Giles

Luckily, I'd had a pretty good "mind cleanse" prior to encountering the cult that taught these practices. 🤣 No. I developed some later myself.

You may be interested to learn that he published a new book about a year ago entitled Mastering Meditation: Eight Steps From Beginner to Adept. I've just bought the Kindle version and started reading it. So far, so good, although I feel that he has a tenuous grasp of science at best and no expertise whatsoever in medical statistics.

Basically, it took about 18 months of ancient traditional meditation practices, which involved spending about 20 hours per week on the cushion. Prior to that I spent about 6 months doing preparatory practices (breath and mantra meditation) plus switching to a vegetarian diet and following the yamas & the niyamas.

Nirvikalpa: https://www.learnsanskrit.cc/translate?search=nirvikalpa&dir=au Samadhi is the eighth and final step on the path of yoga, as defined by Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras

That's interesting dwai. Before "my" (impersonal) Self-realization (of nirvikalpa samadhi), everything was trucking along just fine for me, as it does for many other unenlightened people. Self-realization made not an iota of difference to the enjoyment or to the practicalities of life for this jiva. For me and, I've repeatedly discovered, for many other people happiness without cause is just our default setting and, I've also discovered that it's pretty easy for anyone to access that default setting without bothering with the hassle of meditation, Self-inquiry etc., etc. And, FWIW, it never seemed to me, before or afterwards that Brahman was ignorant of its own true nature. The revelations for me were just that enlightenment is entirely impersonal, that Atman is indeed Brahman and that the fabric of creation is woven from Love.

Using the term Self-realisatin certainly works OK me too (although, unlike you apparently, I dont experience any emotional charge associated with the word enlightenment). 😊 So Brahman is ignorant of its own nature, which is SatChitAnanda (at least according to the basics of Advaita Vedanta)?

Experientiallly or merely intellectually? Would you mind explaining how you reached the conclusion that Grace = causes and conditions please?

Probably...

Can we agree to label it as "enlightenment" too, or not? If not, I'm happy to use the term Self-realisation, which, to me, is synonymous. 😊 My understanding of the Advaita Vedanta position is that the nature of Brahman is SatChitAnanda. Am I mistaken, in your opinion?

What realization, enlightenment or some other realization? So you're asserting that ananda is merely a phenomenal experience, as opposed to a direct experience of Brahman as SatChitAnanda?

Your reply doesn't address my question, which you qoted. So, I'll repeat my question one more time: Hope that's OK with you?

You appear to be asserting that ananda has a cause. Are you claiming to be in a permanent state of irrelevant bliss?

... in your experience/opinion, dwai, presumably? In my experience/opinion, "the old Ananda thing" is a useful marker, which eaily and definitely separates the wheat from the chaff. 😊

Do you hate Buddhism/Buddhists?

A review of James's book, The Essence of Enlightenment: Vedanta, the Science of Consciousness, by one of his former students: Source: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/review/1591812771/R1C0DN3JT26MLJ?ref_=cm_sw_r_mwn_dprv_0XV4TDHDQS3GFCYSXD8T&language=en_US Remember, dwai: Brahman is Sat, Chit and Ananda...❤️

Perhaps there's actually no real argument? 😊

Would you mind elaborating please? Specifically: who are "we", why do you believe that "we" have any ability to set a bar regarding enlightenment and what "development" do you believe needs to be done in order for an individual to be on the receiving end of Grace?

If you're referring to this: I second your recommendation. Resonant breathing, also known as coherent breathing, is an extremely powerful and effective practice. You can also download the latest Heartmath cult app, which would allow you to try out their mechanically assisted biofeedback method for free using the camera on a compatible phone as a sensor if you don't want to buy one of Heartmath's (very expensive) sensors.

Might be of value for those interested in the jnana yoga route? 🤷🏻‍♂️ http://web.archive.org/web/20240227034155/https://realization.org/p/iamquiet/what-is-enlightenment-and-how-do-you-find-it.html

Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence. Aristotle

I'll bite. 😊 Coherent breathing: easy to learn, easy to practice & scientifically verified. ❤️

By "coincidence" (🤣), I stumbled across a translation of the Heart Sutra yesterday. I will read it shortly. Cool. 😊 I'll DM you after I get around to reading the Heart Sutra. Hoping that, in the first instance, it might be possible for us to meet and share in person over a coffee/tea (as I find typing a bit tedious 🤣).

I know. 😊 Indeed, although, is it not the case that there are apparently two main categories of awakening experiences: 1. Enlightenment in the presence of self and objects: sahaja samadhi and 2. Awakenings in the absence of self and objects: nirvikalpa samadhi? Is it not also the case that true enlightenment depends upon experiencing/having experienced both (i.e. the relative ultimate reality as well as the ultimate reality)? That's true. 😊 Happy to.give it a go with you via private DM if you like? Thank you Friend. 🙏

Yes. In the relative sense. However, no, not in the ultimate sense, as I've already stated, several times, as clearly as possible...

No need to apologise Tommy! After all, I'm just another random, anonymous member of this bulletin board and, IRL, just another totally ordinary and entirely unremarkable human being. 😊 Plese note that I've already stated that it wasn't me who "attained" anything. I just followed some simple instructions by meditating for about 20 hours a week for about 18 months using an fairly obscure but well-documented ancient method that was passed on to me by someone who themselves claimed to be enlightened. The apparent result of that effort on my part was enlightenment and part of that realisation was that, ultimately, I did nothing: enlightenment was/is always entirely down to Grace (merely IMO/IME, although.., I subsequently discovered that many ancient religious texts also point to that conclusion). Again, apologies for my previous apparent lack of clarity.