People often come to meditation because they want relaxation, better sleep, better focus, and ultimately, peace of mind.
And peace of mind does come eventually, but what they don't tell you is what lies between the starting point and that peace!
Oh, irony.
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Another thing they don't tell you is that there is no such thing as perfection, before or after awakening.
There is no perfect peace of mind, perfect clarify, perfect self control, perfect cessation of craving or anger or suffering. It's a myth.
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You don't stop being a human animal after awakening.
You just get better at it.
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And if all of this sounds like a ridiculous amount of work for something kind of vague and pointless, that's because it is!
It's the cosmic joke.
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At the end of the day, you don't really become anything different after awakening.
You are still you, in the deepest sense.
You are and have always been the cosmic evolutionary process becoming aware of itself.
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You don't really "gain" any insights during an awakening either.
There is a part of you that already knows and has always known all this.
The other parts of you are just waking up to it and joining the party. Which is why the term "awakening" is fitting.
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And after all of that, you still get to go chop wood and carry water.
The cosmic joke continues!
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I would like to conclude this by saying that this is not "the blueprint", or the only way to have an awakening. It's just one of the ways.
There are lots of other ways it can be done.
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Having a long standing, formal spiritual practice like meditation does make you more prepared and more likely to have an awakening.
But I also know people who've had various awakenings through:
- psychedelics
- tantric practices
- reading a profound book
- help of a guru
Etc.
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Having a framework does seem to be helpful for doing the work, otherwise the "I am insane" period post-awakening can last longer and be more damaging.
It also seems that dissolving the framework is a good idea after the work is done, so it doesn't turn into dogma.
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Replying to
Don't forget the "I am insane" period *before* awakening. Without a map, it's really easy to get stuck there. Potentially for the rest of your life.
How's your experience of dissolving the framework been?
I can't even bring myself to respect any framework to begin with, so I wouldn't even know where to start... I'm sure it's easy to slip into when the results come, though - judging by every enlightened person I know.
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Really good point about the "I am insane" period before awakening. The potential to get lost there if going without a map is maybe even greater than post-awakening, because there is less clarity and one is more prone to delusion.
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