who chit

I've heard of certain zen disciplines where the master will do different things at random times to "shock" you into realization. Plus the whole, whacking the head with a stick thing, when you think you've got it. Sounds like bootcamp,lol.

I would like to add though,Ashtavakra Gita and those above would be pretty heavy for new seekers,especially Patanjali's Sutras. A good litmus test for reading them is if there is a struggling hard to figure out what is being conveyed,it means you don't understand and it will just cause more confusion. If you read a passage once and it hits straight to the heart as undeniably,inarguably true, then that one is a seed that will bear fruit. Keep it. Meditate on it. These books all convey Truth,but the unripe mind or one who lacks right discernment, will collect what is simple and distort the hell out of it. They're not written for the mind or intellect,they're speaking to that one,that is not the mind. Your nature is pure awareness. You are flowing in all things, And all things are flowing in you. But beware The narrowness of the mind! (1.16) - Ashtavakra Gita.

All good reads. I highly recommend Ashtavakra Gita also. Hell of a thread @winterknight ,thanks for being here. Here's one good translation,there are many, of the Ashtavakra http://yogananda.com.au/upa/Ashtavakra_gita/Ashtavakra_Gita01.html#top

True words.

@Vinnie Apologies.I hadn't read your sun worship post yet. That's certainly what I would call a transcendent experience,and they can have a transforming effect on ones state of consciousness. Looks like that's what happened in your case. Good deal. I gave the BJJ suggestion as he was asking about an athletic ,rather than spiritual based way to help raise consciousness. But I certainly may have misinterpreted the question. There's no doubt intense states can result in extraordinary experiences and raise consciousness for a time, but ime, they only last so long and then there's the return to what was there previous to that. Through spiritual practices over the years,entering deep samadhis and such, I had many indescribable metaphysical and mystical experiences that are too unbelievable to talk about. I would certainly call bullshit myself, if I hadn't experienced them. I have indeed, to this day, not talked about them to anyone. I consider them divine and a bit personal to speak about. After most of these instances,my consciousness and perception did shift into what one would call a higher state anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks. And then the gradual return back to previous state. A few times I mistook them for awakening, until the real awakening occurred. This brought about a permanent shift in consciousness and perception and the experiences ended. Deep states,or any state for that matter don't really mean anything to me anymore. So I'm speaking from that place.

"STOP BELIEVING SHIT,LOL!" Good advice.

@Jack River Good stuff. To start the search with humility is an important point and something often overlooked. The more inflated an ego one brings to the search,the harder it will be.

I'd say many come at it with at least some apprehension because of it's unknowable nature. It necessitates experience,intellectualizing does no good here, and mind does not like entering the unknown. If one decides to "give it a try", the "do I want to".."do I not want to" circus goes on until there is at least some solid glimpse or temporary transcendent experience. Then you will definitely know whether or not it's worth pursuing. Many come to it because of some sort of suffering,or they've experienced enough of life to learn that what they thought would bring lasting contentment and joy,never fit the bill. Then some come because there was always some sense of a calling for it. I'd say I was probably the only 12yo. kid at my school meditating. And not knowing why I was doing it,lol. Family thought it was weird,but I thought nothing of it.

The question dissolves the questioner into it's source.The empty,spacious,silent peace of Self. Ime.

Rupert's inquiry "Am I aware"? is worth adding to the toolbox. A somewhat more direct way of coming back into the space of being aware.

Bouncer at the door.

I would call that an assumption.

I'm not familiar with the yellow,turquoise stuff but Brazilian Jiu Jitsu could be a consideration. There's an old saying that "you die on the mats everyday",and this is true in the egoic sense. I've engaged in different types of physical training and exercise for years and found,as far as learning about ego,tendencies,fears etc. goes, BJJ is an effective,ongoing and continuous "self journey" in it's own right. It seems you may be associating "states", with a rise in consciousness,which is not the case. A state is always temporary and doesn't do much for raising and stabilizing in a higher state of consciousness. You feel good for awhile, but did you gain any insight,revelations or realizations that would raise consciousness to a higher, stabilized level. Stabilized, means you've stabilized in that higher level and there's no reverting back to a previous way of perceiving the world. You "see the world" through different eye's so to speak. A rise in consciousness always brings about a change in perception. They're inner-connected.

@Shanmugam Good read thanks for sharing. Also enjoyed your blog on Bhoothanatha Geetha.

Speaking from experience,you don't become a mute vegetable from cessation of thought. When mind thought is needed,it's there. There's a greater intelligence at work in this silence, far greater than the fact collecting intellect. And it expresses itself as such. It is the knowing prior to knowledge. If you really want to know,get to know it. You won't be disappointed.

Abide in the place where thinking is not.

This is the real renunciation of desire. As it is seen/witnessed not to be "I", by true "I", it becomes inconsequential,unreal. Bondage and attachment of desire doesn't happen. "Renunciation" In this respect is not a doing,but an effortless consequence and/or happening, of seeing the false from the real.

With desire,there's the mistaken assumption and/or presupposition, that the desire is yours. Stated as "My" desire is... ,"I" desire to... Often, we think we create or cause desire,but desire is already there in the body prior to the "I-tendency/I-thought" that claims it. No one can really presume to know why certain desires arise.Cultural/society influenced conditioning certainly plays a part,but only a part of a multifaceted phenomena. Survival/reproduction/evolution plays a role. Genetic(DNA)inherited tendencies,Spiritual and/or karmic (bondage due to past actions) etc.,etc.. possibly play a role. Desire arises in the body,then, due to the conditioned false identification as being the body, the egoic thought identity steps in and claims "this is my desire",although the desire arose first and independently, from a non existing,unreal personal cause. The phenomena happens quickly. If the phantom 'I" is seen/witnessed to be what it is,there's no longer the trap of bodymind "I-dentity" to lay claim or ownership to the arising of a desire. Therefore, then from whom or what does the desire arise? It's just another witnessed phenomena arising from nothing and dissolving back to nothing.

Distinction, on the level of no-mind and/or inner stillness/silence, is the refined sensitivity and clearness in perception. Giving way to "clearer,deeper, seeing" that penetrates beyond the gross,surface level of apparent "things". Upon awakening, perception automatically becomes more refined,and continues to become more and more refined, as time goes on, which gives one an ability to "see",which, in this context means perceive, deeper/beyond the "apparent" surface of reality. This refinement,opening of perception/seeing,happens on the level of heart,not mind. It is through this clear,refined "seeing" that oneness/non duality is revealed.

One Zen monk, Bokuju, was passing through a street in a village. Somebody came and struck him with a stick. He fell down, and with him, the stick also. He got up and picked up the stick. The man who had hit him was running away. Bokuju ran after him, calling, ”Wait, take your stick with you!” He followed after him and gave him the stick. A crowd had gathered to see what was happening, and somebody asked Bokuju, ”That man struck you hard, and you have not said anything!” Bokuju is reported to have said, ”A fact is a fact. He has hit, that’s all. It happened that he was the hitter and I was the hit. It is just as if I am passing under a tree, or sitting under a tree, and a branch falls down. What will I do? What can I do. Bokuju said, ”This man to me is also just a branch. And if I cannot say anything to the tree, why should I bother to say anything to this man? It happened. I am not going to interpret what has happened. And it has already happened. Why get worried about it? It is finished, over.”

Kundalini is a powerful force so it has to be respected. The ear pressure,head pressure,wind rush,forehead pain etc.,and another pretty common one is the build up of heat in various places of the body. Anyway these effects are the energy trying to move through "karmic obstructions" one has built up over time, which causes the energy to stagnate and build up pressure,causing side effects. Spiritual work is also spiritual cleansing , so diet and lifestyle is something to be taken into account. Partying too much and eating too much crap food will certainly make things harder.

Back atcha' man. The haters need love too. In choiceless acceptance there's no discriminating.

Kundalini is the spiritual energy that resides dormant at the base of the spine in the human body. It does exist and Everyone has it. Any spiritual work will eventually,at one time or another,awaken that energy. Whether it's worked on directly or not. Working on it directly will awaken it much faster than not working on it directly. Either way, it will eventually awaken and is an integral part of moving into higher consciousness. It's good it only lasted 2 minutes. A full kundalini awakening,when the body is not ready for it is something nobody wants. Look into Gopi Krishna and U.G.Krishnamurti. They suffered hell going through it too soon.

That's why it was referred to as a freebie. You got to see the potential possibility of taking on the journey. The experience didn't eliminate the ego,content etc.,. it showed what the possibility is. You're gonna have to do the work now,no way around it. That's the "journey", so to speak. And as already stated,don't hold onto or expect to recreate this experience. One, you didn't create it. It was gifted. Don't forget that. The first thing ego does after an experience is claim it was responsible for doing it. It will do that for every experience. In that experience,there was separation from ego-mind,therefore it didn't create it. Which, at this time ,means you didn't create it. And that's why you can't,nor will you be able to, recreate it. If you continue on the journey,more experiences will come. Enjoy them and then let them go. Because, again, they are gifts from a higher order. If you try to hold to them,they will severely hold you back. Take the highs and lows as they come, but drop them and keep on going. As LaoTzu stated, it's"the journey of a thousand miles" .

Yes indeed. I refer to it as "resting in ones own being". And It certainly is "where one sees Return." Beautiful,truthful words. Thanks @deci belle .