I also think it was a great explanation! It has helped me a lot this last little bit... I'm not sure how, but this has unlocked something for me. Thank you! ❤❤❤
This was a very good explanation of the concept of no-self. There is the Absolutely Real, the relatively real, and the entirely conceptual .and imaginary. Feeling crosses all three giving you great clues to which level you are at. I wish you could talk more about the "relatively real" to distinguish the levels clearly. Thank you!
Hi Suzanne. Your question is a really important one. The absolute reality is only within that state or realm of pure consciousness often called non-dual. It is also called the realm of God, Tao, Brahman - any descriptor that points only to Oneness. The goal of most spiritual pursuits is to merge back into that Oneness, as that’s where all of our spiritual journeys originally came from The relatively real is that which we find everywhere else in the universe - particularly here on earth. Less so in other parts of the universe where higher states of consciousness move towards the perfection of Oneness. On our dimension here, reality is completely within the right of every person to hold their own idea of reality is. (That is, we all form our own concepts and belief structures through our individual imaginations) So here, every person’s mind-created and physically executed reality is subtly different. This makes for great arguments, and is designed that way to force us into discerning “what on earth is going on?” Unfortunately, a relative reality also caused much suffering, and that too is part of the design of this place: to give urgency to our individual efforts to get beyond the state of consciousness that we each individually hold. That is (or rather, should be) the “fuel” that motivates our spiritual journeys here on earth. How do we get from being stuck at the level of consciousness found here on earth? We learn to meditate, to enquire within ourselves (that is, to introspect). The more we practice introspective meditation the more we find the answer to that key question: “what am I?” Eventually we will directly experience the answer “I am that” and when we do, we have transcended from being stuck in the “relatively real” to accessing the “absolutely real”. We can make that transcendent journey while still being here on earth Hope that helps 🙏 Mike
The "relatively real" is what anyone on the street would say is most real. If you can see or touch something, that feels most solid and undeniable. But this kind of seeing and sensing depends on the instrument of observation; the kind of eye being used, the capacity of the brain, etc. And the observation is always from a specific point in spacetime. So, all that can be sensed or known falls in the category of being subjective and relative. However, this sensing and knowing cannot be said to be completely unreal. It has an undeniable touch of reality to it. So here I've called it the "relatively real". From here, to see beyond the relative, the seeing has to be without reference to any instrument or specific point in spacetime. And so the seeker is told to give up all ideas of individuality and just be aware of the fact of being, that "I Am". That besides all that is being perceived, there is also the awareness that makes these perceptions possible. In this awareness of being aware, the seeker herself is the non-conceptual, non-experiential, absolute Self/ Reality. There is another related video that may be of help here too: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ozJTsUzjM6g.html