Is It something you can continually experience?

I think that is a great idea. I'm sure angelssix will think so, too.

I started writing this before I read Tony’s post. I think this is just a different way of expressing the same thing. Also, I am not sure I am done with it so I will probably re-edit a lot.

I remember years back I watched a YouTube video of U.K. Krishnamurti while he was in his deathbed admonishing everybody around him saying that there is no such thing as enlightenment, ‘forget it!, don’t waste your time!’ No, I did not like to hear that and I did not want to believe it. But bit by bit I come to see that he was speaking a truth. I find that the human mind is so engrossed with seeking a better experience or, perhaps better said, being validated and worthy that enlightenment turns into a fantasy where one see themselves sitting in a superior state of bliss free from all suffering. I know I entertained ideas of being a spiritual person full of humor and lightheartedness and seeing myself accept death as if smelling a flower. I see what U.K. is talking about. It is exactly this type of enlightenment fantasy that will virtually ensure that I will never be at peace or ease. It is a life of seeking and grasping followed by harsh self judgments when actions and behavior fall short of the enlightenment fantasy.

Now to illustrate this: Recently I was asked to leave my position (for a different one) even though I have seniority. Of course, there are a whole slew of issues that really have nothing to do with me. Still, I have to admit, part of me took it personal. I was ok with all of that. Of course, I am human and I am going to have emotions and nobody really knows what they are talking about (that is an unchanging truth). But then later, I mentioned that I was excellent at my job in front of some people who don’t really know what I do. They responded ‘of course you are.’ That really bothered me. Why did I even say that? I am relating all this because I am thinking it is a good segue (I just learned it is not spelled segway)into the topic of this thread.

By coincidence, as I was writing I came across a quote by Jeff Foster,

“There is an ancient longing wired in us as infants to be seen, to be felt, and to have our surging, somatic-emotional world validated by another. When our subjective experience* is empathically held, contained, and allowed, we come to a natural place of rest. What is love, really, other than fully allowing the other to be who they are, for their experience to be what it is, and to offer the gift of presence to their unique subjectivity?”
*I prefer to say 'our objectified experience'

I think what I am trying to get at is non-judgment, or total acceptance to the way thing are. We already are ‘enlightened’ just as we are. My precious objectified self that I hold on to so dearly is none other than awareness. We are the unconditioned that gets expressed in infinite possibilities. What I'm trying to say is that there is nothing wrong in feeling bad about what happened or any subsequent behavior. Foster also mentions, “Enlightenment is not a destination. It is not something some people have and others don’t.” It is what we already are; awareness having experiences. So isn’t the idea that there is an ‘It’ that could or should be experienced like the dog chasing its tail? Is the most we can say is that we already are It and It is not an experience or a state? And practice is none other than It; so why not? Don’t we have to at least try to understand?

To further the potential of continually Experiencing IT, maybe we can ask this question:
Is failure likely to be our single biggest Blessing?
why would we ask this?
because with failure we tend to keep in the "Journey Of Life",
whenever we feel we are successful with an achievement we seem to believe we have completed That Journey

Hello Members & Thank you CD!

Oh! CD You've got to tellme why You piced the Avatar that you did.It is quite a surprise.

My question to the members on something that keeps bothering me.
I can't meditate in depth or on a regular basis like I used to. I had quite an experience the first two years then everything changed. In addition, after I had the Awakening to what I'm not the urge to mediate has gone flat. I do do mind-fullness as much as I can remember in a day. What I'm calling mind-fullness is when I'm doing something rote. Walking, tasks around the house etc. I enter awareness instead of the dream and continually try to remember this. Spontaneously, I meditate but it is random. Am I hurting myself by not meditating more in terms of Awakening? Is the mind-fullness enough? Please remember I'm not a traditionalists.

Second, I was having regular episodes of full embodied Awakeness several times a month before or at the beginning of my Fred volunteer episodes. Now it barely happens, but it helps if I remind myself in the morning this mantra/prayer: I am Awakeness merged with the conditioned. Could an evolution into full Conscious Awakeness be possible? often I do get a feeling of Awakeness when I do this but not always. Is this just a cycle. Anyone have an intuition on the main question?

By the way one of the gifts I got from my interaction from Fred was this more continual awareness of what I am instead of the dual awareness of Ego and Awakeness. Now I can tell it's always Awakeness merged or not. 

Love,
Arlene
PS OK with no advertising.

I felt Arlene related something that is central to this topic. I know my own experiences are very similar. I spent some time thinking and writing about it so as to share here.

Often it is touted that it is best to be in harmony with the essence instead of being mired in the forms. And so we go about seeking our essence. This is a mistake. Why? Because we already are the essence, seeking It takes you in the wrong direction.

The essence, that is often referred to as ‘It’ or awareness, is synonymous (at least in my view) with the term ‘noumenon’. It is a term that points to that which is devoid of all traces of objectivity, sometimes thought of as the essence of phenomena. It is nothing that could possibly be perceived or described; completely outside any conceptual framework. You cannot even call it the void for that is in itself a concept. The only way the noumenon is made known is by its phenomenal manifestation. All appearances, emotions, thoughts and concepts have no intrinsic truth on their own outside of being the manifest noumenon. As Hui-Neng said, “From the beginning not one thing exists”. All phenomena are noumenon; the forms are the essence.

When you do not see what you already are, that is to say, you see yourself in the form of an independent entity, you become involved in trying to attain a superior form. You may succeed for periods of time but you will always suffer defeats. You end up dividing the world into what you think are good and bad experiences or forms and continually alternate between the two.

Now back to the question, ‘can the mind experience It?’ The question implies a mistaken assumption. The mind is already It. Forms are the essence, samsara is nirvana. It is only by holding on to false beliefs that we think we are something other than the essence. The essence is not a form or a belief. Give up that battle of what you think you should be experiencing; just be aware that you are.

“There is no goal to be reached. There is nothing to be attained. You are the Self. You exist always.”
— Ramana Mahashi

“Cease looking for happiness and reality in a dream”
— Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

“Do not nearly all of us spend time looking for ourself as some object other than ourself?”
— Wei Wu Wei

“There’s no such thing as a path to the truth. The truth’s already here, where are you going? And do not think that enlightenment is going to make you special, it’s not. If you feel special in any way, then enlightenment has not occurred.”
— Adyashanti

“There’s no religious practice, no enlightenment, no getting anything, no missing out on anything. If you want to get it, you’ve already got it – it‘s not something that requires seeking”.
— Lin Chi

CD, thank you for your question, I might edit this later

I think all the quotes are attempting to express that you are the truth just as you are. Seeking leads away from the truth. It implies that you are a separate entity yearning to improve your situation. There is no place to go other than right here, right now. Many teachers implore us to just stop the seeking. All is consciousness already; you cannot add a single thing to that. Or, you could say everything is an expression of God. You can’t turn away from God to know God - “The kingdom of heaven is at hand. It is already here”. We are so wrapped up trying to make our dreamed identities feel better that we overlook the beauty and awe of our essence, the essence of everything. I tried to show everything is this essence in the above post using philosophical terms - all phenomena are manifest noumenon. You can go on trying to replicate a nice experience of awareness or whatever but that actually misses the target. ‘The kingdom is already here!’ We are all It. It is right here, not anywhere else.