stirling

Some people need the help of a therapist, yes. Buddhism does not recognize, or attempt to work with the psychological model. IMHO, a Buddhist teacher has no business attempting psychological work. These are two very different and incompatible ideas about what "mind" is. I encourage all of my students to seek help from a psychologist where their need diverge from dharma. It CAN be, yes. Buddhism has its own methodologies for working with "bypassing", primarily through compassion/loving-kindness practices. A good teacher includes such teachings and practices from the beginning for this very reason. It is entirely possible to be an enlightened asshole. Unripened knowledge of enlightenment can lead a student down myriad rabbit holes, agreed.

Having non-dual understanding replace the assumption that separateness is the base reality IS weird, yes, but it isn't foreign, since it is an experience all people already have at times in their everyday lives. Anyone curious to see what enlightenment looks like can have it pointed out by a teacher who has seen it from any tradition. I agree! This is why Buddhists are encouraged to try the practices for themselves. Buddhism is not intended as a belief system. In our case, we are encouraged to test a set of propositions by looking at why underlies experience when the mind is still. It is experiential knowledge that truly matters, not conceptual overlays. That's great. There are enlightened "beings" walking the world that I know that are contractors, librarians, accountants, painters, and more enjoying their lives living amongst people enjoying the world just as it is moment to moment. NO need for austerity, and certainly no need to pretend to "be" anything. Thank you. I'd say the same for you. No soul to find here, however! I'd call myself "post-Buddhist". No path left. It is my feeling that there is room for all practices and paths. I only stopped by to clarify a few points about Buddhism. _/\_

I didn't intend to hijack your thread, only to clarify a misconception about the Buddhist view. My apologies if I have hijacked it. _/\_ Yes, by Self I mean the Oneness, or Unity of things, (Brahman, for example). Yes. In Buddhism, anything created is a "Relative" or provisional construct which relies on other things for its reality, seeming to have a reality as a separate thing but always truly an Absolute ("uncreated") reality. We believe we interact in the world as "self", but are always actually "Self". True in Buddhism also , but ultimately any reality of true separateness from the Absolute is eventually understood to be a delusion. Also, I wouldn't say "transforming", it is ultimately discovered that we have always been the Absolute, and that all Relative appearances have also always been the Absolute: As I mentioned before, there is no denial of "self", but an admonition to see how durable "self" is as an object that has it's own intrinsic reality. Is realization that the "self" doesn't exist as we thought it did a realization that is satisfying to a "self"? That wouldn't make any sense, if you think about it. Deep respect to you on your path, and for the well-being and realization of all Sufis. _/\_

Interesting! Hope you'll share some of those documents with us! Welcome to the board!

It's possible. I have seen auras of various types, but it is far easier to understand people based on how open or closed they are to experience. Karma is simple: Attachment, aversion and our story about how/what/why that exists. It would be extraordinary to see that, yes, but it isn't that hard to see or understand once you realize what causes it. Karma is created by our constructed story about ourselves, and reality. Reality is just how things are, without our stories about how reality is. Reality is how we experience it. Someone else's stories about reality are not reality. What do you observe? What do you notice about people's behavior, and how they filter reality through their thoughts, beliefs and opinions? Reality is how things are without those thoughts, beliefs, and opinions. Our story is always a distortion - a delusion.

Just for clarity sake - the "self"/ego (as opposed to "Self") isn't transcended, destroyed, regulated, or tamed, it is seen for the illusory construct it always has been. It is a realization and a perspective shift into seeing something that is blatantly obvious and was always the case.

Every time you meet someone guarded, or afraid you are seeing the karma on them. People with no karma are open and kind, unafraid of you injuring their "self". It isn't magic.

After receiving pointing out instructions from a Nyingma teacher (and finally getting it) in the 1990's this was also my practice. A brief glimpse of emptiness so that I recognized it, then using my practice to return to it in as many daily experiences as I could. Just to clarify, we are talking about "awakening" or "non-dual" insight, yes? A sudden experience after which the nature of reality as "non-dual" can never be questioned again? Can you SEE that non-duality in this moment? How does it present? This sounds something like what is commonly termed "kundalini". Speaking for myself "energy" phenomena were not terribly strong in my development. I think these phenomena CAN be a feature of "awakening" but aren't necessary. This is how mine experience with "energy" presented itself, in a modest way... I would add also that it manifested as a localized warmth in the front of my skull. I have not experimented with this, honestly. What I see during the night occurs when I wake up in the night. Generally, I can get up, walk around, and return to my original position and what I see will re-appear in that spot. What I see is dependent on the causes and conditions of the room, and perspective from where I see it. I see a number of "classes" of "beings". Some of what I see are shapeless and vaguely anthropomorphic in nature, and having little or no detail. I see entities that are like yours, strangely shapen with entirely animal, or human/animal hybrid shapes - these can be greatly detailed. I see what I think of as the "dead", beings who are human in shape, some of which are whole, perhaps wanly looking into the distance, but many obviously suffering from sometimes horrific disfigurements or catastrophic injuries, some in great detail. I see monks, looking like your typical Franciscan hooded variety, but with no faces, only darkness in their hoods. They will stand, still and silent in a corner, in groups, or even at my bedside. Twice they have stood by my bed with pale gold swords, as if offering them to me. The monks are more often than not ENTIRELY realistic, colored, shaded, textured. I have reached out to them, but they are always just out of reach. I have also seen gods and angels of various kinds. After doing the Holy Guardian Angel (Thelema) summoning on a whim (thinking it should be possible after I read it) within a week there "it" was, at my bedside in painstaking detail. Some time after that there was a "Michael" with flaming sword (so many swords!), Mary, Jesus, Kali, Durga, and some other Hindu gods I had verify against pictures, but so far no Buddhas, which are, of course, NOT gods. I should mention that my family were not religious... these icons mean nothing in particular to me. In waking life I see dark figures in the distance that follow me in some locations (in the forest for example), "sparkles" for lack of a better word, and many things just on the periphery of my sight. Aside from getting the "chills" or hair standing on my arm when I notice something "paranormal", I am not aware of any other associated phenomena. I generally agree with your assessment. Where "self" is no longer in the way, the fullness of just how much arising and passing of phenomena begins to be more obvious, and the filtering drops out. What we see has always been there, it isn't new. Like you, I became interested in trying to understand what was happening... label and define it... create a story or explanation for it. Before I go further, what is your understanding of time and space in terms of your non-dual insight? What have you learned or observed about it as your insight has deepened? Do you mean "intrinsic existence" of their own? "We" are all one, but that is only the smallest part of the equation. It is only someone who believes in the "self" that could imagine nihilism, or some magical ability of inaction where causes and conditions cover a situation. Doesn't sound like a community with any real wisdom present. Kindness is usually the hallmark of a community or person with understanding. My suggestion would be to circle back and look at the non-dual nature of time and space. What ARE they, if non-duality is nature of reality? I'd be happy to share what I have learned. Message me.

An interesting first post. I have had many of the same experiences, including visits from various beings in both waking and sleeping. This all began happening after complete stabilization of "no-self". The purple object in question, from a Buddhist perspective, is called a Nimitta. Some traditions will say it corresponds to a level of practice if you can put your attention on it and it stays in place, other that is an "energy" phenomena, or linked to a particular "chakra" or other things of the like.

I'm almost certain that what you are looking at there is a automatic board generated message, Ralis. It was most likely generated because the status of a post on the board was changed to deleted or hidden. We don't have access to your private messages, and your personal email (likely hosted by a large corporation with encrypted security) would be far beyond our ability to read or control.

_/\_

People get all excited about the rarity or difficulty of reaching "cessation" (4th Noble Truth), but in fact it happens in short bursts all the time, and is completely familiar to most people once they realize what it is. ...of course these cessations lack the complete realization of what they actually are, and the depth of emptiness it is possible to understand and appreciate.

Mr. Stimpy, SO much gold in these posts... but I would love to see the attributions that go with them. I collect these sorts of things. _/\_

Believe it or not, even a sneeze, or a sudden surprise will do it as well.

There isn't any intrigue. The owner could come here an interact at any time, and did for many years, but chooses to put their energies into other things these days. We are fortunate that they haven't decided to pull the plug on this board. If you have cognitive dissonance about how things are operated, you have myriad other choices. The owner continues to fund this place out of the goodness of their heart. This board costs money, and doesn't make any. As we are all guests here, we should behave respectfully, thankfully and kindly, both to each other, and toward the moderators and owner. Membership here is a privilege, not a right.

It is worth listening to our brilliant friend Doc, here. I might have said some of it, but greatly enjoyed reading all of it. Actually, I think you have made some progress, from an intellectual standpoint. If there is a "self" what IS it. Does it always have the same thoughts... do the senses always see from the same perspective? Do you meet the same "I" every time you sit on the cushion? Are you the same person when you are at work, or with your partner, or with old friends, or are these selves different? Is there really ONE "self" that you can point to? Where there is just stillness of the mind in your sitting, is there a "self" watching, or separate objects in your view? With your eyes open and without thought filling your mind with conceptual objects, is there anything that has existence of its own as separate, or just a panorama of color, shape, and light in your view? Look carefully when the mind is still. The very basis of everything is present when the mind is still. It is a ripe opportunity for seeing things as they truly are. - Don't expect to get this because we are pointing at it, or from reading this on a board, though it COULD happen. It is hard, in my experience, to impart these ideas without at least some face to face Zoom work. Still... just looking at this again and again could crack it. Feel free to message me if you are truly curious about this.

In our discussion elsewhere about how one would prove such ideas - how would you know if any of that was true?

I went for an amazing walk out today the sea today, and listened to this: It was a spell, in the way that all good sutras should be, and brought about a lovely deep stillness. Maybe this spell will work for you too? _/\_

Find out for yourself!

Just for clarity sake - these are all the same "attainment" if you can call it that.

_/\_

Enlightenment is an entirely objective realization. Enlightenment (oneness as you put it) breaks the subject/object way of seeing. It wouldn't be oneness unless it did! Agreed, except that no human will ever CONTROL their thoughts, what is required is to let thoughts settle out by no longer stoking and feeding them into mental dialog. Thoughts and feelings don't ultimately belong to a "self", they arise and pass away in awareness in the same way that anything else - the wind, a bird flying by, an ache - arise and pass. It isn't. Realizing that we ARE that awareness is. How would you know? No human has ever been enlightened. Enlightenment has only woken up to itself. Humans are part of processes, unfoldments, gods, social clubs, and the rest ONLY in the dream of separateness - duality. Enlightenment is the realization that what we ARE is that pure awareness. It rather changes the rules somewhat.

Pretty phenomenal performance yesterday… and I properly pushed it. I think that’s two good days from here. Would love to know ( and think it would be beneficial) what has been manipulated to get us back on track.

I answered this question on the "Transmission" thread:

You aren't LOOKING at the oneness... you are looking at the separateness that arises from it.