I once read/heard (I no longer remember which) that the desire to be free from suffering was the ultimate suffering. That small phrase has had more effect on me than oceans of (very fine) texts about all of it...
I’m very appreciative of your channel and the simplicity, common sense and insight you project as well as your personal warmth. Listening to you and reading the comments has inspired me to be more aware of the fetter of desire…..is their such a fetter? Anyhow, it covers a wide range as you can imagine and I know that by simply acknowledging the desires as they pop up will help release me from their bondage. Things need to be simple for me to understand and use them and I think this will be my next step. Thank you 🙏.
Thank you for such a lovely comment and sharing so authentically. Desire is one of the fetters and gentle attention and awareness of when this desire drives our actions and speech in the world is a brilliant practice, your intuition is excellent. ❤
"Enlightenment is a simple realization that everything is as it should be. That is the definition of enlightenment: everything is as it should be, everything is utterly perfect as it is. That feeling...and you are suddenly at home. Nothing is being missed. You are part, an organic part of this tremendous, beautiful whole. You are relaxed in it, surrendered in it. You don´t exist separately - all separation has disappeared. A great rejoicing happens, because with the ego disappearing there is no worry left, with the ego disappearing there is no anguish left, with the ego disappearing there is no possibility of death any more. This is what enlightenment is. It is the understanding that all is good, that all is beautiful - and it is beautiful as it is. Everything is in tremendous harmony, in accord."
This is absolutely correct, but you should always seek the advice of gurus and consciously choose whether it's relevant to you or not. Rejecting advice just because it's confidently delivered and may be false is foolish. Take all things on board and decipher whether it's right for you or not.
That's why I love the diamond sutra. If I understand it correctly (questionable!), it describes both the impossibility of explaining enlightenment and the necessity of sharing it! 😵💫
One other thhing. Words can help in te right context. I have a friend who is briiliant with language. His short posts illuminate to a degree that iit causes some envelopment of c onnection in waysI had not been able to access on my own. He doesn't say what "it Is" because that is impossible, but he creates a deep feeling of spaciousness and letting go. So there are no rules. There are arenas where words matter a lot. Journey of Souls is a profoud book that opens one to a framework of the reincarnation cycle as expressed through soul contracts. There are ways this creates freedom from victimhood. It is a layer. But it would not have hasd quite the value if I hasd not had direct experience of it. But you are right. In the end the only thing that matters is one's own experience of what this is, what truth there may be.
You know. I was the direct disciple of a Sat Guru for 20 yeaes while he was in the body. I have been extremely close to 3 more and deeply impacted by a bunch more. Of course the secret (one of them) is it's all the same Guru coming through different forms. And of course who is Guru? None of them, not one, ever explained or even got near the term "enlightenment". Their concern was devotion to God, beiing the embodiment of Grace and Divine assistance in whatever form was needed, and the living conduiit to help one connect to the truth within. The reason they never talked about enlightenment or even never used the term is it was irrelevant as no words could convey what is is, whatever it was had to be experienced and I still don 't know what it means nor do I care. We must be careful in how we use language. What a real Guru is, is very different from many Western conceptions of Guru or misguidedly applying the term to people who are not it. There are (supposed) *teachers* who might prattle on about this, but they asre not Gurus. If we can help people make this important distinction, to underrstand what is really going on, what and who Guru really is, then we have done the world an important service. i have book in me on this ( a memoir). Thanks for reminding me. The presence of Guru in the world messes with idea of supremacy of non duality. It is just a lens.
All gurus are fake. They only have second-hand shit bookknowledge. They all have a very heavily conditioned mind. Just like everyone else. Therefore their consicousness is the same as everyone else. The conditioned mind is not the enlightened mind.
I’d go a little further and add there’s no such thing as a ‘real’ guru as opposed to an unreal. It’s too unconditional. What one might project as a ‘fake guru’, even the seemingly corrupt ones, could very well spark a glimpse in someone, because anything at all can be a conduit for enlightenment. It does not exclude anything, yes, even including ‘fake gurus’. ‘Real guru’ and ‘fake guru’ are only projections.
@@the-absolute-light Ultimately that has value in that what Guru really is, is not restricted to form or in particular any one form. But the term has specific meaning. In the context used here, because the Guru function or aspect is in everyone does not negate that their are forms that authentically meet the criteria and those that don't. My point was quit applying it inapprpriately. Rupert Spira is not a Guru. Jeff Foster is not a Guru. Neither were/are Ram Dass or Wayne Dyer or Depak Chopra. Ramana Maharshi was. Neem Karoli Baba was. The task of Guru is to awaken one to the truth. If one believes Jim Jones wil get you there, one is free to follow that path. There may be a soul lesson of great importance there in the absolute, but in this context you are not engaging an authentic Guru. One more point. Something has to be the origin, the generative point in form. All these teachers today and maany others swim in a matrix created by real Gurus, be it be Jesus, Krishna, Shankara, Buddha, Babaji or many others. There is an importance to venerate those who laid foundations yet understood that foundation was created for awakening to truth and freedon, not attachment.
People may get frustrated when you can't describe it and I've seen that in the comments sections of many videos I've come across but you really can't put any of this into words. And by not being able to put it into words, it means the mind can't warp it too because what the mind thinks enlightenment is and what is actually is are two totally different things.
Interesting. I’ve been studying spiritual literature for 40 years and never mention God as it minimises it …. At times I sense that the Ultimate cannot be explained but possibly experienced ..the Zen Masters were correct when asking “ Are you Sure?”
And mostly if it can be put into words or even more ridiculously giving steps and prescriptions, for sure ,did not happened and they didn't experienced anything
I mean you can just say something like " if a chair is not a chair, then its not a chair" Einstein, einstein dident say that and i did and it dosent mean anything but the way people suddenly belives something beacuse it ryhmes or just because someone is a genius at lets say carpeting and think that must mean they are a genius at everything often suprises me
There is no point in getting guidance from an unenlightened being. Even then all that is needed is a surrender, openess and the universe will take you apart. There is nothing to do, no learning, just undoing.
And here I am, writing to you to authentically ask for a pointer to work that encourages the framing you offer in this post...(in the hope that this message doesn't undermine itself!)
For me, the pointer is connection to what is within by whatever means you choose. If one demands a label, a conception of the mind, one blocks access to the very thing. There is no right or wrong way or experience here. My life has taught me if connection is established (usually through intention and/or forms of meditation), that which is begins to draw one deeper in a revelatory way over time. There are things that are clear to me now and energies accessible I could not understand or connect to even 5 years ago. Is it "enligtenment"? I don't know what that means nor do I care. Probably not. But it does contain authentic illumination. Just "be here now." Who or what is the real doer? Not the ego or mind.
@@simoninsilence1427 the pointer is it's down to you to take on board what you feel valuable from people by trying it out, and if you try it and it doesn't work, move on. Dont just accept what gurus tell you without trying it for yourself and seeing that it works. The power is in your hands. Don't give 100% of it away to gurus without question and never test whether what they're saying actually works.
The 10 fetters do not describe enlightenment but point to what keeps us chained (fettered) to conditioned suffering. The Buddha pretty much never answered questions about what enlightenment was like, or how it appeared.
Personally, I find maps like Buddhism’s ten fetters model very useful in helping me see which delusions I’m still clinging to. That said, I agree that too many gurus will say “I know nothing” and in the next breath say “it is clearly seen that…”. Or they’ll say to look not into thoughts and beliefs, but only into direct experience. Then they’ll spin a fantastic yarn about how your true self is pure awareness or consciousness and all of us are refractions of the one universal consciousness. Really? You got all that from direct experience? That’s funny. In my direct experience there’s awareness, but no indication whatsoever that there’s anything universal about it.
Beautifully put. The 10 fetters like you said point to beliefs that bind us to conditions and therefore really handy to help orient practice but they do not say a word about what enlightenment is, or what's it's like or what it means. That's the beauty of the Buddha dharma, he pretty much never explains what enlightenment is ❤
@@Awakehereandnow I’m not as familiar with the dharma as I would like, but I get your point. Indeed, the Bahiya sutta is the only example I can think of where the Buddha describes what enlightenment is like, and even that was couched in terms of practice. The heart sutta also seems to describe somewhat the experience of enlightenment, but it wasn’t written by the Buddha as far as we know.
Great word of caution. Reality is utterly simple, but the intellect doesn't do simple, so it often falls for stories and misdirection.
I once read/heard (I no longer remember which) that the desire to be free from suffering was the ultimate suffering. That small phrase has had more effect on me than oceans of (very fine) texts about all of it...
He who knows, does not speak. He who speaks, does not know.
Lao Tzu
*proceeds to write 30 chapter book* :P
Thank you Simon, your work is deeply valued 🙏
I’m very appreciative of your channel and the simplicity, common sense and insight you project as well as your personal warmth. Listening to you and reading the comments has inspired me to be more aware of the fetter of desire…..is their such a fetter? Anyhow, it covers a wide range as you can imagine and I know that by simply acknowledging the desires as they pop up will help release me from their bondage. Things need to be simple for me to understand and use them and I think this will be my next step. Thank you 🙏.
Thank you for such a lovely comment and sharing so authentically. Desire is one of the fetters and gentle attention and awareness of when this desire drives our actions and speech in the world is a brilliant practice, your intuition is excellent. ❤
"Enlightenment is a simple realization that everything is as it should be.
That is the definition of enlightenment: everything is as it should be, everything is utterly perfect as it is. That feeling...and you are suddenly at home. Nothing is being missed. You are part, an organic part of this tremendous, beautiful whole. You are relaxed in it, surrendered in it. You don´t exist separately - all separation has disappeared.
A great rejoicing happens, because with the ego disappearing there is no worry left, with the ego disappearing there is no anguish left, with the ego disappearing there is no possibility of death any more. This is what enlightenment is. It is the understanding that all is good, that all is beautiful - and it is beautiful as it is. Everything is in tremendous harmony, in accord."
Responding to a video warning of the pitfalls of explaining enlightenment with an explanation of enlightenment. Touche 😊❤
@@Awakehereandnow Lol....I love your egoless response.
Good point ! much needed / Go Osho..........
This is absolutely correct, but you should always seek the advice of gurus and consciously choose whether it's relevant to you or not. Rejecting advice just because it's confidently delivered and may be false is foolish. Take all things on board and decipher whether it's right for you or not.
That's why I love the diamond sutra. If I understand it correctly (questionable!), it describes both the impossibility of explaining enlightenment and the necessity of sharing it! 😵💫
I love the diamond sutra. Has played a big part in my life and awakening 💎
Nicely put. Thanks for sharing. 🙏
Freedom to be you
Thanks
Beware of gurus period.
One other thhing. Words can help in te right context. I have a friend who is briiliant with language. His short posts illuminate to a degree that iit causes some envelopment of c onnection in waysI had not been able to access on my own. He doesn't say what "it Is" because that is impossible, but he creates a deep feeling of spaciousness and letting go. So there are no rules.
There are arenas where words matter a lot. Journey of Souls is a profoud book that opens one to a framework of the reincarnation cycle as expressed through soul contracts. There are ways this creates freedom from victimhood. It is a layer. But it would not have hasd quite the value if I hasd not had direct experience of it.
But you are right. In the end the only thing that matters is one's own experience of what this is, what truth there may be.
You know. I was the direct disciple of a Sat Guru for 20 yeaes while he was in the body. I have been extremely close to 3 more and deeply impacted by a bunch more. Of course the secret (one of them) is it's all the same Guru coming through different forms. And of course who is Guru?
None of them, not one, ever explained or even got near the term "enlightenment". Their concern was devotion to God, beiing the embodiment of Grace and Divine assistance in whatever form was needed, and the living conduiit to help one connect to the truth within. The reason they never talked about enlightenment or even never used the term is it was irrelevant as no words could convey what is is, whatever it was had to be experienced and I still don 't know what it means nor do I care.
We must be careful in how we use language. What a real Guru is, is very different from many Western conceptions of Guru or misguidedly applying the term to people who are not it. There are (supposed) *teachers* who might prattle on about this, but they asre not Gurus.
If we can help people make this important distinction, to underrstand what is really going on, what and who Guru really is, then we have done the world an important service. i have book in me on this ( a memoir). Thanks for reminding me.
The presence of Guru in the world messes with idea of supremacy of non duality. It is just a lens.
All gurus are fake. They only have second-hand shit bookknowledge. They all have a very heavily conditioned mind. Just like everyone else. Therefore their consicousness is the same as everyone else. The conditioned mind is not the enlightened mind.
I’d go a little further and add there’s no such thing as a ‘real’ guru as opposed to an unreal. It’s too unconditional. What one might project as a ‘fake guru’, even the seemingly corrupt ones, could very well spark a glimpse in someone, because anything at all can be a conduit for enlightenment. It does not exclude anything, yes, even including ‘fake gurus’. ‘Real guru’ and ‘fake guru’ are only projections.
You talking nonsense @@the-absolute-light
@@heinmolenaar6750 what I said is perfectly clear over here. Perhaps you could ask questions for more clarity over there.
@@the-absolute-light Ultimately that has value in that what Guru really is, is not restricted to form or in particular any one form. But the term has specific meaning. In the context used here, because the Guru function or aspect is in everyone does not negate that their are forms that authentically meet the criteria and those that don't. My point was quit applying it inapprpriately. Rupert Spira is not a Guru. Jeff Foster is not a Guru. Neither were/are Ram Dass or Wayne Dyer or Depak Chopra.
Ramana Maharshi was. Neem Karoli Baba was.
The task of Guru is to awaken one to the truth. If one believes Jim Jones wil get you there, one is free to follow that path. There may be a soul lesson of great importance there in the absolute, but in this context you are not engaging an authentic Guru.
One more point. Something has to be the origin, the generative point in form. All these teachers today and maany others swim in a matrix created by real Gurus, be it be Jesus, Krishna, Shankara, Buddha, Babaji or many others. There is an importance to venerate those who laid foundations yet understood that foundation was created for awakening to truth and freedon, not attachment.
Know your own mind, not someone else's right?
We can only show the path and our enlightment in fact.
People may get frustrated when you can't describe it and I've seen that in the comments sections of many videos I've come across but you really can't put any of this into words. And by not being able to put it into words, it means the mind can't warp it too because what the mind thinks enlightenment is and what is actually is are two totally different things.
Interesting. I’ve been studying spiritual literature for 40 years and never mention God as it minimises it …. At times I sense that the Ultimate cannot be explained but possibly experienced ..the Zen Masters were correct when asking “ Are you Sure?”
And mostly if it can be put into words or even more ridiculously giving steps and prescriptions, for sure ,did not happened and they didn't experienced anything
I mean you can just say something like " if a chair is not a chair, then its not a chair" Einstein, einstein dident say that and i did and it dosent mean anything but the way people suddenly belives something beacuse it ryhmes or just because someone is a genius at lets say carpeting and think that must mean they are a genius at everything often suprises me
There is no point in getting guidance from an unenlightened being. Even then all that is needed is a surrender, openess and the universe will take you apart. There is nothing to do, no learning, just undoing.
And here I am, writing to you to authentically ask for a pointer to work that encourages the framing you offer in this post...(in the hope that this message doesn't undermine itself!)
For me, the pointer is connection to what is within by whatever means you choose. If one demands a label, a conception of the mind, one blocks access to the very thing. There is no right or wrong way or experience here. My life has taught me if connection is established (usually through intention and/or forms of meditation), that which is begins to draw one deeper in a revelatory way over time. There are things that are clear to me now and energies accessible I could not understand or connect to even 5 years ago.
Is it "enligtenment"? I don't know what that means nor do I care. Probably not. But it does contain authentic illumination. Just "be here now." Who or what is the real doer? Not the ego or mind.
@@simoninsilence1427 the pointer is it's down to you to take on board what you feel valuable from people by trying it out, and if you try it and it doesn't work, move on. Dont just accept what gurus tell you without trying it for yourself and seeing that it works. The power is in your hands. Don't give 100% of it away to gurus without question and never test whether what they're saying actually works.
Do the 10 fetters fall in this category?
The 10 fetters do not describe enlightenment but point to what keeps us chained (fettered) to conditioned suffering. The Buddha pretty much never answered questions about what enlightenment was like, or how it appeared.
Which Guru does this? And beware of all those gurus bound by UA-cam 😉
Personally, I find maps like Buddhism’s ten fetters model very useful in helping me see which delusions I’m still clinging to. That said, I agree that too many gurus will say “I know nothing” and in the next breath say “it is clearly seen that…”. Or they’ll say to look not into thoughts and beliefs, but only into direct experience. Then they’ll spin a fantastic yarn about how your true self is pure awareness or consciousness and all of us are refractions of the one universal consciousness. Really? You got all that from direct experience? That’s funny. In my direct experience there’s awareness, but no indication whatsoever that there’s anything universal about it.
Beautifully put. The 10 fetters like you said point to beliefs that bind us to conditions and therefore really handy to help orient practice but they do not say a word about what enlightenment is, or what's it's like or what it means. That's the beauty of the Buddha dharma, he pretty much never explains what enlightenment is ❤
@@Awakehereandnow I’m not as familiar with the dharma as I would like, but I get your point. Indeed, the Bahiya sutta is the only example I can think of where the Buddha describes what enlightenment is like, and even that was couched in terms of practice. The heart sutta also seems to describe somewhat the experience of enlightenment, but it wasn’t written by the Buddha as far as we know.
@@hansenmarc thanks for your lovely response. Yeah the heart sutra is much younger than early Buddhist texts, and likely originated in china. 🙏
Doh.....
Who?