Enlightenment is no different for one then it is for another....how it's expressed, and how that expression of it is interpreted may be.

"Life is an opportunity to set the stage for this shift of awareness to occur."

That i think is one of the the more pertinent things said in the quote provided.

It might be of service to point out, it's not something aquired, it's the most basic to being, always present.

Ego is not bad, not evil...it's simply the center of the universe until that shift to where there is no center to what has no circumferance, then ego is no longer the center, is not predominant, and individuality, in perception, is now a superficiality of body, senses and mind. The predominant awareness has no "I" location, no preferances and no language.

From the above it can be seen it's not a merge but rather a matter of what is predominant.

The referance to the world being illusional/unreal is directly related to that shift from ego center to no center which is conceptualess, hence non dual. It is tho, hyperaware.

Apologies if this posts twice, first hit on the 'submit' didn't seem to do anything

Ego is not good or bad...it is non existing. Nonduality means there is no ego. Those that see ego...may try to rid it, fight it and see it in others.... have a belief in duality...a god apart from one self.

God is all there IS.....in my awareness : )

__________________
May your awareness be perfection

Throughout the scriptures, duality is gendered. There is something very deep about nonduality and androgyny. The first creation account uses the name "Elohim" which although plural, is not yet dual in any sort of gendered sense. ----- On the other hand, the second creation account is gendered. YHVH/Elohim is now used rather than merely "Elohim."


Dan

If we use bris milah as the deciphering tool . . . it would be the eradication of male and female leading to a permanent state of androgynous bliss.

To speak of the eradication of male and female goes beyond merely eradicating the genital distiction (bris milah). Circumcision of the heart pictures the eradication of of the very gendered form of thinking that powers the way the uncircumcised mind thinks.



Dan

A learned friend of mine says the ego dies many deaths. In my opinion it doesn't disappear it surrenders many times.

__________________
InterfaithForums.com-Where your ideas and beliefs count.

Wouldn't it require "ego" or "meta-ego" to do battle against the ego? ---- Isn't the desire to rid oneself of carnal passions a passion (or a meta-passion) in itself?



Dan

The ego is a paradox. It has a fear of death and yet it's the ego that wants to kill ego. I think it might be ego that thinks the ego is gone.

__________________
InterfaithForums.com-Where your ideas and beliefs count.

Yes Dan...exactly my point. If God is all there is....God takes up all space.

__________________
May your awareness be perfection

If God takes up all space He leaves no room for you or me . . . or anyone else: there is no room for personal volition. ----- This understanding led the great Jewish sages to the principal of "tzimtzum." God must contract (Christian kenosis) in order to produce a space for other creatures.

The problem with God contracting is that it also leaves space for "evil" to fill the void where God is not.

That's where human history comes in. God secretly left a ray of His light in the void He produced for other creatures. The righteous men of the world use that light to banish the evil forces of the "Other side" and redeem the world in the Name of God.



Dan

If God is all here is and God takes u all the space, wouldn't that be saying God is ego and everything else?

__________________
InterfaithForums.com-Where your ideas and beliefs count.