Does anyone else wonder if this is all a dream?

[sserafim]

.

Like that this world is a dream that we're hallucinating (like Alice in Borderland), and that when we wake up, we'll go back to the real world?

 

[Malaria]

I do often wonder and hope my entire life was just a bad nightmare. Or is not real or something.

 

[Pluto]

According to Advaita Vedanta (which is the main philosophy that I subscribe to), that is exactly what is happening. The philosophy goes into a lot of detail about it to prove the point, though ultimately the claim sounds radical if not absurd to a 'normie', yet is patently obvious to a sage.

"There is no difference between dream and the waking state except that the dream is short and the waking long. Both are the result of the mind."
-Ramana Maharshi

 

[DarkRange55]

For all of us or for the individual?

 

[BrainShower]

No. If it is a dream then I am trapped in it and cannot escape, maybe comatose, so it is functionally reality.
Id love to wake up as someone else, but that is what my actual dreams are like and it's very disorienting to wake up and be me again.

 

[DarkRange55]

What does @sserafim think?

 

[sserafim]

For all of us or for the individual?

Wdym? I think that all of us could be dreaming separate/our own dreams, and that (this) life (everyone's life) could be a simulation or hallucination.

 

[DarkRange55]

Wdym? I think that all of us could be dreaming separate/our own dreams, and that (this) life (everyone's life) could be a simulation or hallucination.

Do you think it is or just that it could be?

 

[sserafim]

Do you think it is or just that it could be?

It could be

 

[DarkRange55]

It could be

Do you hope it is?

 

[sserafim]

Do you hope it is?

Not sure actually, sometimes I wish that this life is a dream and that I can wake up from it one day, but what if something even worse lies ahead/is the true reality? That's what I don't want

 

[DarkRange55]

Not sure actually, sometimes I wish that this life is a dream and that I can wake up from it one day, but what if something even worse lies ahead/is the true reality? That's what I don't want

The devil you know is better than the devil you don't know situation

 

[Pluto]

but what if something even worse lies ahead/is the true reality?

It is far worse than the worst thing ever. The entire sense of self collapses. Everything is gone.

Let's step back a minute. What needs to be sacrificed in order to exit a dream? Answer: Everything; every inch of the dream world and even the dream 'self' at the centre of it. Not even a single grain of sand can be kept.

Yet after awakening, it is seen that the dream world and even the 'self' (the first-person-perspective central character) were never real anyway. Spiritual awakening is the same process but more dramatic, yet ultimately liberating in a way that makes even death of the body no big deal.

Previously when this topic came up, I brought up Suzanne Chang and some people were very pleased. This is her most popular video;

 

[DarkRange55]

It is far worse than the worst thing ever. The entire sense of self collapses. Everything is gone.

Let's step back a minute. What needs to be sacrificed in order to exit a dream? Answer: Everything; every inch of the dream world and even the dream 'self' at the centre of it. Not even a single grain of sand can be kept.

Yet after awakening, it is seen that the dream world and even the 'self' (the first-person-perspective central character) were never real anyway. Spiritual awakening is the same process but more dramatic, yet ultimately liberating in a way that makes even death of the body no big deal.

Previously when this topic came up, I brought up Suzanne Chang and some people were very pleased. This is her most popular video;

I experienced an ego death once and it was very intense. I felt a oneness a connection with all of nature and the world and universe at one point. And then I completely lost all awareness of my physical body later on. No awareness of the real world around me. And was watching my childhood as a floating observer feeling the emotions of every person involved in the memory.
A better term for ego death may be having a non dual experience, which you're probably familiar with.

Nondualism - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Sam Harris | #346 - The Best Kept Secret In History?

Sam Harris speaks with Brian Muraresku about ancient mystery religions and the possible psychedelic roots of Christianity.

www.samharris.org

This is about ancient Greeks, and Christian's and psychedelics
My new favorite word for describing the psychedelic experience is ineffable

I'm really just clarifying that the same experience can be achieved through different means. Psychedelics is the easiest. A dissolution of the separation between self and experience. Aka ego death. Becoming pure awareness.

It could be

Default mode network - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Pluto]

I experienced an ego death once and it was very intense. I felt a oneness a connection with all of nature and the world and universe at one point.

I'm very envious of this as I've never had a chance to try psychedelics and my attempts at ego death via self-inquiry have yet to bring about any genuinely profound shift.

I need to point out a few things, though. In nonduality as described by teachers like Angelo Dilullo, the first step in a long process is called 'awakening', whereby an individual goes through a profound shift in identity followed by a 'honeymoon' period in which they appear to be enlightened.

Then the ego content of past traumas, etc., return and a roller-coaster of work is needed to integrate it. As layers of 'self' fall away, there is a stage called nonduality in which basic concepts like 'here' and 'there' are dropped, resulting in a radically different perception of reality. Then there's a stage called no-self when the previous 'awakened self' itself dies out. Beyond this it becomes difficult to verbalise.

By contrast, the psychedelic community uses the term no-self in reference to a passing experience while tripping. However, if there is still a sense of 'me' afterwards, that means that even the initial awakening has not yet occurred. The consensus is that psychedelics give a taste of reality, but years of long, boring work are needed to truly attain enlightenment.

Hence, my question is: who are you right now?

 

[DarkRange55]

I'm very envious of this as I've never had a chance to try psychedelics and my attempts at ego death via self-inquiry have yet to bring about any genuinely profound shift.

I need to point out a few things, though. In nonduality as described by teachers like Angelo Dilullo, the first step in a long process is called 'awakening', whereby an individual goes through a profound shift in identity followed by a 'honeymoon' period in which they appear to be enlightened.

Then the ego content of past traumas, etc., return and a roller-coaster of work is needed to integrate it. As layers of 'self' fall away, there is a stage called nonduality in which basic concepts like 'here' and 'there' are dropped, resulting in a radically different perception of reality. Then there's a stage called no-self when the previous 'awakened self' itself dies out. Beyond this it becomes difficult to verbalise.

By contrast, the psychedelic community uses the term no-self in reference to a passing experience while tripping. However, if there is still a sense of 'me' afterwards, that means that even the initial awakening has not yet occurred. The consensus is that psychedelics give a taste of reality, but years of long, boring work are needed to truly attain enlightenment.

Hence, my question is: who are you right now?

I'm very envious of this as I've never had a chance to try psychedelics and my attempts at ego death via self-inquiry have yet to bring about any genuinely profound shift.

I need to point out a few things, though. In nonduality as described by teachers like Angelo Dilullo, the first step in a long process is called 'awakening', whereby an individual goes through a profound shift in identity followed by a 'honeymoon' period in which they appear to be enlightened.

Then the ego content of past traumas, etc., return and a roller-coaster of work is needed to integrate it. As layers of 'self' fall away, there is a stage called nonduality in which basic concepts like 'here' and 'there' are dropped, resulting in a radically different perception of reality. Then there's a stage called no-self when the previous 'awakened self' itself dies out. Beyond this it becomes difficult to verbalise.

By contrast, the psychedelic community uses the term no-self in reference to a passing experience while tripping. However, if there is still a sense of 'me' afterwards, that means that even the initial awakening has not yet occurred. The consensus is that psychedelics give a taste of reality, but years of long, boring work are needed to truly attain enlightenment.

Hence, my question is: who are you right now?

I hope you get the meme, it's a reference to The Walking Dead. I think it's important to have a little humor from time to time to keep things relaxed. But I take you seriously

 

[DarkRange55]

I'm very envious of this as I've never had a chance to try psychedelics and my attempts at ego death via self-inquiry have yet to bring about any genuinely profound shift.

I need to point out a few things, though. In nonduality as described by teachers like Angelo Dilullo, the first step in a long process is called 'awakening', whereby an individual goes through a profound shift in identity followed by a 'honeymoon' period in which they appear to be enlightened.

Then the ego content of past traumas, etc., return and a roller-coaster of work is needed to integrate it. As layers of 'self' fall away, there is a stage called nonduality in which basic concepts like 'here' and 'there' are dropped, resulting in a radically different perception of reality. Then there's a stage called no-self when the previous 'awakened self' itself dies out. Beyond this it becomes difficult to verbalise.

By contrast, the psychedelic community uses the term no-self in reference to a passing experience while tripping. However, if there is still a sense of 'me' afterwards, that means that even the initial awakening has not yet occurred. The consensus is that psychedelics give a taste of reality, but years of long, boring work are needed to truly attain enlightenment.

Hence, my question is: who are you right now?

I don't agree with a lot of stuff the psychedelic community puts out

I've had many trips that are highly introspective and delved into very difficult topics. But very few where I have lost self at any point. And many with intense visuals.

Events in my waking life seem to obey more consistent principles of physics than the events in my dreams do.
(of course that, too, could be a dream).

>> The information could, in fact come from anywhere -- our own imaginations, a computer program, a deity, a shared dream, a reliving of memories
True

>> -- with just as much likelihood
Why equal likelihood? Any evidence to support this claim?

I'm very envious of this as I've never had a chance to try psychedelics and my attempts at ego death via self-inquiry have yet to bring about any genuinely profound shift.

I need to point out a few things, though. In nonduality as described by teachers like Angelo Dilullo, the first step in a long process is called 'awakening', whereby an individual goes through a profound shift in identity followed by a 'honeymoon' period in which they appear to be enlightened.

Then the ego content of past traumas, etc., return and a roller-coaster of work is needed to integrate it. As layers of 'self' fall away, there is a stage called nonduality in which basic concepts like 'here' and 'there' are dropped, resulting in a radically different perception of reality. Then there's a stage called no-self when the previous 'awakened self' itself dies out. Beyond this it becomes difficult to verbalise.

By contrast, the psychedelic community uses the term no-self in reference to a passing experience while tripping. However, if there is still a sense of 'me' afterwards, that means that even the initial awakening has not yet occurred. The consensus is that psychedelics give a taste of reality, but years of long, boring work are needed to truly attain enlightenment.

Hence, my question is: who are you right now?

I know of some high-level tech people that took a bunch of psychedelics and then quit their jobs and moved to India to become monks.

 

[Bed]

yeah i think about it sometimes. i experience derealization when my anxiety is really bad and it often feels like nothing is real and i'm just in a sim or a dream.
p.s Alice in borderland is a great show!

 

[Bed]

I experienced an ego death once and it was very intense. I felt a oneness a connection with all of nature and the world and universe at one point. And then I completely lost all awareness of my physical body later on. No awareness of the real world around me. And was watching my childhood as a floating observer feeling the emotions of every person involved in the memory.

i've had a very similar experience from one of my trips. spectating my inner child and being filled with intense emotions. was a lovely experience and extremely hard to put into words.

 

[Slow_Farewell]

More like the Matrix or Ghost in the Shell.
i keep checking the nape of my neck for a USB connection or something.

 

[ijustwishtodie]

I don't believe that life is a dream. Life is very much real. Suffering is real. Life is just a short infinitesimal crack between a super large finite amount of time (i.e. before birth) and an infinite amount of time (i.e. after death)

 

[Homo erectus]

I had a dream recently. I was put in a small capsule, wearing mask (for breathing) and diving suit. The capsule was lowered down a narrow tunnel, something like a well. The idea was that the capsule would take me to some place. After a while I felt nervous and woke up, probably into another dream (in my bed).

Now I think it could be a death. I was lowered in a coffin. Maybe I am now officially another soul occupying this body and memory.

 

[DarkRange55]

I don't believe that life is a dream. Life is very much real. Suffering is real. Life is just a short infinitesimal crack between a super large finite amount of time (i.e. before birth) and an infinite amount of time (i.e. after death)

"The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness. Although the two are identical twins, man, as a rule, views the prenatal abyss with more calm than the one he is heading for"
- Vladimir Nabokov

 

[sserafim]

I don't believe that life is a dream. Life is very much real. Suffering is real. Life is just a short infinitesimal crack between a super large finite amount of time (i.e. before birth) and an infinite amount of time (i.e. after death)

What's the point of experiencing life? Personally, I think I would've been okay with never even being born at all.

"The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness. Although the two are identical twins, man, as a rule, views the prenatal abyss with more calm than the one he is heading for"
- Vladimir Nabokov

What's the point of our existence?

 

[DarkRange55]

What's the point of experiencing life then?

What life means is up to you. The simplest explanation in the multiverse is: everything that can exist, does exist.

 

[sserafim]

I had a dream recently. I was put in a small capsule, wearing mask (for breathing) and diving suit. The capsule was lowered down a narrow tunnel, something like a well. The idea was that the capsule would take me to some place. After a while I felt nervous and woke up, probably into another dream (in my bed).

Now I think it could be a death. I was lowered in a coffin. Maybe I am now officially another soul occupying this body and memory.

Once I had a dream where I died and entered the spirit world/realm (I think)

 

[EvisceratedJester]

Yeah, sometimes I wonder if anything is real or if it's all just a dream and the real me is in a comatose state. Sometimes it leads me to pinching myself in order to remind myself that this is real and it's not my brain just making stuff up.

 

[sserafim]

What life means is up to you. The simplest explanation in the multiverse is: everything that can exist, does exist.
View attachment 130691

Why does the universe need to experience itself so much? What's the point of all of this? What's the point of things to exist? Why were they brought into existence?

 

[DarkRange55]

Why does the universe need to experience itself so much? What's the point of all of this? What's the point of things to exist? Why were they brought into existence?

Are you asking about the meaning?

 

[sserafim]

Are you asking about the meaning?

I guess the meaning of life, and like why did this all happen. Like what's the end goal? If it's just for the experience, then I would've preferred to never even have existed at all.