Gary Weber on his account of enlightenment

[Ajay0]

Gary Weber recounts on how the teachings of Ramana Maharshi influenced him to shed the excitement seeking ego, resulting in enlightenment ...

https://happiness-beyond-thought.com/legacy/theauthor.html

 

Quote

Somehow, I happened upon the teachings of Ramana Maharshi. I began looking in the other direction, back inside at what it was that was doing all of these practices and causing all of this confusion. One day, realizing that enlightenment was impossible as long as there was an “I” insisting on being present for the exciting conclusion as well as keeping all of its attachments, I surrendered completely. Everything was surrendered, everything; my “self”, possessions, job, corner office, parking space, options, house, attachments, everything. I said deeply and sincerely from the bottom of my being, that I had to know the Truth, even if it cost my life. With that surrender, I could feel something shift.

Edited December 6, 2024 by Saru
Fixed link, trimmed quote for length

[+ouija ouija]

@Ajay0 And what are your thoughts on this?

[XenoFish]

Enlightenment equals delusion.

[+ouija ouija]

I think that if you are telling people that you are enlightened, as if it were some last remaining goal to achieve(and made you superior in some way!), then you're definitely not enlightened. Perhaps it would be more honest to say " I have gained a little more understanding and also have gained some insights that I didn't have before". Beyond that, who knows . . .

[Piney]

33 minutes ago, ouija ouija said:

I think that if you are telling people that you are enlightened, as if it were some last remaining goal to achieve(and made you superior in some way!), then you're definitely not enlightened. Perhaps it would be more honest to say " I have gained a little more understanding and also have gained some insights that I didn't have before". Beyond that, who knows . . .

Nail-Hammer Weeg! 👍

If you claim "enlightenment", your not...

[XenoFish]

56 minutes ago, ouija ouija said:

I think that if you are telling people that you are enlightened, as if it were some last remaining goal to achieve(and made you superior in some way!), then you're definitely not enlightened. Perhaps it would be more honest to say " I have gained a little more understanding and also have gained some insights that I didn't have before". Beyond that, who knows . . .

Enlightenment is part of the sales pitch. Like a 12 step program that's a scam. 

[Will Due]

 

Enlightenment is a progressive phenomenon. There is no phase of enlightenment that is final. Everyone is enlightened, to one degree or another. But enlightenment should always progress. However, it can also regress depending on certain things.

 

 

[+Sherapy]

On 12/4/2024 at 6:32 AM, Will Due said:

 

Enlightenment is a progressive phenomenon. There is no phase of enlightenment that is final. Everyone is enlightened, to one degree or another. But enlightenment should always progress. However, it can also regress depending on certain things.

 

 

Will, 

Enlightenment, at its core, is about recognizing the profound within the mundane. It is not tied to concepts like God, spirituality, or any metaphysical transformations often associated with "woo." Instead, it is a simple and straightforward understanding, based on a simple and straightforward practice as emphasized by posters such as Xeno and Piney all the time. Many individuals struggle with this concept precisely because of the straightforwardness. There is a wonderful quote saying that encapsulates this idea: “Before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water; after enlightenment, chop wood and carry water.” 
 

 

Edited December 6, 2024 by Sherapy

[+Sherapy]

On 12/4/2024 at 5:16 AM, Piney said:

Nail-Hammer Weeg! 👍

If you claim "enlightenment", your not...

🥰

[+Sherapy]

On 12/4/2024 at 3:36 AM, XenoFish said:

Enlightenment equals delusion.

🤜🏼

[Guyver]

I believe enlightenment is possible.

[Ajay0]

The original link is this... 

https://happiness-beyond-thought.com/legacy/theauthor.html

Hope the moderators can replace that in the op with this.  Deep apologies for the error. 

[Ajay0]

On 12/4/2024 at 4:52 PM, ouija ouija said:

@Ajay0 And what are your thoughts on this?

Enlightenment has been stated to be the cessation of psychological suffering as per Buddhism .

Gary Weber realized the Self or Buddha nature or 'kingdom of God/heaven' within himself and so can anyone else.

 

[+Hammerclaw]

Live life; don't try to avoid the challenges and mundanities of living by escaping into asceticism. If one were not meant to live and experience the world, one would not have been sent into it.

[Ajay0]

18 minutes ago, Hammerclaw said:

Live life; don't try to avoid the challenges and mundanities of living by escaping into asceticism. If one were not meant to live and experience the world, one would not have been sent into it.

Asceticism is not a prescription for enlightenment. 

Janaka was an ancient king mentioned in the Vedas and Bhagavad Gita who attained enlightenment while attending to his duties as a king. 

I had mentioned Janaka in this thread.

Gary Weber, Rajini Menon and Nisargadatta Maharaj are similarly modern examples of sages who attained enlightenment while living in the world and fulfilling their material duties. 

Edited December 6, 2024 by Ajay0

[+Hammerclaw]

1 hour ago, Ajay0 said:

Asceticism is not a prescription for enlightenment. 

Janaka was an ancient king mentioned in the Vedas and Bhagavad Gita who attained enlightenment while attending to his duties as a king. 

I had mentioned Janaka in this thread.

Gary Weber, Rajini Menon and Nisargadatta Maharaj are similarly modern examples of sages who attained enlightenment while living in the world and fulfilling their material duties. 

What does it matter? Who or what set that goal and what's the reason for it? If one's soul or pre-existing consciousness enters the world encapsulated in flesh, why would the goal be to remember what it already is? Seems more like a delusion of tiny arrogant specks of protoplasm who can not accept their place in the order of reality.

Edited December 6, 2024 by Hammerclaw

[Ajay0]

33 minutes ago, Hammerclaw said:

What does it matter? Who or what set that goal and what's the reason for it? If one's soul or pre-existing consciousness enters the world encapsulated in flesh, why would the goal be to remember what it already is? Seems more like a delusion of tiny arrogant specks of protoplasm who can not accept their place in the order of reality.

 Everyone seeks coherent meaning in degrees as per their situation in life.

It is said that right understanding leads to correct thinking and actions as well as proper results. Wrong understanding obviously will lead to wrong results.

So the need for study and research to fill the gaps in the knowledge banks.

Also, would anyone be content in their soul to be a mere cog in the machinery of the competitive, materialistic world ruled by ruthless economics, politics and survival instincts !

Obviously there will be a search for something higher and more refined and less grosser.

[+Hammerclaw]

10 minutes ago, Ajay0 said:

 Everyone seeks coherent meaning in degrees as per their situation in life.

It is said that right understanding leads to correct thinking and actions as well as proper results. Wrong understanding obviously will lead to wrong results.

So the need for study and research to fill the gaps in the knowledge banks.

Also, would anyone be content in their soul to be a mere cog in the machinery of the competitive, materialistic world ruled by ruthless economics, politics and survival instincts !

Obviously there will be a search for something higher and more refined and less grosser.

There is no need, other than to feed a materialistic ego. This existence is not the sum nor source of what we are, merely one aspect of it. We are avatars of great souls, embedded in linear space-time, to which our true selves are not subject to nor limited by. Great souls experience a simultaneity of myriad linear lives in both past, present and future.  Some exist at the same point in time, potential soulmates, if you would have it. Divining the mysteries of this world, this existence takes precedence over any quaint notion of material ego. 

[XenoFish]

4 hours ago, Guyver said:

I believe enlightenment is possible.

Read a book, have an experience, do something. Basically, just learn. No sense spending 20 years yodeling hymns under a waterfall. All knowledge is self knowledge in a sense. 

[XenoFish]

3 hours ago, Ajay0 said:

Enlightenment has been stated to be the cessation of psychological suffering as per Buddhism .

Gary Weber realized the Self or Buddha nature or 'kingdom of God/heaven' within himself and so can anyone else.

 

Suffering never ends. It's always there unless you're brain dead. 

[Ell]

On 12/4/2024 at 11:46 AM, Ajay0 said:

Gary Weber recounts on how the teachings of Ramana Maharshi influenced him to shed the excitement seeking ego, resulting in enlightenment ...

He may indeed have achieved enlightenment. It is not a method I am familiar with and I do not know how effective it is.

I counsel people not to pursue enlightenment - the loss of the ego - unless it absolutely is psychologically necessary. Usually it only is achieved by people with a weak, immature ego. People with a mature ego have no psychological need for enlightenment anyway.

 

My own enlightenment was caused by excessive trauma, due to divine intervention.

Edited December 6, 2024 by Ell

[Ell]

On 12/4/2024 at 1:41 PM, ouija ouija said:

made you superior in some way!

Genuine enlightened people are indeed supermen in some way(s). For lack of an ego (and maybe more), though, they also in some ways are severely mentally handicapped.

Hence why I counsel people to not pursue enlightenment unless psychologically absolutely necessary.

[Ell]

6 hours ago, Sherapy said:

There is a wonderful quote saying that encapsulates this idea: “Before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water; after enlightenment, chop wood and carry water.” 

It is indeed a wonderful quote.

In my case, though, I would have liked to have fallen in a gold mine, found a lump of gold and be able to hire people to dig up more gold in my mine and to chop wood and carry water. I am much like a Grog, except for the telepathy.

[Ajay0]

3 hours ago, Hammerclaw said:

What does it matter? Who or what set that goal and what's the reason for it? If one's soul or pre-existing consciousness enters the world encapsulated in flesh, why would the goal be to remember what it already is? Seems more like a delusion of tiny arrogant specks of protoplasm who can not accept their place in the order of reality.

See, Gary Weber also had a choice of being a couch potato ingesting potato chips and beer with a pot belly to flaunt proudly or of being an enlightened sage and business executive, and he chose the latter option.

You might consider this delusional or arrogant on his part but he had exercised his free will and choice in this regard which he has every right to. 

[Piney]

5 hours ago, Ajay0 said:

Gary Weber realized the Self or Buddha nature or 'kingdom of God/heaven' within himself and so can anyone else.

 

That's the Quaker MO. We just aren't selling classes.