The more you contemplate enlightenment the further you stray from it

[Dlavjr]

 I've spent a lot of time contemplating the things I've learned through psychadelics, meditation, and watching videos such as Leo's. Suddenly it hit me, that enlightenment is all here right now. Everything I need to feel and experience is in real time, the magic of reality is a constant and the more I contemplate what enlightenment is, the further I stray from it. However, despite being aware of this, I'm still getting confused because I feel like I still have so much left to learn about the nature of reality, and because of that, every time I try to be fully present, my thoughts kick in and give me doubt of "but this doesn't feel like it's it". I seem to be not getting something. Here's how I understand it; all of the teachings of reaching enlightenment are not enlightenment. You can understand reality as much as you want, and notice all the dualities and such but you can only get so far into this work before you realize that there's no self, and you're just here, enlightenment was there the whole time and you spent too much time thinking and contemplating reality trying to find it that you completely missed that everything is already happening. It's like, enlightenment and contemplating the endless facets of reality are two different things, almost like the difference between understanding music theory and how sound works is all well and fine but if you stray too far you miss the music itself. I certainly don't feel enlightened, but I also feel like by me denying and questioning and over assessing my experiences, I'm missing the point. Any insight?

[Dlavjr]

I'd like to add that I in no way think I've reached enlightenment, I have a long way to go as I still have years and years of work to do before I can truly experience being enlightenment, but I'm more so trying to clarify what it is I'm working towards. The paradoxes of this work are an absolute mindfuck, it amazes me how much your thoughts will distort your reality, but also reality is limitless so is there really any "distorting" if it's all you? There's no proper way to point to or explain my experiences, even me talking about it now is causing me to lose sight of it, but I feel like a lot of people on this forum have this issue as well and are also missing the point. They hold enlightenment in such high regard and push and push to reach what they think is enlightenment when in actuality, it's all right there in front of them. The key is not to question or attempt to analyze, but rather to just bask in the glory of the limitlessness of God, which is you, as well as everybody else, and everything as a Whole. And it becomes so easy after that to see how truly asleep most of the population is. 

[mandyjw]

Notice all the separations your mind is still making out of oneness in this post. Contemplation is part of enlightenment, if enlightenment is indeed already here, how could you stray from it by contemplating it like you are right now in this very moment? There's no point to miss. 

You can pay attention to how "on track" you are by how you feel and paying attention to your thoughts. The thought "I'm missing the point" feels awful. The thought or "no thought" of appreciating the beauty of a tree and sharing a laugh with a friend feels great. Curious contemplation feels good, and getting an insight feels amazing. 

[Nahm]

@Dlavjr

Like all notes & chords, all thought is relative. The ’background’ hum of the cosmos is C, all sound & music is now possible via relativity to C. 

Like all light & color, all thought is relative. The ‘constant’ of the speed of light is C, all perception is now possible via relativity to C.

Like all wanted & unwanted, all thought is relative. The absolute of Love is C, all sensation is now possible via relativity to C. 

Attention inward there is only the endless C, attention for the world and there is only the relative world. 

(C = Consciousness, you)

”The Wholistic Insight”... All thought is one whole. Entertain duality of thinking, and it can go on forever. There’s no absolute in the content of thought. Because that is you. The thoughts are you. The understanding is you. You are the creator. You are the creation. You can not be found in what you are already, the whole of. 

The background hum is for making music, the speed of light is for experience, and the linear one-at-a-time stream of finite thoughts - is for creating your reality. 

You are already that relative world. Already creating with - of - your infinite self.

[Pateedm]

52 minutes ago, Nahm said:

@Dlavjr

Like all notes & chords, all thought is relative. The ’background’ hum of the cosmos is C, all sound & music is now possible via relativity to C. 

Like all light & color, all thought is relative. The ‘constant’ of the speed of light is C, all perception is now possible via relativity to C.

Like all wanted & unwanted, all thought is relative. The absolute of Love is C, all sensation is now possible via relativity to C. 

Attention inward there is only the endless C, attention for the world and there is only the relative world. 

(C = Consciousness, you)

”The Wholistic Insight”... All thought is one whole. Entertain duality of thinking, and it can go on forever. There’s no absolute in the content of thought. Because that is you. The thoughts are you. The understanding is you. You are the creator. You are the creation. You can not be found in what you are already, the whole of. 

The background hum is for making music, the speed of light is for experience, and the linear one-at-a-time stream of finite thoughts - is for creating your reality. 

You are already that relative world. Already creating with your infinite self.

@Nahm Beautiful 

[Nahm]

2 minutes ago, Pateedm said:

@Nahm Beautiful 

Says the C. 

??

[zeroISinfinity]

Says the ♥️. 

[Waken]

You said 'but it still doesn't feel like it', but what you feel can be a result of what you think, so don't blindly go with that.
Just some cents I wanted to throw in the basket

Edited December 13, 2019 by Waken

[Dlavjr]

6 hours ago, mandyjw said:

Notice all the separations your mind is still making out of oneness in this post. Contemplation is part of enlightenment, if enlightenment is indeed already here, how could you stray from it by contemplating it like you are right now in this very moment? There's no point to miss. 

You can pay attention to how "on track" you are by how you feel and paying attention to your thoughts. The thought "I'm missing the point" feels awful. The thought or "no thought" of appreciating the beauty of a tree and sharing a laugh with a friend feels great. Curious contemplation feels good, and getting an insight feels amazing. 

That's kind of the key part I get tripped up by, is that everything is part of it, including contemplation, but to experience oneness, it seems to me like you need to avoid contemplating as to not create dualities. I understand that it's all part of consciousness and therefore not separate from enlightenment, but at the same time enlightenment is experiencing it all as one whole, which requires you to not think as thinking creates the dualities. It's just experiencing reality objectively as it happens in real time. The fact that we're even discussing it seems to stray away from it, there are infinite dualities being created here in this thread, so that's why I say it's kind of hard to explain how I view and experience it because immediately when I talk about it, I'm speaking relatively and with duality. 

[Forestluv]

"The more you contemplate enlightenment the further you stray from it"

"Further" needs a "closer" for contrast. This imagination often has practical value. For example, I started getting back into Yoga last week. Last week, I felt very "far" away (from some destination). This week, I feel a little bit closer (to some destination). Here, the destination is a type of fitness for the mind and body. A mind that can be present while doing Yoga and a body that has good flexibility, strength and balance.

So there is value in the "close/far" construct in terms of development, yet it's easy to become immersed into "close/far" thought stories and miss what is occurring Now. Of course the thought stories of "close/far" are occurring Now, yet they are so alluring and it's super easy to become mesmerized into here and there - which loses the presence of Now. For example, last week there were lots of thoughts like "I used to be in better shape. I shouldn't have stopped doing Yoga. Now I can't even hold tree pose. I'll probably give up again. Why even bother? No, wait that is a defeatist attitude. I can do this. With one hour of Yoga, I will be back in good shape within a month. I can do this!". . . In one sense, this is a practical timeline. In another sense, I am immersed into an illusory thought fantasy and missing out on what is occurring right Now. Thoughts have mesmerizing power. Thoughts occur Now, yet they mesmerize awareness/attention away from Now - into a fantasies of past, present and la-la land. . . For example during my Yoga session bird chirps appear side-by-side with thoughts. However, bird chirps do not have the mesmerizing power like thoughts. I don't get identified/attached to bird chirps. There is no "bird chirp destination" that I am "close to" or "far away from". The bird chirps are simply appearing Now.