who chit

Oh and maybe Byron Katie. Not too familiar with it but I've heard pretty good things about it.

The personal development stuff I'm not too familiar with. The only one's I can think of that might be somewhere in that category would be David Hawkins "letting go" or Tolle's Power of Now. You could try checking those out. Or maybe one of the bazillion meditation apps out there,lol.

The empty awareness/witness development practices would be considered more of a "spiritual practice". They're more strict and disciplined. Your going after realization or "enlightenment" with those type of practices. The other one,and ones similar, is for reducing stress/calming the mind so that too much thinking doesn't consume your life. You can let them go easier.

Observation or ,holistic observation, needs to take place from a space of awareness separate from thought, so the whole movement can be seen without getting involved or attached. If there's deep involvement or attachment to the body-mind (I-thought),there won't be enough separation in order to observe it holistically . It'll be thought observing thought, and that's not complete/whole observation or seeing. You can develop that empty awareness and/or "witness", through different meditation techniques with consistent practice.They're primary purpose/ use as a tool, is to bring the body-mind to a state of inner silence/empty awareness. This gradually builds to become a regular part of your inner state so you can observe the body-mind free from attachment. You can also try "natural noticing",where you just simply notice thoughts as they pass without trying to do anything or interfere with them.Like clouds moving across the sky. The sky doesn't try to do anything,it just allows the clouds to pass. If you want, you can also use that as a "light meditation". It's much less involved than the one above.

The beauty of silence. Good stuff.@Arkandeus

There will come a time when "observing" will end. There will only be Being,Nothingness,and/or, Isness left. Contemplation will be for contemplation's sake. A kind of learning in silence,for learning's sake. No other reason.The Inquiring of a question,letting it go into silence,and then waiting. If you've ever watched someone like Rupert,Osho ,Tolle,Krishnamurti etc.,,this is what's going on. There is a question from someone,and then there is the waiting,the gap of silence,and then they will answer. That answer is coming out of the emptiness and silence of the Absolute. Not "learned" or retained knowledge. What the Absolute gives them, is the answer they give. This is the same when inquiring/contemplating. That silence/emptiness in which to inquire,has to be there,otherwise it's untrue or "colored" knowledge.

,Awakening for me, there was a transcending of the body-mind altogether. A "thrust" Into the timeless absolute. There was no longer a "me". No center of location. Neither here nor there,everything and nothing, or "oneness", for close to 5 hrs. The integrating is still going on 3+ years now. There is, only one ultimate truth,and it is that. It's given a capital "T" for a reason. The awakening came on unexpectedly. From most other accounts I had read about afterward,and a few others I had talked to,this is pretty common to how it occurs. Out of the blue. I was not into "spirituality", or "seeking" for anything. I had been practicing TM meditation and Kriya a couple of times a day for health/stress,but not for "enlightenment". My assumption, is that the practice's are what lead to it,in spite of the "you need no practice" banter commonly heard these days. I still stand by the idea that one needs some sort of practice. That is, until you don't. You will know when that is. Practice's had continued for a few years afterward,with self inquiry added,up until around 4 months ago . Then it finally dawned on me that they were no longer needed. Being could be accessed by simply giving attention to it,even in a fully awake state. I still give credit to the practice's I had done for those years. But eventually, practice's have go. They are a boat to get you across. Then they need to be discarded. Otherwise,you will fall into the trap of 'spiritual practices' for years,or possibly,your entire life. I've seen people still doing practices for decades. That's not what they are for, at least imo. This is "the journey" from my perspective. Others will be different,so no one is to take this account as being it. One thing I've learned is,"the journey from here to here", is as individual as the one who takes it.

That's the stuff. Real freedom. Real Joy. For absolutely no reason than just being. Don't need understanding for that.

Makes all the work,ups/downs,chaos etc.,that are common on the path worth it. No doubt.

Yeah,the doubt/fear can take some time to get through. Once that barrier is broken it get's a lot easier. Marinating in it is some feel good stuff after that..

I'm in that process,so I'm not talking out of my ass/theorizing. One of the fundamental mistakes being made for awhile,was trying to understand it more than just being in it. The understanding and integration comes in being it. That's the only way ahead,from this point on. You're in an advantageous place as you said. It takes most people quite awhile just to get the glimpse.

So you can access your empty,boundless being rather easily if you want? Just direct your attention to it,and there "it"/you are? What I'm getting at, is if you can get to that without much difficulty,integration is just continuously going back to that and staying there,marinating in it so to speak,as much and whenever you can. That extra 5-10% will start dropping and you won't have to keep returning to 2. Integration is just consistently accessing that beingness,and staying there as often as possible,until it is no longer needed. The 5-10% will start dropping more and more over time the longer you stay there.

So you can access your empty,boundless being rather easily if you want? Just direct your attention to it,and there "it"/you are?

Good ol' Gurdjieff. Thanks for the vid.

If you want simpler. Thought is memory. Memory is the past. What you know, and all the mind knows, is an accumulation of the past. Thought about future is past knowledge,dressed up and projected into an imagined future. 1.Awareness is always now. And can never be any other than now. 2.Where do you exist? Now or in the past? If mind is the past, then you must be Now, yes? And what is always Now?

Minds job is to break down,dissect and figure shit out, It doesn't know anything else. Just ask yourself "what is awareness"? and notice the gap, while mind go's to work looking,searching it's database of knowledge,which is memory. It won't find anything,so it'll come back with..... utter bullshit. That gap is awareness. No Matrix in the gap. Thinking is your Matrix.

Positive or negative,no thought is true. All thoughts are just stories,movies made up and projected in the mind. The most convincing stories,movies, are the ones that cause fear & doubt. Notice you didn't ask "how do I stop identifying with positive thoughts". Whether positive or negative,stories are stories. You don't have to treat them seriously. Just see them as they are. Stories with no base in fact or truth. When you notice you're caught up in the story,notice "being caught up in the story" and let it go. Come back to the present. With time they will begin to weaken and lose their distracting power. Be persistent. What @cirkussmile said is true,but if I'm gauging correctly, you don't seem to be on the path to emptiness right now,and that's a bit deeper than what you might want right at this time. If you're looking to drop into the void of timelessness ,that's a different ball game. That phone app will help bring more awareness to the structure of "story creation",which is a good thing. You can never have too much awareness.

Enlightened one's have stated that the why questions of consciousness can't be answered truthfully. With that said, here's my big steaming pile of BS,loll. Life/consciousness loves to flourish?? This kind of falls in line with the higher your "vibration",the higher your consciousness,which equals more positive life energy. Consciousness apparently approves of positivity over negativity. And this has a direct effect on the relative world. Then there's double slit experiment.Where matter can act as both a wave and a particle depending on whether or not it is being observed. And who/what observes? Consciousness. It changes itself when it observes itself? Loves attention??

Lol..good analogy. It doesn't like being put in time out. Ego-mind can't fathom having no purpose. It seems this is part and parcel for many on the path and it was for me also. As Leo said,at one instance it shatters the only reality you knew up to that point,but it also opens up a new beginning. This,imo,is the real start of the journey. God,Truth,Self etc., knows what it's doing well beyond the minds in-ability to understand it. It will show you this time and again. You're in good hands so to speak. Be patient and trust the process. Eventually, with some tough love from the One ,ego-mind will learn, that it is not,and cannot control this process. The more ego resistance there is, the tougher the journey. This is individual,karmic,so don't beat yourself up about it. Weather the storms and new light will dawn. It's inevitable.

Good post.

Fragmentation arises in that ,which is still,timeless and aware (what is). The whole, in which fragmentation of an experiencer (self,I-thought) experiencing an experience (time) arises. It is movement, that arises in stillness,timeless awareness. The Now of that which is.. Being. Thus there is movement in stillness and stillness in movement. Appearance/movement of an experiencer(self,I-thought),experiencing an experience, in stillness,wholeness of that which is aware (what is), and is prior to, throughout,and the ending (coming and going, arising and falling away), of experiencer experiencing an experience.

Well said.

Not moving positively-negatively, the more and longer (constant/sustained), this empty awareness "is".

This is what I was getting at with the statement Sustained emptiness (i.e., empty awareness) in which ever new arising's can arise and dissolve without attachment. Same with this. Constant (sustained) empty observer (sustained empty awareness), watching, as psychological content ,("other one" being watched/I-thought,memory,knowledge) arises then dissolves/vanishes.

I very much relate to this. An excellent description of my own current experience.