words

yeah...tho, you know, the person who goes to close the door becomes an instant hero. there is always balance. someone inconsiderate leaving the door open gives the choice to everyone in the room to stand by or be considerate and go close the door. also everyone who feels a rant bubbling up probably needed an insignificant reason to freely rant a bit, to blow off some accumulated steam. someone else might welcome the wave of fresh air. someone else might not even notice. someone else might get invited in by the opened door. and also the person leaving the door open might look inconsiderate, but no one really knows the story behind their moment of 'slip' (nice how close sounding slip and sleep are, no? ).

Flolflolil, who debated about posting or not? and who's having this new experience of reality?

Beliefs themselves are not a prison. they are more like...spaces we dwell in. they're like building blocks for reality models that we live in. Holding on to a belief/set of beliefs it's what chains. Instead of freely flowing, one becomes anchored to their belief through their own clinging to it. I don't know if it's possible to be without belief. what i know is that there's no sense of prison if there's no holding on. going with the first metaphor, a set of beliefs is more like a room than a prison if one doesn't lock themselves in it. they're free at any moment to leave it and enter another room and so on. being imprisoned in a set of beliefs it's a bit like agoraphobia, where the person becomes imprisoned in their own home by their own fear of what's outside. and about the idea that a person without beliefs wouldn't distinguish between right and wrong...beliefs are mind territory. the heart can distinguish and guide just fine without subscribing to any belief.

i didn't say the chair isn't real. it is. and that's the magic of it. it's real, you can sit on it and is made out of nothingness.

So you're done with understanding the 'natural' world and now you're moving on towards the supernatural? the chair you sit on is made out of nothing and you're now probably raising a made out of nothing eyebrow, which is not even yours because there's no you. this is the natural world. isn't it magic enough to deserve more exploring before moving on?

everyone interprets reality through the lenses of their beliefs. and that becomes their world. so... 1. the power of jesus's name on someone's lips is equivalent to their faith in jesus's name and all that it means for them. someone's faith 'focal point' might be as strong and have a name other than jesus and work as well. 2.what's the basis for this statement? the fact that in the christian bubble certain experiences are being interpreted as NDE? same kind of experiences happen outside the christian world too, they are just being interpreted (and ofc managed) differently and thus they won't count as NDE. if you ask the question looking through a biased filter, you'll get a biased answer. 3. again, bias. only someone with jesus in mind would ask entities about jesus the lord, no? there is already a set of beliefs there about jesus, what he represents, about a way an entity would react to jesus's name, etc. a trip is just like any other reality, is shaped upon one's beliefs. what one would experience as entities being hostile upon hearing jesus's name, another might experience as darkness dissolving when they think of light or little goblins running when a fairy is summoned. what i mean to say is trips are customized according to one's filters. 4. see above. same principle applies. 5. i don't get your point on this one. Circling back to your initial dilemma, same thing applies. Doubt arose on your path and it takes this form according to your set of beliefs. be at peace, doubt is ever present and natural. the truth of what you are and what your mind knows of it are at odds. they'll always be, because the mind can't grasp it, it can only circle around. there'll always be a sense of it's not quite it in your mind. that's the seed of doubt. mind will take it and weave stories upon it based on what it knows, on what you believe. the truth is the same, regardless of what one makes out of it. any story about it is as good as another, when you go at the root of it. when in doubt, analyse your intention. where does it come from? fear or love? how does it feel? unifying or separating? it's power driven or harmonizing? it's the most simple thing. don't go against your heart and you can't go wrong, regardless of the story you buy into. being your best self in any moment has nothing to do with your school of thought, because the inner guidance doesn't come through the mind, it's just being interpreted by it. drop your thoughts and listen to what's left. you'll know what to do.

In this 'part of the continuum', you kind of are your body, I kind of am my body. at the same time, there is no your or mine in the continuum, someone to be or own a body. it can't really be, no? it's a continuum. the body is more like a spot of condensed sense of self in the continuum. The strong sense of me/mine. It's distinct from what's around it, but is not separate. it's one of those this and that thingy, like everything else. You are your body and at the same time there is no-body and no you to have it. the paradoxical nature of the mystery is amazing, isn't it? being everything at once and none of it at the same time is totally mind blowing.

Trees are indeed wonderful. Every forest is an enchanted forest. I'd recommend anyone to befriend a tree. All it requires is love for the tree and openness. Once a connection through that opening is established, just sit by your tree friend and ask it to teach you. Their teaching is subtle and yet very clear, like a silent smile felt through the phone. They find the simplest and most clear metaphors to convey the indescribable. they're also wonderful silence companions. And you know that once you had a dog, you understand all dogs. once you had a cat, you understand cats. same with the trees. going in the forest after you've befriended a tree is a whole new experience than it used to be before.

Look back. Asking this question is proof that the first 3 steps had already happened. whatever they might have been for you.

if the world would be your mirror, can you see how the beliefs you are holding about reality, spiced with an eagerness to sense stuff, might reflect back at you as this thing happening? add to that the fact that you are interpreting what is happening through the lenses of said beliefs and you've got yourself a quite scary reality to live in. I am not saying that is not real. everything is as real as one believes it to be. i am just saying that it's up to you in which layer of reality you want to live. are there any benefits to it? compare the pros and cons. I mean, is a bit paradoxical. is it easier for you to believe that someone else is manipulating your reality with their thoughts, rather than believe that you are doing it? if i were you, i'd just go about my day peacefully, rather than feed a story that feels like too much work for too little gain. that's just me, tho. if to you creating and taking on a 'wizard challenge' of materializing thoughts being thrown back and forth feels fun and empowering in some way, do that.

something can't build up unless it's in a closed space, no? if anger comes up and you panic and think 'here we go again, alert, anger coming up!', that will trigger an automatic defense mechanism of 'closing the lid to avoid anger flood' and everything that comes up will meet that lid and build up underneath it. the body constricts trying to withstand/isolate the pressure and meditation becomes something you bare, instead of something you relax into, no? either know and understand the anger (anger is also you, after all, it's not separate from you), or just set it free without questioning it (if you feel it might be storing stuff that you don't want to confront). first step would be not judging it. anger is not good or bad, it's just there, being what it is. we tend to deem things as being bad if we look at them through the lenses of fear. so you might start by asking yourself, why is anger scary for you? what makes you push against it? what are your beliefs about anger? for a true inquiry, you'd have to drop those beliefs at least for the time of the inquiry, to see beyond of 'what you think of it'. just look at the core of it and see what you find there. if anger is what comes up in meditation, then this is what needs to be seen. everything that comes up wants to be seen and heard. it's not a 'meditation error'. the meditation is working, is just not working in the way you think it should work. also, let me ask you, what's meditation for you? it has a goal/purpose, or is an opening to what is?

It's ok to do whatever you feel inspired to do. there is no universal path. Don't overthink it. If you feel like reciting them, do. They/some might stick with you, they/some might fall off. Things have a way of coming in and out of our life naturally. we just like to think that we're doing all of it, that we somehow control life.

i think why the definition of enlightenment is such a tricky thing is because it's paradoxical. enlightenment is a never ending process because it's like gradually turning on the city lights into the infinite. which is infinite, so...never ending. at the same time, turning on the lights into the infinite only reveals the mystery. there's nothing to know there, really. nothing to chase, nothing to look for, nothing to achieve. so in a way, one may be enlightened once they realize the mystery and yet, at the same time, the enlightenment 'deepens' with the continuous unfolding of the mystery. how to convey it? it's like unwrapping a gift of a box in a box in a box in a box and so on for infinity. one is realized when they know with no trace of a doubt that it's just going to be a box in a box in a box for infinity and no matter how much unwrapping they'll do, they'll always find just the next box. once one realize is just boxes, they are enlightened. and yet, at the same time, the more they unwrap, the more they discover. it's just that they are free of the 'looking for something in there'. going with the gift boxes metaphor,awakening is the moment when one opens the first box. and there's no going back from it, once the unwrapping starts. an awakened one knows there's more to it, but they are still unwrapping with a purpose, they are still looking for something at the end of it.

there are no bad judgments. at any given moment, we are what we are and that's the most we can be in that given moment. the misreading of the signs is part of whom one is in that moment, is their 'signs literacy' level at that time. people have this tendency of beating themselves up with what ifs and could have done more and not good enough and finding error and guilt. every moment/experience is showing one where they're at, not where they aren't. where they aren't is all in their head, because if they aren't there, how could they really know where they aren't, you know what i mean? sometimes in retrospect something might look like a bad judgement and that's because in the meantime more data was accumulated and processed and the one looking back is not the same person who made the 'bad judgement'. life is like a refining process and all phases, experiences and moments are part of it. as they are. Responding to the title: what to me feels like a life crossroad is always a choice between 'i know for sure i don't want this' and 'whatever'. the sense is so strong that it doesn't even feel like a choice, really. it's like standing on the edge of a cliff. i might have no idea where i want to go from there, but i am sure i don't want to jump. so naturally, my next step will be moving away from the edge. then i'll see or time will tell, or whatever. i can only find my second step if my first one isn't over the edge of the cliff, you know?

meanwhile, in russia. people playing with superpowers to pass their time.

what about this thought? (i play with it sometimes, i never get anywhere) thinking in linear time: at some point in the future, mankind might really discover and use time travel. someone might go back to the past and change (enough of) it, that i (you/someone) never get born (the way i am now). I'd (you/someone) become like a story that never happened. and yet, i am alive now.

meditation is not equivalent to sitting. it can be sitting, but it can very well be moving too. sometimes my body wants to move. i let it move as it pleases and i silence my mind at the same time. it's nice too, because you'll notice the more you silence your mind, the more the body can move freely, exactly the way it needs to. it feels very good. you might find yourself in weird poses and wonder how did you get there. if you can't sit, it can only mean that you need to move, no? why analyse or try to push against it and not just move and see what happens? Edit: I don't see why you call an inner drive a problem and thus, try to fix it, rather than following it. don't use the meditation routine to become your own jailer. how could ever going against yourself and what you feel help you find yourself?

@thelerner , is not about picking on language (i can see tho how it can come across as that). is just that to me 'gaining enlightenment' sounds a bit like 'gaining an adult body' would. I wouldn't know what to answer, if the question is worded in that way. I understand that for others, 'gaining enlightenment' might sound more like 'gaining wisdom' would, so is possible for them to answer the question. @aetherous, about the second point you make in that list. it's true and not true at the same time, depending on your angle. you do still experience the entire range of emotions, is just that there is no concept of negative anymore, no urge to 'fix' how you feel, no holding on, no trying to get away from it or raise a shield. from where i am looking, i see all emotions as different expressions of love, customized to the moment. (looking at liminal_luke's example, anger can be seen as love for the self, for instance. it kicks in to protect the self) about the fifth point...that's true. and at the same time, is not really one's choice. isn't like one can force themselves to care about something, or care about it more than anything. if there's a sense that nothing else matters as much as it, that sense is just there. like hunger, or thirst. i can't make myself hungry/hungrier than i naturally am, you know what i mean? what i mean to say is that general lines about enlightenment are true in a sense, and at the same time they can also mislead, because one might tend to look for something that fits those lines, as they understand them. and there's always bias in understanding something. (like you know what you want to express when you say something, but i understand what i can from it, someone else understands what they can, and you can only assume what we've understood, based on our feed-back) and so, one might end up seeking something that only exists in their imagination, what they think they are looking for, what they think it is (like), while overlooking the very thing they are seeking, over and over, because it doesn't fit what they envisioned. that's why the forth point in your list -a clear definition of what it is- to me, is more like a hindrance, or limitation for a seeker. if you can fit it in a box and define it, that's not it. on the other hand, all the steps one makes are necessary for them and one's understanding keeps changing and morphing during one's journey naturally, sometimes subtle, sometimes in leaps, so there's no right or wrong way to think or to approach/seek it, all roads lead to rome eventually. every experience, every moment, is a step towards it. a dimension that i see often being neglected, is the depth. as in a line in a book can bring more understanding than a shelf of books, if one really looks into it and gets it's essence. or a moment of fully allowed feeling can bring about an inner switch greater than an adventurous year of seeking might. sorry for the long post. got lost in a typing mood. forgot where i was going with it, so i'll stop.

gaining? enlightenment happens.

Rather than pointing out what you perceive as negative traits (which will be met with resistance, in most cases), offer alternative points of view/angles of looking at things. In my experience, lending a hand or pulling someone from a (inner) 'dark space' involves meeting them where they currently are. You can't really save someone from drowning by standing on the side and yelling 'you are an awful swimmer, get yourself together and get out!'. You have to be willing to get in the water and pull them out, or at least throw a life saver, if you think they might have a chance to reach it. Also, ask yourself why do you want to intervene? is it really for his sake or for yours (as in to change him into someone who'd be more pleasant for you)? a sincere answer to this question should offer you more clarity.

@Foundit , did you find it recently? (and...I don't know how to ask this, because...words or even why i am asking this. did you feel the drop(-ing), or you just woke up in the ocean?) i am asking because from here it looks like there is still a tendency to do something with 'it'. or like it still wants to describe/test itself by making itself into a topic to be discussed. you know what i mean?

you'd probably have to look for 'muslim heretics' to find him/them. jesus was a jewish heretic, buddha was a hindu heretic, meister eckhart was excomunicated and the list can go on. because all roads lead to rome, there are mystics (over)coming from all religions and often times, when they rise above the lines of separation, their own religion sees them as a threat and discards them.

this definition of enlightenment is too narrow, from where i am looking. is like saying food is bread and carrots and discard all the rest. so if one would be looking for food and come across a basket of apples, would keep going by it, searching for carrots. try to understand this: everything that you can perceive (see, hear, sense, think, feel, imagine, etc) or conceptualize is not I AM. I AM is what's left, beyond the gates of perception and prior to concepts.

that sounds like some sort of mind rape.

what is the wrong dan dao?