tekart...
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Originally Posted by tekart 
I know from what I have read that it is really impossible to understand this fully with the mind. I also know from reading and experience that the mind, in order to understand, will create answers to questions it does not know.
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Indeed. The first step is transcending the mind. The very first line in the Yoga Sutras, a classic treatise on mind and consciousness says "Yoga is the cessation of all fluctuations in mind." It's not as difficult as it sounds; you don't need to meditate in a cave for 50 years in order to be able to achieve it
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Originally Posted by tekart So, without giving this a lot of deep thought this morning, and without coffee I might add, based on your thoughts is it that having a memory enables us to become or be Aware, Enlightened, etc? Enlightenment goes beyond the mind (again I've read), however without the mind then you cannot know that you are enlightened correct? |
No, memory has nothing to do with enlightenment. Enlightenment has also been described as the "no-mind" state. Pure awareness, pure "Being" is separate from the mind. The mind is not essential for awareness of the Self, and this awareness has always existed separate from the body and mind. You can use the mind to transcend the mind, and once done, you realize that this "I" you always thought was your body and mind doesn't exist anymore, and just the universal "I" of pure awareness remains. I hope that made sense!
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Originally Posted by tekart If you could choose to come back as something else, why would you choose something other than a human being. On top of that, why choose anything less than a human being with the mental capacity to become and understand Enlightenment. |
It is not so much "choosing" what life-form you reincarnate as, but rather being unconsciously propelled into a certain incarnation as a result of
samskaras, or latent impressions and desires that are embedded in the unconscious mind and subtle bodies. So, in many people, behavioral impulses of a lower consciousness may express predominantly, such as greed, anger, the constant urge to experience delight through eating, or drinking, or sex, and so the bodies of animals that exhibit those traits would correspondingly be more suitable in the next incarnation to satiate these urges.
I recognize that some of this might sound "exotic" and that my thought is strongly shaped by my cultural background, but I have verified much through my inner intuitive knowledge as a byproduct of meditation as well. I also trust the enlightened ones, such s the Buddha, my own spiritual Master etc, to convey the truth. The Masters have all said that the last desire at the time of death dictates what body "you" will assume once again. If at the moment of death one is truly free from all desire, then there is liberation, or
nirvana.
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Originally Posted by tekart I keep hearing and reading theories, and some contradict themselves, so my conclusion so far is that no one really knows. The term Enlightenment, I am start to think, it another theory to explain the unexplainable. Much like the creation of gods to explain the season and heaven to explain the afterlife. |
It's not a theory. But it can only be verified by using the tools which can give the experience. The tools are meditation and introspective discovery of the real source of the sense of "I". It
cannot be realized through mental gymnastics
