Occidental,
“Beyond that, I find your telling me what I should/should not think is quite offensive (repulsive, actually”
I don’t care. And I have not told you what to think or should not think, I am simply stating facts. As long as you have yet to turn inwards and discover your own flame of insight, all of your speaking about something which has yet to come into the realm of your own experience is just a kind of entertainment designed to nourish one’s own ego.
“A mess in my mind, huh?”
Yes.
“Oh Amir, how do you know I haven’t done such things?”
Because transformation is such, that it is impossible for one’s words, knowledge, and understanding not to be impacted by it. The fragrance of it will be contained in your very words and will be reflected through all of your actions. For another who is also familiar with the fragrance, he will recognize it immediately. Just through reading your message for the first time - I already knew that, although perhaps enthusiastic for whatever reason, you were not speaking out of direct experience or had any sincere interest in enlightenment. There is nothing “inferior” or “superior” whether one is interested in enlightenment or not, whether one is enlightened or not, but if you have not come to one’s awakening one should not be pretending something which one is not like an actor on a stage. One can be simple, be yourself, and simply say that you do not know.
“On the contrary: I wear my motives on my sleeve, Amir - re-read the OP and this time with an eye to understanding as opposed to hasty judgement. Everyone here knows my motive.”
The motive you stated was not your real motive, and it is likely that you may not even be aware of what your real motive is.
“Look, Amir: (truly) enlightened individuals do not go around declaring their enlightenment because they know how easily people are influenced by such claims.”
More nonsense. Gautama Buddha referred to himself as the Tathagata (the one who has gone beyond). It was not a name that was given to him. In fact, he insisted that his disciples refer to him as such. And if you want, I can give you countless more examples of Buddhas who have openly declared their own awakening. For a Buddha, his freedom is not so cheap as to become contaminated by something as superficial as declaring something which is actually the case. Again, since you are not awakened, drop your ideas as to how an awakened one should be.
“There are laws and rules abound, Amir.”
If you means laws and rules in the sense of moral commandments, it is only the case if you are a slave. Otherwise, if you are living out of your own naturalness, there is no need for any observances of rules, there is a natural intelligence which needs no substitute. All of one’s moral rules and regulations are just a replacement for this natural intelligence. If you yourself are compassionate, then there is no need to observe a rule of non-violence. Because you are violent, you need to observe the rule of non-violence.
But if you mean natural limitations, certainly. At the level of one’s mind and body, one has to live according to the forces of nature. But if you come to know of that which is within which is beyond the mind and body, then there is a certain freedom beyond your physical and psychological limitations. That is what it means to be a Jivanmukta.
“you’re not interested in verification because you know you’ve failed the test, plain and simple”
I am not interested in verification because I know myself, through and through. And even if I were interested in your test, you are not qualified to be testing anybody. Settle your own condition first, and then start concerning yourself with others.
There is no shortage of deluded people on this planet, join the club.