A Spiritual "Pro-tip":
 

Marinating in the inner sense of love/joy will collapse many space-time intervals, thus shortening the awakening journey, while simultaneously making it more fun and enjoyable.

In other words, cultivating joyous awareness is indeed absolutely required for the realization of your True Nature.

And realization does not and cannot end with the human experience. In terms of the multiverse, there is further refinement, there is further liberating that occurs for all aspects of soul consciousness.

No one has ever become totally "liberated" in all areas while continuing to have a human experience.

That entity known as "Jesus" did indeed continue to evolve and refine himself, even as his soul essence discontinued reincarnating in the Earth plane, for again, liberation extends beyond what the human mind labels as "being liberated." There are dimensions of which the five physical senses and the human mind are largely incapable of perceiving.

Focusing on joy, more and more, being a greater channel of/for it, will eventually eliminate such obsessions as seeking to have lots of talks about non-duality, or creating dozens of threads about aspects of non-dual philosophy. The human intellectual, left-brained thought processes tend to dominate these "spiritual" discussions. Suggestion: Beware (which simply means "be aware") of that! :smile:

Joy dissolves mere philosophy, yet the most powerful philosophies are those that arise from a joyous state of consciousness. This very fact is all too often ignored and not spoken of in approximately 80 to 85% of all "non-duality" communities and discussions, by my estimation (and I am feeling that it is even higher than this).

Love and joy are really one and the same, in their true essence, and this Divine Force is that which holds the True Power, not "endless" non-duality or metaphysical tail-chasing.

This understanding is something worthwhile to consider and then integrate.

Hence why I don't visit this part of the forum anymore and tire very quickly of dry-boned philosophical debate on the nature of non-duality.

It all boils down to a self-serving pedantic play on language which has me going "sheesh, is that the best you have to offer?"

Even in the Hindu forum I gave up talking about it and ended up agreeing with the Advaitins just to shut them up and let them win, then went back to worshiping God because I find non-duality through duality.

How can a soul ever experience a nebulous concept without a reference point? This is totally beyond my own limitations as a human being, so if others can 'perceive Brahman' when Brahman is beyond perception, good luck to them, I say...but it is not for me and talking about my own joyful experiences of consciousness (which is all I ever do) only leads to "those are your experiences, not mine" which leads me to say "well, if that is the case, your experiences are yours also, not mine" and this ends up with me banging my head against a brick wall because it feels oh so good when I stop doing it.

Which raises the question, what is the difference between bliss, joy and happiness?

Bliss is the nature of Being, knowing itself to exist without limitation, unchanging.

Joy is the nature of the Soul, or consciousness. This joy is unconditional, arising spontaneously from within in each moment.

Happiness is sought by the personality, but this is temporary and usually conditional on something happening which makes us happy. The problem with seeking happiness on this level is that we cannot avoid also experiencing the opposite when things do not happen as we wish.

So yes, let us cultivate joyous awareness by learning to rest in consciousness.

Peace.

I feel that it all depends on the source of it, the intensity and the awareness.

For example, when two people who love each other make love for the first time, even though the experience is fleeting, more than happiness is felt, more than joy but not quite bliss.

The bliss of Being cannot be described, but it includes joy and happiness within the whole gamut of experience.

Hi awareness,

Agreeing whole-heartedly.

Sincere gratitude, sincere appreciation of others' good qualities or achievements, service to others, even a positive encouragement - any joyful expression, etc. - any/all of which creates and contributes to more actual Oneness than any incessant sterile debates (which do end up accordingly as still-born theory).

And yes - spiritual progression is endless because Spirit is infinite and therefore always transcending Itself as a manifestation of its own inherent Delight.

Especially notable in the physical, it is that transcendence of limitation where love is operating dynamically and joy is found and founded.

~ J

That is a misunderstanding of nonduality.

One of the obstacles that prevents feeling connected to Oneness is the idea that suffering is not Oneness manifest. If it is accepted that Oneness is the only reality. there is simply nothing else available to appear as suffering.

You may not like the approach but try to keep your dislike civil so as not to decend into a childish contest.

:)