The nature of enlightenment

When I pulled the veil of her cosmic pants down

 

Read The Power of Now now.

 

does she have 6 arms, an elephant face, and made of eyeballs?

that was my perception.

eek...

 

Another point, Enlightenment will can never be fully defined, it is different for every person. There are no rules.

I define Enlightenment as realizing "god" and reality, that is all.

 

No shes beautiful, with sparkling rainbow colour eyes and and soft skin and full pink lips.

 

I agree with Travis' well articulated definitions, based on what I've read (which include many of the books listed), and inter-personal experiences I've had with those I consider spiritually enlightened (Buddhist monks, native Americans, etc.).

Given that the ego is the barrier to enlightenment, I also ask the question who are we to define enlightenment? It seems to me enlightenment is a subjective phenomenon, it can manifest itself as a different experience to different people, so by attempting to captivate that experience in words and symantics, we cannot hope to convey it, because our words may not accurately describe the experience, or may be subject to mis-interpretation.

Furthermore, who are we to determine who is, and who is not enlightened? By doing so, aren't we being judgemental? And by being judgemental, aren't we invoking our egos, the very thing we are trying to avoid?

I find it a bit of a paradox.

 

absolutely...judging whether you or someone else is enlightened would be an ego mind trick. Believing that enlightenment is something that is attainable at some future point after certain things are learned or accomplished is also an ego mind trick.

 

Upon the attainment of enlightenment, you are correct, there are no rules. Prior to its attainment however, there are many. And when you violate them, you accumulate negative karma that reinforces ego-identification.

You are also correct that enlightenment can never be fully defined, and manifests differently for every person. However, one can rely upon certain spiritual principles in order to establish their bearings, so to speak. If the women who were sexually exploited by Prem Rawat, for example, had read and understood a list of enlightenment's defining characteristics similar to my own, they may have had the foresight to avoid becoming involved with a self-proclaimed avatar who was in actuality a repressed nymphomaniac.

Defining enlightenment as the realization of "god" and reality may be in essence truthful, but it also raises about 10x as many questions as it answers. People who are just starting off on a spiritual path will almost always require more clarification than this. A vague definition like this can also allow people who want to believe that they're enlightened to continue to do so despite the fact that they remain in a state of ego-identification. The intense scrutinization of one's own being required to fully understand my initial post will produce the illumination necessary for an accurate assessment of one's state of consciousness.

Travis

 

Yes I agree, you have always had God's Love though you've never deserved it, because there is nothing to deserve, considering that Love is the only reality. And what is Love? Something everyone feels an attraction to, yet will never understand. These vibrations we are, define enlightenment at least to me. You get closer to God, the closer you are, the faster you vibrate. The sound of a metal detector getting closer to a treasure come to mind.
Namaste

 

...or, to go one further, how can we consider mankind qualified to define enlightenment, given that by our very nature we're imperfect to begin with?

What gives us the right to presume we as humans have more capacity to be enlightened than any other sentient being for that matter? A dog, frog, or insect, for example. They may not have the ability to define enlightenment within the framework of our understanding, but again, our perception is subjective, and we're limited by the constraints of language in our definitions. Phenomena such as this defy definition.

I will admit that the pursuit of enlightenment is a good practice though.

 

I am that I am...living is and the present is the Reality...the dysfunction of mankind is the mind living in the past, imagining the future, and the roles that the ego thrives on.

Our natural state is being present...now...and joyful as God.

The words in themselves put limits on our awareness, our conciousness.

 

Dissolving the ego self. Realising the true nature of consciousness. Sitting still, thinking, thinking, thinking, no more thought. No emotion, no grasping, no asking why, no action. Calmness, emptiness. You are now being. The process through which the universe flows through consciousness becomes apparent, and you observe reality as it flows freely through you. You are everything yet nothing at the same time. You are the universe in it's entirety yet you are simply energy processing awareness of reality, all at the same time.

This is my experience.


We are sightseers. Here to observe the world made manifest through ourselves, not to take it over and claim it as our own. This is the truth as I have come to know it.

I'm no longer looking for answers. I'm aware of my true nature, yet I won't dwell on it any longer. I want to exist in society, even if I have realised it's falseness. I want to help others, not by imposing my beliefs on them or telling them riddles, but by loving them and using my knowledge to benefit them in a way that they will understand.

I can never go back to the false self because it does not exist. I feel empty inside, i'm slowly trying to create a new ego, a sort of temporary self, or a mask to hide behind, so that I can communicate with other people in a way that they can understand. I'll neither be here nor there, instead a sort of balance between the two.I may become egotistical and lose the ability to feel oneness but I will never forget my roots . I'm incapable of feeling emotion right now, but I think , in the future I will be happy with the decision that I made. I'll return to oneness when i'm physically of age and ability to live independently and with a means to support myself outside of the dream. So for now this will be my last post.

Please disregard anything I say that doesn't resonate with you.

For the first (and possibly last) time, Namaste.

 

I have a few questions for you, if you don't mind answering.

You are clearly able to express yourself quite eloquently using the internet as a medium. Does this not require some form of persona capable of transmitting the consciousness that you embody?

You say you are incapable of feeling emotion. Do you make a distinction between love and other emotions? Doesn't love accompany the other states of consciousness that you describe such as calmness, emptiness, and the liberated observation of reality as it flows through you? Do you have a value judgement associated with your inability to feel emotion, or is this simply a phase of your awakening process?

If you have realized the illusory nature of the ego, what circumstances could compel you to become egotistical and lose the ability to feel oneness?

And was your realization dramatic or subtle? Was it, as Xexon put it, like flicking an on/off switch or something more along the lines of a continuum? Or were you born enlightened, if you feel that word applies?

Just curious.

Travis

 

Sure, I will try to answer your questions

At this moment I cannot think about anything other than this state of awareness that I have entered. Because I shed the false ego no thoughts of the false reality are coming into my mind. So I can type whatever I like but there is no true persona behind it, it is simply these fingers typing, and knowledge coming through.You could say there's only one thing on my mind. So right now, there is no ego, simply thoughts swimming around.I dont feel any emotion inside. I realise the loving nature of oneness, and yes I have felt it, but this is different to the feeling of love in the objective sense - to love something separate. The loving nature of oneness, as well as calmness, well-being and emptiness don't come by willing them or forcing them to come, they just simply are when I stop thinking and being another and just 'be.' However, because I have realised my true nature, I am constantly calm (emotion and fear free) inside, it seems like a lasting effect of realisation.

I guess it could be summed up as ' being is as being does'


It's hard to just 'be' in these current circumstances. Physically, i am 19 years old, I live with my parents and siblings and study art at college. The people around me don't fully understand what has happened to me, i'm at risk of being selfish by remaining in this state of mind in these current circumstances. I'll instead try to help people by creating a sort of mask, or purposely fake ego. I cannot go back to who I was because I realise it is an illusion, therefore by returning to an ego sense I'll exist in both false material reality and true reality at the same time. Neither here nor there. I'll try to use my awareness to help people in a way that they can understand.

I believe the road to true happiness and end of suffering comes from returning to oneness and simply being, however, I can not actively attain this state for long periods of time in my current physical circumstances. I know my roots, and will return to that state when I live independently and can support myself without living in the false reality.

The false self thought very deeply all of the time. Even at the age of 19, he wondered about all of those big questions in life. He loved art, and wanted to express a sort of 'special feeling' he held inside. He felt like he was special, like he would be a part of something big in the future. He held this belief since he was young. He thought the world revolved around him. He became chronically depressed when his 'time' to be fulfilled never came. He never felt truly happy, yet would always be pulled out of the depths of depression by something, despite all hope apparently lost. He realised that he was being pulled out by something within himself. And began to seek it out, asking the question 'Who am I?'

The realisation of the false self was sudden, yet not at the same time. It's like there was a lead up to it( over many years), yet it couldn't be labeled 'realisation' because I wasn't even aware such a thing existed until I searched to put words behind what I was feeling. Since I came to self realisation everything else happened very quickly. I immediately began to shed the ego and there was simply nothing else I could think about until I had found what I was searching for. I believe I have found what I'm looking for, I've experienced it, yet I can't return to it until my physical circumstances are more favourable.

I know what it is to feel wholeness, I know who I am now, and there's no going back from that, no matter how many names or masks I assume, and until that time comes I am consciousness dressed as ego.

I hope you can understand what i say and disregard anything I say if it doesn't resonate with you

 

kaminoishiki,

do you have a history of drug use? did they play any part in you achieving the state you are in now?

im not trying to discredit what you say, but it's just there is some disagreement about the role of drugs. Some people say that they help one attain enlightenment, and others say the exact opposite.

what do you think?

 

DO NOT read Siddhartha it is all lies. Tao of Physics is one of the great books i started off with, its all about how physics and eastern philosophy work together. If you are looking for the greatest book ever written then get Vijnana Bhairava or Divine Consciousness by Jaideva Singh which shows 112 ways to realize the ultimate reality. It is impossible to find other than the net. Spanda Karikas: The Divine Creative Pulsation is the only other book that might be equal to that which was written long long ago and knew the stuff physicists just figured out 15 years ago and then some.

 

I've never used drugs (except alcohol.) I used to drink alcohol but abandoned it upon the shedding of ego. I think one begins to seriously question themselves and their identity when the foundations of their life are shaken by a traumatic event, I guess drugs could offer an escape and an aid to realisation. I don't have much of an opinion on drug use, but I think some other members on here might use drugs to help themselves achieve that state. Although, an addiction to drugs is surely counter productive, because to have an attatchment to drugs is to maintain a connection to material reality, and so the dream continues.

 

quote..."Although, an addiction to drugs is surely counter productive, because to have an attatchment to drugs is to maintain a connection to material reality, and so the dream continues."

Many would agree that the effects of certain plants on our conciousness (classified by our culture as drugs) are a natural tool to be used to enhance and sustain mental life just as food and water are used to enhance and sustain physical health and life.

One may have an attachement to these plants just as one has an attachment to food or water. But it doesn't have to be viewed according to our societies current prejudices against conciousness expanding plants and compounds. It can be viewed as simply a prt of life to be experienced, enjoyed, and learned from.

 

You could be right, I don't have much of an opinion on drug use. I think drugs could be used to attain realisation, but not much more. I think if a drug alters your mind, and your perception of the world(reality) then the universe and consciousness are not working in true unison. so you're effectively not 'seeing' true reality (therefore the highest state can't be attained.) I of course can't say this is for sure or not because I don't use drugs, but in my experience the mind needs to be freed of all thought and be perfectly clear to become wholeness. (it's so hard to describe it)
Perhaps somebody with experience of drug use to heighten consciousness could comment with their own experiences

 

Fascinating. Your realization reminds me a great deal of Eckhart Tolle's (highly influential spiritual teacher nowadays -- author of Power of Now and A New Earth in case you didn't know). He too was consumed by depression and despair and became aware of his true nature through an act of spontaneous self-inquiry. The fact that you have accomplished this at 19 is astonishing. But perhaps such youthful realizations will become more commonplace as the influences of the Aquarian age become more and more prevalent.

I can't say that I fully understand your predicament involving your inability to maintain your state of "beingness" in the midst of certain external circumstances. I would think that such a realization would allow the awakened individual to remain fully connected to their true nature regardless of external circumstances, especially considering that the consciousness you embody is all-pervasive. Is it possible that your connection needs to be reinforced in some way? Do you think there may be aspects of your being that remain unaffected by the initial realization, and that must be integrated with your core awareness in some fashion?

Travis