electroBeam

@Martin123 https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjLzvKmw57TAhVKH5QKHXcECpMQtwIIGTAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DzQHv75ahYDQ&usg=AFQjCNF7DPt8-ZLqM4bO_A9YEpYSYTMoIA&sig2=qLHx9Mzy1eyNimNxpfFMyA&bvm=bv.152180690,d.dGo

One trap though is to get distracted by this. I do it all the time, get distracted by flashy colours and sounds so much that I forget to look what's behind it. That's why Zen Buddhist meditate in front of a flat, dull wall, in silence, to try and remove those flashy perceptions.

I think there is a very fine balance between desiring enlightenment and not desiring it. Because if you don't want enlightenment enough, you wont get it, it takes heaps of work to get. 99% of people don't want enlightenment, and they don't get it. But on the other hand like what Koi says, if you want it too much, you're actually getting attached to it, and that attachment will block yourself from attaining actual enlightenment. I think once you get to a certain point where you can't do any more enlightenment/you are tired of enlightenment, that's when you let go of your beliefs and desires. A 2 way process.

You sound like a monk

Last night I felt like reminiscing through my past to try and experience what it was like to truly believe in science and the physical world again, and decided to look for a crystal that my great grandmother gave me when i was 5. The crystal was always peculiar to me, it came from my great grandmother's crystal collection. She use to go around collecting crystals vigorously, though nobody knows why. She was diagnosed with schizophrenia, and consequently she sometimes use to seem like she was talking to ghosts, and other schizophrenic things. I felt so sorry for her, because she seemed so crazy and disconnected from this world. She seemed so deluded to me, from my perspective as a teenager. I could not understand how she could actually believe the things she said she believed in and 'saw'. She use to talk about seeing spirits and connecting with them, she use to use ouja boards to speak to the dead, etc etc. It intrigued me to try and feel what shes feeling, to try and actually be in a state where you believe those things, because back then science had a firm grip on me. But now things are very different. While I dont tell anyone, the stuff that experienced from meditation and spirituality is just as crazy, if not more crazy than the stuff my grandmother talked about. And its not just me, if you go watch Leo's dark side of meditation video, you'll see that its a universal theme. Spirituality is so radical and crazy that if you told someone your experiences, you would be called schizophrenic in an instant. That's why we dont tell anyone, because there are harsh consequences. But what if someone got so involved in spirituality that they just had to tell someone? And that everything they were seeing was valid to some extent? What if that person was my great grandmother? What if she wasnt deluded, but just saw things for how they actually were? ----- Or what if it was the opposite? Can't you see that the proposal that all of us arent seeing god, or mystical experiences, but are just seeing hallucinations is a valid point to make? It might seem silly to you to even consider that spirituality is just a form of our imagination, just one big dream. But you know what? It also seemed silly to my grandmother to think that she had schizophrenia. How would you feel if you for whatever reason were taken to the hospital, and were given schizophrenic tablets, and as soon as you took them and tried to look up actualized or leo's videos, or adyshanti's videos, discovered that you couldnt find them because it was all a hallucination? There are some clear signs of an unhealthy mind, like lake of iq or eq, but for me the lines between someone having a mental disorder and someone just having spiritual experiences are becoming very very blurred to me. Especially mental disorders like schizophrenia.

@zazed you must have been Pascal in your past life (pascal's wager) @Scholar is anything real truly though? Does truth even exist?

@aryberry just keep in mind that 'sense' is a concept. its very easy to confuse the idea of something with the actual experience. You might be contemplating on the idea of senses, without actually focusing your awareness on the sense itself. I'm not saying you're wrong, our senses might be wrong, and there might be a physical reality behind it, but that's just as likely as a jellyfish from a parallel universe created this universe and all of our senses are just replications of its tentacles. And unfortunately, there's no such thing as truth in reality. Everything is uncertain, you just have to use what you have and hope for the best

Does anyone on here have any experience with martial arts? And using it as a tool to attain enlightenment? Concentration and willpower are very important for the mind, and martial arts are perfect for improving these aspects of the mind. From my research, Tia Chi Chaun and Aikido are the best practices for martial arts. Which practice is the best for spirituality, and what are your experiences with them? Thanks!

@Stoica Doru Exactly what you've said. The "omg tell me the cure!" Is the very problem in the first place.

@aryberry i am aware of aura sensations, but these are illusory sensations, and in fact you might find that these sensations are apart of the concept sense I mean a totally different dimension. I dont know how to describe it. It has nothing to do with the physical world at all. No space or time. It feels like it comes from crystals, but that feeling is totally separate to the crystal itself. Im not even sure if everyone is aware of that sense. I dont think they are, if they were, they would be a lot more open minded to things. And I dont think people think through language. Like kids can think, before they learn language, and people who dont know a language can think of things. I dont think through language either. My thoughts speak to me through the language of feelings. Feelings can send info somehow. And thats exactly like the inner muse. Except the inner muse isnt made of thoughts or that sense of concept, its made of something totally different, hence why i called it a sense. And even emotions to me are a sense. They dont operate in any of the above senses either. Same with kundalini energy, totally different sense again. Its like different dimensions. Irreducible metaphysical qualities. These senses im talking about dont overlap.

@aryberry definitely not touch or sight or concept hahaha. I might be wrong, but people dont usually see crystals vibrate like a vibrator, or if you touch the feel a vibration from it. Its a completely different sense. Like how the inner muse is a completely different sense.

If you look close enough, you might find other senses, for example, ones that can sense vibrations in certain elements like crystals. Its not entirely limited to 6. Or sensing chi, or sensing energies in your chakra, another sense.

@username probably 80% are trying to love their enemies if we ignore the conmotation issue.

You cant love your enemies. The reason why they are enemies is because you h8 them. Its inherit in the meaning youve produced. Practicing loving kindness meditation though shows you that if you want to "love your enemies" you need to realize they arent enemies in the first place. Get to the root problem of h8tred.

What specific benefits are there to following a yogic practice, rather than say just meditating? What specifically is advantageous to performing certain bodily movements and holding certain poses for enlightenment, rather than just sitting and performing usual meditation? Does it help you concentrate? Does it make it easier for a dynamic mind to eliminate fluctuations? What are the Zen Buddhists missing out from the hindu yogis?

@Heart of Space everyone has said very good advice, i just want to add something: In consciousness work, weird experiences like these will only get weirder and weirder and more crazy as time goes on. Soon your entire body will be moving without the ego's input (in fact thats what happening right now, youre just unaware of it). Try reaffirming yourself that everything that happens is very normal, very natural and is a good thing. Not having control is totally ok, and believe in your body to be able to do what it deems necessary to relieve suffering in your life. Try and let go (sadona method or otherwise) of controlling your mind and body whenever you can (walking to work etc). And be comfortable with paranormal/very weird experiences that go outside the boundaries of the physical world. Accept everything that god accepts and you will be in bliss.

@jse this video can be summed up like this: https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3D1ChPAO9AYzI&ved=0ahUKEwiX_5HwmInTAhWFq5QKHQH4DIAQwqsBCB0wAA&usg=AFQjCNFcRSaA_eX0NGTKRExp6RABMVjYdQ&sig2=m_DYnzjtQHfYDtL7m7SGow

@jse "Forget spiritual pursuits" seems to me to be a misinterpretation. 99% of people in the world aren't seeking, how far has that gotten them. as Paul said at 29:20 you are still action figures, you still need to do work.

@Ariel I'm not sure about your country, but in my country its actually normal for men and women to be friends with each other. In fact I've slept in the same bed as a woman who I'm friends with. We can be close and friends.

@Loreena Definitely not Loreena! You're being too spiritual. Men and Women are like light and darkness.

Same with men though. Men who are physically attractive, or who have heaps of money, are confident/cocky/overly arrogant dont tend to get on this track, because women and society love them too much. Not saying everyone on here are physically unattractive/dont have attractive personalities, but this tends to be what happens. Its the same with intelligent people. They tend to be the ones who dont study because they dont have to. Any get wooped in the end due to their complacent behaviour. The lucky ones are the unintelligent, physically unattractive/weird ones that society has rejected.

Maybe this will help you in your search: I dont think you quite understand the problem with having a dualistic paradigm while looking for the paranormal. Are you open to the possibility that enlightenment exists? And that samahdi experiences exist? Im guessing you are otherwise you wouldnt be on this forum. Now imagine trying to convince richard dawkins that the self doesnt exist. Just say he was open minded to it. You know what he would say after searching for enlightenment after 20 years? He would say this: "The whole topic of enlightenment goes like this: Someone says paranormal things like samahdi experiences are real. Any personal experience? No. Any proof like photos, video? No. Why do you believe it then? Because I'm open minded. Well if you're open minded then why haven't you experienced samadhi experiences yourself? Uh." See paranormal activity is just like enlightenment. It doesnt make sense from a dualistic perspective. You cant show a photo of the world being one. It works on a completely different plane. Now you obviously understand the difference between a pointer and real life. An image of a bottle in your head is a pointer. Seeing the bottle in real life is reality (or an appearance). Same with enlightenment. Everything is one is not enlightenment. The actual experience or indescribable understanding is the only thing that is enlightenment. The dao cannot be spoken. The best way to describe enlightenment is to be silent. The best way to describe ghosts and aliens is also silence. See ghosts and spirits in real life arent some white, human looking object floating around space. Thats laughable. But spirits do exist in real life. Another way of describing spirits is what i have always encountered ever since i was a kid. You feel a vibration, not from any of your 5 senses. A vibration from a different dimension (like how enlightenment is a different dimension). It doesnt have a shape, a form, it doesnt float in space, or have a colour. Its a vibration you feel, and you can feel an intelligence to it. Thats another way of describing a spirit. But both descriptions are just pointers. Can you get a photo of that? Fuck no of course not. Does it lurk around space? No of course not. Space is an illusion. Does it have a colour? No (sometimes it does) Does it look like a human? No! A human is an idea in your head, or scientifically speaking, its a perception from making meaning out of the various colours you encounter. If ghosts are real, why dont they lurk around houses and open and close doors? Because physical realism is an illusion, and if you did see a ghost do that, by convention you would be hallucinating and it would be fake because the physical universe is fake! You wanna see ghosts? You need to look deeper, stop looking at the reflections coming off your lenses for that pot of gold, and start looking through your lenses.

@Nahm where do you live?

@Deep which yoga would you suggest to be the most appropriate if you want to increase concentration skills and self discipline? Maybe a yogic path that advocates a life purpose too?

@Nahm just when someone does post a video, up comes all these other videos about how we have "debunked" the paranormal activity, or the classic "it was a magician/a scam", just like how man landing on the moon is fake You cant win either way. And if you do show someone in real life, either they think youre doing a magical trick, or they start to psyche themselves out and start thinking they have a mental disorder. The paradigm is certainly a problem. https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DNN163TTACHs&ved=0ahUKEwi9w6DX64XTAhULErwKHYMoDuwQo7QBCBswAQ&usg=AFQjCNH7VUv2Vd9t5Z3aFcbc6uRvhQCGQA&sig2=JSk-nNUKEEM5h7J6KI-N0A