I am enlightened. Sincere seekers: ask me anything

[Joseph Maynor]

1. Do other beings exist?
2. Does the true Self exist?

Edited November 11, 2018 by Joseph Maynor

[winterknight]

9 minutes ago, Wisebaxter said:

Ok that's interesting. Can you describe in words, the nature of that seeing, what it feels or looks like to you? Is it a conceptual thing, a feeling, a knowing? 

It's called a "realization," because it's the seeing through of a belief that you thought was solid. It is the mind realizing its own boundaries. It has been analogized to waking up from a dream, or realizing that what you thought was a snake was actually a rope.

It may be called both conceptual and non-conceptual. It is immediate and beyond concepts.

It results in the destruction of the very idea of realization.

Words can't really do it justice. Best just to experience it yourself.

12 minutes ago, Joseph Maynor said:

1. Do other beings exist?
2. Does the true Self exist?

1. Beings don't exist. Neither-you-as-a-being nor other beings exist.

2. Well, technically, existence is itself a category within the Self. So if we wanted to be super accurate, we'd say that the Self is beyond existence and non-existence.

[Forestluv]

@winterknight

You've got skills in this area, winter. In particular, there is an aura of grounded humility, an awareness of what you know / don't know, an awareness of the limits of language and a knack at disengaging from intellectual debate/conflict.

I think there is a need for teachers that can bring forth Post-rational / Trans-personal insights in others, yet it is hard to do effectively. Have you considered going into teaching?

 

[winterknight]

1 minute ago, Serotoninluv said:

@winterknight

You've got skills in this area, winter. In particular, there is an aura of grounded humility, an awareness of what you know / don't know and a knack at disengaging from intellectual debate/conflict.

I think there is a need for teachers that can bring forth Post-rational / Trans-personal insights in others, yet it is hard to do effectively. Have you considered going into teaching?

 

Thank you. Actually, I am a teacher -- but am really bad at the marketing side of things. I of course have stayed anonymous here because I'm enjoying that freedom (maybe I'll change my mind eventually).

I don't like trying to get people to pay attention... I feel like it's a chore to find an audience. I'm sure that's my fault. If I were a Buddhist I think it might be a bit easier. They have more of an institutional structure for teachers... but that may be just another excuse.

[Forestluv]

@winterknight

Have you considered a Youtube channel? Perhaps with callers or write-in questions? For some teachers nonverbal tone of voice, facial expressions and body language can be an asset - for others it's a liability.

I teach at a college, so I don't have to find an audience. But for some students, they are a captive audience 

@Emerald on this forum has a nice youtube channel 

[Outer]

On 11/9/2018 at 9:28 PM, winterknight said:

Consciousness does not turn off during sleep. Consciousness never turns off. Conventionally, in Vedanta, we'd say consciousness is aware of the pure ego and it alone in sleep.

How do you know consciousness doesn't turn off? Because in my experience it goes blank as I fall asleep and then I am awake in the morning, provided I had dreamless sleep.

[winterknight]

11 minutes ago, Serotoninluv said:

@winterknight

Have you considered a Youtube channel? Perhaps with callers or write-in questions? For some teachers nonverbal tone of voice, facial expressions and body language can be an asset - for others it's a liability.

I teach at a college, so I don't have to find an audience. But for some students, they are a captive audience 

Heh, yes, a captive audience would be useful. I actually have tried a little Youtube, but even there it seems like attracting an audience is quite difficult. Spirituality -- heck, nonduality alone -- is a huge marketplace with 10,000 vendors all screaming at the top of their lungs. Maybe I've just given up too soon... I dunno.

10 minutes ago, Outer said:

How do you know consciousness doesn't turn off? Because in my experience it goes blank as I fall asleep and then I am awake in the morning, provided I had dreamless sleep.

There's a few different ways of answering this question. One way is the argument that we have some very vague sense that "I slept." That's your memory of deep sleep.

Another is the metaphysical way of approaching this question. The argument is that the brain cannot generate consciousness (because consciousness is not a process that "matter" alone can account for), so consciousness is an eternal substance all its own. If that is so, then consciousness is never not there. And if that's the case, then the only way to explain the deep sleep state is as the consciousness OF a "purely dark mental object."

A third is the direct experience way. Upon realization, it becomes quite clear that consciousness can never not be. So therefore it must persist in deep sleep.

But the truth is that these are just intellectual positions. They don't matter all that much.

Edited November 11, 2018 by winterknight

[Outer]

Why am I only conscious of "Outer"? Why don't I know that you're conscious?

Edited November 11, 2018 by Outer

[winterknight]

12 minutes ago, Outer said:

Why am I only conscious of "Outer"? Why don't I know that you're conscious?

If you investigate deeply that "I" who seems to be conscious of Outer, you will find that there is no such entity.

[i am I AM]

You mean because there's nothing 'cept consciousness?

[winterknight]

2 minutes ago, i am I AM said:

You mean because there's nothing 'cept consciousness?

We can say that if we want, but that's just an idea. There is a direct experience that will show you exactly how the ordinary "I" is an illusion... it's a non-verbal realization.

[youngshinzen]

@winterknight

1) Is life predetermined?

2) Is there any value in using will power? Or should I just let go as much as possible and deal with the consequences?

3) If there is not my experience as solipsism suggests, are there different experiences at the same time?

4) I had many dreams that were very realistic and logical, is the same mechanism going on in reality? What‘s the difference between dreams and life?

5) Is it possible to process deeply suppressed emotions without moving the body? Just through talking and awareness for example? Or is stretching, shaking, shouting etc. necessary?

[i am I AM]

Thanks again! That is ok, I was not referring to enlightenment, but instead,the general state.

[winterknight]

27 minutes ago, youngshinzen said:

@winterknight

1) Is life predetermined?

2) Is there any value in using will power? Or should I just let go as much as possible and deal with the consequences?

3) If there is not my experience as solipsism suggests, are there different experiences at the same time?

4) I had many dreams that were very realistic and logical, is the same mechanism going on in reality? What‘s the difference between dreams and life?

5) Is it possible to process deeply suppressed emotions without moving the body? Just through talking and awareness for example? Or is stretching, shaking, shouting etc. necessary?

1. No. 

2. You should try to be honest about what you actually want, and align your actions with that. Often that takes therapy, introspection, action in the world, and reflection on that action. You may not immediately know your desire. You may have to discover it. And it will change over time.

So it's not quite willpower, but it's also not quite letting go and dealing with the consequences. 

3. There is neither your experience nor other experiences. But these are just words. The point is to discover it yourself.

4. There is not much difference. Life is just like a dream.

5. It probably depends on the person. The key is to pay careful attention to the circumstances of your own mind and body, to listen to them, and learn what they need.

[seeking_brilliance]

@winterknight what are thoughts, why do they arise, and what propels them to arise? 

[winterknight]

1 minute ago, seeking_brilliance said:

@winterknight what are thoughts, why do they arise, and what propels them to arise? 

That depends on the context. In absolute truth, there are no thoughts, and so they do not arise.

But if we want to say that thoughts appear, then -- broadly, thoughts might be said to be waves in consciousness, that take place in it without altering it. They are objects linked to an ego and mind which experience them. They are experiences with a beginning and an end, with qualities, with differences.

One could say that they arise because of the laws of cause and effect combined with past actions. Or one could say that God causes them because God wants to. Depends on your perspective.

[seeking_brilliance]

@winterknight thoughts seem to come like an unending train.  When I observe them, they jump around from random thoughts to ones that seem to build upon the last.  There are me thoughts, and there are not-me thoughts. 

Is the "I" I think I am just a train of me thoughts? There is no controller... The thoughts just keep coming, building upon the last, sometimes they verbalize through vocal cords, and say that I am this and that, but that's all I am. I am thoughts. There is no I. There is only thoughts of an I. And there is awareness of these me thoughts. 

Please forgive any ignorance on this matter... I've just been learning to observe thoughts and something may have clicked together, but sometimes I come up with some off the wall crap and learn by having others set me straight. 

[winterknight]

17 minutes ago, seeking_brilliance said:

@winterknight thoughts seem to come like an unending train.  When I observe them, they jump around from random thoughts to ones that seem to build upon the last.  There are me thoughts, and there are not-me thoughts. 

Is the "I" I think I am just a train of me thoughts? There is no controller... The thoughts just keep coming, building upon the last, sometimes they verbalize through vocal cords, and say that I am this and that, but that's all I am. I am thoughts. There is no I. There is only thoughts of an I. And there is awareness of these me thoughts. 

Please forgive any ignorance on this matter... I've just been learning to observe thoughts and something may have clicked together, but sometimes I come up with some off the wall crap and learn by having others set me straight. 

Yes, I think you said it right: "something may have clicked together." There's definitely some truth to what you say. But actually the "false I" is deeper than just a train of me thoughts. It is a whole way of looking at the world. That perspective informs your beliefs, other thoughts, and actions too.

To get at that deep underlying structure, you have to hunt the feeling of the I. Because you say "I observe" the thoughts. Who is that I? Find out.

Edited November 11, 2018 by winterknight

[seeking_brilliance]

@winterknight I've understood about the idea of me for a while now. But I still struggled with feeling like an I. Feeling like the thinker of thoughts. But what clicked is that there is only thoughts of an I, not an I(persona). Only the thoughts. No thinker. Even now as this is being typed, it is a succession of thoughts which does this, not I. 

Again, please straighten me out if needed. I will find the I that observes. Thank you. 

[Jack River]

51 minutes ago, winterknight said:

 

To get at that deep underlying structure, you have to hunt the feeling of the I.

Fosho. You can also “hunt for that feeling” by purposely thinking of an occurrence where you were angry. This bringing up the thought will follow a feeling/emotion. Then you have yourself a felling/emotion and an “entity” that is “watching them”. This is another way to see this process of divison in action. Usually people dont want to bring these feelings to the surface. But it can be very valuable to do it. 

51 minutes ago, winterknight said:

But actually the "false I" is deeper than just a train of me thoughts. It is a whole way of looking at the world. That perspective informs your beliefs, other thoughts, and actions too.

Yeah. The perspective/view is influenced by past thoughts/feelings/emotions and the reaction to them which is gets recorded. We then look through the eyes of “our” past. Through this divided perspective between the thinker and the thought. The self clings to that content of the past(identification). Then our action is influenced by that divided action. This is a really important thing to understand about the self and it’s processes of the  thought/emotion loop that is sustained by one reaction after another. 

Edited November 11, 2018 by Jack River