Clown

Yeah I'm very sensitive to smells and a whole bunch of my memories have to do with specific smells. If I randomly smell something it might trigger a whole memory-bank with old feeling-states and atmospheres I was in years ago. I don't think it's too important in any spiritual sense but it's a fun thing anyways. Sometimes it shows me how far I've gotten in life because sometimes those memories also remind me of the state of mind I was back then.

I think a quote from Sadhguru would be relevant here: My understanding of this is that realization of your true nature, enlightenment or awakening is "nothing special". People just get it mixed up with all sorts of heightened states you can get to by some yoga techniques, drugs or mantras etc. And nothing wrong with all that but if you want to be realized, you could just bypass all that and go straight to the actual thing which is seeing that you are that in which all these experiences, perceptions and dimensions happen in. If you're interested in aliens, wacky states of conciousness and all that stuff, just be honest about it and don't try to mix it up with some noble search for truth. Get into chaos magic or something and summon up Mickey Mouse and have fun.

INFP-T every time. Seems accurate though.

This is something that I keep on pondering about. Many renowned spiritual teachers and gurus emphasize the importance of having a living spiritual teacher to guide you. Many even say that without gurus guidance, you can't make it. On the other hand there's a lot of talk about the inner guru, the intuition or the silent guiding voice inside us all. I'd say I understand the guru-argument very well considering times before the internet and readily available spiritual books and other materials. If you lived in a small village and had an urge to do spiritual seeking but absolutely no idea of what it even means - In that case a teacher is absolutely needed to point one in the right direction. Also the many spiritual traps might be difficult to avoid without outside guidance. Such as developing a spiritual ego etc. Anyway, today we have the luxury of Youtube and other internet sites that have huge amounts of information, talks and guidance for spiritual seekers. Of course you need to have some discernment on that too, but generally the good teachers are known in spiritual circles. Now I'm wondering if all the material online and on books can be of any substitute for a teacher/guru. Certainly you need to have a high sense of honesty about your own progress, an ability to see that you're not being phony-holy or deceiving yourself on how far you've gotten. In my case, I have almost always found a direct answer to any question I might have had from some of the teachers who have videos on Youtube (Adyashanti, Rubert Spira, Francis Lucille, Sadhguru etc). Then there's the question of "energetic transmission" and the presence of an awakened being. Do you feel that's something that is absolutely essential and can't be experienced in any other way than to be physically close to the awakened person? The reason I'm asking your thoughts about this is because I live in a place where I have no access or information of any valid spiritual teachers. It's somewhat disheartening sometimes to read statements of "not being able to make progress without the grace of a living guru".

Thanks for your comment! Against all expectations I found out that a certain self-realized being is actually visiting my town next month and gives personal face to face -sessions and a satsang all on the same day. So it seems that there actually is some kind of synchronicity to this, because I would've never thought that I'd have any opportunities like that where I live.

I keep coming back to to "I am That" by Nisargadatta or "I am Fat" as misheard by my friend when I told him about it. It's a good book just to sometimes open at a random point and read a few lines if you're in need of your daily spiritual fix.

Do you want a cookie?

Serious spiritual discussion for sure. Kinda makes me wanna leave this forum. I guess I'm just not woke enough to realize the threat of the gay islamic lizard illuminati.

Is Sadhguru hinting that He might leave his physical body soon? Just lately he made all of his videos downloadable and free to use in any way. Also this article was posted on Isha Blog: http://isha.sadhguru.org/blog/sadhguru/spot/when-im-gone/ Welp. I'm not wishing anything here. Just a hunch that I thought I'd share.

Good question. To be completely honest it's just that I find eating eggs and cheese convenient and I don't feel guilty eating them. Of course I always buy free-range eggs. When it comes to dairy, it's just basically grilled halloum that I eat most. I've changed milk to Oat milk and I even prefer the taste. Only use it in my coffee anyways. My excuse to eating fish is that I used to go fishing as a kid and could kill the animal with my own hands. That's something I couldn't do to a pig or a cow ever. Something like taking the responsibility for the life you're consuming. At this point it personally just feels that going full vegan isn't quite necessary, although the thought itself doesn't seem too far-fetched. I also don't like restricting myself by giving my diet a label, because situations change and sometimes you might just eat what you're offered or starve.

Siddhies are usually considered to be a hindrance on the spiritual path and they're not the goal of doing yoga. If someone were to advertise their yoga school by claiming that you get all these abilities it would attract the wrong mindset.

I'm kinda of a semi-vegetarian. I guess there's a fancy name for it. I eat dairy, eggs and even fish occasionally. Meats have been off my menu for a good two years. All began on one day when I was frying bacon and putting the strips on the pan and thought that this was recently a living being that probably didn't want to die. And here I am eating its flesh like it's nothing. And all the shops have their walls full of dead animals and all of it doesn't even get eaten. Some of it just gets thrown away. Disgusting. I base my eating more on conscience that any "-ism". I know I'm not that consistent with it, but ... you know

Sounds like you just think you should watch videos or read books but on some level you feel it's an useless activity and there's nothing to gain. I guess you should just deeply ask yourself why you're trying to do those things. Also, what things naturally draw your attention so you don't have to even try?

I use one sometimes. It's good in the spring when I suffer from pollen allergies.

Do you feel like a person listening to the music or the space in which the music is happening?

Just realize that everybody's just living their lifes. Everybody is the main character in their own lifes working with what they are given. The way they act comes from how their parents brought them up, what kind of environment they grew up in, what kind of people were around them and what sort of ideas about the world they were exposed to. They're just working with what they know. Deep down everyone just wants to be happy but everyone has a different idea how to get the happiness. Sometimes people are so far into weird ideas and distortions that they think they have to be shitty persons to get what they want. You might be lucky to have a clearer view of life than them but don't think you're better because of that. Have compassion. Everybody just basically wants love but many have the wrong idea on how to get it.

The wisest thing I've heard JBP say so far is "Clean your room".

Only book I can comment on is Light On Yoga By B.K.S. Iyengar. While it's a classic and a total book on Iynegar's yoga, it's not probably that useful for beginners. It reads more like a reference guide for more advanced yoga practicioners. If you aren't very flexible and already familiar with hatha yoga or something similar, most of the practices there will be out of your scope. I would just recommend these: http://isha.sadhguru.org/5-min-practices/

Yeah I think "being lazy" isn't the root cause. I can symphatize with this tho. I have a hard time finding motivation to do stuff, because all the worldly business just seems so stupid. I just wanna sit at home and mediate and make music. It's not because I'm lazy. It's because it's hard to find any meaning in doing stuff that I know isn't going to bring me ultimate happiness. It's because of the pressure from the society, family, friends etc. that makes me feel like I have to accomplish something material in my life. And also the fact that at this point in history you sort of need money to get by. If you reach a point where you can just live off the sunlight and stay in an ecstatic state 24/7, you're ok, but that's not the case for 99,99999999% of people. So just make getting your shit together your spiritual sadhana. Get motivated in being a powerful being. Rather than letting the ego be the doer, be the witness. Witness your bodymind being a powerful vehicle in the world. That's what I'm trying to accomplish in my own life now. I wish I could say something more but that's all I've got for now.

I found this intriguing. When doing self-investigation or self-inquiry, I notice that there isn't really a "self" anywhere. Awareness is just everywhere. It's almost like the objects themselves eminate awareness. So the search for the "self" turns into this endless feedback loop unless you accept that there isn't actually a self in all this. So this Osho quote is pretty helpful in that sense. Lately I've been reading a lot more what Osho has said and it's all very good stuff. I like that he is a well-read guy who knows a lot of stuff and has a way with words that makes sense. And also a sense of compassion that comes through even in just text. And yeah, this has been said many times before but Sadhguru definitely has read or heard Osho's talks. It's a bit too obvious. I'm not saying it's a bad thing as the stories are told in relevant contexts. Maybe Sadhguru himself doesn't even realize how much he takes from Osho. Oh and I just remembed, I have this Osho Tarot pack with accompanying book. Any thoughts on that? Too "new age"?

For me it's gotta be the good ol' self-inquiry or witnessing or being awareness. Whatever you might call it. I recently also started chanting the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum, which has me really hooked. Once I start with the mantra, it's really hard to stop. And that's the point. Once you've chanted the mantra for a while and it just turns into this automatic hypnotic thing that is just happening, rather than You just doing it, you get to a really nice place within you. Listening just to the sound of the mantra and feeling it vibrate in the chest. Really nice stuff. I got the mantra thing from this video (about 41:32 if the links timecode doesn't work)

Well, kind of.. I guess. The source of anger is some sort of fear and that fear is probably unconcious. One might have a fear of being unworthy but it's hidden under layers of unconciousness. So whenever that person gets challenged in a way that might suggest to them they are unworthy, they react with anger. That anger comes from the fear of being unworthy and the fear that the belief "I'm unworthy" might actually be true. Crying is more of a surrender. You lower your defenses and let whatever it may be just come out. Your not fighting with something or trying to keep something from surfacing. It's a healthy thing, if it's a surrender. (Of course some people use crying as a way to manipulate other people to pity them etc. but I feel that's not the case here.)

If you feel like crying, go for it. It's a releasing mechanism. You're letting stuff out, not gathering more. In fact, I wish sometimes I could just cry because that would release some stuff. But I'm not a good crier.. lol. Just doesn't happen to me. I have to work with stuff differently. But yeah, nothing wrong with crying.

Hi. My first post here yay. Sounds kinda normal. I've been having lots of physical sensations, pressure, energy moving around my body, emotions, anxiety, almost panic attacks when it comes to the spiritual process. Sometimes I've even had to go home during a workday because I've felt like I'm going crazy. But those episodes never last for too long. Sometimes what we realize frees a lot of energy in the body and it feels weird. Sometimes enjoyable, most times confusing and some times just scary. My advice is just to relax to it. Do grounding stuff like walking in the nature, bodyweight exercises and good food. Also let your body totally relax to the feelings and emotions you're having. You might notice that it's hard and there's a tendency to cling to negative feelings. But if you just can relax your body to be a part of the world its a part of, the emotions have a way out. That's a good way of letting out old tensions and emotions that surface. All and all it's a process where the body cleans itself from everything that's not in line with the truth you've started to realise. This might be a good listen