The Enlightened Ego - Solving the Problems of Awakening pt.1

Originally posted by Snoopy1978
How can one not feel superior, be it morally, intellectually or spiritually, to some yellow ribbon wearing, flag-waving, support the troops/stay the course nimrod? Be him/her a part of our oneness with the universe or a reflection of our multi/one consciousness, that does not take away their ignorance and dark nature. Worse is when they reject enlightenment and prefer to continue approving of bloodlust for power and money for the billionaires. To ascend means you are above something, right? What about those that stay below and reject your hand to help them rise? Billybob approves of torture for men, women and children yet rejects sanity, are we to hug the bastard? LOL

What do you think?

I think we can remember back to when we were as they are. That may be a long time ago or not so long ago. But you were once all things. You are now all things. We are all on the same path, some just left the station earlier than other travelers. Smile and let things amuse you. Revel in the absurdity. It's all in your face now. Yeh, laugh at it all! Namaste

This is one of the best threads that I've read here at ATS. Kudos.

I would like to add that an aspect of enlightenment that I have learned is knowing that there are "a thousand ways to skin a cat," so to speak, being that quantum physics, philosophy, and various religions seem to suggest that we are multi-dimensional beings. Not trying to ego boost or ego enlighten here, just calling it how I see it.

About judging people "who aren't enlightened," once again, there are a thousand ways to skin a cat and even more ways to answer a question. Your answer may not be right for the next guy. Enlightenment is an individual journey, one man's trash is another man's treasure, and vice versa.. You can only provoke one to take that journey, you can't control him or her on his route by giving a definite answer.

Go with the flow, and know that it is what it is.

Excellent thread. I wasn't going to comment, but after reading the replies, I think I will (must be my ego directing me).

Things like this are usually hard to explain for most people, and only people who are headed in the same part consciously can understand it, because they know the answer within themselves.

Enlightenment is actually very easy...it is the letting go of self and this world that is hard. I think very young children and people who are tired of the world and do not fear leaving it can let go easily and move upward with very little trouble. It is when you start to live here...you begin to class this as real and you hold on to it, because you are uncertain and trust only what you see, not what you know is infinite.

I don't have much to say except that, but I'll end by saying this...

The ego is very real, because the mind perceives it to be. What few people understand is that the mind is very deceptive and will do anything to sustain its dominance and existence. When you realize what the mind is, only then can you can understand why it is not important to ask and touch, but to witness.

Well done mate, best thread I have read on ATS.

I came home drunk the other weekend and was sat with my flatmate discussing this very topic. In fact, without telling each other or letting each other know,we had both got to a stage where we thought we were going mad or had some sort of mental problem. I'd look at people in the street or watch dumb ass TV shows and get angry and upset and yes as you said it, even start to feel superior to the people and the things I was seeing. I'd get upset and angry and ask "Why don't you just get it?!"

Then of course I started feeling very,very depressed. When would the # end? I felt like I was from outter space and I had been dropped onto this mental planet and couldn't get home! I've started to feel better recently, and I don't think it's any coincidence that I've come across this thread. It has given me a smile...

I think we just have to remember that everyone is on their own "journey" (don't really like that word, very corporate!) or path, and we all evolve at a different pace. No one soul is better than the other, we're just at different stages of development. And for some that means they're nearly there, or they have an idea of what's going on... and for others - well they are happy stuffing their faces with processed chicken and watching jerry springer still - we just gotta sit back and as the OP said - OBSERVE and EXPERIENCE it, don't judge!

How do I give a star and flag?

Thank you for this great insight, if i may i would like to add this little poem from one of the greatest poet seer

“Don’t go away, come near.
Don’t be faithless, be faithful.
Find the antidote in the venom.
Come to the root of the root of your Self.

For ages you have come and gone
courting this delusion.
For ages you have run from the pain
and forfeited the ecstasy.
So come, return to the root of the root
of your Self.

Molded of clay, yet kneaded
from the substance of certainty,
a guard at the Treasury of Holy Light –
come, return to the root of the root of your Self.

Although you appear in earthly form
Your essence is pure Consciousness.
You are the fearless guardian
of Divine Light.
So come, return to the root of the root
of your Self.

When you lose all sense of self
the bonds of a thousand chains will vanish.
Lose yourself completely,
Return to the root of the root
of your Self.

Once you get hold of selflessness,
You’ll be dragged from your ego
and freed from many traps.
Come, return to the root of the root of your Self.

You are born from the children of God’s creation,
but you have fixed your sight too low.
How can you be happy?
Come, return to the root of the root of your Self.

Why are you so enchanted by this world
when a mine of gold lies within you?
Open your eyes and come —
Return to the root of the root
of your Self.

You were born from the rays of God’s Majesty
when the stars were in their perfect place.
How long will you suffer from the blows
of a nonexistent hand?
So come, return to the root of the root
of your Self.

You are a ruby encased in granite.
How long will you deceive Us with this outer show?
O friend, We can see the truth in your eyes!
So come, return to the root of the root
of your Self.

After one moment with that glorious Friend
you became loving, radiant, and ecstatic.
Your eyes were sweet and full of fire.
Come, return to the root of the root
of your Self.

Shams-e Tabriz, the King of the Tavern
has handed you an eternal cup,
And God in all His glory is pouring the wine.
So come! Drink!
Return to the root of the root
of your own soul.

Soul of all souls, life of all life – you are That.
Seen and unseen, moving and unmoving – you are That.
The road that leads to the City is endless;
Go without head and feet
and you’ll already be there.
What else could you be? – You are THAT!”

“The Root of the Root of Your Self”

Jalaluddin Rumi Poem

Ego enlightenment as you call it cannot be true enlightenment because in true enlightenment one sees the non existence of the ego.

If anyone is indeed ego enlightened he isn't sincere with himself and is basicly lying to himself, people that have this are ignorant and or not sincere with the searching of truth.

Anybody that says they are "enlightened" are funny

Nobody is enlightened, nobody is telepathically communicating at least not commonly, nobody is doing anything.

What you do though is eat systematically slaughtered feces covered cows, chickens that are made to become so heavy with breast meat they cannot walk, we put our dead in boxes and bury them, and we are resource consuming beasts.

We are monkeys, and all you are doing when you say you're enlightened, is trying to climb up on the tallest branch so the other monkeys notice you.

I assure you, nobody on this thread is awake, nor this site, nor am I, nor is anybody.

If enlightened means reading the news everyday on the internet, then you all pass

Originally posted by Jrocbaby
Anybody that says they are "enlightened" are funny

Nobody is enlightened, nobody is telepathically communicating at least not commonly, nobody is doing anything.

What you do though is eat systematically slaughtered feces covered cows, chickens that are made to become so heavy with breast meat they cannot walk, we put our dead in boxes and bury them, and we are resource consuming beasts.

We are monkeys, and all you are doing when you say you're enlightened, is trying to climb up on the tallest branch so the other monkeys notice you.

I assure you, nobody on this thread is awake, nor this site, nor am I, nor is anybody.

If enlightened means reading the news everyday on the internet, then you all pass

edit on 22-5-2011 by Jrocbaby because: (no reason given)

I do not consider myself enlightened, maybe a little more aware of the BS going around, but wouldn't you think that the first step to humility is actually realising what you just said is true....food for thought

It seems to me that what is happening is that you 'notice' those things you most need to see once you have begun the process. So if you observe 'ego' in 'others' you are in fact seeing the ego in yourself - which you should understand at several levels. We are here to learn, let us learn.

Originally posted by Jrocbaby
Anybody that says they are "enlightened" are funny

Nobody is enlightened, nobody is telepathically communicating at least not commonly, nobody is doing anything.

What you do though is eat systematically slaughtered feces covered cows, chickens that are made to become so heavy with breast meat they cannot walk, we put our dead in boxes and bury them, and we are resource consuming beasts.

We are monkeys, and all you are doing when you say you're enlightened, is trying to climb up on the tallest branch so the other monkeys notice you.

I assure you, nobody on this thread is awake, nor this site, nor am I, nor is anybody.

If enlightened means reading the news everyday on the internet, then you all pass

edit on 22-5-2011 by Jrocbaby because: (no reason given)

You are mistaking enlightenment to knowledge of the world. They are related, but are not the same. Enlightenment exists my friend and there are many who are enlightened, but many more who think they are enlightened. One can be enlightened about anything, physics, music, math, corruption...but we aren't talking about that. That is only a realisation of matter, a realisation of some thing in this world. What we are speaking about goes beyond this world. And there are those who have found it!

reply to post by LifeIsEnergy

Words are just symbols for a realization or feeling that we are trying to convey to others, they are not the absolute 'object' or meaning we are trying to convey, they are only pointing towards it. So you say we can go beyond, I say we can transcend, it is the same meaning, that we can overcome.

True but I was thinking when you used transcend the ego, it would be more along the lines that you got rid of the ego completely in all forms that it manifests. So it's semantics.

The ego is not there, it is an illusionary construct that arises from the sense of individual self, of 'me', of what is 'mine'. It only seems real because IT is what is claiming that it is real.

Yet it is real as real as you or anybody else saying "me" or "mine" so if one were to look outside the ego then one would see that the ego is real. Why? Because individuality's exists, just like when looked from different vantage points individualities do not exist. All exist at the same time in the same wavelength, as well as in different wavelengths in different ways.

It is something intermediate between the inert body and the Self. It has no locus standi. If sought for it vanishes like a ghost". - Ramana Maharshi

I don't really get what your trying to say with this, but it sounds like he is wrong. Though the ego is an intermediate between the body and self, that does not mean it has no locus standi. And if sought for you will find it, its kind of hard to miss finding the ego in anything or anybody, all you usually have to do is look for the biggest and shiniest thing that represents that person and you will find the ego.

Well, what I've learned is to run like hell from anyone who says just about anything to do with being "awakened" or "enlightened". It's egotistical and usually the people are just running into their first bouts of psychosis and unable to accept that they're ill so make up a bunch of nonsense.

Don't get me wrong now, psychosis deceases latent inhibition, and often leads to greater understandings of the insanity around us, but at least in the beginning stages...it's dangerous to be around someone like this if they're not really strong minded. Most "awakened" people don't see their illness, and don't try to help their selves. Many of them just go bonkers and stay that way. So, I stay away from the psychotics.

As for seeing people like sheep. Sure do. I will continue to do so for the rest of my days. I actually prefer the term, "maggots", and often say that, "you have a pea-sized mind". I don't care if it makes me look egotistical. If it's best to call out a maggot for what they are, I will.

I have no problem with this. I'm not enlightened, just more aware and knowledgeable that most. No shame in admitting that. Just disappointment that so many are so incredibly slow and pathetic.

reply to post by Jrocbaby


Anybody that says they are "enlightened" are funny, well I must be funny in that case, and I would bet you are enlightened too, it's just outside of your conscious awareness. What a bind to be in, to be enlightened and not know it, and to call others funny when its within you already.

reply to post by unityemissions


I'm not enlightened, just more aware and knowledgeable that most... maybe you are enlightened too, and just not aware of it, maybe you are enlightened and your subconscious is protecting you from having conscious understanding, maybe the bigger part of you knows more about you than the smaller part? Maybe just by reading this the spark of enlightenment has just been lit and one day in the future a part of you will realise you had it all along, or maybe not

reply to post by yyyyyyyyyy


Please qualify your understanding of the term, "enlightenment" in order for us to continue this discussion.

Thanks.

Originally posted by yyyyyyyyyy
reply to post by Jrocbaby

 

Anybody that says they are "enlightened" are funny, well I must be funny in that case, and I would bet you are enlightened too, it's just outside of your conscious awareness. What a bind to be in, to be enlightened and not know it, and to call others funny when its within you already.

reply to post by unityemissions

 

I'm not enlightened, just more aware and knowledgeable that most... maybe you are enlightened too, and just not aware of it, maybe you are enlightened and your subconscious is protecting you from having conscious understanding, maybe the bigger part of you knows more about you than the smaller part? Maybe just by reading this the spark of enlightenment has just been lit and one day in the future a part of you will realise you had it all along, or maybe not

edit on 22-5-2011 by yyyyyyyyyy because: (no reason given)

edit on 22-5-2011 by yyyyyyyyyy because: (no reason given)

Enlightened does not mean knowledge, people in the amazon are enlightened, they are connected to nature much more than any of us, THEY know how to reach enlightenment, and for many of them, and this is why.

Unless you are doing these life changing substances, you simply cannot experience anything on this planet than this substance '___'. Highly recommend watching the link.

Its the drug that makes you dream and it is produced in your 3rd eye, in reptiles, their 3rd eye has a retina and a cornea but it is in the brain and never sees light.It is a death of the body when you take it, but you don't die,because it is made in your brain naturally everynight and makes you trip for 9 hours straight. If you get into a NDE or actually die, you experience the exact same thing, you travel through the universe and talk to aliens, and has a 90% recovery rate for drug addicts including heroin crack alcohol everything because it is so life changing.

www.youtube.com...

Being AWARE is a totally different thing, I consider myself aware, I read tons of internet news, unlike the majority. Most people on this site are to a degree.

reply to post by Jrocbaby


This is why I asked yyyyyyyyyyy to qualify his interpretation of "enlightenment".

There are many definitions. The one you're speaking about is "spiritual" enlightenment.

I've taken more psychedelics than most shamans. It's rubbish. Mind tricks for the weak minded and fool-hearted idealists.

Intellectually, enlightenment is essentially a synonym for ignorance, and an antonym for knowledge/insight.

reply to post by galadofwarthethird


Semantics, semantics....

You raised a lot of good points. I guess it would be better to word it like this: The ego is not real and yet it is, the individual-self is not real and yet it is.

But have you ever noticed that when you become aware of your egotism, when you acknowledge "this thought or feeling is coming from my ego", humility arises and the ego disappears along with that thought/feeling? It cannot be found when this happens, at least until it arises again. To say Ramana Maharshi, or Jiddu Krishnamurti, or Christ, or the Buddha, or any other of the many very wise human beings throughout our history are wrong on this would seem very egotistical to me, for, how can we as humans who have not achieved this level of wisdom judge their insightful wisdom as wrong?

Peace friend.

Originally posted by LifeIsEnergy
reply to post by galadofwarthethird

 

Semantics, semantics....

You raised a lot of good points. I guess it would be better to word it like this: The ego is not real and yet it is, the individual-self is not real and yet it is.
Peace friend.

Oh well that makes so much sense!



I, too, want to be a mindless circular logician...

Some of you who are so judgmental and condemning of the words "enlightenment" and "awakening" must not understand what these words mean or what they are pointing to. Your ego must be afraid of the ideas you have attached to these words because it feels inadequate and unable to let go of itself. Anger, frustration, short-sightedness, unfounded judgment, and condemnation are all forms of the un-awakened. You despise those who speak of awakening and ask them to 'get off of their high horse', yet if you read your own post you may find who truly is sitting on the 'high horse'.

This is not about pitting one group of humans against another, the wise against the unwise, the compassionate against the hateful, this is about helping those who are ready, to achieve what they intuitively know exists. Those who are not ready, or who do not intuitively see this as real, are not any lesser than those who do, and thus vice-versa. The minute you see the wise as lesser human beings, or the unwise as lesser human beings, you have succumbed to your own psychopathic ego and denounced the very thing that drives your judgment, which is finding the truth, as an unworthy cause to pursue. Is this not a severely hypocritical or at least very illogical way of thinking?

reply to post by LifeIsEnergy


No, we're just rational people who think that filtering everything through how one feels about it is retarded.

You're a feeler, I'm a thinker.

What of it?

It has nothing to do with "ego" or fear.

It's more like, WTF does this matter? WTH are mindless people trying to speak about things that can't be known, and can't possibly help out our species?!

Okay, so we're all one.

AND WHAT??

AND WHAT???

IT DOES NOTHING but helps people keep their heads in the sky, and deny reality.

You're trying to "teach" people to become mindless.

To deny their "ego"

WTF is an ego?

Qualify this term, please?

It's so much mindlessness, it makes me want to get a bazooka and floor the whole lot of you.

Trash.



Here, I found you a mirror, kid:

GROW UP!!