LastThursday

But who or what control's Gods mind? And is that deterministic?

No I found various sources on the internet. My ideal would be to create my own scripts and then have perhaps have an AI voice read them to me. It's just like being a marionette, where moving one part affects tension in another part. For example, talking can make the arms and hands tense, moving the hands can move your tongue, and so on. But for ultimate flow and relaxation in your body one thing shouldn't be affecting the other, except where it's natural to do so. The different parts of the body need to work in conjunction, but they also should be able to act independently.

It's a sheer joy when this is achieved. I have practised with self-hypnosis (guided by voice recordings) for about 18 months, and at first I could not completely relax, I would notice my tensions would creep back unconsciously during the sessions. But lately, there are times when I am completely relaxed with no tension whatsoever and can maintain that for longish periods (during hypnosis). Of course, you need some tensions even to hold yourself upright and move. But if you pay attention, things like moving your eyes or breathing can trigger tensions. Like moving your eyes can trigger tension in your jaw or neck or face. So work also needs to be done there, to sever that connection. Moving your eyes for example should be completely effortless and relaxed, and so should breathing. I would also advocate doing some light stretching exercise (I do some Tai Chi) before meditating. This helps with lessening tension.

So you mean you repeated the loosening of the tension over and over again and then it got less? Exactly. Over and over and over again. Eventually the body gets the message and learns how to relax all by itself. I'm with @flowboy and @Cathal in saying that tension is related with past trauma and stresses. These are often held in the body. The fight or flight response requires your body to be in tension and prepared. If you were or are always in stress, then the body learns and permanently encodes this as tensions. I would go so far as to say that reprogramming the body not to be tense, is one way to re-contextualise past traumas. It's a two-way process tension<-->trauma. Solving one helps the other. But I'm no expert in this. It's instructive that I fractured my left arm when I was young, and that is exactly were I find the tension.

Some fun ones: I am here now The past can't hurt me The future can't hurt me This moment is unique I am everything Everything is beautiful Everything is love

Yes definitely, in my left hand, right shoulder and right thigh. But there's hope. I used to have a lot more tensions throughout my body (mostly neck and jaw areas) when meditating, and with concerted effort and focus over time they have gone. It's taken me about a year to remove most of the tensions. I think it's a case of re-programming the body with constant repetition, and it can take a long time. I'd like to know if there's a quicker way.

Insights meets aesthetics, what an interesting insight! Insights do have a beauty or aesthetic quality to them. Maybe that's how we know they're insights?

Solipsism is a bean counting exercise. How many solipsists does it take to change a light bulb? It's ultimately tied the idea of only having "one" experience. But the idea of "one" is within experience not an attribute of it. "One" only works when you have "two", i.e. comparison or duality. Experience itself cannot be compared to anything and so cannot be counted. Solipsism then is defining itself in terms of itself. I guess some people are ok with that type of thinking.

I appreciate that this forum even exists. It must be difficult to keep the forum free of negativity, given it's free form nature. And it must be hard to make the judgement call to ban members, and to do this consistently for the sake the of the forum; especially as some do increase their level of awareness over time and make more positive contributions. I don't know how it works with warning points, but I would have thought that an auto-ban should be triggered at X number of points?

Great! Here's a famous example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Kekulé#Kekulé's_dream Sometimes you don't know what to do with an insight, and so you don't record or remember it well. I had an insight recently whilst watching a video about the double slit experiment (for the umpteenth time). Something clicked that time: the configuration of matter affects the behaviour and nature of space (around it). So in this instance the diffraction pattern is not caused by the double slits per se, but by the space being warped (by the apparatus) and affecting the probabilities of the light waves. But what do I do with that insight?

I do know what you mean. I often have profound insights just on the cusp of sleep, and they're nearly impossible to capture. They are more like a sensation more than anything else. I wouldn't even know how to record them. Every insight leaves a positive residue even if you don't fully recall it again. That means that new connections will be made more easily in future. Sometimes new insights will make you recall older ones, and that re-inforces them. I don't think you should go hell for leather trying to capture all insights (if it's too much). It kind of goes against the nature of insights, because insights work on many levels some more subconscious than others. Just let them permeate your being.

You should take it in turns each day. Kinky.

It's ok to not finish things sometimes, no need to pressure yourself that way. You will finish things if they're important enough. But also commitment and discipline are skills you can learn over time. The only way to learn those skills is to start doing things.

If happiness is our natural set point, then you should be looking to reduce sources of unhappiness. Literally, ascending Maslow's hierarchy is to do with this, and so is Buddhism. There's the physical, biological and the psychological. Western self-help culture has it the wrong way round.

You can't beat 70's and 80's series intros I could go on, but I won't.

If You Think, you wanna 'escape' this forum.. Chances are, you are addicted.. from what I know.. the thing you're addicted to satisfies, 3 or more of your Needs.. So Identify those Needs.. and Let them Go, or Fix them. Thank you taking on my question so earnestly.

There is form and structure, that much is apparent. Why? Because awareness itself is formed and structured. Awareness is precisely that which it is aware of. Your body is awareness itself. There's no link, they are both one and the same. If you like, awareness is modulated by God to have the persistent form of a body thinking it has a point of view. For no particular reason. Awareness can divide itself in an infinitude of ways, and reform again at will. You both have a body and not. Your body is contiguous with the rest of existence, there are no gaps. The air in your lungs is both you and not you. All this is one flow, and an infinite number of flows at once.

No. Not as long as you have something to learn about yourself, let her be your unwitting teacher. And maybe she can learn from you too.

Could you teach me how to escape this forum, there seems to be no way out?

God I haven't heard this since it came out in 1990, boy that's a long time ago.