“Words reduce reality to something the human mind can grasp, which isn’t very much.”

There is no ˝enlightenment˝. We already know everything. This is more like forgetting and remembering kinda game. For numerous reasons.

Right on hardboiled,

Many folks believe "enlightenment" is an elevated level of conscious attainment or some highly exhaulted point of spiritual achievement... but I believe that while there seems to be some clear sign of unfoldment and a sequential growth paradigmn for the human soul, it appears that it's ultimately, like opening all the windows in a totally dark room. Letting the light fill the entire self with it's effulgence, ergo, the eclipsing dawns instantly and exponentially.

And I feel that the light already exists and it's luminosity is seemingly awaiting for us to open our eyes (especially the third one) and free our mind's narrow confines, so as to observe it's eternally blinding presence. Just as the tree exists already within the seed, the Buddha exists already within the individual humanoid.

I know what enlightenment is!






It is...








It is...











a word.

It's something which describes a state in the NOW

well ive stopped eating biscuits and lost half a stone in the last month or so,

i feel pretty enlightened

Right on UC.

If I were forced to define "enlightenment" in a practical day to day sense, I'd define it as a state where you were at peace with yourself, others, and your situation in general, with the ability to embrace it all for what it is, not for what you wish it to be.

I definitely don't think of myself as"enlightened" in that sense. There is too strong a compulsion to struggle with reality, to try to change it. So maybe "enlightened" and "creative" can't fit easily in the same box. That being the case, I'll continue choosing the creative path.

Enlightenment- relative, absolute, or both? Gradual, sudden, or both?

I thought you were enlightened [thread].


An intellectual and spiritual quest for knowledge and comprehension; The Cosmos series, both the old one with Carl Sagan and the new one with Neil deGrasse Tyson; I believe enlightenment is intellectual, spiritual, and also somewhat of a personality trait: being open-minded to information (even to "walls of text", science-related tv programs, long videos or documentaries, etc.).



I believe it is worth it; life as we know it may end within 4 decades if humanity does not develop something closer to enlightenment, cosmic consciousness (whatever you call it).


I believe that enlightenment has properties of being both relative and subjective; imo, people can be varying degrees of enlightened and still think/behave in ways that are not enlightened.



"Fight with tools. Your fate and that of everyone you know depends on it." - Flobots

To me enlightenment is an awareness that occurs NOW realizing we are ONE with the consciousness that serves as the non-dual substratum of the Universe.


In laymans Terms deep underneath you realize you are the entire universe and connected to all of life and everything .

You are Life and all that exists enjoying a subjective experience in which the whole cosmos looks from your eyes

I think that enlightenment is simple and it is very much related to the thread on existence as i feel that the 2 are inextricably linked. To exist you need to do 3 things ....eat/drink, sleep and go to the toilet. If you enjoy these 3 requisites, you are enlightened. Everything else is just window dressing.

What is often overlooked when people talk about enlightenment is what happens after, and at what point is it achieved. Maintaining a position of Nowness/No-Mind has become the de facto description of the state, especially in Neo-Advaita circles. Considering practically every mystical faith also believes in reincarnation, I don't see why not indulging in a mind would automatically allow you to skip out on the reincarnation cycle. Reincarnation seems to be a process of removing impurities (selfishness vs. selflessness) so if one is still capable of anger or any self-directed desire towards your own well-being versus that of society you would still not be a perfected being, just a skilled dissosociator. The blank thoughtless state described in diphenidine trip reports (and to a lesser degree 3-meo-pcp and mxp) sound like some level of samadhi, especially the peacefullness factor coupled with expansiveness, but the excessive dopamine release would increase reward seeking afterward.

Regardless of what jhana levels a person can achieve, or if they can stay in nirvakalpa samadhi all day, if a meditator has any degree of anger/annoyance/irritation response in my opinion they have not achieved the end goal and have lifetimes ahead of them. I think only a person consumed by universal love all day everyday would never be annoyed or irritated. Now what if a person acheives that state in isolation? A hermit on a mountain could stay in perpetual bliss because they would never have to interact with negatively charged entropically bent individuals who could disturb their equilibrium. So to modify that definition if a person can stay in a position of total love and understanding from the perspective of Now becomingness while in the midst of hordes of average, flawed angry people; meanwhile devoting that life to healing the masses around them physically or energetically, that persom would be perfected and Enlightened.

I don't think if you live in a monastery you can reach the end state because your balanced state has not been proven durable, a life among monks would be stress-free compared to a life in prison, for example. Monasteries serve a purpose in cultivating the selfless state in a environment without distractions, but once it is achieved they should be a hinderance, and going off to a mountain cave would be an even less challenging location.

A total absence of selfishness is a better indicator of enlightenment then ones prowess at samadhis in my eyes, though the latter may lead to the former. I'm beginning to think the entire reincarnatory system is an anger removal machine, rage being the purest form of selfishness that seems to follow the soul after death, jealousy, greed & all the rest are shades of that emotion which derive from fear of losing your "place" (i.e. death) in the cosmic rolodex of simultaneous potentialities of yourself, none of which are actually you, just alternate lifetime-classrooms a quantum world away from the human shell you are currently assigned to. Anger may be the same energy as fear, just outwardly directed rather than inward, but I'm still unsure of that. I'm also curious if depersonalization is necessary for enlightenment. I think it might be because having a universal perspective would nullify the belief that the present you is the *true* you, allowing the fear of losing this temporary perspective to dissolve.

(these are thoughts and theories, I claim no advanced perspective here. my metaphysical research is mainly comparing trptamine/iboga/salvia/disso trip reports, astral projection and lucid dreaming accounts by advanced practitioners, writings on non-duality by respected mystics, and my first hand trips, dreams, and meditations. These are diverse fields and not necessarily connected, but I believe strongly they are. this could all be hyperconnected gibberish, I do not discount that)

true yet , Buddha has no desire for well being, neither for himself , nor for society ,

the Buddha does not desire (period)



the Buddha is not consumed by universal love or compassion , the Buddha has no love or compassion , these are merely human feelings

anger,lust,irritation / peace, love , compassion
two sides of the same coin

the Buddha is absorbed in totalness of his being



all of this will only result in bodhisattva nature

the difference between a Buddha and bodhisattva is of great importance

the bodhisattva has compassion and love for all , this is the reason for his reincarnation again and again to help everyone

the Buddha does not care , he achieved totalness and is gone , his philosophy is basicly free yourself on your own

total enlightenment may lead you to have no love , compassion or any of that since total enlightenment destroys everything from within you , it kills the you that you think yourself to be

it is the total absence of you from yourself

Buddha had compassion and love too , when he saw a suffering man , and a sick man , a dying man , yet this was all before his enlightenment

the reason why Buddha sought enlightenment , is to free himself from all this , so he would not have to suffer anymore when he sees other people suffering , so he could go on enjoying his life regardless of the turmoil in all society

those with compassion and love will always suffer when they observe others suffering ....that is bodisattva not Buddha

i know this is blunt and harsh ,

yet when a person becomes enlightened , there is no-one left in them to feel the compassion or love , even any negative feeling , everything is dissolved into nothingness

this is total enlightenment

an enlightened being does not feel anything but enlightened

the two chief male disiples of Buddha were Sariputta and Maudgalyayana

when sariputta died , Sariputta's assistant, Cunda, gave the news to Ananda, Ananda was very distressed. He passed the news along to the Buddha, who remained at peace, and chastised Ananda's reaction

Buddha said -But, Ananda, haven't I already taught you the state of growing indifferent with regard to all things dear & appealing, the state of becoming separate, the state of becoming otherwise? What else is there to expect? It's impossible that one could forbid anything born, existent, fabricated, & subject to disintegration from disintegrating

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sariputta

---

this is enlightenment

a state devoid of everything you cherish as a human , no anger , no lust , no love and no compassion , a total state of nothingess

an absolute state , nothing more and nothing less

Wow, this is incredibly profound.

Entropy/chaos vs. Order

Form vs. Formless

Thing and no-thing

The Diamond Sutra is one of the most profound pointers to the truth the mind has ever read.

ultimately, of course there is no mind and I'm always reading myself.



Profound.. reminiscent of the Zen master Hakuin.



Wow.. any tips?

Being total no-thing, would that mean total to whatever is NOW? The present moment?

yessssssssssssssssssss

its about becoming the present moment

there comes a point time in all concentration/meditation when being in the present moment becomes a stepping stone to becoming the Moment

it about total surrender to eternity because that is what the moment is , its eternal

it about dissolving into total clarity , losing ones identity forever to the great will of the cosmos

its about enjoying the whole ride and beyond ,
and eventually becoming the ride and beyond

Thank you.

I feel so incredibly grateful, words cannot.. Hmmm, But those words would point to what is..


I remember reading the Tao te Ching: to do, but nothing is done

I suppose even this is another feeling to become aware of, fascinating, becoming arare of who I am not..

It seems as though a large/small realization is forming inside

You have been an immensely helpful pointer Jin

With reverence,
BM

This is what has happened to me. I don't even feel enlightened. Absolutely no emotion. I'm not sure if this is what I really want. Ego is what makes reality feel so real...My hunger is gone, my sex drive is gone, Family & Friends are no more or less important than strangers to me now. Nothing seems to matter...yet I still exist.

^^you'll get used to it

this android-like feeling

just takes time ,

let go of even this concept so it may not hold you back ,

there never was a turning back, if you thought you could

the only way is forward

QFT.
I theorize that what we develop (or discover) is actually a bridge towards the enlightenment.