The Small Wow.

[Iamit]

Originally Posted by JustASimpleGuy

I suppose that's the only thing we can be sure of (our own internal experience) and share it with others and see if it resonates.

Yes, for the pleasure of satsang.

[iamthat]

Originally Posted by JustASimpleGuy

For me direct experience lasted for weeks. Before I had an intellectual sense of realization but not experiential. In retrospect it was a very poor intellectual sense. After I have a very strong intellectual sense of realization and at times when I focus awareness slip back into experiential realization but it's not as intense and is transitory.

The before intellectual sense of realization pales in comparison to the after intellectual sense of realization.

Once tasted it's hard (impossible) to be what one was before tasting.

Whereas for me, direct experience has been present every moment, unchanging, for over 33 years. The intellect is irrelevant to this state of Being.

Peace

[Shivani Devi]

Originally Posted by JustASimpleGuy

I suppose that's the only thing we can be sure of (our own internal experience) and share it with others and see if it resonates.

..and for some, that never happens. Then the "sharing" gets brought into question because it cannot be the "validity" of such experience as it relates to the resonating frequency of it...so it must be the "sharing". Just don't get me started on who are the "others" if not "self"? and if there isn't any separation between "Self" and "other" then why the hell doesn't anybody "get" me? because I sure as hell "get myself".

[JosephineB]

Originally Posted by iamthat

Whereas for me, direct experience has been present every moment, unchanging, for over 33 years. The intellect is irrelevant to this state of Being.

Peace

Does your ego feel better getting that off your chest. Mine certainly does writing this

Originally Posted by Shivani Devi

..and for some, that never happens. Then the "sharing" gets brought into question because it cannot be the "validity" of such experience as it relates to the resonating frequency of it...so it must be the "sharing". Just don't get me started on who are the "others" if not "self"? and if there isn't any separation between "Self" and "other" then why the hell doesn't anybody "get" me? because I sure as hell "get myself".

Religion and politics. And then there's the more nebulous spirituality and woe to the adherents of any form of Advaita.

The not getting I can understand. What I sometimes have difficulty getting is the sometimes outright hostility to the latter. Why oh why am I sometimes so disagreeable with myself. LOL!

[Shivani Devi]

Originally Posted by JustASimpleGuy

Religion and politics. And then there's the more nebulous spirituality and woe to the adherents of any form of Advaita.

The not getting I can understand. What I sometimes have difficulty getting is the sometimes outright hostility to the latter. Why oh why am I sometimes so disagreeable with myself. LOL!

LOLOLOL ROFL!

I thought I was the ONLY one....oh wait, am I?

Why bother arguing with myself when the self this self is arguing with as myself doesn't know what they are talking about because I do?

Oh but wait? Who is the "I" that knows itself AS "I?"...let's see, does any concept of "I" need to be aware of anything while typing something to myself on a Spiritual Forum?

Any notion of a self ever hoping to really understand any of that has the same chances as a snowflake does in Hades my friend.

Originally Posted by Shivani Devi

LOLOLOL ROFL!

I thought I was the ONLY one....oh wait, am I?

Why bother arguing with myself when the self this self is arguing with as myself doesn't know what they are talking about because I do?

Oh but wait? Who is the "I" that knows itself AS "I?"...let's see, does any concept of "I" need to be aware of anything while typing something to myself on a Spiritual Forum?

Any notion of a self ever hoping to really understand any of that has the same chances as a snowflake does in Hades my friend.

Eat, drink and be merry. Then kick one's self for eating, drinking and being merry. Heheh.

The One manifests as the many. If the many were fully cognizant and accepting of the One and at an experiential level would that defeat the purpose of manifestation of the many? Ouch, my head is starting to hurt.

[Shivani Devi]

Originally Posted by JustASimpleGuy

Eat, drink and be merry. Then kick one's self for eating, drinking and being merry. Heheh.

The One manifests as the many. If the many were fully cognizant and accepting of the One and at an experiential level would that defeat the purpose of manifestation of the many? Ouch, my head is starting to hurt.

Yes, welcome to my world of head splitting pain.

This is what happens when God looks in the mirror and then breaks it because playing hide and seek is much more fun....

Nice when two "old school" Advaitins get together for a bit of a chin wag..eh?

Then the One also spends the rest of eternity wondering why it was He/I/She/It WHATEVER needed to split itself into many things only to realise it was already One to begin with?...I wonder these things...

Originally Posted by Shivani Devi

Yes, welcome to my world of head splitting pain.

This is what happens when God looks in the mirror and then breaks it because playing hide and seek is much more fun....

Nice when two "old school" Advaitins get together for a bit of a chin wag..eh?

Then the One also spends the rest of eternity wondering why it was He/I/She/It WHATEVER needed to split itself into many things only to realise it was already One to begin with?...I wonder these things...

Concerning "old school" Advaita...

It feels like all my life this was my trajectory but I had no idea. Even the last decade diving deeply into consciousness studies combined with more or less secular mindfulness meditation. Then at the end of summer stumbling first upon Sadhguru and then Vedanta NY it was like "WOW, this is what I have been seeking my entire life!". Then the dam burst...

Life almost makes sense now, however it does seem to me God is The Joker par excellence. LOL!

https://youtu.be/Eb1TIGvvWWE

[Shivani Devi]

Originally Posted by JustASimpleGuy

Concerning "old school" Advaita...

It feels like all my life this was my trajectory but I had no idea. Even the last decade diving deeply into consciousness studies combined with more or less secular mindfulness meditation. Then at the end of summer stumbling first upon Sadhguru and then Vedanta NY it was like "WOW, this is what I have been seeking my entire life!". Then the dam burst...

Life almost makes sense now, however it does seem to me God is The Joker par excellence. LOL!

https://youtu.be/Eb1TIGvvWWE

Oh yes. The impermanent nature of Prakriti is amazing to behold! The Consciousness cannot ground any real sensory input into it without overloading after about 5 minutes.....this is like Aspie hell! STOP CHANGING MY REALITY!

Sage Vishista, Yajnavalkya ,Tulsidas, Shankara, Vyasa and The Sanat Kumaras all assure me there is only one way to "stop the ride, I'm gonna puke"...by realising Brahman.. the all-pervasive self-conscious awareness like the big, cosmic Google that asks itself questions and then uses real time scenarios to play them all out..

I then met two swami's..Swami Krishnananda Saraswati and Swami Chidananda Saraswati from the Yoga Vedanta Forest Academy in Rishikesh..I learned all about Advaita...but I actually leaned slightly more towards Tantra...and ended up chosing that path instead.