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Hey all , There is an amazing app which will help in learning scriptures and mythology .Everyone of you have to check it out it is very very nice . The app gives alot of information and also is children friendly .

For the sake of this post, let's assume starting from (before) Lao Tzu, Buddha, Adi Shankara, other prophets..... to ... Ramana Maharishi...... to ............. today (those that say they are enlightened) and have a huge following, that give lecture, have written books or scriptures (were written later based on their teachings), are all enlightened. Now that we made that assumption, do all these enlightened masters agree on any one single thing? If so, what is it? Some say world is illusion and just like bubbles, some other say yeah it's illusion but there is one truth behind it, some say no it's no illusion, it is very real, there are many things, only this moment is true...... Pray to one God, many Gods, don't pray to God, Just be, accept, surrender, observe, live in the present, knock and it will be opened, be still and know who you are.... - we reincarnate, all is per karma, some don't agree or the karma or reincarnation topic is not even worth talking about..... - do practices, yoga, alchemy, do self enquiry -- don't do any of these, they are all useless. Many say there is no suffering after enlightenment. There is no unanimous agreement on this also. If the enlightenment is the same state that all of them attained, then how come they all don't agree on any single thing? If I ask this question, then I am told, "This state can not be described by words neither can it be taught to anyone." Then why did all of these people give lecture about enlightenment, or life. If none of them can describe or communicate it, what is the point of all these lectures, teachings and books?

So in chapter 16 of the TTC, it ends with: "Immersed in the wonder of the Tao, you can deal with whatever life brings you. When death comes, you are ready". Ready for what? Is this gone into detail in any Taoist texts? At all?

This topic appears from time to time in posts on other topics but I haven't seen a topic dedicated to this question of book study in cultivation. Below is a quote from page 11 of Master Nan-Huai-Chin's "Working Towards Enlightenment." Note that Nan-Huai-Chin has been recognized as being Enlightened by a number of masters of the Buddhist tradition. "Suppose people wanted to become buddhas - to study the Buddha Dharma. If they were to take these works listed above (about 25 Buddhist scriptures), and spend three to five years of effort reading and studying to enter deeply into them and put their contents into practice, this would definitely be enough. It would be best if everyone could awaken without departing from the scriptures and treatises. Some think that all that is necessary is to cultivate practice and do meditation work. They think that it is not necessary to read the scriptures and treatises. This is absolutely wrong. We must recognize that in doing meditation work, if we do not clearly understand the principles, if our views are not correct, then our meditation work will not be able to get on the right track. In other words, if our meditation work is not done well, it is just because we have not mastered the principles involved." Yes? No?