Help Me Understand Reality, Consciousness, and Life

May Peace be upon you all. I wish you Peace because it is the one thing I most wish for myself.

I'm going to be honest and blunt here... I'm frustrated. I'm confused. I'm lost. I'm even stressed out over my seeking. I can not stop the obsession with finding the answers.

• What is consciousness?
• What is reality?
• What is existence?
• What is life?
• What is the purpose of anything/everything?
• What are thoughts?
• What am I?
• Separation, Illusion, Unity, what!!!????!!


God, Source, Energy, Force, Chi, Spirit, Essence....
Whatever "it" is, I've felt "it" in the name of Jesus when invoking the Holy Spirit. I've been enlightened with "it" from Allah. "It" empowered me through Edgar Cayce's Association for Research and Enlightenment. Buddha helped me experience "it". Socrates helped me understand "it". Meditation saturated me in "it". Different New Age and Ancient philosophies, ideas, thoughts, theories and metaphysics helped me piece "it" together. I found absolution in knowing "it" is everything and everything is "it". Enlightenment was complete in discovering all religion, philosophy, and thought originated from "it".


All of those experiences with "it" have come and gone. The Peace I experienced at each stage now eludes me. The more I seek, search, and ponder... the further away I drift from Peace.

The religious tell me to have faith in god. The philosophical tell me to question, seek, and learn. The spiritualists tell me to find unity in all. The enlightened tell me to look within. I have tried. I am trying.

Is "it" playing a big joke on me!!? It's like a bad spiritual trip into quantum physics! The more I seek and the more I observe, the more unobtainable "it" becomes, and with "it" steals away my Peace and all of the "powers" over myself that I have developed along my spiritual path.

"It" has helped me, given me Peace and given me Understanding. "It" has shown me one path, then taken me by the hand to new paths. Now "it" has left me all alone in the stench of my own confusion. I no longer know what to believe, what to think, how to understand, or how to regain my Peace.

Please Help Me...

If you've exhausted meditation...I recommend a quest LikeSomeDo.

reply to post by Sahabi


NOONE here can answer any of those questions as they are all relative.

You find the answers yourself.

Thats why life is so exciting, a massive jigsaw puzzle.

reply to post by BadBoYeed


I really don't understand what you're talking about. What type of quest?

reply to post by Crutchley29


I'm not really asking you guys for the answers to the greatest Religious and Philosophical questions of all time. I'm actually seeking help into why I can not stay stable in Peace or Understanding while searching for the answers myself. The more I learn, the more lost I become. The more I understand, the less Peace I have.

reply to post by Sahabi


Give up. Surrender, empty your cup, have the mind of a child, and allow god to show you.


I noticed you use the words "I" and "me" alot. Know that the "I" can not be enlightened, if your thinking in terms of "I" then you will never make it, because that part of you never can.

Originally posted by Sahabi

• What is consciousness?
• What is reality?
• What is existence?
• What is life?
• What is the purpose of anything/everything?
• What are thoughts?
• What am I?
• Separation, Illusion, Unity, what!!!????!!

All those question is all inside yourself

Try to start with a simple meditation technic i learn a lot from this when i just starting meditation, it sounds very strange but when starting meditating light some incense sticks for a relaxing smell.

www.ananda.org...

When getting more experience in the meditation technic's you can go in a trance and ask your the question you have, experience thought me you dont get answer straight away but when times passes by your subconscious will provide you the answers.

This is basicly what you have to do to answer all those question, but dont forget all those answers is always inside yourself.

Wish you good luck with the meditation.

Originally posted by Sahabi
May Peace be upon you all. I wish you Peace because it is the one thing I most wish for myself.

I'm going to be honest and blunt here... I'm frustrated. I'm confused. I'm lost. I'm even stressed out over my seeking. I can not stop the obsession with finding the answers.

• What is consciousness?
• What is reality?
• What is existence?
• What is life?
• What is the purpose of anything/everything?
• What are thoughts?
• What am I?
• Separation, Illusion, Unity, what!!!????!!

The problem with waking up spiritually is that sometimes you need to go back to sleep for a while but can't - you've woken up and now unfortunately its my belief you can never go back to sleep.
The methods I have found work for me are to ask some basic questions and I'll ask questions based on your questions.

1. Why do you need to know? What will you gain by knowing? How will it effect you?
2. See question 1
3. See question 1
4. See.... you get it.

For me the more I try to know why the more I don't understand because answers to most questions lead to more questions which lead to........

There have been two major points that have helped and are helping me through life.

1. Choice - Everything I experience, every reaction I make, every thought, every action, EVERYTHING can be governed by choice, unfortunately alot of the time I allow myself to experience etc based on subconscious conditioning - so if someone insults me I may think "How dare they, they have no right, thats not who I am etc" I would prefer to choose to think " " and I am changing slowly and I make more choices and I choose to be happy.

2. Is for me the understanding that nothing has any intrinsic meaning, importance or value etc. The only meaning, importance, value etc it what I give it.

Therefore if I was to ask myself your questions these would be my answers..

Consciousness is what I believe it to be.
Reality is what I believe it to be.
etc etc

But what I believe always remains fluid and open to change based on what information is presented to me and how I choose to interpret that information.

Last point as I do drivel on, When I feel stress or frustration I just let go of the bone so to speak and try to laugh, ill then try to look at that point at a later date with fresh eyes.

Hope this has helped in some way.

Originally posted by Sahabi
May Peace be upon you all. I wish you Peace because it is the one thing I most wish for myself.

I'm going to be honest and blunt here... I'm frustrated. I'm confused. I'm lost. I'm even stressed out over my seeking. I can not stop the obsession with finding the answers.

• What is consciousness?
• What is reality?
• What is existence?
• What is life?

Very interesting questions. But to be honest, no one can give you a straight answer, since everyone are looking for these answers. And every person has it´s own approach, for answer to those questions.

You asked what is life. Well think of life as a learning process, from the moment we are born till the moment we die, we are in a constant learning process, in which we are trying to define our purpose,our existence.

You asked what is consciousness. Well think of it as your brain. As we learning we constantly feeding our brain with inputs, and we are constantly change our perception, by learning new things.

You asked what is reality,existence. Well Reality is the constant projection, of our existence, applying the input from our Consciousness, on to our daily lives.

Anyway, as i said at the beginning of my post everyone has its own approach, in order to find the answers.

reply to post by Sahabi
Sahabi,

The real peace in life can only come from one place and that is the Mystery of God, Christ dwelling in you. Verses are KJV.

Eph 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

While it is true the more we learn of this and like things the more we realize how little we know but the peace keeps growing in us as we get closer to Him and deeper into His wisdom. Here is some helpful verses.

Job 12:13 With him is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding.
Job 28:28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.
Pr 11:2 When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.

Mt 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Mt 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

Isn't it revealing that the Prince of Heaven says, "I am meek and lowly in heart"

We are like a ship lost at sea without any way of knowing the right direction, He is our compass and guiding light. The blind cannot lead the blind except into the ditch. The world and the wisdom of men have many paths but they all lead to destruction.

Ps 119:105 NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

I submit to you and all, He is the only way to True peace and tranquility.

Truthiron.

Everyone is born with, as we like to call it, a God shaped hole in our hearts. We know it as a desire for something more. Some try to fill it with travel or physical things, some try to fill it with meditation, some try to fill it with bare religion, any religion. The only reason I call myself a Christian is because there isn't a better word for me to use. The only reasons I go to church is to be an example, to enjoy fellowship and to receive wisdom from those stronger in their faith than I.

What I have is a personal relationship with Jesus - I talk with Him, ask Him questions, hear His words in my heart and my heart is filled. I have no desire to seek elsewhere. As long as I am taken care of physically (with a little on the side for fun) I am satisfied.

If you wish to U2U me, I would be delighted to talk with you about this. It isn't religion. It's a way of life.

You've asked the most common questions that have plagued serious thinkers throughout all of human history.
They mystery of consciousness is exactly that. It's a mystery. What IS consciousness? What HAS consciousness? I believe that the more complex the biological form and it's neural pathways, the more complex the form of consciousness. Now whether this consciousness is merely a by-product of the biological form, or a yet unknown presence just having more proverbial leg-room to experience life in has yet to be determined - by me that is. From the seemingly cold-hearted view of science we are nothing more than a complex series of accidents, while spiritually minded views will tell that we are vessels harboring souls destined for eternal greatness or eternal damnation. While I'm not particularly fond of the idea of not existing, neither am I open to the idea of worshiping a god who would damn his creation to an eternal hell in the name of love.

The purpose of your life, from your standpoint, is to be you. Only you know what you are, and who you are. Any outside influence telling you otherwise should be regarded with suspicion. Everything is relative to the perspective. For the bamboo growing in central asia, YOU have no purpose at all. To your parents, you DO have a purpose - to your spouse - another purpose, to your employer - another purpose.
I think that the ultimate purpose of a person is to create their own dreams, and to fulfill them.

Is there a god? Is there not a god? I believe that if there IS a god, he is nothing like what most religions make him out to be. With a great wisdom, smart enough to fashion everything as it is, would also come great understanding and infinite patience. To know this "creator" as such is to study the "creation". Life begets life, which feeds off of life to produce more life. Where life can't feed directly from life - it improvises - plants converting sunlight into energy on a QUANTUM level. The interconnection of life that changes slowly over time as need be in the quest for survival is far more amazing to me than the spontaneous creation outlined in the religious documents. The Hubble deep-field and ultra deep field views offer almost inconceivable views of the cosmos. It's far more vast than we can ever hope to comprehend. Hearing about things offers one view, but to really see the beauty of it - it requires study and thought.
I recently took a scoop of muck from a local pond and analyzed it under my microscope. I'm no scientist, and my equipment is by no means the best available. Yet in this new world I could see fine grains of sand, and minute creatures smaller than those grains going about their business and I'm wondering what the purpose of these minute organisms could possibly be and then it dawned on me. Whatever they do - is what their purpose IS. They don't have to stop and ask - they don't need directions, nor have they ever had a moment if they questioned if they were on the right path. This is true of ALL animals - except man.
I wonder back in the days when our ancestors finally abandoned the trees and walking upright became the norm, if they ever had any thoughts of what they were or where they were going in life. I doubt they did. It wasn't until religion came along that everything got mucked up, and people felt that they had to have a divine purpose in life for it to have any meaning at all.
Now whether or not there is any ulterior meaning in life, is up to speculation and debate. Personally, I have created my own meaning in my life and that leaves me fulfilled. I am with people who love and support me, I have a job (that I created myself) that pays well so I am content.
Living in an infinite (if it indeed IS infinite) means that all possibilities will one day become a reality. You WILL be born again, you WILL have the exact same life again, you WILL have another similar life. I'm not sure if the reality of this confuses me, or frightens me. If our cosmos is finite, then.....we might be in trouble.
Maybe I will create a new thread on this later.

What you do in your life is what you believe your life is about, and should be about. I've known several unfortunate individuals who never found much of a purpose in their life other than their own personal gratification, two of those are dead, one most recently with a self inflicted gunshot wound to the chest, the third is in jail for the fourth (or fifth) time this year. It's up to you, what your life is about and what meaning it has. You hold the key to that door - and no one else. There is no one particular answer that anyone could give you that you would be satisfied with.

Originally posted by Sahabi
reply to post by Crutchley29

 

. . .why I can not stay stable in Peace or Understanding while searching for the answers myself. The more I learn, the more lost I become. . .

There is this story in the Book of Genesis about people who were in a state of peace. One day they felt like everything they knew was not real. They took steps to find out if there was a truth outside of what they had previously know.
That's a story but it defines what humans are, and that they are the way they are by choice.
Call it a curse if you will but this experience you are having is nothing new, so a story was made to explain it, a long time ago and it seems to have held up over the ages.
Find peace in knowing it is not in your nature to know peace in this life.

reply to post by Crutchley29

This just manifested as an understanding for me today. It's one thing to listen to someone, and a whole 'nother thing to realize it for yourself. I realized that just as all/most human emotion is relative to the individual, so to is truth relative.

Although I didn't agree with you when I initially replied to you, today I do. Thank you and may Peace be upon you





reply to post by polarwarrior

I've come to a new step of my path today. Enlightenment comes from letting go of all preconceived concepts of truth and reality and experiencing it for what it really is, not what we've been conditioned to believe or what we think we believe. Opening my mind, freeing myself from preconceptions, and truly looking within was the struggle I was battling, and now that I truly recognize it, it's a struggle I will soon overcome. Can't wait to see what's next





reply to post by Quasi

Oh how much the "look within" comments were getting on my nerves. Today I understand, and I thank you





reply to post by Jamjar

How true that is!!!! Several times I wish I could go back to sleep, forget about my searching, my questions, and be once again blissful in my own ignorance. The more I learn, the more questions. The more questions, the more wondering. The more wondering, the more uncertainty. The more uncertainty, the more stress.

I'm learning to keep my peace while still being confused, learning to still work on my character while searching, and to truly open my mind.





reply to post by Seed76

Today I truly and finally understand that everyone has their own path. Thank you for your words.





reply to post by truthiron

Are you speaking in philosophical terms or religious terms? I know there are many pearls of wisdom in the Bible, but I left Christianity in 2001. With all that I understand, believe, and know today, I plan to pick up the Bible again soon and pull from it in the spirit of philosophy and deeper/hidden understandings. I will not be back as a religious Christian, but I will re-read the Bible with my new view and see how it resonates with me.





reply to post by sisgood

I understand your words and I feel there is a hole in our hearts that we all seek to fill. You commune with Jesus, but I prefer God/Creator/Universe. I like to use these 3 words interchangeably, but this is who/what I feel. I see religion in philosophical terms nowadays, and it feels so much easier on my heart this way. Be the best person we can, and be as much in unity with our fellow humans as possible. I'm not worrying commandments, or laws, or punishment, or heaven or hell. I'm just looking into the wisdom of the moral character outlined in religion, in a philosophical view.





reply to post by sykickvision

neither am I open to the idea of worshiping a god who would damn his creation to an eternal hell in the name of love.

I finally realized this last week. "All Loving" gods wants to torment me in hell if I don't fully obey? And how can I fully obey when the world's religions have all been corrupted, misconstrued, and argued over their correct understanding? Isn't being a good person, living a good life, being kind to plants and animals, and seeking unity in my fellow humans good enough? God will still put me in hell for this? Sounds like "Part-Time Loving" not "All Loving."

Initially, I wasn't too fond of your post. But after some inner realizations last week and today, I love it!!!! Thank you for the wonderful words. May Peace be upon you!

Originally posted by jmdewey60

Find peace in knowing it is not in your nature to know peace in this life.

Kind of a disheartening buzz kill, don't ya think? I'll keep it in consideration, but I'm still in pursuit of peace.

reply to post by Sahabi
I guess it is disheartening for a crack addict to find themselves in a place where there is no crack.
Plenty of time for peace when you are dead. Florida has these really nice rivers that you can paddle in, and that is peaceful where you can enjoy the moment. At home I cam play music, meaning on an actual instrument that you make work with your body, opposed to plugging something in and pushing a button. I can't imagine some sort of belief system giving a person peace. For me, if I get to where I am not totally freaking out about the world, I am doing pretty good. This is the time where the Bible warned about when men's hearts will fail them.

i will lend advise let you in on what i believe the answers to your qestions are.us i understand that frustration i often get lost in contenplating infiniti and end less universe and evan origins of language.

ok i think the resone we are here is to enjoy life and live it in very physical way gifts of sight smell hear music... have sex its why created our existance to enojoy .
conciosnes to me is kinda funny and times it seems elusive. i like to alter my contiguousness through medatating food and herbs if ya know what i mean
ulitamitly i belive all us humans are one . not on physical level but more spiritual mediate on that if its peace you seek seriosly try to give peace thous around you be suprised how well that manifest anything in terms of emotions

-peace

reply to post by jmdewey60


May Peace be upon you. Awesome words
If you don't mind me asking, what type of instrument do you play?
Don't get me wrong. I'm not having Peace problems like being depressed. Just like, thinking too much about the big picture. But I've been realizing some beneficial stuff that's bringing me back into my comfort zone.






reply to post by jplaysguitar

I have a feeling I've wandered too far into infinite infinities. Not literally, but in that I was "putting too much on my plate." As all/most researchers and seekers have figured out, for each answer appears two or more additional questions.

I'm just backing up, refocusing on my foundations, and taking it from there without forcing anything. All of the seeking might very well be distractions from just enjoying each moment of experience. I have to rebalance my life, and stop spending over-abundant time on the search, and just appreciate and enjoy the path. Restrengthen my character, and manifest my light.

I have my entire life to figure out my life. I've been spending far too much time and energy into searching instead of just mastering the tools I have accumulated so far.

Thanks for commenting. Peace to you.

Originally posted by Sahabi
Kind of a disheartening buzz kill, don't ya think? I'll keep it in consideration, but I'm still in pursuit of peace.

Still in pursuit you say. So at the moment you are in a state of war and how can you find peace when you are in a state of war? The goal is the path, the path is the goal

Freedom is in the heart, the choice in the mind
To understand: Rest in the mind and move in the heart

Originally posted by Sahabi
• What is consciousness?
• What is reality?
• What is existence?
• What is life?
• What is the purpose of anything/everything?
• What are thoughts?
• What am I?
• Separation, Illusion, Unity, what!!!????!!

These are all the same questions I had and I ran into someone else on the internet with all those, but was actually coming up with the answers. I mentioned him (Grupp) on your other thread. He was doing daily shows that you could download by subscribing for $2.89 a month. He's moving, plus his wife just had a son, so he is kind of taking some time off. He also has a blogtalk radio network called Antimatter Radio and he has a Youtube channel. His really serious discussions were on the subscription shows, where he used science to prove all this theories. Another nice thing is on the subscription page he would collect recordings of his being on other shows. Some of those are on YouTube, like recently he was on Russian TV. I could hook you (or anyone else) up with a copy of my archives if you were interested. (this would be by putting it in a downloading site and giving you the address by way of private message)