[NonDualPhil] The Top 100 Questions in Nonduality

[Guest guest]

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P: Most stimulating post, Greg. Greg.

I propose each one ought to answer those

questions that bring up a resounding answer.

Did the author him/herself give answers?

Below, are the answers to the questions

that I considered relevant.

 

>

> 1. All this talk about consciousness!

> Doesn't consciousness come from the brain?

 

P: YES!

 

> 2. Are animals and babies already in this state?

 

P: Yes

 

> 3. Are spiritual powers a sign of realization?

 

P: No. They are a sign that powers are important

to you, and you tend to explain events that way.

 

> 4. Are there any methods that will help us

> achieve self-realization?

 

P: There are methods for becoming less delusional.

 

> 5. Are there techniques that can bring me nearer?

 

P: Yes, in the sense that less delusion means more

mindfulness, and more opportunities to see without

distortion.

 

> 6. Are traditional religions a hindrance?

 

P: Only when taken literally. Only, if we think

the ladder is more important than the climbing.

Only, when each step is considered sacred,

and something to hold on to. Then, climbing

is not possible.

 

> 7. Buddhist teachings mention emptiness. Advaita

> teachings mention consciousness.

> Aren't they the same thing?

 

P: No

 

> 8. Can dualists be enlightened?

 

P: Yes, but can they remain dualists?

Not for long.

 

> 9. Can one be enlightened and do mean

> things to people?

 

P: This is a situational question. To give a

situational question a general answer is stupid.

Generally, enlightenment won't require hurting

for selfish reasons. But. a surgeon might have to

amputate a leg without the concept of the patient.

 

> 10. Can this knowingness be transmitted to others?

 

P: knowing can always be transmitted, unknowing

can't.

 

> 11. Do I have free will?

 

P Does Santa brings gifts?

Gifts are left under the tree,

and Santa gets the credit.

 

> 14. Does it contradict nonduality to pray

> or be worshipful?

 

P: Yes, but nonduality doesn't mind. So if

you feel like doing it, it's OK.

 

> 15. Does the enlightened one feel any emotion?

 

P: Yes, unless he/she has brain damage. But emotions

have no effects.

 

> 16. Doesn't memory prove that the world and

> I have actually existed?

 

P: Memory only proves there is memory.

 

> 17. External objects exist – isn't this proved

> by the fact that we both see the same tree?

 

P: Everything you are conscious of, exist in

one way or another. The problem with this

question is the word " external. " External to what?

The word 'external' has meaning as long as you

believe your skin divides the whole in two.

 

> 18. How can I catch my mind in the act of

> getting caught in duality?

 

P: As long as you think you have a mind

you are in duality mode.

 

> 19. How can I experience this awareness that I am?

 

P: Ha, ha!

 

> 20. How can I get past the intellectual level?

 

P: Not by asking questions.

 

> 21. How can I realize my own absence?

 

Ha, ha, ha! 3 has is the limit for me!

 

 

> 22. How can I stop suffering?

 

P: Try to suffer as much as you can

instead of running away. Try to feel it and

try to keep it as you do with pleasure. If you

do that, you'll find you can't, your mind looses

interest, it naturally drifts away from suffering.

 

 

> 23. How can the relative lead me to the absolute?

 

P: How can hearing lead you to sight?

Relative and absolute are two

different ways of sensing the whole.

 

> 24. How can the world not exist – I just

> kicked a rock!

 

P: Not even non-existence, doesn't exist.

Try to wrap your mind around that one.

 

> 25. How do I get beyond the conceptual

> level and live it?

 

P: Try staying with the 5 senses.

 

> 26. How do I keep from being hooked back

> into the story?

 

P; Nothing wrong with stories, if you know

them as fiction.

 

> 27. How do I stop all thoughts?

P: Do you need to? Don't you

mean how do I stop thinking when I don't want

to think? If you can't, better question the " want. "

I have no problem stopping anything I

don't " really " want to do.

 

> 28. How does the distinction between subject and

> object dissolve?

 

P: Is only there, if you think about it.

 

> 29. How is it that I am consciousness when I feel

> like a person?

 

P: " you " " consciousness " and " person " are labels over-imposed

on feelings.

 

> 30. How is nondualism different from solipsism?

 

P: Solipsism means only " I " exist. Nondualist

means only existence exist.

 

> 31. How is silence still an object?

P: Anything represented in thought

becomes an object.

 

> 32. How is the loss of a sense of doership

> still a subtle entitification?

 

P: It is a thought.

>

> 33. How will self-realization help me?

 

P: A " me " can not be helped.

 

 

> 34. I feel I might need psychotherapy, but

> my spiritual teacher said that going

> to a therapist would only strengthen the

> ego, which is the basic problem in the

> first place. What should I do?

 

P; Go to the therapist.

 

> 35. I feel like I'm enlightened, but

> others don't treat me any differently.

> Am I?

 

P: If the feeling is there, the feeling is there.

" You " on the other hand, are not, and never

were.

 

> 36. I find myself not caring about anything

> anymore. Is this normal?

 

P: No! Normal is average. If you feel OK,

that way, what's the problem? If what you want

is to be like the majority, then, stay with misery.

 

> 37. I get fooled by memory. How can I

> avoid that?

 

P: Take vitamins.

 

> 38. I had " it " for about a week or so.

> Then I lost it. How can I get it back?

 

P; Forgetabouit!

 

> 39. I have meditated for decades.

> Isn't this helping?

 

P: Well, If you meditated for years, it gave you

something. Otherwise, I hate to tell you this,

if you didn't enjoy it, you are an idiot.

 

> 40. I know that " I " am the Witness.

> But I can see you and you can see me.

> Which one is the true Witness?

 

P: ha, ha!

>

> 41. I know there's no " me, " but how do I

> realize it?

 

P: ha, ha, ha! If you have to ask, you don't know it.

 

>

> 47. I was able to be without " doing " for

> a few weeks. But then " doing " returned.

 

P: Bullshit! Doing was there. Worrying about it

was not.

 

> How do I get rid of it once and for all?

 

P: ha, ha, ha!

 

> 48. I was told to stop reading spiritual books.

> Does that mean I'm getting closer?

 

P: No. It means you are going backwards.

 

> 49. I've heard that notion of enlightenment

> is only for the unenlightened.

 

P: Yes, I'm sure you heard that.

 

> What does this mean?

 

P: it means you heard it.

 

> 50. If consciousness is my nature and

> all things are consciousness,

> then why can't I see what you're seeing?

 

P: Consciousness is not your nature. " You " is

only a thought. Seeing is always the same,

interpretation is always different.

 

> 51. If there's just awareness, then why

> does it seem like there's a world

> with people and things in it?

 

P: ha, ha! " A world " , " people " , " things "

and " awareness " are just labels.

 

> 53. If everything is awareness, why don't I feel it?

 

Dumb question! How is a feeling different from

awareness? And things are feelings by another name.

 

> 54. If I am enlightened, will I be happy

> all the time?

 

P: No. You just won't care.

 

> 55. If I lose my sense of doership, will I ever

> feel guilt again?

 

P: Yes, you might feel guilty. But you will

not hold it against yourself, after all, you did it to

yourself.

 

> 56. If I realize Oneness, what about my family?

 

P: You do, what you got to do!

 

> 57. If it's all just consciousness, then why

> even get out of bed in the morning?

 

P: If you did get out of bed, then, you had no choice.

 

 

> 59. If someone is enlightened, does that

> mean they teach?

 

P: What doesn't teach?

 

> 60. If someone is teaching, does that mean

> they're enlightened?

 

No

 

> 62. Is consciousness like energy or space?

 

P; Yes, in the sense that they all are perceptual

impressions of the the same indivisible whole.

>

> 63. Is there consciousness in inert matter?

 

P: Is there meat in muscles?

>

> 64. Is there reincarnation?

 

Of what?

 

> 66. My guru told me that I'm enlightened,

> but I don't feel like I am.

 

P; Then, you are not.

 

> 67. Once one has the Understanding, can it be lost?

 

P: Understanding depends on memory.

 

70. There are so many people suffering.

> How can nonduality say that nothing matters?

 

P: Suffering always matters.

 

>

> 73. What happens after death?

 

P: No differing than before conception.

 

> 87. When I realize my true nature, will I

> still be able to feel pain?

 

P: Yes.

 

> 89. When I see other people, I feel separate

> from them. How can I transcend this?

 

P: You don't have to. Feelings are not within

your control. It's enough to know that those people

are also you, even if it doesn't feel like it.

 

> 90. When I'm in satsang, I feel peace and

> joy. The next day I seem to have lost it.

> How can I keep it always?

 

P: It can't

 

 

> 91. Where did the manifestation come from?

 

Cuba.

>

> 92. 93. Why are we here?

 

Only because we are not there.

 

> 99. Without a personal sense of " me, "

> how can a human being function?

 

P; Try it, you'll like it!

> ============================

> And the #1 question in nondualism:

> #1. HOW DO I GET THERE?

 

P: Don't ask! To question, is to divide.

 

Pete

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