David wrote;
Perfection is such a lofty attainment and so difficult to succeed at that it is reasonable to assume no one in history has ever come anywhere near it.
Wow! However, that just shows how difficult it is turning out for
you particularly, that’s all, and I can understand that. But do you think it is wise to project your egocentrically self-imposed loftiness onto others and then judge them?
Isn’t it possible that one is projecting an egotistical
desire of
attaining such
presumed perfection, including the projection of it being
lofty to begin with? Doesn’t it begin with
assuming that something is
missing? And does it not end with
realizing that nothing is
really missing? For some it may take eons of diligent hard work (as it most probably is happening in your case), for some relatively less (take Average or Samadim for example), but the
realization itself may take no more than a split second; and the fact that one could never ever know another’s realization in its
entirety, proves that absolute certainty is not possible in that area, so the rest will always remain an opinion, personal ego projections that is, in your language.
You might have problems holding on to your realizations, but others may not, and you or I could never ever
really know it either way. So, emphatically denying OR acknowledging someone else’s realization or enlightenment is not a wise thing to do, in my opinion.
Yes, there have been some great sages in the past who have clearly understood the nature of Reality and gone a long way towards perfecting themselves in its light, but even these people still fell significantly short of the goal.
Do they? Or are you just
projecting your ego based reasoned opinions? You are deluded in thinking that one can perfect
ones self, because it will always be short of the Totality you keep professing, but may be keep forgetting it time to time. May be it is you who desires some sort of perfect altered state from which you hope never to awake back into “delusionsâ€. Think again! (A lofty advise from Discovery Channel)
I see flaws in all of these great sages of the past - Buddha, Jesus, Chuang Tzu, etc. This is not meant to be a slight on them, as I think they achieved marvellous things. I'm simply trying to convey the sheer scale of the project involved.
Sure, it could be a grand and lofty project since it seems so difficult to grasp, for one; that there is
something to grasp is
extremely difficult to be removed in the first place, and then, it might take ages for someone
to grasp that there is nothing to
really grasp, but then again, it might take a split second for someone else. The problem is, you judge
other people by your own egocentrically biased standards, and your standard is not a universal one, because it will always remain short of Totality. So humility should definitely be a virtue, not a vice, if realization has settled in permanently.
By perfect Buddhahood, I mean full consciousness of the nature of Reality in every waking moment, without interruption.
I like the definition, but it seems you are deluded into thinking Reality is something other than what all is, hence you desire to experience something “beyond†what is. All the best.
In other words, being beyond all possibility of slipping back into delusion, even for a second.
That depends on you still trying to
attain some
non-delusional state as against a delusional one, not realizing that
realization is all that there is to it; the realization that
atainment itself is delusional in nature. Don't you know you are already
there in the
here? . (Now don’t go pointing fingers at the finger, look at the moon.)
To my mind, the great sages of the past only managed to achieve partial success at this.
May be, but you cannot be absolutely sure of that, and on top of that you are setting up an imaginary level of egocentrically defined ego-less perfection, and judging
them according to that.
And please stop saying "
my mind"! To me you sound like a lunatic. Next time say 'to David's mind', which you clearly assume not to be YOU, as in subconsciously assuming me
AND "my" mind that is. What the hell is
that which
thinks MY mind? In my view this is the greatest delusion that one turns a blind eye towards, which gives rise to a false assumption that there must be something other than the "I" which already is.
While their intellectual understanding of the nature of Reality was immaculate, they were only able to experience this fundamental nature in a more direct sense, in full consciousness, on occasion.
Really? And you believe them? I think you hold an intimate desire of attaining a highly permanent altered state, just that you cannot accept the alternative becasue it seems soooooo un-lofty. It may be too simple for your standards, and that itself is the difficult part to get over with. “How could it be THAT simple?!â€; is quite difficult to get rid of I guess.
They were still in the grip of the more subtle, instinctual delusions imposed on us by evolution, which are very hard to overcome.
No, that’s Reality too, and you cannot overcome Reality, unless I don’t understand what you mean by Reality. What do you really mean or understand by it?
These kinds of delusions aren't intellectual in nature, but rather they centre around emotional reaction. For example, if a sage experiences a moment of fear, even if subtly, then it is a sign that he has lost full consciousness of Reality and fallen into the delusion that things really exist.
Com’on David, do you really believe that such kind of fear is NOT Reality for some lofty reason? Once one realizes the nature of existence, (Totality in your books), what remains delusional? All that disappears are the superficial associations to any particular phenomenon, not the phenomenon itself. One realizes the nature of Reality, not become Reality itself, for the simple reason that one will always remain less than the Totality. It seems you are egocentrically trying to BECOME Totality.
However, one can always imaginatively believe that one IS Totality, Infinity; by fantasizing the “no beginning or end to a thingâ€, thing. Try getting rid of the real “I†that fantasizes, and then tell me when you have done that. Better yet, after all your lofty realizations, see if it is possible to feel or tell yourself, “I†am not.
This single post full of lofty desires has been most revealing to me than all others put together. I wish you good luck, mate.
