What does enlightenment actually mean?
>>17047568
read some Benedict Spinoza and Immanuel Kant then you'll know
>>17047572
I have read Spinoza, but i'm obviously looking to get perspective from the eastern philosophy.
>>17047577
Then go sit under a fucking tree.
>>17047572
Immanuel Kant was a real pissant who was very rarely stable, imho.
what it means is a great sense of personal well-being, security and benevolence. you'll have infinite patience and understanding. you'll be happy and also a good member of society.
unconditionally loving.
>>17047568
It means yes and not no. Forever.
>>17047568
The perception of the illusory nature of self and of all things.
realizing everything is one and one is everything. the implications of this inevitably leading to:
>>17047609
>>17047630
in other words, going back to what you used to be in harmony with.
it means being absolutely everything but nothing at the same exact time.
>>17047636
there is no devil, no obstacle but your false beliefs about what you think you are. all evil is selfishness, all selfishness is ego.
enlightenment is making yourself go crazy to see your desires and how your brain works, and using stories to travel through the afterlife as moral characters with deviant fetishes who conduct themselves with great worth.
everything else is just additional to doing what you want.
My understanding comes from reading a few books about buddhism, but I imagine it goes something like this:
Often when people talk about buddhist "enlightenment," they are probably referencing the attainment of "nirvana" or "liberation," that is to say, the ultimate conclusion of buddhist practice. Liberation, as the end goal, is the culmination of such a high level of skillfulness of dispassionate awareness that eventually a threshold moment is achieved wherein our natural default response to our karma (mental, physical, emotional phenomena arising within our experience; caused by us) finally breaks away. Experience continues and so does our karma, but our reaction to it has reached a point of complete mastery, such that we are finally "liberated." Often the word used is "unbound," in which we are no longer consciously bound to any of the phenomena that enter our realm of experience.
Thus, whatever might arise--be it physical, mental, emotional--does not cause suffering because you are not attached to it, either through desire or aversion. Sensations of pleasures and pains are inescapable as a facet of life. Even the Buddha supposedly felt the pain of sickness and growing old, but because his consciousness was unbound, these things did not illicit from him a negative reaction that would result in suffering. Thus, one might endure pain, but does not necessarily suffer because of it, because suffering is a result of an automatic reaction to the arising of phenomena that removes us from a place of peace and tranquility, not the actual sensation of pain itself. By mastering our ability to be aware of the phenomena that arise in our experience, it gives us the capacity to make a choice whether to respond to the phenomena in such a way that removes us from a place of tranquility or to let the painful experience arise without reacting in a way that causes us agitation.
cont.
>>17047657
Once we have mastered this skill in the arising of all phenomena, then we can become absolutely and positively free from suffering because the process by which suffering arises has been removed.
Now, reading this, it probably seems like "enlightenment" is therefore an easy and simple achievement. Unfortunately, although the goal is simple, the explanation above does not do justice to the intricacies that occur in human experience and the discipline it takes to reach the point of freedom from those intricate phenomenon. For instance, the Buddha often mentioned that, as one honed their skills of awareness and liberated themselves from more and more phenomenon, the person discovers that the level of phenomena within experience runs much deeper than originally though. One might free themselves from attachment to perception, but then one must free themselves from non-perception, but then one must free themselves from neither perception nor non-perception (which in buddhist cosmology is a thing). Thus, the river runs deep, and the level of mastery it takes to do this is incredible, and can take many lives for the unskilled.
That in a nutshell is how I see it.
>>17047657
>>17047660
Interesting, thanks for sharing.
Whats the best literature to get into Buddhist
>>17047678
This is a great database:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/
It's free and full of many suttas (stories) from the Tipitaka (Pali Canon) as well as scholarly articles pertaining to buddhism. There's a lot of information so it's a great place to start.
>>17047568
Free from rebirth.
>>17047568
Anyone remember the thread from two or three years ago where the OP posted that he became enlightened but that it was horrifying and he was trying to warn others?
Read 'The End Of Your World' and 'Falling Into Grace'. IMO those 2 will help you skip all the B.S. But no amount of reading will show you the way. It's something you achieve by looking inward.
Everything everyone in this thread has said and none of it is enlightenment. In other words, yes they're pretty words and they do point toward it but its something to be experienced.
>>17047644
>>17049271
everything everyone has said in this thread is an enlightenment.
life, at times, is about hearing that everything you're doing might be wrong, and then doing it anyway, because you know its right.
>>17047568
It doesn't mean anything.
>>17047568
Gaining greater knowledge and understanding about a subject or situation.
>>17047568
Light is used most often as a knowledge metaphor. To receive light is to be illuminated.
>>17049400
hahahahaha, nice picture, man.
>>17049412
hahahahaha, thanks man.
>>17047568
Enlightenment is knowing yourself truly and honestly, and your place in the universe. Knowing that all is connected. It is knowing the duality of nature and the understanding the paradox of chaos and order coexisting simultaneously.
Some will try to tell you that enlightenment is the full acceptance of positivity and love, but these people would be wrong. The negative should be accepted just as much as the positive. No one is capable of unconditionally loving everyone. Anyone who says otherwise is lying to you, themselves, and is denying a critical part of who they are.
We all love and we all hate. That is the nature of humans, and understanding and accepting that nature, both in humans in general and in yourself is a necessary step to enlightenment. Of course, everyone has to come to this conclusion on there own. Many will try to claim that the state of things should be all positive and no negative, and their ego will get in the way of admitting that this is not so.
>>17049732
Exactly what this anon said. Very, very well put.
>>17049745
thank you. Had to take my time and choose my words carefully, and still wasn't sure if it would come across as intended.
hey i; drunk but to me enlightment mean lifing without suffering
so basically if petty shit affects you, you are not enlightened but that's ok because that's like 98% of humanity....it;s pretty much impossible to be enlightened in today's wold unless you drop everything that has to do with money and move away to become a hermit or monk... i'm highly considering moving to japan or china to become a monk
>>17049779
life without suffering is impossible, its what makes us human. I feel all we can do to better us is to let suffering happen and allow it pass. Then again I know very little of being enlightened
>>17049845
There is a difference between hardship and suffering.
>>17047568
If we talk about it, the thread may be deleted!
>>17047568
It's kind of like when you draw a circle and you realize that the space around the circle and the space inside of the circle are as much a part of the circle as the round line. Apply to everything.
>>17047660
>Now, reading this, it probably seems like "enlightenment" is therefore an easy and simple achievement.
>>17049732
These two posts are the only ones worth reading. I say this not because you can't obtain value from any of the other posts, but because the value you get from these two posts utterly dwarfs the entire contents of the rest of the thread combined.
What both of these posts (and by extension all the posts ITT) lack is an understanding of non-duality. Yes, humans tend to get caught up in notions of this-or-that, them-or-us, suffering-or-enlightened, and all other manner of dual notions, and there is much to be said for the "middle" way that recognizes that neither and none of these things is a fully comprehensive picture of the truth, but there is a much more fundamental concept underlying it.
To think you have knowledge is a habit.
To think you lack knowledge is a habit.
To act on wisdom alone is a good habit.
All things may seem as habits, but...
>>17047568
It means you've built the habit of recognizing that...
Habit never defines reality.
How does one stop from constantly undermining your own sense of self-worth and motivation?
>>17050122
Worth and self-worth are two different things. When you look at others you don't see their actual self-worth, you see your projection of your own self worth within them; it is your judgement, not theirs.
Motivation is a somewhat separate issue. Lacking a balanced sense of self worth can kill motivation, but it shouldn't do that either. The long and the short of it is that you shouldn't care about your perception of your own worth, but you shouldn't be an outsider to your decisions either. When you are truly free from attachment, you exercise your will of possibility more freely than your egocentric equivalent would. It's not as simple as saying your lack of a sense of self-worth is an illusion because it IS real to you, but it's not FORCED to be real. In everyone else's eyes it doesn't exist. It's illusory in the sense that it exists purely as a result of your mind casting it, but often we can forget why we've cast such illusions in the first place. Meditation is the practice of allowing pure cognition to flourish in your mind until such obstacles and the reasoning behind such obstacles becomes clear once more.
Meditation can help with motivation issues, but the sensation of lacking self-worth can get in the way of even that. Meditation does not guarantee success and so I'd hesitate to tell you to meditate on anything at the moment, but when you're ready to see that your sense of self-worth is only as real or demotivating as you make it be, give it a shot.
>>17050010
By definition of a circle, they aren't.
>>17050212
I appreciate you taking the time and writing all that out, as well as your perspective on the matter, but understand that you didn't answer my question.
All of this is abstract. I can't stop feeling that i am a failure compared to everyone else. Yes, i understand intellectually that this is misinterpreted assumptions reflected through the fractured prism that is my ego. It does nothing for me to stop feeling it.
What do i have to DO to stop it, i don't want this to be my life, but every question i ask about what can i do to change it just generates endless streams of metaphysics i have already read in tantra and mediation books several times over
Is this how you become a Calvinist? Well, i'm almost there then.
Being conscious of ongoing shit that is not occurring in your immediate surroundings
>>17047568
Op, no one has been enlightened since Jesus' time, but soon there will be lots. I would write out what it actually is but no one here believes other then the sit around and think bullshit.
>>17051370
the times have come.
we are already there.
i just need to fix a few things before we can move on.
and by that, i mean realise they have already been fixed.
being both the first and the last life in a cycle is infuriatingly simple/hard
>>17047568
Nothing really.
You have forgotten who you really are, and as you live life you'll remember... with the hope that right before it ends you'll figure what everything means in your unique perspective.
How does god play hide and seek?
>>17051541
No one is yet enlightened, several are well along the way. No one who thinks they are, actually aren't.
>>17050224
Well, first let me clear up a few misunderstands.
1. I didn't write it for you.
2. There was only one sentence that mattered.
Until you can show me that you understand both of these points, we aren't actually communicating on the same wavelength. Yours is screwed, so get on mine. *Communicate* with me, don't just reply.
>>17051363
That's called imagination, not enlightenment. To be enlightened, one must see past imagination.
>>17051370
I'm sorry if you feel that you're the only person on this Earth that has ever experienced any negativity.
>>17051541
>i just need to fix a few things before we can move on.
This is a terrible way to phrase:
>realise they have already been fixed.
One is actively killing you, while the other actually means something to the rest of us.
>>17051562
>You have forgotten who you really are
This is wrong.
>and as you live life you'll remember...
And this is terrible advice.
>>17051568
I can see you're misapplying the concept you've alluded to.
>>17051606
Offering no answers yet more judgments. Tell me how you are enlightened anon? If you do a good job I will inform you upon real enlightenment and tell you how God achieves it.
>>17051624
>God
I see you're still shitposting.
>>17051656
You don't have an answer so you deflect. Yes God, you can't be enlightened without God. Not the man either, the Spirit.
>>17051656
>/b
>>17047610
>Schizophrenic thinks "Should I kill my parents?"
>4chan said "yes" is always the answer
>???
>profit
>>17051664
>you can't be enlightened without God
[citation desperately needed]
>>17051668
>>>/b/
FTFY
>>17051693
>asking for citation on true enlightenment...
If you don't believe anon you don't believe. There is no point in thinking about it because you obviously aren't meant for it. True enlightenment is being able to see and sense (all of your senses) the spirits of the world. Which are mainly electrical pulses, light rays, and different forms of energy. Do you want to reach enlightenment? Sure, but you won't because you can't. Its only meant for certain beings, depending on your past lives. Not until the day of the Lord will you know how the 'real' world works without these fake enlightenment books and stories. Trust me, no one has truly been enlightened since Jesus, but He won't be the last. When the time comes, there will be many, not you. So enjoy knowing you aren't one of them and you will upon them with great envy when they do come.
>>17051738
>True enlightenment is
Again, if you're going to refer to enlightenment you should have a cited body of work from which to draw your claims. You could as easily replace every occurrence of "enlightenment" in your post with "fried pickles" and it'd mean just as much as it did before.
The only difference would be that people search for fried pickles instead of enlightenment, but it shouldn't matter what you call it since it'd have the same effects at the end of the day.
Bump for not-any-of-the-other-threads.
>>17051606
buddha please, the universe isnt perfect.
it can go with some adjustments.
>>17051765
your support of training through the meandered means of others is frightening.
we are each our own, together.
we are, together, each our own.
how do i stop being continuity-fluid, floating between slightly differing realities is an enjoyable experience yet a hassle to balance with my actions.
enlightenment is smoking a blunt at 12:43 am with your ayy lmao friends
>>17051590
Oh boy, condescending tone AND vague new age metaphysics instead of answer, all in one post?
10/10
i sure am glad /x/ is filled with this caliber of adepts and enlightened masters
>>17047568
enlightenment will be reached when you stop thinking about enlightenment and think about others and the worlds well being. Yes shit happens but you gotta be a submissive bitch and deal with it. Nobody is perfect, nobody reaches enlightenment just by listening to someones advice for it. Improve yourself and others around you before you seek it for yourself. Enlighten yourself before you try to enlighten others
>>17053971
kinda like how when you consume yourself with other peoples problems. Your problems kinda dissapear?
death
>>17053985
It's hard to think about your problems. When you just want this nigga to go to and from the car without falling down?
>>17047568
>What does enlightenment actually mean?
Exactly
how deep you want to go nigga?
>>17053985
nope, problems will happen in this world no matter what. every single instance is chained with everything that happens around it so if something negative happens, everything and everyone else that happens to be related or in its timeline can be effected negatively or positively. But it is for you yourself to decide whether to treat the problem as something important or you can laugh it off. There are always people around the world in far worse circumstances
>>17051738
More newage hogwash. All you've done is mix up two completely different belief systems into one that makes sense to no one but yourself, and espouse yourself as being the one who knows the "truth" to others. Another charlatan. You are obviously far from true enlightenment.
>Trust me, ...
No. WHY should anyone trust you?
>>17054014
you just want to argue though. Because people are worse off? You can always find someone worse off. You are in charge of your space. Regardless of the old their is someone worse off. Theirs someone better off too, ya know.
>>17051738
>>17053971
>>17054017
i have done all of these.
get on my level.
or dont, enlightenment is being human.
every idea that you have for what enlightenment is, is both what it is and what someone else thinks it isnt.
>>17054053
>mfw people still dont understand that enlightenment is whatever you imagine it is.
im sure that some of you do, but i cant imagine very many.
we hold the strings of reality in our hands, to do with as we please with.
i like to play games.
>>17054060
>enlightenment is whatever you imagine it is
And what if I imagine that it is not whatever you imagine it is? Would I divide by zero? What if someone imagines that enlightenment is not being enlightened?
enlietenment means to realize the truth of who and what you are.
it's not a philosophy because philosophy is interpretation.
enlightenment is about the truth. no interpretation needed. truth is self-evident, always is and always will be.
it's not an attainment, it's not a gain. it's just realizing truth and therefore waking up out of ignorance.
it's not about ending suffering although that is a nice byproduct. because when you're no longer ignorant, you no longer suffer life.
it's not about love although that's a nice byproduct. to know the truth about who and what you are is to know perfection, wholeness, completeness. and the byproduct of that is total unconditional love without cause or without ownership.
when you're ignorant, it's like being in the dark. dark is the absence of light. there really is no such thing as darkness. there is only absence of light.
when you don't know yourself, you live in ignorance. and in your ignorance, you lack self-knowledge, so you fill that lack with false ideas of who you think you are.
when you know yourself, ignorance is gone. when there's light, darkness is gone.
here's all you need to know to become enlightened:
sit down,
shut up,
and ask yourself what's true until you know.
>>17053958
That post was directed at the anon with issues. If you don't have issues, I don't expect you to get it.
>>17054104
>truth is self-evident, always is and always will be.
Except during those moments that you hide it from yourself. Let's not forget those.
>>17047568
nothing matters and all is one but the only way to actually figure it out is to accumulate infinite knowledge which will take infinite amount of lifetimes
>>17054104
You were doing alright up until you decided it was easy to become enlightened.
1. Ignorance is a habit.
2. Denying oneself is a habit.
3. Knowing yourself is a habit.
4. Thinking you know yourself is a habit.
5. Everything your mind does is discern or habit.
6. Lack of discernment is a habit.
7. Discernment is a habit.
8. Switching between lack of discernment and discernment is a habit.
9. Habits out the wazoo.
>>17050023
>Habit never defines reality.
Again, you need a non-dualistic monoatomic basis for enlightenment if you want to say enlightenment is easy. Duality is brain damage in the context of enlightened perspectives.
>>17047638
i assume that means im enlightened?
i am everything and nothing
i am here but not here
i am non existent but i also exist
>>17049745
>>17050224
Start achieving things, start small. Build your self worth of you have to
Being present in Samsara, having already left; experienced Nirvana and returned. Being in the world but not of it, not connected to the dramas and events; seeing it as a play, as illusion. Being content in all moments knowing that you are not that which experiences these scenes but the objective observer who experiences the experiencer of events.
It can not be possible to dragged into emotion or fear. Love is the nature of consciousness and that is what you embody as an enlightened being. You could allow someone to stab you to death with no fear because you know it is you stabbing yourself for whatever highest purpose is required of the situation. Fighting is not an option, you can not fight that which does not exist, you move through all moments with total devotion, submission and reverence.
>>17047568
Hyperpenis.
these days it means getting taken over
>>17055096
Didn't read the rest of the thread, but this is really spot on. Thanks for the words, anon.
>>17055096
>You could allow someone to stab you to death with no fear because you know it is you stabbing yourself for whatever highest purpose is required of the situation.
So it's the condition of no longer trying to influence outcomes?
How does the illuminated one decide if the highest purpose is for them to be stabbed, or for them to prevent the stabbing?
If you met the Buddha on the road, how much of a fight would he give you?
>>17054327
Ignorance of truth doesn't make truth any less true.
>>17054333
Infinite knowledge of what exactly? Everything you see are just appearances because everything changes. What is there to know exactly?
>>17055096
fag
nah, nice post.
fag
enlightenment is taking a huge dump. after I take a huge dump, I'm considerably enlightened.
>>17047568
it means sitting like a faggot on a folded towel
>>17055539
Chat Shit Get Banged.
>>17055545
fuck you jamie
Yeshua the Mashiach.
>>17055570
this. complete state of grace.
>>17054348
No, that's just dualistic retardation.
>>17055096
>seeing it as a play, as illusion
The illusion is only half the story. Enlightenment means recognizing all that is not illusory.
ITT: Traps for the unlearned.
>>17055096
>You could allow someone to stab you to death with no fear because you know it is you stabbing yourself for whatever highest purpose is required of the situation.
Damn, I have to learn to read the entire post before. I reply. This is just suicidal bullshit; even Buddhists defend themselves. That's seriously some toxic bullshit right there.
Quoted anon is a perfect example of illusion lock; what happens when an enlightened master tells a student that something is illusory. The master only means to say that a particular sort of thing is illusory, but the student misunderstands the context of the master's meaning because the student is so far from enlightened.
It really can appear like the enlightened and foolish speak two separate languages, but this is illusory.
>>17055135
This anon gets it. Love is the strongest form of attachment around. Attaching your consciousness to the idea of love itself is the firmest form of illusion lock there is. It's like getting possessed by the most retarded pansy-ass nonsense on Earth.
>>17055233
>How does the illuminated one decide if the highest purpose is for them to be stabbed, or for them to prevent the stabbing?
>If you met the Buddha on the road, how much of a fight would he give you?
Precisely the questions worth asking. Thanks anon.
>>17055514
To hide the truth from yourself is not ignorance; it's cognitive dissonance.
>>17055781
How can you tell what is true from what is imagined without love? How can you comprehend truth or knowledge without your heart lighting the way.
>>17047568
To understand the meaning of enlightenment, one must first understand the meaning of foolishness.
To understand the nature of foolishness, one must become a fool's student.
Enlightenment means eternal discernment. Not at this moment, but at every other moment. Reading this post will not make your enlightened, but might give you the knowledge you need to achieve it later.
Enlightenment means discernment even when all others have fallen into routine tradition and dogma. Many Buddhists, perhaps even all Buddhists, are not enlightened. A foolish student, hearing this, will seek to reform all the Buddhists in the world. This is clearly folly, but fools know not what clarity is. If the foolish student could understand his folly, he wouldn't commit it. A more discerning student should see the master's perspective as separate from the truth, but potentially true for the master. A wise student will see WHY the master brought up "most Buddhists" and seek to avoid the common pitfalls that "most Buddhists" apparently (again, in the master's outlook) fall into. The enlightened do not discern perspectives as enlightened or lacking enlightenment, but recognize them as perspective. Discernment is simply the creation of perspective.
Note, now, that "even when all others have fallen" is a strict subset of "eternal." Context is key. The context of "foolish student and enlightened master" is merely one type of situation you might find yourself in while wandering eternity. "Foolish student and foolish master" is another. "Wise student and foolish master" is still yet another. "Wise student and wise master" could be another.
Enlightenment means the eternal creation of perspective; never falling into a habit that replaces discernment with abject memory. You could say that the enlightened are excessively aware of the truth, but this need not be the case: The enlightened have at least as much cognitive freedom as any other person has. Sometimes it might even be more.
>>17055826
>How can you comprehend truth or knowledge without your heart lighting the way.
Try putting yourself in a lion's den. Truth will surely surround you.
>>17055852
To add to this, the enlightened employ situational reasoning at all times. Even when shitposting on 4chan.
>>17047568
Imagine your mind is a videogame console. You hack it and then you can do all kind of shit with it.
>>17055909
You're thinking of transcendence, not enlightenment.
>>17047568
To even begin to understand, you have to fully let go of both worldly cares and spiritual aspirations
The definition (with similes)
[FIRST JHANA]
"There is the case where a monk — quite withdrawn from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful qualities — enters and remains in the first jhana: rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal, accompanied by directed thought and evaluation. He permeates and pervades, suffuses and fills this very body with the rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal. There is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal.
"Just as if a skilled bathman or bathman's apprentice would pour bath powder into a brass basin and knead it together, sprinkling it again and again with water, so that his ball of bath powder — saturated, moisture-laden, permeated within and without — would nevertheless not drip; even so, the monk permeates, suffuses and fills this very body with the rapture and pleasure born of withdrawal. There is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by rapture and pleasure born from withdrawal...
[SECOND JHANA]
"Furthermore, with the stilling of directed thoughts & evaluations, he enters and remains in the second jhana: rapture and pleasure born of composure, unification of awareness free from directed thought and evaluation — internal assurance. He permeates and pervades, suffuses and fills this very body with the rapture and pleasure born of composure. There is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by rapture and pleasure born of composure.
"Just like a lake with spring-water welling up from within, having no inflow from east, west, north, or south, and with the skies periodically supplying abundant showers, so that the cool fount of water welling up from within the lake would permeate and pervade, suffuse and fill it with cool waters, there being no part of the lake unpervaded by the cool waters; even so, the monk permeates and pervades, suffuses and fills this very body with the rapture and pleasure born of composure. (Cont.)
>>17056317
There is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by rapture and pleasure born of composure...
[THIRD JHANA]
"And furthermore, with the fading of rapture, he remains equanimous, mindful, & alert, and senses pleasure with the body. He enters & remains in the third jhana, of which the Noble Ones declare, 'Equanimous & mindful, he has a pleasant abiding.' He permeates and pervades, suffuses and fills this very body with the pleasure divested of rapture, so that there is nothing of his entire body unpervaded with pleasure divested of rapture.
"Just as in a blue-, white-, or red-lotus pond, there may be some of the blue, white, or red lotuses which, born and growing in the water, stay immersed in the water and flourish without standing up out of the water, so that they are permeated and pervaded, suffused and filled with cool water from their roots to their tips, and nothing of those blue, white, or red lotuses would be unpervaded with cool water; even so, the monk permeates and pervades, suffuses and fills this very body with the pleasure divested of rapture. There is nothing of his entire body unpervaded with pleasure divested of rapture...
[FOURTH JHANA]
"And furthermore, with the abandoning of pleasure and stress — as with the earlier disappearance of elation and distress — he enters and remains in the fourth jhana: purity of equanimity and mindfulness, neither-pleasure-nor-pain. He sits, permeating the body with a pure, bright awareness, so that there is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by pure, bright awareness.
"Just as if a man were sitting wrapped from head to foot with a white cloth so that there would be no part of his body to which the white cloth did not extend; even so, the monk sits, permeating his body with a pure, bright awareness. There is nothing of his entire body unpervaded by pure, bright awareness."
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sacca/sacca4/samma-samadhi/jhana.html
>>17056333
Pali Canon! There are 9 jhanas, however http://www.dhammawiki.com/index.php?title=9_Jhanas
For all aspiring monks, novices considered, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/piyadassi/protection.html
>>17056269
This.
>>17056269
so stagnation; got it
>>17056561
Is, "Because I care to have it happen," the reason your body metabolizes chemical energy?
>>17056581
in a sense , yes
>>17056625
>in a sense
Yeah I kinda figured you were one of those evasive retards.
Here, I'll clarify for nobody's benefit:
>do you actively and consciously maintain the chemical activity of your entire cellular physiology
Itswarpeopledieallthewayfuckharpymodegoddessisntenough
Jsutnotsureyoucandoit
>>17047568
Enlightenment is having the will to meditate every day.
Soyeaillchasesomewaterfallsorwhateverfuckyoucaptcha
Grass now hah they call that the staff of life you know
Have you guys ever met an enlighten being?
And if so how was it did they have glowing eyes or something?
it is the grace of God that makes one enlightened
>>17056782
Shut up what God are you talking about and is there the one above all or some shit?
>>17056789
Like I know what the fuck grace is screw your sinister agendad input
>>17056796
And like I know*
>>17056747
I can choose to stop it at anytime; you self masturbatory dolt.
>>17056770
yeah chill guy. powerful energy. you sit with him in meditation and you get blasted with energy that pulls you into deep meditative experience. he does webcasts every wed to meditate with people online and the effect is just the same.
but really, the energy transmission isn't what makes him enlightened. ive met a couple other self-realized people who are much more subtle about it. they don't have the blast furnace of energy but one thing they all seem to have in common is absolute inner solitude and fortitude.
when you look at them, you just see that there isn't any inner conflict or chatter going on inside. they are just perfectly grounded, solid.
most people when you see them are always incredibly jittery. an enlightened guy might still seem to have the jitters still but you can just tell that inside they're totally quiet.
>>17056770
50/50 between self righteous pricks and useless sloths .
>>17056840
thx thats what i needed to hear.
>>17056823
No, you can choose to end the metabolic CYCLE. Even after you die, metabolism continues. Lactic acid builds up the same as it did when you were alive, but the circulatory system no longer carries it to the organs that can process it. Life is a cycle of removing metabolic contamination, and that will go on whether you live or die.
You are not autonomous at the level of cellular biology. That's was anon's point.
>>17056850
>useless sloths .
Well I guess I'm enlightened?
Gautam buddha once said that if you can be without thoughts for 48 minutes then you will attain to truth.
>>17054066
thats called the enlightenment of ignorance, and is completely valid.
>>17055096
>but the objective observer who experiences the experiencer of events.
i once met the beast outside of perception.
insectoid.
ech.
>>17055233
the illuminated would not allow themselves to be stabbed for anything less than a perfectly good reason.
>>17055936
fuck im playing the wrong game then.
or both?
are we allowed to do that?
fuck it, im doing it anyway.
>>17057835
>are we allowed to
Enlightenment is the exact moment you never ask this sort of question again.
>>17055233
That is an absolutely theoretical situation. One who finds himself in a situation where knives and violence is involved has a great lesson to learn. One who is enlightened won't find himself in that situation, but knowing that death is a door and seeing his attacker as an old friend welcoming him into the warmth of his cabin, he would allow it to happen.
>>17055747
>names himself Buddha
>refers to others as "unlearned"
In that case, are you learned? And if you are share what you will. Is this thread not addressing each individuals perspective? Anyone who takes anything here as undeniable truth is a fool. These are all opinions, perspectives that we offer eachother to consider and perceive. Your truth is as good as mine.
What is your truth?
>>17055781
>Love is the strongest form of attachment around.
What you call Love is not Love, you do not know Love, Love is the force of creation, there is nothing without Love.
This
>>17059794
>Is this thread not addressing each individuals perspective?
No, because threads aren't sentient. Forest for the trees type deal.
It's the people ITT that have to do the actual work of reading and responding and so on.
Which, if you're asking for my truth, it seems you haven't done yet.
>>17047616
The illusory perception of nature of self and of all things. En garde.
>>17061255
The illusory perception of all things of self and of nature. Garde-en.
>>17061313
The nature of illusory perception of all things self.
>>17059819
Thanks for this
>>17057849
Lelele
>>17059794
Don't you love this place /x/
Enlightenment is a kind of understanding. There are as many different kinds of understanding as there are things in this world. To understand the essence and nature of something is to know its place in the world. I believe it is when you know your place in the world among all the other things around you that you have found enlightenment.
Read: Be Here Now
>>17047606
>>17047609
>>17047630
>>17047660
>>17047707
>>17049400
>>17049732
>>17051606
>>17053971
>>17055848
We all have the ability to become enlightened, and feel the warmth of the subconscious.
Listen to these anons, for they have all experienced enlightmentment, at some point or another in their lives.
Please also keep in mind that it is far easier to _reach_ enlightenment, than it is to _stay_ enlightened.
Take these words with much love and find yourselves.
>>17061419
>keep in mind that it is far easier to _reach_ enlightenment, than it is to _stay_ enlightened
Hearing this, he remembered what it meant to be enlightened, and so became enlightened.
So ve got
Awakening
transcendence
enlighten
Which is the difference and is there more levels or that's it?
>>17049732
Can you recommend books about these ideas you just said, I'm truly amazed by the way you put it
>>17061523
>stepping through the door
>gaining control
>pointless
there`s some basic descriptions of the three; differences should be obvious.
>>17061523
Enlightenment is enlightening. There's nothing esoteric about the latter word.
Awakening is the method to becoming conscious, and you can interpret consciousness however you like.
Transcendence is beyond mortal comprehension. By definition, obviously.
tfw had beautiful personal experiences with LSD, mushrooms, and peyote. What I learned from them I will treasure all my life.
What is the value of one human life?
What is the value of every human life?
I ask these questions because the second is supposed to render the first moot. Nothing that we perceive to have value would necessarily matter if all human life vanished.
For me, enlightenment was realizing Earth's (and our) place in the universe. It came out of angsty nihilism, evolving into an acceptance of the finite nature of life.
>>17061570
>It came out of angsty nihilism
It always does, friend. It always does.
>>17061466
Nice dubs, Buddha.
>>17047568
It means you really don't care about anything anymore, yet you care about everything.
>>17047568
not sitting in Burmese position lol
this is a nice thread
glad to see /x/ still has it going on
>>17061767
Is this the Chinese samsara wheell?
>>17061775
No its the Japanese damdara circle
>>17061775
Sure, yea.
>>17061782
Eh, I dunno about that. But you certainly get a gold star.
>>17047568
It is possible to attain enlightenment via psychedelic drugs.
>>17061767
What is this circle? How it works?
>>17063352
Yep
But is very unestable,
Yo may get a short view ,but you would not be able to hold it. Try dmt
>>17047568
It means you don't board the feels train as often as everyone else does. Everyone's chasing for feels, even monks.
>>17059794
>knowing that death is a door and seeing his attacker as an old friend welcoming him into the warmth of his cabin, he would allow it to happen.
I wish I could welcome you into the warmth of my cabin right this minute, "old friend".
>>17047568
Seeing from/through the perspective of the void.
a European intellectual movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries emphasizing reason and individualism rather than tradition. It was heavily influenced by 17th-century philosophers such as Descartes, Locke, and Newton, and its prominent exponents include Kant, Goethe, Voltaire, Rousseau, and Adam Smith.
>>17065644
check'd
literally this is the dictionary definition of enlightenment but kids today are too retarded to remember that the dictionary is actually a thing.
Read into some of the authors listed to assemble a web of knowledge in your head and you'll be an edgelord in no time.
>>17061392
heyyy it's sadhguru! i know one self-realized dude who saw sadhguru appear to him at an airport. he went up to him bowed to touch his feet. and then sadhguru proceeded to touch the base of his spine which resulted in an explosion of light up the spine through his head. nobody seemed to notice what was happening. he said that event was the jump start start to his spiritual awakening.
>>17061570
Life isn't finite.
>>17047568
>never having to ask this question again
I think that when you become enlightened, you will never again encounter certain types of people, you'll start to withdraw from all people, actually. You will never again have contact with certain parts of society. Your society will all at once become very small. Then I guess you have to decide. I doubt how much choice you have at this point, though. You're on a path out of your control. You asked for it.
>>17065708
This. An individual's life is finite, but enlightenment means knowing that consciousness is a state of matter and therefore cannot be created or destroyed.
>>17065747
Matter can be destroyed. Consciousness in an emergent property of matter. If what is thought of as 'you' could exist within a stone, 'you' woud, if 'you' could. But you can't, so you go about your days in an attempt not to disrupt your matter too badly.
>>17065722
Influence is never lessened by making friends.
I'll let you sort of the negative space of implications for yourself.
I have beeen meditating for close to one year and have notice substantial change in my ability to defuse a sit. and remain calm. my anger just lightly simmers but i can still go full berserk mode.
My q. for you guys is how does one know that are enlightend or have reached a certain threshold?
>>17065809
The early degree.
A fine place to start.
But not for OP.
>>17047568
One who reacheth enlightenment
Will not be lurkath here
>>17065849
OP is a kill. This thread is social engineering from a dead timeline. History shifted long before you had a chance to reply.
>>17065883
In other words, OP went to bed.
>>17065867
Elite /x/ members like you should get an upgrade that let's you see all the other good /x/ posters' posts highlighted with WIN
>>17065892
This thread is four days old.
Were you under the illusion that this thread was made for you today and didn't exist prior to your seeing it?
>>17065917
of course?
>>17065946
>being this egocentric
>enlightenment thread
you'll know when it happens.
>>17066009
Please elaborate what should i expect . or remove expectations entirely?
I have wanted some gold letters pop up in in the air saying 'enlightenment unlocked' in a booming voice
>>17065836
Enlightenment isn't reaching a certain threshold. It's not a skill you build up like you would meditation or any other activity.
Enlightenment is the realization of what is, what has been, and what always will be.
That realization can occur at any period in time, and there are a vast number of schools and traditions that have all sorts of methods that can bring you to the brink of such a realization.
It's the kind of thing where once you know it, you can't deny it. You know that somehow, you've reached the knowledge that ends all seeking. You know what's at the end of the road, so to speak, that all this play of matter seems to have been proverbially be leading you to.
>>17065978
>loving greentext this much
>>17066017
>ENLIGHTENMENT UNLOCKED
Closest I can get to gold without fucking up history.
>>17066017
Well, this business of enlightenment we're dabbling in is the business of unraveling a dream.
And dreams are made of layers and layers of illusions and appearances.
So you work at dismantling this dream layer by layer, until finally, all the layers have been peeled off, you've gotten to the bottom, and what you realize is that there is no bottom, there is just vast vast emptiness.
So that's all. You're dreaming right now. This is all a hoax. Any and all experience is a hoax. What do you think we're all doing here anyway? Nothing. We're just a momentary illusory appearance in an eternity of illusory appearances. What's at the core of all this? What's at the core of you? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
It's not a bad kind of nothing though. It's freedom.
>>17066049
The kind of freedom one realizes only after that last box of cheetos, and that last drop of Dew, on your back, at the bottom of mom's basement stairs.
Ego is that which cares what the other guy might think if you don't bother replying.
Enlightenment is the realization that their thoughts are not your responsibility.
Fuck, but if I don't respond, he might think his ego still matters!
>>17066072
Perhaps not.
Ohhhhhhmmm.
>>17066076
But whence comes ego if we samefag all be it?!
>>17066079
If you meet the buddha on the path, you must slay him.
Ego is that which beats itself up for not slaying all the buddhas he's met along his journey.
It's the state of being able to recognize with your observing mind that there is no "you" within yourself and that your experience and your life and life in general exsists as a part of an interdependant whole that is ever changing and without true spirit or essence but rather it just is and the idea of having a personality comes from one part of the Brian observing all the others at work and that that's why and how it exsists in the first place....that intention is everything and that intention doesn't actually have exsist because everything in exsistence is the result of reflex
>>17066113
The part of you that observes your own thoughts is not the part of you that does the thinking. You're no more the voice in your head than you are the image you have in your head of what you're looking at
>>17066122
Thanks, kind anon.
buming because i want to reply properly to this but i'm too hung over. tomorrow.
Hey /x/ please help me!
I meditate everyday, and today i dreamed about getting enlightened.
It was like waking up from a bad dream, but i woke up in the dream, not in the real world. It felt amazing and for an second i felt like i knew everything in this world, but after that little moment of an second in my dream, i fell back into normal thinking, and got an PANIC ATTACK IN MY DREAM!
Wtf? It was the worst panic attack i ever had, and it was in a fucking dream..
What does that mean? Does it mean im not ready?
>>17067624
*slaps with stick*
Doesn't mean anything
>>17047609
>unconditionally loving.
How do you love serial killers, rapist and child molesters? How can you love some one who sets fire to other people or beheads them?
I understand why should not be bellicose but if i am ever put in a situation where i have to use force to put down an attacker i will do it. Does that mean i will continue with this reincarnation cycle?
Lets say i am witness to a mass shooting. A lone and deranged gunmen armed with automatic rifle starts shooting at civilians in a crowded mall. He kills an armed cop and wounds several civilians and then he proceeds in to a packed theater and i can hear automatic gunfire and the screams of the victims.
Now i basically have 3 meaningful choices.
A) Run, the most natural thing to do for most people.
B) Help some one who is wounded, a pretty healthy and natural response.
C) Pick up the gun from the dead police and try to kill the gunmen before he kills even more people.
What is the best thing to do? Option A is natural and i don't think any one can be blamed if they do. Option B is obviously good since you are doing nothing but helping people in need. Option C, if successful, would benefit most people but it would also mean you are hurting another human being.
How does that fit in with unconditional loving? I read earlier on /x/ where some Buddhist claimed that killing some one ALWAYS lead to reincarnation, even if its in defense of others.
I can't really wrap my head around that. I get what he is saying but if i am ever in that situation i am going to try to save as many as possible and if that means i will be stuck in an endless reincarnation cycle then so be it. Lets just hope it never comes to that.
>>17067681
>he believes in free will
>>17063352
Didn't some tibet guy try DMT and said it was the ''lessers light'' basically as far as you can go while still staying connected to your physical body. IE as far as you can go before you die.
But i assume some one who is spiritually advanced will have a deeper experience then some one who is not.
>>17067685
Yes.
I take it you don't? Seems kind of pointless if we don't have it.
Do you have anything to say about my questions or do you just want to drop some short and pointless greentext?
>>17067690
The latter honestly, I'm just looking forward to what others are going to say as a serious response.
I'm guessing they'd mention forgiving him even after doing such a deed, as something must have driven him to it. But as for not stopping them in the act I have the same opinion as you.
>>17067681
>How do you love serial killers, rapist and child molesters? How can you love some one who sets fire to other people or beheads them?
Because anon... those people are you! They are you, you are them, I am you!
To be enlightened.
>>17067702
>I'm guessing they'd mention forgiving him even after doing such a deed
Yeah i am going to forgive him alright, right after i make sure he is no longer a threat to any one.
I could probably ignore transgressions towards myself since i really believe we are immortal souls. Maybe its even karmic restitution for something i did in an earlier life? Maybe its just some one that i murdered that murders me?
But i know other people don't believe that so for them the fear of dying is very real and that makes it worse imo.
>as something must have driven him to it.
Most likely, but right then are there that doesn't really matter.
>But as for not stopping them in the act I have the same opinion as you.
Yeah i think most people do.
But it would be interesting to hear a response from some one that thinks otherwise. Like that guy who believed that killing always leads to reincarnation and there is always negative karma in killing, no matter if you do it in self defense for yourself or for others.
Is a person that goes with option C really more morally culpable then a person that goes with option A?
>>17047568
Raising the Creative Sex Force or Life Force to your crown Chakra, a lot harder than you think
>>17067708
>Because anon... those people are you! They are you, you are them, I am you!
Well if that is the case i don't love that part of me.
>>17067708
>Because anon... those people are you! They are you, you are them, I am you!
Well if an alternative version of me starts massacring civilians i hope another version of myself put an end to it.
Is this wrong?
>>17067687
It depends mostly on one's "set and setting", your current state of mind, feelings, expectations, knowledge.
>>17067687
>>17063352
DMT will give you visions but that vision isn't enlightenment. Just like how deep meditative experience, some known as samadhi, give you a glimpse of unity, but are not enlightenment.
They are useful experiences for helping you understand what the business of waking up is all about. But they can also trap you into thinking that what you see in those trips is what enlightenment is. It might, in some cases, even fool you into thinking you're already enlightened.
The trips also provide a reflection of your subconscious. You might see things there that you believe are true, but are more or less just figments of your imagination. Some things you might see might feed on a belief system you already have, rather than helping you move past or see through it.
Personally, I vouch for experience done with a sober mind such as meditation practices just to avoid the pitfalls of psychedelic trips stated above.
>>17047568
on this physical plane understanding is the highest form of enlightenment
I think enlightenment is autonomy. If you can take care of yourself inside and out with no outside assistance then that is as close as you can get to enlightenment. People go on about unity when they can't even take care of themselves. Chop wood and carry water.
>>17068414
So handicapped people can't be enlightened?
>>17068414
nope. you call it enlightenment like you can just make up your own definition of it but that ain't it.
>>17047606
Sort of?
Isn't this how it's explained to fit in with the western concept of the enlightenment principles?
Nirvana means "blown out." True enlightenment means surpassing thought and feeling and becoming nothing.
Enlightenment means nothing having to explain it.
To understand, that you are nothing, and know nothing.
>>17068414
To take care of others, is to take care of yourself.
wow this thread is still alive. good for you.
any actual serious spiritual seekers/practitioners here? or are most people here just here for the enlightenment circle-jerk?
>>17070501
Probably safer to assume the former rather than the latter.
>>17055096
>You could allow someone to stab you to death with no fear because you know it is you stabbing yourself for whatever highest purpose is required of the situation.
You can allow yourself to not be stabbed.
You can allow yourself to have a man come and stab you to make yourself allow yourself to not be stabbed.
In a parallel reality you are stabbed and in another you are not stabbed. Which parallel reality do you choose?
You are shifting all the time.
>>17047568
Its something that cant truly be explained op, you'll know it when you find it op.
>>17047568
It's a word used by pseudo-spiritual tryhards to make people think they're somehow superior to others. Truth is that 'enlightened' people are no more than smug, arrogant douchebags that are held on an imaginary moral high ground by idiots.
>>17074361
but you don't understand.... I'm always happy. All those people that try to hurt me can't do it anymore.
>>17047568
It's just a word. Pay it no mind and live your life how you see fit
>>17074361
Ohhhhhhhhmmmmthisisverytrueinthecaseofnewagedipshitohhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmm
>>17075122
If you feel nothing at the suffering of others, you are no longer human.
>>17075400
>newagedipshits
Sorry, typo. Didn't mean to imply there was only one.
>>17061562
what did you learn?
>>17075400
Being human is overrated, anyway
>>17075408
To be enlightened is to accept what you truly are in this as well as every further moment.
no one in this thread is enlightened, and no one has any idea what enlightenment is.
>>17054007
Your pic shows exactly how belief in reincarnation occurs.
>>17054007
Enlightenment can be demonic influence or power over man.
It can be the reliving simultaneously of all genetic experience of your ancestors - but then we would assume so much, like lots of information gets stored in the DNA. And if it does and it gets passed then why wouldn't we humans have better decoding system to be able to actually vividly relieve experiences and learn from ancestors experience.
Option one is the most viable option.
Enlightenment is state of being not directly stated because the ancients understood the dangers of letting stupid ideas willingly infect populations. But is easily described by an enlightened master.
>tfw you had the perfect way to explain it
>but forgot what it was
It keeps happening.
>>17047588
That got a solid fucking laugh out of me. Other then this, everything in this thread is fucking retarded. Smelly neck-beards can't be enlightened.
>>17078475
>>17078500
Fuck that puzzle triggered my Phi-Brain.
>>17078519
Good, you can help our hothead then
>>17078475
>>17078530
Sorry, I only deal with other Phi-Brains.
You're clearly not a Phi-Brain.
>>17078613
I am a Chi-brain, that's one letter above the Phi in the greek alphabet. OWNED HARD, nerd.
>>17078622
Don't make me go omega point on your sorry ass. I have the copypasta ready to fucking DELIVER.
This board is a fucking gong show
>>17078641
MotherFUCKER, you've gone it now.
>>17078668
>you've gone and done it now
>>17063352
>>17063686
>>17067687
>>17068363
I read Your Brain is God by Timothy Leary, he said that it is possible to attain enlightenment using "drugs".
Also it encourages the reader to start practice meditation as he says that both practices aren't "restrictive but complementary".
I would like to see this thread going on, there's a lot of valuable information on the subject.
