by Siddhashunyata 43 Replies latest jw friends
Something that drives me crazy about most people is that they have a need to "pigeon hole" thoughts and beliefs. Questions focus on "what religion are you," or "do you believe in god," is part of the need people have to position you somewhere in their minds.
That being said, I think the third alternative, at least for me, is to acknowledge that that is an interesting question. However, I am not prepared to answer it just yet. But, thank you very much for asking.
That being said, I think the third alternative, at least for me, is to acknowledge that that is an interesting question. However, I am not prepared to answer it just yet. But, thank you very much for asking.
I meditate w this goal, at times. I try to find the real me, my true desires. Have you observed the one who looks? Does it exist? Is it the same as 'god'? Sorry if this is off topic, but these are questions that i have been wondering about.
Good answers. This kind of question really isn't meant to be answered, because then you've gone back to your thoughts haven't you? You might say the answer does not come through language or concepts, it's rather like asking for an apple and someone giving you one.
Satan, the thing is the search itself leads you farther away from it, because you are really looking for yourself aren't you? The question comes from that which you are seeking, so you really need to just go backwards. It's all too easy to conceptualize this and then it becomes a thought looking for a thought, because if you "search" you already have some preconceived notion about it. There is no "other" thing to look at, just the looking.
SaintSatan, certain concepts point the way to fruitful meditation. One of these concepts is the idea that our thinking "self" is an illusion . On the surface this concept is difficult to understand and, once understood, it is difficult to accept as true. If it is accepted as true then meditation is a means to free one of the illusion. The irony is that the illusion is the one seeking. Put another way, the ego seeks to be liberated . This is an impossibility. The ego-self is the problem, it must dissolve. That's why Zens teachers might ask a student "Who is it that that seeks enlightenment?" An odd question especially when the student is known by the teacher.
When the ego-self dissolves one experiences the "real self". To understand how different the real self is from the the illusionary thinking self we need another pointing concept. So we will use the following reasoning :
(1) If I were to define the real me what would I include in that definition? If I think long enough I will come up with a very long list because the "real me" is a result of everything that influenced me in every way. That would include my body and mind and everything that formed them including my parents and everything that influenced them and their parents etc. The list would include food, sunlight, air , the stars etc. In fact it would have to include everything that has ever been. In fact ( this is difficult to grasp ) every thing and every person is defined in exactly the same way. This is a pointing concept. It has all the limitations of a concept in that it is not the "experience" of the real thing.
(2) Accepting the above concept as true, that is, ' an accurate definition of the " real me" must include everything' , we can ask, "What is it like to know this directly; by experiencing it apart from any concept we may have of it?
(3) The direct experience of this has been named many things depending on one's conditioning....God, God Consciousness,Christ Consciousness, Oneness..... Universal Consciousness.
(4) It is my understanding that the experience of this truth is not Enlightment but that it is on the path.
Thanks for the answers,
Intro
In meditation, i am able to detatch from thought.
Siddha
Oooff!!
SS
