End in Sight:
http://www.lifewithoutacentre.com/read/essays-transcripts/the-birth-and-death-of-fundamentalism-in-nonduality-and-advaita-teachings/
Thanks Ill give it a read!
If there is some kind of uneasiness at the thought of going further while you are in as deep as you have been, perhaps it is the residual experience that you mistook for a self in the past that is the cause of the unease, and without that, there would be a deeper experience, as well as no unease.
Well maybe, maybe its the same fear you run into prior to trying to see no self, i.e. "will I become an isolated weirdo because of this?" And the answer is no, there was never a self, the self is an afterthought of the action, so really , theres no reason to fear experiencing more truth, because nothing really will change, only a strenghtened inner silence. So yea, i guess you've convinced me!!
I have to admit one reservation though. As you know (presuming its the same experience), after you see this, there is a slight feeling of seeing everyones bullshit, not like some super power or anything, but just so much around you seems like nonsense (pointless arguments, politics, economics). Its not to say they dont serve a purpose, but it just seems like alot of people are in a never-ending ego serving process.
The problem is, seeing that in everyone around you is nearly a slight hindrance/handicap. Not to the way you function , but to the way you think.
In a way, seeing this is great, but in another way, its somewhat isolating. No one can relate to how you feel. I guess my fear is this feeling would be strengthened even more. Im not sure though. One of the things I had to get over after seeing this was my snobbery, not necessarily looking down on others that dont see it, more like feeling I know more than them, a terrible way of thinking, and I knew it was wrong when I those thoughts arose.
I got over that, and Im back to a healthy position when it comes to that. BUT, I guess I worry that that feeling and the isolation that comes with it may be strengthened.
I mean, then and there, what aspects of the experience would have to change for it to be more peaceful?
For example...
When someone suddenly interrupts what you're doing to talk to you, there may be tinges of annoyance.
When you see someone you have a crush on, there may be a moment of excitement.
In having a conversation, you may find that there are impulses to say certain things that you think will impress them, or to direct the topic in a certain way, or so on.
Ok yes I see what you mean, I think I had been always working on that, but only with the more unsubtle feelings. I'll try do it as often as possible instead.
Dont get me wrong, its not like after seeing this I didnt have some more " brain rewiring" to do, but I guess I just presumed that was part and parcel of post-shift experience. But I can see how it becomes easy to ignore this, and not get the most out of it, or even worse, lose it altogether.
Yes. I think there are a variety of different levels of insight into no-self. Also, for whatever reason, moments where these insights happen seem to impact some people more than others for yet-unknown reasons.
I think this is the big thing Ive learned from talking here. I had always considered it, but overall , personally , it was always a 1 and a zero, i.e. it was either one or the other. But Im learning slowly how some people may be far deeper than I am, and others after the same experience of no self, arent deep at all, and have alot more work to do.
It also explains where all the online arguments about all this come from. Everybody presuming that their own experience is the offical reference point.
What I actually meant is that your insight is minor in comparison to how deep the path ultimately goes.
Fair enough, I guess its really down to how much the person wants it. Whats driving them? A continued suffering? I dont think so, perhaps some people just love the experience more than others, and want more.
At the end of the day, objectively speaking, nothing in the world is changing when people are doing this. Its just the human tapping into their own "mind" and revealing more and more the pointlessness of impractical thought. So it may be a simple fact that some people quite simply enjoy this and have a passion for it more than others.
Here is a different way to think about it. Many traditions encourage adherents to renounce all worldly things and live lives dedicated only to spirituality, as monks or the like. (It is almost never considered to be a requirement, but merely something that would make the path easier.)
Is what you attained so profound and so transformative that you would suggest to someone that they renounce everything in order to attain it? Now that you have attained it, if you had renounced everything, would you still be satisfied, or would you (stuck being a monk) think that you were missing out on all the good stuff in life?
As I assume you do not find your current attainment satisfactory in that way, how profound and transformative would it have to be, in order to make the issue of whether one lives as a monk or not irrelevant? In other words, how good would the attainment have to be in order to make the other details of one's life insignificant in the face of having attained it?
Hmmm, nice question, really tough to answer, are you asking "what would I be willing to sacrifice to keep the feeling of peace of mind thats here now?"
I see your point, that it is so deep for some,that they are willing to sacrificing everything to get it. And that it is obviously not as deep for me ( I agree).
In the first few months, my appreciation for what had happened was so strong that I thought to myself, I would literally refuse to win the lotto if I thought Id lose this, I would give everything away so long as I can eat and have a bed etc. Now? I still think that way. BUT, I wont deny that that hypothetical situation would be a little trickier for me now. But thats only because my appreciation of it has subsided, i.e. Ive forgotten what some of my suffering even felt like. Just little things, I used feel uncomfortable making a phonecall to someone I didnt know for instance, or Id be gripped with mild fear over such silly situations, or I would time and time again feel below someone that had confidence, looked good, bla bla bla. That was my suffering. On the contrary , its worth noting I had alot of moments of high self esteem as well, but that was the problem, I was relying on those sweet moments for happiness, not seeing the real picture. I wont lie, I just as much felt above other people as I did below certain people if you get me. Now? Completely gone, I dont care, a phonecall is a phonecall. Another person is another person, no matter who they are, so on so forth.So its like a dream to me now, all nonsense.
Its not even a relief in a conventional sense, more like "wtf was that all about???

"
After having a bad dream, you dont spend your whole day relieved that that situation isnt real, you spend about 5/10 minutes relieved, then you wake up properly and stop caring.
Thats what this lack of appreciation feels like.
I guess thats why the question is hard to answer.
Would I suggest to someone else to renounce everything in order to attain this? The only honest way I can answer that is on case per case basis. I remember reading a comment from someone who has had this shift as well, and they said something like "being hungry is better than being depressed, just saying...". I was about to disagree but then I thought about it. Its completely right, one is an annoying slightly uncomfortable inconvenience, another is despair and suffering.
The point im making is, the answer is yes if I thought the person was in a bad way. But no, if they arent.
So what about me? Well Im being honest here when I say I cant identify with the situation. My point is, what happened on that Ruthless Truth site, and whats happening on Liberation Unleashed now was enough. I didnt need to do any of that.
But if I HAD to answer, this would be it...
I would not be willing to lose my family/friends for this peace, especially if I thought it would hurt them. However, I would be more than happy to completely throw away my middle class standard of living, and I mean that.
Realizing this, makes you realize that the happiness by your surroundings is so weak, temporary and ineffective compare to challenging your own beliefs, especially the belief of self. And hence, if it came to it, yes id give up my stuff, but Id draw the line at family.
Perhaps considering that will give you some idea of how deep the path goes.
I see your point now, but going back to something I said earlier, I reckon some people just love digging and digging into it even more. Maybe they just love the serotonin or whatever gives that calm chilled out feeling, whereas maybe others are happy where they are at.
But I wont lie, NOW im interested!!
You might be interested to know that I never truly considered myself a seeker until after I saw something similar to or identical to what you saw (at which point I started to realize there was something worth seeking, and started to have a faint idea of what it might be).
I know what you mean, and to be honest, if I lost this , i.e. if it wore off permanently , then yea I would definitely become a serious seeker. And its true, its only when you see it, you realize theres something worth seeing.
I guess genuine seekers are the people that get short glimpses but go back very quickly to their old way of thinking.
But I dont know if I would consider you a seeker now? Just someone with an interest in deepening. Thats only guess though, I dont know you.

But part of this for me was realizing that it sort of comes and goes, deepens and undeepens, and once you make peace with the idea of it going away for a few days time or whatever then you really dont mind.
Thanks , youve thought me a few things, but I hope you can see too that sites like the one that started this thread (ruthless truth) really arent to be looked down upon. And the current popular one , liberation unleashed , is made up moreso of spiritual people/seekers that found their answer through no self.
But yea that isnt to say it cant be deepened.
Just a question though, are there other places , both real life and online, as effective as the sites im talking about? Im not trying to prove a point, I dont have any attachment to those sites, one is gone, and the other I havent even started posting on yet, but Im just curious.
The reason I ask is because Im just wondering was I fooling myself into thinking that those sites have a unique approach that works better? Or is there loads of places like that?
Another reason Im asking is because im setting up a sort of central hub website, it will be almost like a magazine site, it wont have any attachment to any place in particular but will definitely promote anything that works, and anything that helps people get out of their own suffering.