There Is Only One Self

[PureExp]

@Echoes You are trying to use intellect (mental faculties) to grasp something which is beyond its capability. It will just result in confusion. Of course that does not mean that your intellect is not sharp, it means minds are very limited. No mind can grasp this. This is what I mean, when I say there will always be unknowables.

Dimensions are in consciousness, consciousness is not in any dimensions. (That picture won't help, if all experiences are on a giant screen then what is watching that screen? Screen cannot watch itself)

You have imposed an assumption on consciousness that it must be located somewhere and must be of a certain form, then you ask where it is and what form it has. You see the error? Mind trying to objectify consciousness in order to grasp it - something that is impossible.

Consciousness has no form, its not an object, not physical, also not non-physical. It is everywhere, still no where. You cannot apply dual terms and concepts to nondual entities.

How will you understand it then? Just experience, be the consciousness...   

 

[Deep]

On 3/9/2017 at 4:14 PM, PureExp said:

We are all one. The following introspection (enquiry) shows us this clearly. You do not need strange states of mind to see it, its simple and self evident. Just a reminder, Consciousness = Self (Capital S), I use them interchangeably.

I agree with everything except this. I think it's necessary for one to touch base with their atman (Spirit) because they can't be sure before that. By touching base with atman I mean stopping the fluctuations of the mind completely. Many yogis have said Brahman is the only reality. Since atman and Brahman are the same, they will know what reality is. 

[Lai]

On 3/10/2017 at 4:14 AM, PureExp said:

There Is Only One Self

That is a selfish thought.

[jse]

On 11/03/2017 at 3:33 PM, PureExp said:

@Echoes You are trying to use intellect (mental faculties) to grasp something which is beyond its capability.

Really...  So, what would you call your wall-of-text posts, if not a rampant attempt to intellectualize non-duality with pseudo-semantics?

 

On 11/03/2017 at 3:33 PM, PureExp said:

It will just result in confusion. Of course that does not mean that your intellect is not sharp, it means minds are very limited. No mind can grasp this. This is what I mean, when I say there will always be unknowables.

"Unknowables" exist only in confused minds who haven't thought things through.  Be weary of projecting and spreading your own confusion.

 

[Galyna]

On 3/10/2017 at 8:46 PM, WaveInTheOcean said:

 

Guys, I almost broke my mind studying this, it is very passionate topic for me to ponder about. Can I jump in?

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And by the way. Space exists just as much as objects exist. If there were no space, there wouldn't be any objects. It goes together.

Space, time, physical reality, material objects does not exist as we think they do, it is all illusion.

Reality is what consciousness experiences by self-reflecting upon itself as time. The outer reality is the observation of inner reality, there is no outer reality. 

Consciousness = self-awareness

Focus of consciousness- this is where consciousness experiences itself as reality. This focal point is physiologically symbolized by your body. 

Direction that consciousness observes is within itself.

Outer Reality is illusion. The illusion created from within the focus of consciousness. It is a multidimensional interactive motion picture. 

What seems to be an outer Reality is a vantage point created withing one's focus of  consciousness. The reality that the consciousness may experience is an illusion unto itself, because it is not something separate from the consciousness having the experience. Very often we define reality as separate from the consciousness having the experience. Everything is just an experience of consciousness. However to experience itself it should limit itself to a specific focus and prospective. 

Edited March 17, 2017 by Galyna

[Deep]

8 hours ago, unknownworld said:

@Deep Atman implies a seperate soul/self, which is already an illusion of self if you look closely enough. It is identification with mind. It comes from Hinduism. The concept of atman doesn't exist in Buddhism. Through direct experience of being consciousness, you can verify this for yourself imo.

The Hindus say atman is separate from the body and mind. If you watch Martin Ball's latest video called Non-dual Therapy with 5Meo he says that God is self aware. God is a living thing but I guess the concept of "self" is within the mind. The Buddhists believe in rebirth but they don't believe in a self. How can something be reborn if it's not there? I think essentially Hindus and Buddhists talk about the same experience but they use different terminology. I think no-self just means there isn't anything specific you can point to. You can't really describe it. I don't understand the Buddhist terminology. 

[Shin]

Guys, just stop conceptualizing it.

Go into a fucking forest, alone, and fucking BE !

Edited March 18, 2017 by Shin

[WaveInTheOcean]

This is all just conceptualization, yes. It's nothing worth compared to direct experience with an ego-death experience. When the mind/ego is gone, what is left is only _you_, the real you, the essence of your being, and only then can you truly see who/what you really are.

As long as the mind is running, you will not see yourself. You will only see what the mind is giving you. And it gives you bombardments of thoughts and emotions all day long. Even feelings you're not consciously aware of, such as the feeling of being an individual self. This feeling you take for granted as reality, i.e. you can't possibly imagine how reality would be like if you didn't feel as a separated self, and thus, because you're not able to imagine this, you're naturally not able to be aware of the fact that in EXACTLY the same way as the mind is giving you thoughts like "I gotta do x and y to be happy" and giving you emotions like anxiety, joy, etc, the mind is ALSO currently 24/7 giving you an underlying feeling of being a separated self.

And this feeling of being a separated self is directed towards the body. The mind convinces you that you are this separated mind and thus the body. 
Currently, you're not seeing your true self. You are still 'it'/the true self (always have been, always will be), but you're currently not conscious of it. You have played a trick on yourself where you have identified yourself with the mind (and thus also the body). And naturally you have completely forgotten that you made this trick in the first place.

I say "played a trick on yourself" because ultimately that's what you've done. Sure, it is relatively speaking the mind that is misleading you, but the mind is ultimately not only perceived by you, but naturally also created by you and also contained within you (you=consciousness=nothingness=pure being). Because what/who else could possibly have created the mind, except for you? And can you locate the mind anywhere? Can you locate your feelings anywhere? Can you locate your thoughts anywhere? No, you can't. It's because these "things", which are experiences, are located within nothingness (which is ultimately what true reality is; it's litteraly NOTHING, nothing, nothing, nothing =)). You are this nothingness. This nothingness is self-aware. This is why we could also call it infinte consciousness, awareness, being, etc.. It's you! 

The funny thing is while most people will agree they can't locate their thoughts and feelings anywhere (except some will maybe say "in my head/brain" but that's just retarded (:D), cos if I open up your skull I surely can't find any thoughts:D), they still believe they can locate other experiences that are not thoughts or feelings. For example the experience of seeing an object. For example your feet. "My feet are right there!" No, to be honest, they are not anywhere to be found, except within you: consciousness. Everything you experience: thoughts, feeling of being a self, emotions, sight, sounds, its only true location is within you, it's only true origin is from you, and it's all seen by you.

Does the waves in the Pacific Sea make any sound if there's none nearby to have a listen? No. Sure, they may -- relatively speaking -- make soundwaves in the air. But if there isn't any special physical system (a human body for example) nearby to process these soundwaves, surely they don't make any sound. Sound is a mystical experience, how does energy-waves through the air get transformed into the experience of 'hearing sound' which we are all very familiar with? No minds know it, i.e. no one know it. But no-one/nothingness, hey, who's that? That is you. And surely you know very well how energy-waves through the air gets transformed into the experience of hering sound. Just clap your hand, and see what happens. But you cannot intellectualize it, the mind doesn't know how it's done through logic. That's why we also tend to say reality is illogical.

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"The inner ear is shaped like a snail and is also called the cochlea. Inside the cochlea, there are thousands of tiny hair cells. Hair cells change the vibrations into electrical signals that are sent to the brain through the hearing nerve. The brain tells you that you are hearing a sound and what that sound is."

Well, isn't it funny, science tells you that the "brain tells you what you are hearing". Science also tells you that you are a physical brain. How funny. If we combine the two science-statements, we got: "The brain tells the brain what the brain is hearing" or "the brain tells itself what it's hearing".
And that's a paradox. And it's bullshit. A brain can't hear anything. Only you can. Because hearing is an experience, and a brain can't experience anything, just like a stone can't experience anything.

But the statement "the brain tells you what you are hearing" in itself is pretty accurate, actually. The big question still remains though: What/who is/are you?

Anyway.

Questions:
"So to see who I am, I just have to turn off the mind - well does that mean, that I just need to go to sleep?"

Well, no. When the body is in deep sleep the mind is still functioning as normal, because it's normal to sleep, that's what the brain is programmed to do every now and then (to sleep). You could also say that the mind/ego is gone in deep-sleep, and what's left is really only you (nothingness/infinite empty consciousness), which is arguably true. However, when you wake up, you have no memory of 'knowing' your true self.. See, there is a difference between BEING your true self and KNOWING your true self. Being your true self, well you are ALWAYS your true self, you just don't it, and instead you believe your true self is equal to the mind/body, so there is no difference between being awake or being in deep sleep, you are still 'it'. 
'Knowing' your true self is an entirely different thing, which isn't easy. And after all it is not the mind per se that has to be shut down, but it's just the 'feeling of being a self' that has to go away. And since this feeling is what is the foundation for all the other workings of the mind, it's easiest to just say that you have to kill the mind to see yourself. 

How do you kill the mind? Psychedelics are good. Meditation is good. Deep contemplation and paradoxes are good to make the mind go crazy and shut down. What you have to do is to let go of attachments, let go of investments in life. As long as you are attached to things in life, investing in things in life, it will be nearly impossible without psychedelics to achieve ego-death, even if you meditate for decades. Because the mind's function is to attach to things and to invest in things (looks, carrer, family, friends, sex, money, success, materialism). And as long as you continue to do that, no matter how hard you meditate, the mind will probably stay. Because it's still being used (although less if you actually meditate for +30 min a day, which will naturally increase your awareness on the long-term, because awareness = you = nothing, and the more "you do nothing" (=meditate) the more you will become you (in a sense), i.e. the more awareness 'you' will "get".)

EDIT: Note also, that I'm NOT talking about being "free" of ego/mind "forever". An ego-death experience IS imo a momentarily experience. The ego (= the mind) will always come back and stay with you until the body dies. The mind/the ego/a person is an ever-changing idea/concept though, and some of the biggest changes to a mind/person will come if the mind/person is ever witnessed being killed (and thus combined with a realization that one is not a body/mind/person).
A single ego-death-like-experience ("an enlightenment experience"/"satori") will in itself most of the time be enough to have big, big impact on your life. After such experiences more work has to be done though. "Enlightenment" is not a state to achieve, rather it's an ever-ongoing proces of becoming more and more aligned with the truth in your life. And being aligned with truth (your true self) doesn't mean you have to sit in a cave 24/7, no, no. Sitting in a cafe 24/7 is something you can do to get those ego-death experiences. When you have got them, you stop sitting in a cave 24/7.
You can do anything in life and be aligned with truth (almost, you probably wouldn't do things that create suffering for other beings). You can be a doctor, a guru, an artist, a cleaning lady, whatever. The difference is how you relate to life on an inner level. Do you see that it's all a game and that you are playing a role in this beautiful game of life, or do you not? If you believe you are a body, of course you won't see life as a beautifil game, since when the body dies this will then mean you will die as well, and then that's serious business man, that's not a game ;).
I also believe there are varying degrees/depths of ego-death-experiences. Obviously the deeper the experience = the closer to being completely one (= conscious) with truth/your true self = the deeper the impact on your life. I believe there are semi-ego-death-experience which only give you glimpses of truth, but not the "full-blown package" so to speak. I think most reported ego-death experiences are semi-ego-death experiences. The real full-blown ego-death experiences probably requires a combination of contemplation/meditation for decades + 5-MeO maybe. What do I know=)

Edited March 19, 2017 by WaveInTheOcean