Enlightenment

[BlueSky]

Originally Posted by Lisa

Ha! I know there's list. I wrote "ego" and thought, Oh no- he doesn't like that word. hee hee

I agree on I agree. lol But I never know how else to put it.

I'm trying!

And I luv ya-

LOL
The thing is we do "agree" as if to say that is "truth" and we do hear things that we think are "perfect" which says the same thing. We also do believe that what "we" think we know applies to everyone/we or at least should....lol

I just am able to hide it better............LOL

Seriously, I recognize all this in me and therefore I have am able to let it pass when it rears its head.

[BlueSky]

Originally Posted by Lisa

Good point.

It has been said that we (easy!) are already enlightened- we just don't know it.

It has been said many times that seeking elightenment actually is taking one farther from it. That the seeker is the problem.

Many spiritual teachers- masters- have said this.

It has been said that the ego (just a word!) says "seek but don't find". And that many seekers like being seekers, and don't want to find.

But what I have noticed is that there are true seekers who would give their life for knowing God- or the divine Self. These seekers have no choice. And even though they move away from that which they desire, they burn up in the process, and find the treasure.

There is a story of a man who had a desire to know the Truth- became a seeker.
He left his house and traveled for years and had many hardships and much suffering. Finally he returned home- exhausted, and no longer a seeker. And then he was enlightened. In his own home. But he said that had he not of become a seeker and gone through all that he had, he would not have become enlightened.

So there is value in being a true seeker. But it is the seeker itself that by dissolving is able to know they are already enlightened.

I understand "burning up the process" well and i understand finding a treasure at the end..................and yet I can't seem to call it enlightenment or see the process itself as my purpose. It seemed more like my curse.

[Internal Queries]

be fearless in your pursuit of truth! if you can damage it ... it wasn't real.

Originally Posted by WhiteShaman

I understand "burning up the process" well and i understand finding a treasure at the end..................and yet I can't seem to call it enlightenment or see the process itself as my purpose. It seemed more like my curse.

Amen Brother. It use to be a goal of mine. Now I'm just happy to get some cereal in the morning. Yah- fried! I go from a tremendous feeling of love, to feeling like an alien in a hostile world. Then it's Andy of Mayberry.

Greetings..

Hi Lisa: i will post one of favorite understandings, again..

We are traveling to where we have always been, from ignorance to enlightenment.. awareness is the vehicle"..

So, if as the saying suggests, we are actually already there and have always been there, then.. neither ignorance nor enlightenment are applicable, they are the distractions we prefer to the simplicity that challenges us to experience our existence honestly and sincerely.. why is there the distraction of the great seekings and searches, the religions, philosophies, the gurus, and sages, and such? i understand that all of it comes down to what almost every 'master' and 'path' eventually says, be still, and 'know'.. it is my experience that this remains the fundamental understanding, and creating great stories about it distracts from is simplicity..

So, from my favorite saying, i experience the 'vehicle of awareness' with clarity when i am still.. as the ancient ones reminded us, be still and know, this is how i understand 'enlightenment' is pointless.. which, is how i also understand the saying about 'chop wood/carry water', nothing changed but the 'vehicle of awareness'..

Be well..

Originally Posted by Internal Queries

be fearless in your pursuit of truth! if you can damage it ... it wasn't real.

This is the Bomb!

[BlueSky]

Originally Posted by Lisa

Amen Brother. It use to be a goal of mine. Now I'm just happy to get some cereal in the morning. Yah- fried! I go from a tremendous feeling of love, to feeling like an alien in a hostile world. Then it's Andy of Mayberry.

With me it's a little more one-sided. Maybe it is because i recognize how much precious time was lost in the past 35 years of pursuing my need for something else.
I just adore life and want to live it forever and do so many things that i feel there is not enough time. (my pursuit wouldn't allow me to feel that way before..."God or the world"...lol)
I guess I'm making up lost time.
The people that I tried to make go away as illusions are the most precious things in my life. I can't get enough of them either. (My pursuit called this attachment...lol)
So good to be free from all that!

Originally Posted by TzuJanLi

Hi Lisa: i will post one of favorite understandings, again..

We are traveling to where we have always been, from ignorance to enlightenment.. awareness is the vehicle"..

Salute!

So, if as the saying suggests, we are actually already there and have always been there, then.. neither ignorance nor enlightenment are applicable,

Except that ignorance is being unaware that we have always been there.
Enlightenment is the awareness that we have always been there.

they are the distractions we prefer to the simplicity that challenges us to experience our existence honestly and sincerely..

Ignorance is the distraction. Enlightenment is not a distraction. It is a revelation.

Simplicity- yes. But I feel it takes more than challenging us to experience our existence honestly and sincerely. It is the challenge of looking at who is experiencing this existence.

why is there the distraction of the great seekings and searches, the religions, philosophies, the gurus, and sages, and such? i understand that all of it comes down to what almost every 'master' and 'path' eventually says, be still, and 'know'.. it is my experience that this remains the fundamental understanding, and creating great stories about it distracts from is simplicity..

You had me at Be. Yes, yes!

I don't have an issue with "the great spiritual stories"- people are distracted by the lint in their belly button. There is nothing unique about distraction in the spiritual stories. But you have a habit of citing the whole orange grove as a distraction, when there are ten magnificent trees that are not a distraction- but a celebration!

There is an all or nothing quality in you- that may be simple- but inaccurate.

So, from my favorite saying, i experience the 'vehicle of awareness' with clarity when i am still..

I know. It's wonderful! It's your best feature.

as the ancient ones reminded us, be still and know, this is how i understand 'enlightenment' is pointless.. which, is how i also understand the saying about 'chop wood/carry water', nothing changed but the 'vehicle of awareness'..

Okay, but if the vehicle of awareness changes- that change is called enlightenment.

Be Still and Know allows for enlightenment.

"The Know" is the enlightenment.

The know is Realization- Self Realization- God Realization. Knowing who one is- the one consciousness. Not the little person in the head.

Before the little person was carrying water, afterwards consciousness is conscious of itself, Awake, enlightenment.

I loved this post from you.
The most important thing- Be still and know.- I am with you.

It also goes-
Be Still and know that I am God.

That knowing is what we call enlightenment.

There is 'something' to know.

Thank you Tzu.

Greetings..

Originally Posted by Lisa

I loved this post from you.
The most important thing- Be still and know.- I am with you.

It also goes-
Be Still and know that I am God.

That knowing is what we call enlightenment.

There is 'something' to know.

Thank you Tzu.

Hi Lisa: Just to keep it simple .. i don't refer to 'God'.. the knowing reveals what 'is', and.. then, people argue over 'what "is" God', so.. i prefer to just 'know'..

Be well..

Originally Posted by WhiteShaman

With me it's a little more one-sided. Maybe it is because i recognize how much precious time was lost in the past 35 years of pursuing my need for something else.

I hear you. But that was what was in you, right? You could not have done otherwise.

I just adore life

I know'd it. I can feel it.

and want to live it forever and do so many things that i feel there is not enough time. (my pursuit wouldn't allow me to feel that way before..."God or the world"...lol)
I guess I'm making up lost time.

Yes, and doing it well!

You know it's possible that had you embraced what you have years ago- the simplicty and solidity of it now would not have been. That all those years in the wilderness allowed you to appreciate it now- and that you couldn't have before.

Looked at it this way, it gave you what you have now. And wasn't a loss. (Hey, I'm doing my best here. )

iow- I agree.

The people that I tried to make go away as illusions are the most precious things in my life. I can't get enough of them either. (My pursuit called this attachment...lol)

This is Huge!

If Im not mistaken this all happened in the past year plus. So many changes James!!! I got a front row seat to a wild show!

And I am very happy for you. Delighted. All that struggle- !!!

You are right where you it is for you.

Should this be a pm?????

So good to be free from all that!

Yes, and I am a witness.