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Enlightenment, I don't get it

Sunstone

De Diablo Del Fora
Premium Member
If it means "losing my ego", then I don't want it. Why would I want to do that? It seems to be a bizarre desire. Who doesn't want to be themself, and why?

You seem to want someone to try to convince you that you should seek enlightenment. That's kind of like saying, "I don't like blue. Convince me I should like it."

Strange request.
 

janesix

Active Member
It's desirable to those attracted to it and not otherwise. I don't think there's any way to explain it to someone who finds it creepy that will make real sense.
The weird thing is that I am EXTREMELY attracted to religion, spirituality, yoga, meditation, esoteric knowledge, the list goes on. There must be a reason. And I avoid all spiritual experiences, I don't know why the attraction.
 

Sunstone

De Diablo Del Fora
Premium Member
If it means "losing my ego", then I don't want it.

By the way, you're confusing the process with the outcome. Kind of like confusing an assembly line with an automobile. Just so you know.


You're in good company, though. It's a common misunderstanding.
 

Spirit of Light

Be who ever you want
Looks like the only existence, and you wanna throw it away.
I speak only from my understanding, others may see it or understand life differently, i do not hold the full knowledge of enlightentment. Still much to realize.

But it's not throwing it away :) only a different understanding of what life is.
 

JustGeorge

Not As Much Fun As I Look
Staff member
Premium Member
I speak only from my understanding, others may see it or understand life differently, i do not hold the full knowledge of enlightentment. Still much to realize.

But it's not throwing it away :) only a different understanding of what life is.

Yeah, I always get confused by the idea of religious people 'throwing their lives away'. Perhaps if their religious behavior is forced, or they cause themselves pain, or clearly are not enjoying themselves, you could say they threw it away. But secular people can do this too, only with different things.

If the religious person is genuinely enjoying their practices, if it all turns out to be untrue, how is that wasted? They found joy and meaning their life either way.
 

Spirit of Light

Be who ever you want
Yeah, I always get confused by the idea of religious people 'throwing their lives away'. Perhaps if their religious behavior is forced, or they cause themselves pain, or clearly are not enjoying themselves, you could say they threw it away. But secular people can do this too, only with different things.

If the religious person is genuinely enjoying their practices, if it all turns out to be untrue, how is that wasted? They found joy and meaning their life either way.
Fully agree with you on this :)
 

Sunstone

De Diablo Del Fora
Premium Member
Oh Gosh. A lot of things. Teresa of avila has some good books. St. John of the cross. The Bible. Some of the Vedas (but probably not nearly enough)Plato. Many more, but that's just off the top of my head.

You might, like so many of us, have more of an inclination towards studying enlightenment in a more or less scholarly manner than in going for it yourself. Kind of like being a sports announcer or commentator, as opposed to an athlete. If scholarship appeals to you, read a lot of books. If enlightenment appeals to you, forget everything you've read.
 

Valjean

Veteran Member
Premium Member
Loosing your ego is the Buddhist interpretation.
Expanding your ego through unity with all other egos is the Hindu view.

I wouldn't fret about loosing your little world, you're adding consciousness, not deleting it.
 

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
Here's a little something I found a while back - about "ego death".

However, the death that I’ll be talking about in this article isn’t the typical kind of death we fear. The death I’ll be referring to is the most beautiful, precious, illuminating, awe-inspiring, expansive, enlightening and paradigm-shattering experience you could ever go through. This experience is known as “ego death,” and for every serious spiritual seeker, it is a pivotal process to go through.

Read more here -

Ego Death: The Obliteration of the Self and the Experience of Enlightenment ⋆ LonerWolf

Wishing you all the best!
 

shivsomashekhar

Well-Known Member
If it means "losing my ego", then I don't want it. Why would I want to do that? It seems to be a bizarre desire. Who doesn't want to be themself, and why?

“losing my ego”

Isn’t the my the ego? How can you lose yourself?

if you have been told of another hidden/real self, then that is not you. You are what you are now - whatever you see/know about yourself is what makes up your identity and you cannot lose this - for that would mean becoming someone else and no one really wants that.
 

Sunstone

De Diablo Del Fora
Premium Member
My main objection to enlightenment is that it looks to me like it takes a lot of effort, but I see value in it.

It's like a Summer breeze. You don't control it.
You cannot make it happen, you cannot prevent it from
happening. No effort on your part is worth crap.
The best you can do, Brick, is open the windows
so that if and when the breeze rises, it can come in.

Lots of people spend their whole lives waiting
with open windows. Still no breeze.

"Lots?" Probably most!

The 'road to enlightenment', the 'path to realization',
the world's methods and techniques -- all as
silly as a 'road to a breeze', a 'path to a wind'.

Books, teachings, holy scriptures, gurus, teachers,
priests, inflatable love dolls, -- all as silly as
trying to conjure up a storm by reading about one.

Meditation -- only useful to open windows.

Forget about pursuing enlightenment. Just live
your life. Think about becoming a pastry chef.
You get to eat your mistakes. Big advantage
over becoming a monk!

I'm bored now. Not sure if I'll be back. Save any
questions you have for someone who knows
what they are talking about. I deny that's me.
In fact, it's best to forget everything I said.
 

shivsomashekhar

Well-Known Member
The weird thing is that I am EXTREMELY attracted to religion, spirituality, yoga, meditation, esoteric knowledge, the list goes on. There must be a reason..

Generally (for most people) this means you are not getting enough out of everyday, worldly life. Either, it is boring or else it is painful and you are seeking to escape it. Almost always, this is what draws people to the esoteric.
 

dybmh

דניאל יוסף בן מאיר הירש
If it means "losing my ego", then I don't want it. Why would I want to do that? It seems to be a bizarre desire. Who doesn't want to be themself, and why?

The weird thing is that I am EXTREMELY attracted to religion, spirituality, yoga, meditation, esoteric knowledge, the list goes on. There must be a reason. And I avoid all spiritual experiences, I don't know why the attraction.

Please forgive me if this is presumptuous, but maybe the interest in religion, spirituality, esoteric knowledge, etc are remnants from a past life or lives. Your interest in these practices and topics is a way of revealing these previous interests and practices in the here and now? It would be an expression of your inner nature that transcends the here and now.

Perhaps the idea of dissassociative enlightenment is not appealing because this dissassociation in a way dissolves the self and would interfere with your inner self expressing itself in this way?
 

sun rise

The world is on fire
Premium Member
The weird thing is that I am EXTREMELY attracted to religion, spirituality, yoga, meditation, esoteric knowledge, the list goes on. There must be a reason. And I avoid all spiritual experiences, I don't know why the attraction.
Ah, that's a different matter. To me a quite different matter.

The heart is a deeper part of ourselves than the intellect. From what you've written, I get the feeling that your heart, your intuition, is attracting you to material that confuses your intellect.

What you wrote reminds me of one of my favorite endings from the movie "They Might Be Giants":

The human heart can see what's hidden to the eyes, and the heart knows things that the mind does not begin to understand.
 

blü 2

Veteran Member
Premium Member
What is "lost" is the notion of I or self.
One become just a part of existance. Human life is not the true existance of our being.
Or else Clint's Will Munny nailed it in Unforgiven when (if you read 'human' for 'man') he said, It's a hell of a thing, killing a man. You take away all he's got and all he's ever going to have.

Or as someone else said and someone else again wrote on the T-shirt, Life is not a rehearsal.
 

Windwalker

Veteran Member
Premium Member
Here's a little something I found a while back - about "ego death".

However, the death that I’ll be talking about in this article isn’t the typical kind of death we fear. The death I’ll be referring to is the most beautiful, precious, illuminating, awe-inspiring, expansive, enlightening and paradigm-shattering experience you could ever go through. This experience is known as “ego death,” and for every serious spiritual seeker, it is a pivotal process to go through.

Read more here -

Ego Death: The Obliteration of the Self and the Experience of Enlightenment ⋆ LonerWolf

Wishing you all the best!
ego deaths.jpg
 

crossfire

LHP Mercuræn Feminist Heretic ☿
Premium Member
If it means "losing my ego", then I don't want it. Why would I want to do that? It seems to be a bizarre desire. Who doesn't want to be themself, and why?
The term awakened (Buddha means awakened) carries a whole lot less baggage from Mara than the term Enlightened. ;)
 
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