Is God an obstacle to spirituality

a reply to: asabuvsobelow

Enjoy it while you can.

originally posted by: glend
a reply to: Nothin

The woods is your cave. Such a cave exists in our mind as well. But its mighty hard to enter it sometimes. At the moment I am just practising awareness to try lessen my level of thoughts to a dull roar.

You cannot practice awareness.

What is your mind?

What is you?

Is the idea/concept of 'awareness' an obstacle to spirituality?

Maybe, just maybe.....all concepts and wording are obstacles.

Seeing and hearing, tasting and touching are non conceptual.......

a reply to: Itisnowagain

The obstacle to spiritulity is perhaps our will to choose our identity. We choose mind because its familiar territory, it has ice-cream and pretty things. Whereas the awareness in itself seems empty of all things. Very subtle self. one might say bland in comparison to mind.

But the KEY in understanding is that our awareness is rooted in the unmanifested. With enough will, thoughts from the unmanifested (Global mind) start appearing in our awareness. So the awareness blossums (awakens) into a greater mind.

So experiencing no-mind is merely a stage of metamorphus into a greater mind. But don't tell your ego-mind. It will want chase something it can never catch.

Practising awareness is practising thoughtlessness.

a reply to: glend

The obstacle to spiritulity is perhaps our will to choose our identity.

Identification is the obstacle......naming is the origin of all particular things.

We choose mind because its familiar territory, it has ice-cream and pretty things. Whereas the awareness in itself seems empty of all things.

Awareness is full of what is actually here........even words appear in the ever present unconditional space.
But words are simply words.......it must be recognised that words are not the actual thing.
The word water will never quench thirst.

Awareness is full of sound and colour and texture....it is not at all bland.

a reply to: glend

"Practising awareness is practising thoughtlessness."

Is there a noticing that thoughts occur?

Awareness is never separate from what is appearing......how could it be?

a reply to: Itisnowagain

Things you speak of are of mind. They are not in awareness. Awareness is receptive of external thoughts of the mind including all physical sensations of the body. But awareness and mind are distinct. Only is physical the other is spiritual.

a reply to: glend
Pure awareness is deep sleep.....it is somewhat like a tv screen before switching the tv on......it is empty of anything.....it is blank.

Now turn the tv on.......the screen is now full of light.......the light appears as moving things.

The moving things on the screen are not separate from the screen.....in fact they are made only of the screen.

You (aware presence) are not a separate thing on the screen.......you are the screen.

The screen is always here, always present......there is nothing other.

It is always now and now always looks different.

It's always the screen and the screen is constantly appearing different.

The screen is still, it never comes, never goes....does not move.
Be still and know ......I am God.

a reply to: glend

a reply to: Itisnowagain

The important aspect you said is that pure awareness can exist seperate from the screen. If that pure awareness had never experienced sensations then nothing could have fueled a sense of I - I see this. I smell this. I touch this. I hear this. So doesn't it make sense that the "I" is created by interaction with that screen?

Why did you say "Pure awareness is deep sleep" ?

originally posted by: glend
a reply to: Itisnowagain

The important aspect you said is that pure awareness can exist seperate from the screen.

The screen is awareness.......I did not say that pure awareness can exist separate from what appears on it.....the appearance is made only of the screen (awareness...aware space/screen).
There is nothing but screen....

a reply to: Itisnowagain

You say "There is nothing but screen" Whereas I say "There is nothing but awareness". If the awareness witnesses an apple it does not infer that apple is real. The only thing that is real is awareness. Everything else could potentially be maya!

originally posted by: glend
a reply to: Itisnowagain

You say "There is nothing but screen" Whereas I say "There is nothing but awareness". If the awareness witnesses an apple it does not infer that apple is real. The only thing that is real is awareness. Everything else could potentially be maya!

The apple is made of awareness.

Awareness is not a thing that can do anything like infer. Awareness does not do witnessing.

The only reality is awareness.....the apple is made only of awareness.

a reply to: glend
If you like Sri Ramana Maharshi, you might enjoy this:

Ramana Maharshi and the Cinema Screen Analogy
shanmugamp.org...

a reply to: glend
I am loving the video you posted... absolutely awesome 😍

a reply to: Itisnowagain

The apple is part of the material world which we may term as the manifested nature of God. But the awareness is the pure unmanifested. Witness, seat of conciousness, I AM, spiritual eye etc are just other words for that awareness. The only thing we can affirm as to what that awareness is - "I am that I am" ....Exodus.

If the material world is an illussion of mind. Then saying the awareness includes the illussion, keeps us rooted to the illussion.

a reply to: Itisnowagain

I am glad you enjoyed it.

a reply to: Itisnowagain

This is his teacher, teacher....

originally posted by: glend
a reply to: Itisnowagain

I am glad you enjoyed it.

Did you listen to it?
It's worth listening to more than once.

a reply to: glend

If the material world is an illussion of mind. Then saying the awareness includes the illussion, keeps us rooted to the illussion.

Ramana Maharshi often used the analogy of a cinema screen. The contents of the screen keep changing but the screen itself doesn’t change. The same way, You, the Self or the pure awareness doesn’t change while the contents of the consciousness keep changing…

The 'world' is a concept.
However.......what is appearing presently is the screen.

The illusion is that there is a you and a world.........there isn't!
There is just the screen.