Post by KG on Apr 27, 2012 3:19:40 GMT -5
I have been looking around at what passes for spiritual development, but I have also been looking at myself... 50 years old and seeing a huge gulf between what I want to see and what I see... trying to merge the differences... cross my eyes with exhaustion and maybe the world will look better.
I see a whole lot of feel good and be happy people, who are mostly fake as three dollar bills. They tend to be self centered and surround themselves with yes men. I listened to one of those for a while last year. Her name is Gabby and she's kind of special. I like Gabby, but her followers on her website are like the three little monkeys who see no evil, speak no evil, and hear no evil. They remind me of church in a non plus kind of way... They believe whatever they are told and take everything Gabby says as gospel in a very literal way... always be positive... fake happy... fake it at all costs and then someday you'll either truly be happy or you will have brain washed yourself into the peaceful nirvana of a vapid mental vacuum.
I watched some videos but found it impossible to communicate on the site because I could not explain anything without first stating there was a problem... Gabby's gospel doesn't have room for problems, but without problems how can their be a solution?
I ran across this scale called levels of consciousness, by David R. Hawkins. www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/04/levels-of-consciousness/
Now I am not sure where I land on this thing, but not very high most of the time, yet I have spent my whole life seeking very little besides spiritual growth. Now I am not downplaying Mr. Hawkins work at all. I think when we look at his scale between shame and enlightenment all of us want to be at enlightenment, but sigh... who has truly arrived... and who has experienced joy lately? I've given a lot of thought to joy. I know I should have it, but the nearest I come is late at night when everyone is asleep and I finally find a bit of peace.
Another guy I've been listening to a lot (Sons of Liberty Academy) defines awakening as waking up from consumerism of the 90s and realizing how totally screwed up things are. I tend to agree with him that things are screwed up, and I am totally aware of that, but I have still learned a lot from his work. He's a lot more politically conservative than I am, but I find that his research matches mine.
I remember on HT people spoke of awakening as realizing that they were Otherkin, or had past lives.
I also remember when I was on that eastern site before HT called illusion of Enlightenment that one of the wisest guys I ever talked to told me that there was a very thin line between enlightenment and insanity and that for most people the result of seeking full enlightenment left them more insane than enlightened. As I've gotten older I have begun to notice that. LOL Mostly about myself.
So as I sit here tonight... well morning now, wondering WTF enlightenment really is, and how to define spiritual growth I have to say this... It is none of this stuff I was talking about above.
Enlightenment is in my opinion:
Knowing there are problems,
but finding joy in spite of them.
Knowing there are a lot of hurtful people in the world,
but believing that every individual is a precious child of the universe.
Knowing that at midnight one is surrounded by darkness,
but being thankful that on the other side of the world it is mid-day, and soon it will be our turn again.
Learning to truly not be afraid.
Enlightenment is not:
Lying to yourself or others.
Pretending not to be angry when you are.
Pretending to be happy when you are miserable.
Whistling in the dark.
Finally killing the mind until there is nothingness.
Loosing your individuality.
Frightening yourself with facts.
This much I know, but what exactly is the way of enlightenment? I do not know, I am only aware... and not always even that. I know that this insanity isn't enlightenment... the world is a dark and crazy place, but also a place of joy if we allow it to be.
I see a whole lot of feel good and be happy people, who are mostly fake as three dollar bills. They tend to be self centered and surround themselves with yes men. I listened to one of those for a while last year. Her name is Gabby and she's kind of special. I like Gabby, but her followers on her website are like the three little monkeys who see no evil, speak no evil, and hear no evil. They remind me of church in a non plus kind of way... They believe whatever they are told and take everything Gabby says as gospel in a very literal way... always be positive... fake happy... fake it at all costs and then someday you'll either truly be happy or you will have brain washed yourself into the peaceful nirvana of a vapid mental vacuum.
I watched some videos but found it impossible to communicate on the site because I could not explain anything without first stating there was a problem... Gabby's gospel doesn't have room for problems, but without problems how can their be a solution?
I ran across this scale called levels of consciousness, by David R. Hawkins. www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/04/levels-of-consciousness/
Now I am not sure where I land on this thing, but not very high most of the time, yet I have spent my whole life seeking very little besides spiritual growth. Now I am not downplaying Mr. Hawkins work at all. I think when we look at his scale between shame and enlightenment all of us want to be at enlightenment, but sigh... who has truly arrived... and who has experienced joy lately? I've given a lot of thought to joy. I know I should have it, but the nearest I come is late at night when everyone is asleep and I finally find a bit of peace.
Another guy I've been listening to a lot (Sons of Liberty Academy) defines awakening as waking up from consumerism of the 90s and realizing how totally screwed up things are. I tend to agree with him that things are screwed up, and I am totally aware of that, but I have still learned a lot from his work. He's a lot more politically conservative than I am, but I find that his research matches mine.
I remember on HT people spoke of awakening as realizing that they were Otherkin, or had past lives.
I also remember when I was on that eastern site before HT called illusion of Enlightenment that one of the wisest guys I ever talked to told me that there was a very thin line between enlightenment and insanity and that for most people the result of seeking full enlightenment left them more insane than enlightened. As I've gotten older I have begun to notice that. LOL Mostly about myself.
So as I sit here tonight... well morning now, wondering WTF enlightenment really is, and how to define spiritual growth I have to say this... It is none of this stuff I was talking about above.
Enlightenment is in my opinion:
Knowing there are problems,
but finding joy in spite of them.
Knowing there are a lot of hurtful people in the world,
but believing that every individual is a precious child of the universe.
Knowing that at midnight one is surrounded by darkness,
but being thankful that on the other side of the world it is mid-day, and soon it will be our turn again.
Learning to truly not be afraid.
Enlightenment is not:
Lying to yourself or others.
Pretending not to be angry when you are.
Pretending to be happy when you are miserable.
Whistling in the dark.
Finally killing the mind until there is nothingness.
Loosing your individuality.
Frightening yourself with facts.
This much I know, but what exactly is the way of enlightenment? I do not know, I am only aware... and not always even that. I know that this insanity isn't enlightenment... the world is a dark and crazy place, but also a place of joy if we allow it to be.