-inquiry.  

No, not the result of chemical imbalance. The result of ignorance. 

[psychedelicsresearch]

Thanks again winterknight.

A question about self-inquiry practice, which has never really gone anywhere for me earlier and doesn't seem to do so now. Your description in your guide starts with this: You know that "I am" right now, right? It's obvious.

Well, I don't know. Maybe when my mind is full of thoughts, there is a diffuse feeling of "I am" in the background. When I stop to look for it, however, mind gets silent, there is breathing and other sense impressions, but no identifiable sense of I. A feeling of peace prevails. Like when you are not quite looking at Mona Lisa, there is the impression that she is smiling, but when you look closely the smile disappears.

So when you next say: Well, how do you know it? Where is that feeling coming from? Try to find out where in your experience it is coming from, this certainty that you are - mm, you lost me. There's no there there. The thing I'm supposed to be looking for is maybe there when I am not looking, but the act of looking immediately makes it evaporate. Like the illusion I kind of, at least intellectually, know that it is.

It's like I can't get any traction with this method, and kind of decided long ago that it's not for me. Advice?

[winterknight]

48 minutes ago, psychedelicsresearch said:

Thanks again winterknight.

A question about self-inquiry practice, which has never really gone anywhere for me earlier and doesn't seem to do so now. Your description in your guide starts with this: You know that "I am" right now, right? It's obvious.

Well, I don't know.

That very I which knows it doesn’t know is what I’m talking about. 

[psychedelicsresearch]

Ok, but that I which knows that it doesn't know is my description later. Experientially in the moment of trying this method out there is only presence, a diffuse field of sense-impressions, silence, and peace. No sense of I to follow anywhere. Also no sense of needing to follow anything anywhere.

So the method seems to be self-defeating.  Trying to take one step forward with this, and immediately the direction and momentum is lost.

[winterknight]

4 minutes ago, psychedelicsresearch said:

Ok, but that I which knows that it doesn't know is my description later. Experientially in the moment of trying this method out there is only presence, a diffuse field of sense-impressions, silence, and peace. No sense of I to follow anywhere. Also no sense of needing to follow anything anywhere.

So the method seems to be self-defeating.  Trying to take one step forward with this, and immediately the direction and momentum is lost.

This “diffuse sense of presence” occurs to someone. That someone is you. It is the object of awareness. By what light is that object known? 

Of course the “I” doesn’t seem like some kind of localized I object when you look for it... that is indeed the whole point of self-inquiry. What is obvious is in fact hard to localize. 

[Aakash]

@winterknight do you think infinity could create a world where 3 + 3 = 7?  

[winterknight]

5 minutes ago, Aakash said:

@winterknight do you think infinity could create a world where 3 + 3 = 7?  

I don’t think contemplating these questions is helping your quest. 

[Aakash]

@winterknight alright thank you

[winterknight]

17 minutes ago, Keyhole said:

Do you have any tips on distinguishing subtle ego from true self?  Sometimes I can't tell when the ego is so faint - what I mean by this is that I will be in awareness, but my actions will still be egoic - splitting, you could call it.

The path is not about trying to make your actions less egoic. It is about obtaining an intellectual framework, becoming more honest about what you want, and engaging in self-inquiry.

The one who would want to make actions less egoic is the ego. 

[psychedelicsresearch]

13 hours ago, winterknight said:

This “diffuse sense of presence” occurs to someone. That someone is you.

I recognize that this is the conventional understanding of things, but my point is that when mind is silent there is actually not any evidence appearing that what you said is true.

 

13 hours ago, winterknight said:

Of course the “I” doesn’t seem like some kind of localized I object when you look for it... that is indeed the whole point of self-inquiry. What is obvious is in fact hard to localize. 

I can confirm that no concrete slab of ego was discovered during my investigations. I suppose my understanding of how the method is described is that there should be traces of something to follow, and I'm not getting that. Like I'm missing out on an action scene in which you follow the suspect into a dark neighborhood where it's hiding under the staircase and sleeps in your hat.

My point, which I won't bother you with any more, is only that what is supposed to be obvious is in fact not obvious to me.

Maybe I'm doing it right, actually. If the point of the excercise is to look for the obvious, fail to discover it, and then move into a state of peacefulness, that's actually what happens. Only it wasn't so obvious in the first place.

Anyway, thanks for your time

[winterknight]

15 minutes ago, psychedelicsresearch said:

I recognize that this is the conventional understanding of things, but my point is that when mind is silent there is actually not any evidence appearing that what you said is true.

If the mind is actually silent, peaceful, and clear in a state which can persist with eyes open and while you are doing other tasks, there is no reason to interrupt that.

Quote

My point, which I won't bother you with any more, is only that what is supposed to be obvious is in fact not obvious to me.

Maybe I'm doing it right, actually. If the point of the excercise is to look for the obvious, fail to discover it, and then move into a state of peacefulness, that's actually what happens. Only it wasn't so obvious in the first place.

Yes, that is the point. Only keep in mind that, as I said above, that the state should persist, and if you exit the state, you should return.

As long as there is a going and coming from peace, the truth of the matter has not been seen clearly. For who is going and coming?

Edited July 8, 2019 by winterknight

[Aakash]

@winterknight  are you in a state of absolute non existence? 

and don't say that it's not good for my inquiry, it seems i'm going to have to follow my own path to its conclusion. 

 

[Jkris]

@Aakash what ever path answers are obstacles.

 

[Aakash]

@Jkris in what sense do you mean? 

[winterknight]

13 minutes ago, Aakash said:

@winterknight  are you in a state of absolute non existence? 

and don't say that it's not good for my inquiry, it seems i'm going to have to follow my own path to its conclusion. 

Well you should know I don't generally answer questions about my own experience, because the answers are misleading.

For example, the very idea of "a state of absolute non-existence" is itself a misunderstanding.  All of these intellectual misunderstandings result from the fact that you have not actually studied any system of thought seriously.

If you want answers to these kinds of philosophical questions, you should carefully study what has been written by the ancients.

[Preetom]

13 minutes ago, Jkris said:

@Aakash what ever path answers are obstacles.

 

 

6 minutes ago, Aakash said:

@Jkris in what sense do you mean? 

Every Single thought/words/question starts with the sneaky assumption that it is indubitably True along with its frame of reference; and by further churning of thoughts, it is gonna find more truth or get more closer.

[psychedelicsresearch]

Thanks

There is certainly coming and going, but with slow movement toward more stability, like a small kingdom gradually expanding and consolidating its borders.