stirling

I wouldn't worry about your lifespan, it's not up to you anyway... AND it's a fiction. You have exactly the time you need wake up. The lessons are available when you are sincere and willing to let go of your most cherished ideas. It is your heartfelt intention and honesty with yourself and reality that matter.

You probably need to frame that question: Is an immortal a person who lives forever, or that which has never been born and never died? One of these answers would be hilarious nonsense from the standpoint of enlightened mind - the other makes complete sense. Which amongst the two are you looking for?

Any mantra that replaces thought in the mind will work. The ones that have no conceptual meaning for you give you less to cling to, so would be preferred, IMHO.

How would you define a "soul" or "life force"? Would they be one and the same? I am no adherent of Gurdjieffs, but I would agree with him on this point. I am entirely convinced that both of these are merely conceptual constructs.

Ooops.... I am apparently still answering you! Sensation, empty of our interpretation is all there is. Phenomena appear and disappear experiencing. The flashing metal boxes we think we are measuring our reality with are mere abstractions, their measurements often bear no relation to what is sensed. Can anyone find the marvel of the first star appearing at twilight in such a device? You can't... it arises when all of the supposed achieving ceases. It actually happens to you all of the time. You are INTIMATELY familiar with it. IT is actually ALWAYS there. It is your thoughts that are adding something that isn't there to your experiencing. It really helps to have someone show you where to look in person. Where are you located? Somewhere in Europe, I would guess? Maybe I (or someone else here) could help find you someone who could show you in person. If you feel should pay for it, perhaps. I personally don't think you should need to, unless you feel motivated to support the organization, or facilities used by the teacher. What you are asking for is free and has always been your true nature. Even waking experiences are dreamlike, which is not to say they are a dream exactly. How often do you explain away your missing keys that you saw a moment ago on the table, or hearing the voice of a friend or loved one when no-one is there, never mind ghosts, time distortion, etc. Waking experience is actually the deepest level of duality, so, perhaps, the deepest dreaming. No-self = No problem. The mind works to find problems... to compare and contrast. Without it churning away, things are simply as they are. The mind and body are constructs of the self, and how you are used to imagining the world. The objects of your experience don't go anywhere, there is just the simple dropping away of constructed self in the silence of being. If you can construct a kind, but fearless sincerity you are on the right track. The willingness to surrender the idea that you must know everything frees up a lot of baggage. Would you believe that this is actually just another hardened idea? Ideas like this pre-limit how we interact with the world. I believe we ALL do. You belong here, now. Some of the people here seem to be good at seeing things as they are... or COMPASSION - being with what is. Why not work on that experience today? Help is here the moment you ask for it. Why not close your eyes for a moment, turn away from the computer and say something like, "I don't know what to do. I need and am open to help. Please help me." If you can wait and watch, if you are open to help EVEN IF it isn't how you want to be helped, it will be there. Deep bows to you... again.

The mind is like a jar of muddy water. Our thoughts take over our daily life. The voice of our thinking mind tells us we are stupid, unlikable, lazy, arrogant, etc. etc. We are confused, taken for a ride by the voice of our thoughts, suspicious, paranoid, afraid to be vulnerable. This muddiness causes our anxiety, fear, anger, and most intensely our deluded ideas about how things really are. Underneath this mind is a quiet, still awareness. This awareness, that is always present and never changes is what we really are. It is a joy to rest in, because we have never been apart from it. It has always been there. If we allow the mind to rest in this awareness through meditation practice, the mud in the muddy jar settles, the water clarifies, the mind is relaxed, joyful and clear. Repeatedly bringing the mind back home, to this awareness eventually makes it the predominant way of being. Commit to sitting in meditation 40 minutes a day or so. Learn to bring the mind back to this awareness once or more an hour, and keep increasing the amount of time the mind rests in it. It helps to have someone familiar with the awareness show it to you, so you know what you are looking for. At some point there is insight and understanding of what this mind really is - a permanent shift. These are ALL of the steps.

How are they two sides of the same coin? My experience is that the coin HAS no sides. When the mind is quiet and empty, there ARE no problems. It is worth investigating how that is possible. It is absolutely true that what is needed is always present if there is the ability to see it and listen to it. The value of a teacher is that they know the terrain and can directly point to what you are looking for. Supernatural phenomenon are as real as any other phenomena, which is to say they are inherently dreamlike. I have had many as well, and in no way discount them. When you have experienced being "just consciousness", are there still problems? Who is present during the experiencing? You seem humble, sincere, etc. to ME. I do notice a hardened set of ideas. It feels like you ask questions, but aren't interested in the answers if they don't agree with your ideas. This could be my imagination. I fully understand the feeling of not belonging. I never felt I belonged anywhere, UNTIL I realized that I had always belonged everywhere. Why does your apparent image in the world get created? The short answer is that it is created by how you push against the world. You get what you expect, and what you expect is rejection. If you truly believed that the world loved you, and approached it this way, how would it appear to you? It is worth an experiment. While you appear defensive, and don't seem that interested in other opinions, I do not see you in the negative ways you describe yourself. If you are here for help, and ask for it, you will find it granted - but you must be brave enough to ask. If you aren't here for help, but are here to validate your opinions you will be disappointed. The world has never been, and will never be what we think it is, or should be. Deep bows to you.

I see. Well... you have piqued my interest, but I cannot claim any academic standing with regard to Buddhism or Daoism, only actual insight, study with known teachers, and a once powerful and hearty autodidactic appetite. I have read and understood your reservations about posting here, but I doubt they will be anything worse than what you found elsewhere. If actual, practical knowledge is what you most thirst for, I would ask here. If it is merely about finishing your academic work, I'd look elsewhere. Best of luck.

NO academics from your resources, or those above have been willing to reply to your questions?

It's actually realizing that there never WAS a problem, or that there have never been "shortcuts". A competent teacher with understanding can demonstrate what is being pointed out. In Tibetan traditions this is called an "introduction to the nature of mind". Conceptually an enlightened person could be considered "amoral" EXCEPT that the very understanding of enlightenment actually engenders a sort kindness and compassion that is beyond what normally arises in a typical person. Hurting and killing are highly unlikely from this perspective. I'm not sure where you are gathering your information from, but it certainly doesn't match my experiences of people with deep insight.. Resistance happens because we believe we are in control of what is happening, or we attempt to resist things that have ALREADY happened. If you lose some money from your pocket you get angry... but why? It has already happened... your anger can change nothing. It is your resistance to the reality of your loss. The problem becomes that there is no acceptance of the reality of things as they are. Our projections about how we want the future to be, or wish the past had been are is the predominant form of suffering for most people. If you need help from others you HAVE to trust at some point. Why do you resist wanting to say it? Because it damages your image of yourself, right? This is the source of much of our suffering. Realize - that is not an image that I have of you, and whether or not you need help from medication has no bearing on how I see you. You create the image, and then your suffering based on your resistance to your reality. I agree that your serotonin level is probably not the entirety of your problem. This is where counseling helps. You begin to see what it is that you torture yourself with and that much of it isn't based in reality.

What would the conceptual framework for a "higher consciousness" or "spiritual truth and harmony ascending" even be, if there were such a thing. Could all people REALLY agree on what that might look like, or are they merely ideals and moral relativism that varies person to person? Right, wrong; good, evil; important, unimportant; according to whom? From whose perspective? It is the way of all the earth for most people to feel that those things that are closest to them are most important. From your perspective, you will most likely feel more distraught over the death of one family member than you will over the death of thousands in a foreign country you have never seen. From one perspective, an act of terror is evidence of evil; from another, it is evidence that God is great. It is neither; it just is. It all simply arises in the wholeness of Consciousness, which is totally impersonal, and entirely neutral. Right or wrong, important or not, are only your projections, from your perspective. - David Carse, "Perfect Brilliant Stillness"

I'm not sure there is a "party line" on that one, but if I had to take a stab at it I'd say that it is dualistic misinterpretation of thought and body sensation. Awakening is the sudden understanding there is only sensation appearing and disappearing. Even our thoughts are like this, being unreal due to their purely conceptual nature. Enlightenment is the understanding that time, space, self and other have never been real as we understood them. There is a unity present that has no parts... no facets, or separatenesses. It is one consciousness, one whole, one moment. Nothing in this moment is ever other than just as it should be. There is, then, a natural complete surrender to things as they are. Mental illness is seemingly the resistance to what is happening and our elaborately crenelated defenses against having our worst projections of the future be true. Sometimes those defenses are so elaborate and apparently real that the mind can get lost in them, and deep patterns develop that are hard to deconstruct. This is where mental health professionals are recommended... but note that these practices WERE the mental health practices available in the East for thousands of years, though they might not be considered the easiest route today. Speaking solely for myself, before insight I had diagnosed generalized anxiety disorder (which I took medication for) which would come and go day to day. I have not had anxiety since that day. How this would present in someone with schizophrenia I can't say for sure... I don't know anyone with a more serious mental illness that has awakened.

From a Buddhist perspective: If you have mild anxiety, and just want a calmer, quieter mind I would recommend 10 - 20 minutes of open awareness or samatha meditation a day. This is simply resting the mind in its own still nature. This will make you calmer, and less reactive when thing happen that don't meet your expectations in everyday life. If you have deeper mental illness, this pursuit may not be for you. These practices, Buddhism, Daoism, Qigong, Sufism and other non-dual systems at their CORE are intended to cause a perspective shift to a unity consciousness... this is what enlightenment is - seeing and understanding the underlying nature of reality. The point is to transform consciousness, not attempting to improve you experience of everyday delusion. People with mental illness often have acute resistance to this, and can make existing vulnerabilities MUCH WORSE. Much better in these cases to work on overarching psychological issues first and establish real stability, if seeing things as they truly are is desired. There is an old Zen saying: "Better not to start. Once started, better to finish" or a newer quote that covers it: "This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill—the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill—you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. Remember: all I'm offering is the truth. Nothing more." - Matrix

Indiken, In emptiness there is no subject to speak of an object. There are only objects. Even the "self", the "I" is an object. Speaking about emptiness is naturally a contradiction, as you rightly point out. This also means that there are no "practical" guides... or, for that matter a path, or guru. If there is no "self" and "other" there is no-one and no-thing to desire. Your experience with people WOULD differ, of course - it isn't the same. No "person" can be desire less. It is only emptiness/the Dao that be without desire. - At what other time would you return to emptiness, if not this lifetime? - No "person" would discard the raft in the middle of the river. There is no-one to discard the raft on the far side. There are no teachings needed or seen on the far side. Just THIS, happening NOW. The raft is a crutch. Once you can walk again, you don't need the crutch. The difference here is the realization that you NEVER needed the crutch, and that the crutch was an illusion the whole time. There is never seeing the crutch as real again. or: The teachings are a finger pointing at the moon. Once you see the moon, there is nothing else to do. Looking at the finger is unnecessary.

In emptiness, who is there to desire? In emptiness WHAT is there to desire? In emptiness there are no questions or answers. There is complete mystery, and the answer to all mysteries which is no answer at all. The concept of the Dao cannot point directly to emptiness - this deeper reality lacks a subject or object.

The butterfly video is great. As far as understanding it goes, the required perspective in this case is the non-dual perspective. This is the perspective seen in Daoism, Buddhism, Sufism, etc., often described with seemingly different or incongruous conceptual frameworks, though this is illusory as they are wholly compatible. In the non-dual perspective there is ONLY awareness present. If "your" hand is seen, there is "hand awareness". If a butterfly is seen there is "butterfly awareness". If there is looking in a mirror, there is "figure in the mirror (insert name here) awareness. Self is not the "observers" point of view... the self is just another object that awareness inhabits. Awareness is always where it is sensed, not from any central viewpoint, and is ultimately empty of any appellation or qualities.

IMHO, the direct path is to allow all conceptual ideation to settle out and become quiet in meditation. Very few are able to start there - feel like they must be "doing" something. The variety of paths and techniques all end right back at this point... the mind, settled out like a muddy jar left on the shelf, the self and other empty and quiet. The world will be a darker place without crazy old Norbu casting his light into the corners. Deep bows to Rinpoche and his teachings.

What is it that an Archon sees or knows that someone trapped in the Matrix does not? IMHO all chakra systems are Relative teachings. They are ways of visualizing "blockages" and other phenomena that are ultimately illusory. https://www.lionsroar.com/what-are-the-two-truths/

Probably the hardest, IMHO (from a Buddhist perspective) is simply resting in open awareness. Most people are unable to do this and need some sort of exercise, or external contrivance to allow them to realize the futility of attempting to manipulate reality. Realization inevitably ends in the simple resting in open awareness and seeing through the one who "does" anyway.

I misunderstood your question, figuring it was related to the other topic, but I will still say that in business, CONVENTIONAL wisdom (i,e. experience) is valued primarily. I have heard any number of directors and VPs at various Fortune 50 companies that they don't like to have to train new MBA's, or people who haven't worked at their level yet to do their jobs. It takes intellect to develop wisdom, but with a small "w" and a large one, but it is secondary. For survival or well-being? I want the person who has personal experience, and repeatable success... the guy who knows how to improvise based on experience. Do you want Bear Grylls or the guy who memorized all of his books? - From the perspective of my original point, ultimately Prajna Paramita (or alignment with the Dao if you prefer, being the same) is ideal preparation for ALL situations ALWAYS trumping intellect.

Intellect is reading the recipe carefully, getting the idea of what the ingredients are, memorizing the process and imagining the outcome. Wisdom is knowing what it is to make the recipe, knowing that it mistakenly suggests keeping something in the oven for far too long, knowing that you need salted butter despite the instruction, and knowing ultimately what the golden, flaky crust of the outcome is REALLY like and why it is worth the effort. What is the world like when this story is followed to its conclusion? Can it ever be forgotten? No. This is wisdom. - In Buddhism there are six senses, one more in addition to our standard 5 - the 6th being mind, or thought. Thought creates another input to our senses based on its interpretation the other senses, but it is no more exalted than the others, and in fact must be watched carefully. We often mistake the story mind tells us about sense-information for who or what we are, and its conclusions about reality AS reality. The mind, the intellect, is NOT a process for seeing reality as it is - it is a way to divide reality into sections and imagine how these illusory separate bodies interact. There ARE no divisions in infinity. Buddhisms chief perspective on this is Dependent Origination. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pratītyasamutpāda Try this: What exists that is not dependent on something else for its existence? Further reading: https://www.lionsroar.com/the-fullness-of-emptiness/

This reminds me of the Rainbow Body practices of Tibetan Buddhism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_body It is generally NOT advised to practice this as it supposedly shortens life. For reference - enlightenment is precisely the realization that there IS no "self" that "does" or "chooses", there is only intention rising naturally and passing, like all phenomena, having nothing whatsoever with a person or choosing. So then, the practices, the practitioner, and the story of the results all are illusory. Why not relax?

My recommendations from personal experience. If it's about sutra/sutras you might try Michael Owen: Or Buddhism in general, or more specifically Tibetan Buddhism traditions: https://bobthurman.com ...or B. Allan Wallace: https://www.alanwallace.org In Zen, I'd point to Norman Fischer: https://www.normanfischer.org - From what I can surmise, there are a number of people here able to answer your non-historical philosophical questions, myself included. Try one.

Someone who has absorbed the practices intellectually and come to their own opinion about the "best way" could lead you on a lifetime of practices, seeking unsuccessfully. Someone who understands the nature of reality could say the right thing and you might get it. If you were lost would you want a guy who had read tons of maps, but had never been to your destination, or someone who made it there and could go back at any moment? In truth NO practice enlightens. The simplest practice is simply letting the mind rest in its own nature in my opinion - but most will need a much more convoluted path so that they feel they are "doing" something. The path and opportunities you need will present themselves if you are paying attention and avail yourself of them.

Is intellectual understanding of the associated literature what you are looking for, or insight/wisdom understanding what you are looking for? These are not necessarily always present in one individual, and not of the same relevance ultimately.