Nonduality/Enlightenment

Having explored into this field, I would say it's probably useful as a thought experiment, but I would focus on what you perceive. Illusory or not, it's real enough to you and that's what really matters.

I would say be compassionate and empathetic as much as you can and work towards having influence & power to leverage towards spreading that compassion around. Utilitarianism makes a good argument to me though, even with its flaws.

>>19275572
>Is this some key, some principal of the universe?
Yes. You are you regardless of how much you think you are you. The idea that thought affects identity is a limited proposition at best, and there are fundamental truths to learn about the nature of cognition if you accept that your youness is automatic regardless of the degree to which your """"ego"""" currently stifles that automation.

Real enlightenment doesn't have to do with nonduality. It means understanding yourself, god, and your relationship with him (krsna prema).

The experience of the "I am Atman," of the dissolution of the self into the oceanic One of God, is only the first step on the journey, and it's the one that most seekers get hung up on.

The real trick is to accomplish that feeling, to understand the universal ROOTEDNESS of all being in the One, but to understand your own higher Self, as an irreducible element. We don't exist merely to negate our own existences, to dissolve back into God. We exist as Selves, as Persons, for a reason. Everything has a reason. Nothing about being is accidental.

The truly awakened soul will know the infinite depths of the well of Spirit, but also understand the world of contingent being, matter, psychological and philosophical development, as the necessary counterpart of Spirit. Not an afterthought, not merely an emanation.

>>19275572
Be careful with Non-duality information these days anon. It's become a cultic fad. You don't want to get sucked into that.

Nonduality is a description of the nature of self. Note that it is a description, a pointer. What it points to is central to everything. What it points to also can never truly be put into words. It cannot be understood intellectually. So never mistake the words for the real thing.

>Should I pursue enlightenment? Should I pursue nonduality? Are they the ultimate Truth?
You should do whatever you think is necessary.

Why do all the people who have "destroyed" their egos turn into total fucking narcissists? Y'ever think maybe it's because they've destroyed their own capacity to notice themselves as distinct from their environment?

Smashing a mirror doesn't cause you to cease existing. It just takes away your ability to reflect on your own actions and improve.

>>19276537
Because faggots mysticised the concept of enlightenment to the point where it became a goal rather than the means to an end.

>>19276537
One point of view is that the enlightened, having seen through the illusions of separation, now freely and honestly chooses to fully engage in the game of ego, taking it to a fun extreme, knowing it is all just a game.

>>19276537
>Why do all the people who have "destroyed" their egos turn into total fucking narcissists? Y'ever think maybe it's because they've destroyed their own capacity to notice themselves as distinct from their environment?
The outer world is a reflection of the inner world

Advaita is literally retarded and for chumps. Go ahead and seek moksha while I fuck your gf.

>>19275572
The goal is not to detach from reality.The goal is to experience reality in its purest form.

I'm not enlightened but I have had brief awakenings.Only the moment exists.Illusion is shattered.Emotions recognized as temporary and most of them shallow. The complexity of the world comes into focus,its similarity to smaller scale organisms.Its hard to explain.

Buddhism isn't all about enlightenment.Buddhism encourages you to take things at face value and choose a path.

>>19275919
Good shit. OP, listen to this guy. The spirit is something over and above mystical oneness because it's what is necessary for that experience in the first place.

>>19275572
The best book series I have read whose main message is unity is the law of one. It's kinda crazy but fascinating, wether it's true or not. I think the main message is extremely positive.
The authors' website has the books in free pdfs (llresearch.org), or this site (lawofone.info) has all the relistened and searchable sessions.

>>19275572
first step is to stop eating meat

>>19275572
The truth cannot be fathomed, it cannot be spoken and it cannot be gained. Non-duality and Enlightenment are just tools, means to an end so to speak.

>>19276537
>>19276595
They don't get the true meaning and are stuck thinking they have achieved something, which makes them arrogant, ignorant and deluded.

>>19279041
This one is on the right way, but be careful not to be led astray

>>19282101
>be careful not to be led astray
Or alternatively: Be led arbitrarily astray, because you know in your soul, even if your mind can't ever process it, that you'll always find your way back.

Always.

>>19282113
I know it mind and soul, but I'm soul-sick of the slowdown.

Sorry, I'm not even the person you're replying to.

>>19282120
>I'm soul-sick of the slowdown.
Mental sickness can feel like soul sickness if you take your own mind too seriously. Trust me, it's not soul sickness.

>>19282113
This is not the true path

>>19282131
I believe in a unitary conception of mind and soul, and blame spiritual ideas like yours for this world being awash in fucking nepenthe. Fuck off and learn something that matters to your soul already so your mind can start knitting in where it ought to be.

>>19282134
>>19282131
Relatedly, stop tolerating shit in your mind that you wouldn't tolerate in your soul, so your soul will stop revulsing when your mind touches it.

>>19282133
All paths are true/possible. That's what makes it interesting. Trying to be overprotective isn't even a possible path, because you can't protect souls from themselves. It's literally a figment of ego, an imaginary control mechanism that bears no manifestation in the world beyond your mind.
>>19282134
I'm sure you do, which is why I brought it up. I don't believe in censoring myself for the sake of the sensibilities you've acquired from your beliefs.

The sensibilities you've acquired from your actual experiences on the other hand, now those are something I care to deal with.

Don't mind if I poke you directly in the beliefs. It's a sign of respect, that I think you can handle hearing alternate perspectives.

>>19282147
Oh boy. You're sure poking me right in the beliefs, anon. You're hitting me with the whole condescending confidence projection shtick, because that sure doesn't hint at hidden underlying weakness.

>>19282158
>hidden underlying weakness
If you can see it then we're similar enough to see each other. You're not wrong, but I've come to terms with that pain. I'll be interested in seeing who you are when you're ready to be seen of men.

>>19282147
>souls
I respect your beliefs anon, that doesn't make it true, I wish you the best of luck

>>19282176
Sorry, I have a bit too much experience to sympathize with the part of your path you're on right now. Even without separation, there's something real about your current manifestation.

Luckily I don't feel any need to convince you that you have one, as you'll figure it out eventually anyway.

>>19282198
>I have a bit too much experience to sympathize
Arrogance and a lack of Compassion. I am sorry you have to experience this.

>>19282213
To have experiences is no more arrogance than it is painful to have skin.

You're not in need of any compassion at the moment, though you are more than welcome to disagree, given as you've yet to share the whole of yourself.

>>19282218
Experience is as useful as dogshit

>>19282252
Depends on the experience desu.

>>19282257
>desu
Pretty annoying filter to be honest.

>>19282296
not the right thread for that, start a new thread with this specific question

>>19275572
>>19275879
>>19275919
>>19277191
all that hindus need to answer is why they believe that drinking cow pee is road to salvation

>>19276606
In the words of Khyentse Rinpoche:

"If you find a mirage in a desert. Knowing its a mirage. You have 2 options. The cowards leave. The courageous will play and have fun with the mirage fully knowing its an illusion.
You can wear diamonds and golden chains, drive a hummer, have teeth made of gold, wear expensive clothes, as long as you understand its an illusory display and are willing to give it all up instantly without any negative emotions or grasping for an 'I' "

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Enlightenment is two fold.
Wisdom (of emptiness) + Compassion(bliss).
Wisdom without compassion is nihilism.
Compassion without wisdom is stupidity.
The non-dual aspect is simply that wisdom and compassion are absolutely equal and one nature, but relatively appears as having 2 modes. Like 2 sides of the same coin.

Emptiness IS appearence.
Appearence IS emptiness.

Anger, attachment and ignorance derive from the path of total enlightenment. The five objects of enjoyment, too, are said to be the ornaments of the ultimate dimension.

Both samsara and nirvana are illusions and the nature of emptiness.
Realizing that is Enlightenment.
From the point of view of non-duality samsara and nirvana are equal.
Somebody who chooses nirvana above samsara still lives in a dualistic mode of thinking.

>>19282113
This right here. It draws me to something I read before.

"Zen is not in the quiet and the serene. Zen is in washing the dishes, Zen is in the busy street or on the bus."

Straying from the marked path is not only beneficial but it's necessary.

>>19283020
She T H I C C

more?

>>19275572
duality means both traits of male and females meaning swings from emotions to logic like a bipolar poerson and noduality means combining both male and female into one single vortex/fountain. Idea is to become Christ like aka crucified at the center of your head and pelvic

My biggest problem right now, during this process of self reflection, is the feeling of almost hatred that I feel about seeing others be so... selfish, and destructive. Even seeing people I love, differently, because of the things they idolize or put importance to. Anyone have any tips how to get past this way of thinking, it certainly can't be helpful, or on the right track.

>>19285442
Why deny how you feel?

Why ever act on it?

(bump for all the anons in the other threads talking about the same thing)

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>>19285442
Why turn that hatred into empathy?
>Being selfish creates self-destruction and misery
>Feeling miserable is not fun
>Therefore I feel compassion, love and sympathy for selfish people.

You should see egoistic people as being sick. Are you gonna hate on sick people? Thats not rational.

In the "Guide to A Bodhisattva way of life" by Shantideva
It says: If my enemies attack me, they will go to the hell realm for their negative karma.
Therefore I feel sad and comppasionate for my enemies. May the hell realms be emptied forever.
And it also says:
Knowing how hard it is to tame my own mind, I feel compassion for others who are also unable to tame their mind.
Another great saying in the book:
People who are healthy do not need a doctor, sick people need to be healed.
People who have love do not need my compassion. People who have hatred need my love.
And another:
If a person with a stick beats me. To be angry at the stick is illogical, because the stick is controlled by a person.
However to be angry at the person is illogical.
Because the person's mind is just like the stick being controlled by something else. Which is hatred and emotional disturbances.
So I should really by angry with hatred itself.
Only a fool would by angry at a dog for not being able to speak a human language.
Pic related its Shantideva

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>>19285437

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>>19285437
Union

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>>19275572
>Are they the ultimate Truth?
Buddha said by himself that he will not tell ALL TRUTH because it's not path for calm and happiness

and like post modernism said
you will never know the ultimate true by any human language

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>>19275572
I always found non-duality to be a very human experience. We are very dual in our natures and our lives - male, female etc. it is a group lesson for humanity to move beyond the pull of opposites, to recognize that each pole is one side of the same coin. Male and Female are of each other, like light and dark, right and wrong...all duality is one. I believe that when a Human has truly ascended beyond dual thinking and dual living, transformed the opposites within himself from 2 to 1, the process continues, and a new challenge begins. Duality will not be a concept or a truth there, in the higher states, the way it is here, on the material plane.

As another anon said, I find it a useful thought experiment, but I by no means find it to be the "end" of enlightenment. To be enlightened, or to be Light from inside, is an eternal process. In this part of the process, we shed differences, we dissolve opposites and combine. In the next part, there is something altogether new to our perceptions.

All perceptions, duality or oneness or anything in between, act as prisons of the mind and the spirit. Ask yourself, what perceptions am I bringing to the table, and what happens to the way I see things if I choose to leave them behind?

>>19287445
"That which can be named is not the Dao"