Everything is God and everything isn't God. "I was a hidden treasure, and I loved to be known, so I created everything that I may also be known."
The Monad or Father is pure, luminous consciousness, the unconditioned MindWhere the Mind observes itself in its own emitted light, like seeing a reflection of itself on the water, it becomes self aware, and this self-awareness is what the Gnostics call BarbeloHaving become self aware, the Monad then devises an image of itself within itself, which we call the Son or Word, the first act of creation. Self-conscious consciousness is thus established, and the cosmic Mind then begins to distinguish itself from non-self as all creation cascades outward from this initial Christ-Mind.Many spiritual teachers have learned to see this Christ-Mind, and to peel it away to reveal the cosmic and universal Luminous Mind beneath.Some traditions advocate for complete sublimation of the active, outward, creative and distinguishing Christ-Mind and of the Mind with awareness of Self in order to rejoin the Monad concealed beneath. This might be called Nirvana or Gnosis.Other traditions emphasize submission and reverence to the outer Christ-Mind as the source of all Creation and the Self.Others see a path between, where unity with the pure, Luminous Mind of the Monad is achieved without denial of the Christ-Mind, without total sublimation of the Self, so that outward Creation might be purified as well.
>>18497641Isn't striving for the divine state of mind its own hindrance? How can I be free of my own limitation if my only means is that limitation? What stops us from becoming crazy like the sufi that blasphemed while in what I would assume would be a manic state of mind in a muslim country saying he was God and was publicly executed?
>>18497698The striving is the means of peeling away layers. We strive first to eliminate impure desires, eliminate contesting, eliminate concepts like "self" or "other."Every path teaches conscious effort in this purification. But most laypeople are too attached to creation and self to fully realize the practice.You still have to act within creation to purify it and peel it away. It's like the ocean our consciousness swims in.I think it's only after a high level of realization in your personal practice, which requires conscious effort, that it becomes possible to actually observe the non-duality and effortless potential of the Monad, and then at that point things like striving and discrimination will fall away, at which point the consciousness can achieve perfect equipoise in the liminal state between discrimination and non-descrimination.It's hard to put into words, because language starts to break down at the most minute resolutions of reality in the same way our understanding of physical reality seems to break down at the most minute, quantum levels of observation.But that is why in the Mahayana this ultimate teaching of emptiness and non-duality is exactly an ultimate, high-level teaching only realized long after the perfection of the self through active purification
>>18497725>But most laypeople are too attached to creation and self to fully realize the practice.I often thought this myself. It seems to me at least that the only people who would even have a burning desire for a "blown out" state are people who had a rough ride in this life or who are too sensitive to the terrors of it for whatever reason.
Okay pantheism and non-dualism makes a lot of sense, and the world is fucked up and full of suffering.But you don't need to do the whole Gnostic schizo spiel to make yourself feel special.It's not some niche occult concept anymore we've all heard the script and there's no more evidence for it than for any other Abrahamic doctrine.
>>18497725>The striving is the means of peeling away layers. We strive first to eliminate impure desires, eliminate contesting, eliminate concepts like "self" or "other."From my understanding Buddhists do not speculate on the nature of existence. The arrow story where the man asks where it came from instead of help in removing and bandaging the wound. Well I guess this is my bad habit, because existence just profoundly pisses me off. I cling onto the fact that for death anytime is the right time, that there are no guarantees in this life, and the dark terrifying side of freedom, there is nothing one is supposed to do. It torments me and makes all my days restless. What do I do? Meditate on Kali so that I no longer fear the whimsical killing field that is life? I see life as absolutely meaningless. Everything is turning into ash and dust. I get the feels and it torments my days. I guess the point is to transcend the body, the ego and yadda yadda. I haven't attained to that level, and probably never will. For me it, it is just the raw despair in feeling as if this existence and maybe all existences are fallen impure states. Honestly, I don't give a fuck about nirvana, because for me nothing will take away the embarrassment and feeling of getting fucked that comes from spawning below raining arrows in the first place. The delight of eating and the pain of being eaten.
>>18497202I have satanic brain tumors and dune wyrms in my ass. I am inspired by the story of Bodhidharma:The Ultimate Sacrifice and the AwakeningTo prove his resolve, Shenguang drew a sword and severed his left arm, presenting it to Bodhidharma in the snow. Moved by this ultimate act of devotion, Bodhidharma finally accepted him as his first student and gave him the new name Huike, meaning "Wisdom and Capacity".Shortly after accepting him, their most famous exchange took place:Huike: "My mind is always wavy and disturbed. Please make it peaceful."Bodhidharma: "Bring your mind to me, and I will make it peaceful."Huike: (Searching within himself) "I have sought it within, but I can find no mind."Bodhidharma: "There, I have already set your mind at rest."It gives me a shred of hope that even the terrors of my mind can be transcended by the silence that is already there in the mundane, the everyday. For me, it is pacifying a mind that cannot stop striving. That wants to find something. anything to anchor itself to, but is unable to do so. The intellectual honesty of seeing the cockamamie bullshit that is life and dying internally at least for a moment. Ignorance truly is bliss because to stare at the raw fact of life too long will get you sent to the mad house. Isolation becomes an oxygen mask we breathe in through to survive.
>>18498884What a troll now that I think about it. This tormented dude literally chopped off his arm *allegedly* only to be told that his mind doesn't exist. Too bad when I tell my self this I don't get satori or any form of spiritual elevation. I think the heat and weight of the moment is important here. Like OP said there are some things you can't really describe in words.
