Taking a step into the world of our Being

[angelaIBSH]

We have all experienced meditation and allowed for our bodies to quiet down and to relax from our busy lives. Meditation is defined as continued or extended thought; reflection; or contemplation. The feeling that one gets from meditating and how refreshing and awake one feels after meditating are only a few of the many reasons why people meditate.

Scientific studies have discovered that meditation increased the brain size. It allows people to deal better with the physical and to “rise above” physical limitations. A scientist found that certain areas of the brain were altered during deep meditation – predictably the front of the brain that are involved in concentration. But, scientist also found decreased activity in the parietal lobe, one of the parts of the brain that helps orient a person in three-dimensional space. Therefore, when people have spiritual experiences – just like during meditation – they feel they become one with the universe and lose their sense of self.

When we meditate, we are able to enter the world of our Beings and transcend physical boundaries. Is our ego mind shut off during meditation due to the strong bond and interconnection between our Being and Universal Being? Or are we simply able to develop awareness for the existence of an inner Being to step our ego minds?

[Edwin]

Brilliant post !

This is how I see it:

Do you really exist ?
Are you here, now ?

You know you are, so the answer is yes !

So, your Being is allready here ! You can't "enter" the world of your Being, because it is the source of you. You can take away your ego, nothing dramatic happens, but if you take away your Being, you cease to exist !
There is no where to go, nothing to reach ! You are your Being, but your thought and ego keep you from experiencing it !

[angelaIBSH]

Thanks for giving me a clearer understanding!

I am my Being. Therefore, the physical domain is a manifestation of our higher levels of existence. We have the ability to transcend physical boundaries our Beings possess unlimited potential. When we meditate, we are able to ignore our ego minds and allow our Beings to develop an interconnection with the Universal Being to form oneness.

Meditation focuses on the present moment, on the NOW. Is this the reason why we are able to feel a decrease in stress – or simply to escape the chaos that one might by experiencing in life? In other words, is it because we are allowing our feelings to become less obstructive and more motivational?

Perhaps the “hyper-awareness” of the Being that one gets from meditation is what allows the feeling and experiencing of deep bliss – kind of like everything exists and intermingles to form a harmonious whole.

[Edwin]

Most feelings that we experience in our everyday life, are caused by thought.
Our mind causes cramp-like sensations in the stomach area when we feel fear.
Our muscles in our arms, belly and legs tighten during stress.

So, when living in the Now, thoughts stop, and the ego disappears. In this space that is left behind when it is not taken in by thoughts and fears, only love can exist. And with it come sensations of bliss, interconnectedness with God or the Universe, and a strong sensation of unity.

Meditation is like a practice to achieve that.
Even tho you could experience it right away, right here in the Now, and there is nothing to achieve, the ego will try to prevent you from realising this.
When you realise it, the ego dies. It doesn't want that, it wants to feed on your feelings, and feeds you with thought that bring you more unease, fear, tension.

In meditation you learn to, even momentarily, let go of thought and ego, by focusing on a mantra or breath, or whatever.

So, everything you describe you feel in meditation is like a prelude to enlightenment.

When we meditate, we are able to ignore our ego minds and allow our Beings to develop an interconnection with the Universal Being to form oneness.

This interconnection is allready there. We are allready One. The mind is just giving it it's best to make sure that we don't see it.

Meditation focuses on the present moment, on the NOW. Is this the reason why we are able to feel a decrease in stress – or simply to escape the chaos that one might by experiencing in life? In other words, is it because we are allowing our feelings to become less obstructive and more motivational?

Stress is tension, a thought-based illusion in our mind, that wants us believe that we are feeling stress. This is usually time-based:
Something that happened in the past, or something that will happen in the (near) future, like a deadline that is impossible to make. Immediately the mind starts to play scenario's in our mind what will happen when we don't make the deadline. We might get an angry customer, we might get a contract-based penalty, we might lose our job.
All speculation, and usually the problem is never quite as serious as the scenario's played by the ego.

Also, these scenario's keep you from performing your tasks in the best possible way, so they are actually slowing you down !

If the mind stops, the ego disappears, and all there is is this moment that you live in. Your creativity is at it's peak, and even if you don't make the deadline, and you do get a penalty, or lose your job, you accept it as something that happens, and could not be avoided. You did your very best, and you will find a better job, or earn back the money you lost in a different way. It is all just a play of form, your connection to the source fills you with bliss and all you need is this. Happiness comes from within, not from circomstances.

[seatrend8899]

[Edwin]

Thanks Seatrend !

Lately, and I think this is due to Tolle's work, the word "ego" seems to become a bit too heavy in it's daily use.

"that is just the the ego talking", or how about this one " I am struggling with the ego ".
I'm sorry, but the word "ego" should be used only in the sense that Tolle wants it described, not as a concept, but as a short version of this description: " The collection of thoughts and memories gathered and remembered during the entire cause of your life up to now, that lead to a false believe of who you are ".

That is all the ego is, the ego as a concept doesn't exist. There is no ego-bone, or the ego is not part of a certain part of the brain...
" Ah, and when doing a brainscan, that there, smashed between the temporal lobe and the anterior commisure is the ego-lobe"
It is simply a collection of thoughts that feeds itself.
This collection is highly deciptive. It takes time to realise that thoughts, or collections of thoughts like the word "ego" points to, can only appear in consiousness. The Self is endless and boundryless, it has no beginning and no end. In this field of no-thingness, thoughts can appear. The ego can appear. Since thoughts appear in the Self, thoughts can mislead themselves into the belief that thoughts ARE the Self.
Just to show how deceptive the "ego" is....

Lately, and I think this is due to Tolle's work, the word "ego" seems to become a bit too heavy.

"that is just the the ego talking", or how about this one " I am struggling with the ego ".

I wrote this a few sentences ago.
Think about that second sentence...

" I am struggling with the ego ".

Who is struggling with the ego ?
Being, the Self or whatever name we can think of ( or concept we try to make of something that can't be conceptualised ) doesn't struggle. It simply Is. It is only consiousness in the Now.
So, the "I" that is "struggling with the ego"... If it is not the Self, than it is the "ego" struggling with the ego...
And we just proved that the ego doesn't really exist, it's just a collection of thoughts.

So, a non-existing ego is struggling with the non-existant ego...

Doesn't make sense now does it ?

This is why it is so important to let go of thoughts, why we need to practice meditation at first, and later on, to try to hold on to that state of no-thought outside of meditation. Without thoughts, when we just Are, when we See without judgement, living in everyday life without distractions from the mind... Think of the peace, the wonderfull bliss of performing seemingly boring tasks when " I am bored " is suddenly replaced by " I Am ".
Without thoughts about boredom or a false sense of I, Love and Bliss come out of the simplest tasks. Imagine feeling that feeling of bliss you allready know from meditation while doing the dishes, sweeping the porch, cleaning the toilet, making love, posting on this forum... But I get carried away.

Bottom line is to realise that the ego is thoughts, and thoughts keep you away from fully experiencing the moment, the only moment that is real, the eternal "Now".

[seatrend8899]

shine on

jim

[angelaIBSH]

Great insightful explanations!

The ego mind does indeed seem to be bit heavy in its daily use. Sometimes we allow the ego mind to dominate, when actually we can quiet down the ego mind with our Being - which possesses unlimited potential. Just as you mentioned, we have to raise an awarness that the ego mind creates unecessary thoughts that prevent us from exeriencing essence and oneness with the Being.

being the Being.

The previous discussion about the ego mind and Being during processes of meditation leads to a new question.

"I cannot tell you any spiritual truth that deep within you don't know already. All I can do is remind you of what you have forgotten" - Eckhart Tolle

As the quote states, everyone possesses all the spiritual truths of the world. It is all within us, innate perhaps? As society changes and life develops into a more complex era with technological developments that no longer require as much brain and body work, why do we seem to focus outward more than we focus inwards? Why does it seem that many people are not aware of the Being and that his or her existence is actually a puzzle piece to the universe? Are we WHOLEness or NOTHINGness?

[Edwin]

A very enjoyable discussion !

I would like to make clear to you that when I quote you and offer a different point of view, this is not meant as critisism. I want help you deepen your insight.

Now that we have cleared the air between ego's:

Just as you mentioned, we have to raise an awarness that the ego mind creates unnecessary thoughts that prevent us from experiencing essence and oneness with the Being.

Try to think of it this way:
The ego IS thought. Everything that happens inside your head is thought. Everything that is still, motionless, the calm centre within is You.
In a way, it is more like shifting awareness rather than raising awareness. Right now, all the attention is on thought usually. A thought comes up, we react to the thought, this invites the next thought in.

When you shift your awareness to Being, and from there watch the thoughts come up and go without judgement, the stream is broken. Sure, another thought may pop up, but there is no ribbon of related thoughts that come up afterwords. Now you see the silence between the thoughts, and better yet, you feel it, intensely in every cell of your body, you "hear" the silence, you See it....

Are we WHOLEness or NOTHINGness?

lovely contemplation.

What is Self ? What does Self look like ? Is Self some-thing or no-thing ?
We can't deny our existance, yet Self is formless, and this formlessness is what drives our mind crazy. How do you lable an existing nothing ?
We are space, there is no form, no beginning, no end.

We are God, in the same way that another person is God, an animal, a plant, a rock, a sun, a comet, that annoying bug tickling between your shoulderblades, all this I Am. 65 million years ago, when Dinosaurs roamed the earth, I Am. When the universe ends in the big crunch, I Am. No beginning, no end, neither in space nor time.

When I first read this on an Advaita website, my ego went off the charts.
Now it is Truth.

[angelaIBSH]

In a way, it is more like shifting awareness rather than raising awareness. Right now, all the attention is on thought usually. A thought comes up, we react to the thought, this invites the next thought in.

Thank you for making that insightful distinction! Instead of raising awareness for something that already exists, we shift in our awareness. By shifting our awareness, we are able to step out of the ego mind and to realize that most things we react to are simply thoughts – predictably thoughts created by the ego mind. Perhaps meditation allows people to feel blissful and reach a state of inner peace because we are no longer reacting to every single individual thought that arises in our minds.

It is said that “thoughts create reality” and yet we are not our thoughts. Many people may mistaken from this phrase that we are our thoughts, but mediation and a shift in awareness will allow us to quietly observe our ego mind without judgment, just as you mentioned!

Do you guys think people are afraid to face their “inner selves”? A person from another forum stated that some people are terrified of meditaiton and reflection of the Being. Why do people tend to focus outward more? Is it simply easier and more comfortable? Or are they just trying to escape dealing with the complex Being?

"Emotion arises at the place where mind and body meet. It is the body's reaction to your mind or you might say, a reflection of your mind in the body” -Eckhart Tolle

If the body already houses the mind, why is it then necessary that they meet together? Can the body connect with the mind at all times, or does it have to search for the mind?

Great discussion so far! I really enjoy reading your responses and insightful comments, Edwin!