Tistepiste

This is manipulative haha, so this becomes the basis of the interaction

Yes... Trusting my own direct experience.

Thank you <3 Yeah. I have a tendency to overthink... When something doesn't feel logic to me, I have this compulsion to find an explanation

Yes. I just realized while driving the car. I thought I was focussing on driving but without realizing I was caught up in tought / thoughts arised. When you focus on one thing intensely it sometimes seems like you're all there but actually thoughts are running through your head but you're not always aware of those. So you're like semi-aware.

So there's a distinction between the mind being a sense organ, receiving information (perception) And a thought coming up, which is perceived, but not perception in itself But what if there's an empty space (gap) of like 5 minutes in between thoughts. What would you define that space as then? Are those filled with more subtle thoughts that your mind isn't sharp enough to perceive yet? Or just wordless thoughts that are there? Or pure awareness? For now I conclude it is the absence of gross thoughts, which opens up a space for more subtle thoughts to arise. But the mind has to be sharp enough to perceive those. The confusion from my part lies in the fact that the teacher could've insinuated that the gross 'big' thoughts are also still there but that you're so focussed on something else that it seems they're not there. Maybe it's all of the above. A big 'gross' thought comes up, but you're letting it pass by, this opens space for more subtle thoughts. And more focussed awareness. Another big one comes up and you're letting it pass by. The confusion probably lies within stopping thoughts vs less busy mind. Of course the frequency of these gross thoughts decreases as you're not caught up in them and joining the think train but letting them pass by . But occasionally they still pass by, certainly in this stage still. It is about letting them pass, and then space arises between each arising and passing. Within this space, there is still a mind perceiving information. Still active. You just don't perceive these are usual thoughts but could be formless thought or Sankaras, space of pure awareness, or whatever That's how I understand it for now Interesting. This is in line with the experience of one of the co-meditators. Where forgotten memories from childhood past came up.

But when the space between your thoughts becomes bigger and bigger because of less monkey mind and more focussed mind. The thought frequency decreases right? So this confuses me. I know it is not to try to stop the thoughts but stop identifying with them, but the byproduct of this is that thoughts appear less frequently I thought (haha) But now it is like saying there are still as many as there were before but you just don't realize it? Or is it not as black and white as I'm making it out to be 1) Over long term meditation, thought frequency decreases as monkey mind gets cancelled out gradually and since you're not reacting to it you have a calmer mind, less busy, so less thoughts since you're not chasing them with more thoughts 2) During current meditation these monkey mind thoughts still appear but since you're focussed on something else you're not chasing them so it seems as if they are not there but you're just not aware they're appearing since your focus else where Am I understanding this correctly?

So I went on a 10 day Vipassana retreat. There was one conversation with my teacher that kind of keeps on bugging me in the back of my mind since I can't fully grasp what he meant andd since it is about the practifce I am doing I can't seem to let go. Basically, during deep meditation, I experience a state where almost no active thoughts come to the surface, and where I am fully emerged in focused awareness of the present moment (in the case of Vipassana: being aware of bodily sensations). My teacher said, the mind is just like a sense organ. Like hearing; tasting, smelling,... It's always there, it's always on. Thoughts are always coming up, and passing away. He said, it might be, when very deep in focus, those thoughts are pushed to the background and it seems like they are not there. This is where I am confused. If I don't experience an 'active thought' (with this I mean a thought taken on a form of a word for example), I experience this as the absence of it, with clarity of mind and a strong focus. But what he is insinuating is that the thoughts are still coming up but that I am not aware of those; since I am so caught up in experiencing a deeper state of consciousness (in this case experiencing bodily sensations in the unconscious mind). While I am writing this down, I understand that whatever the answer is and whatever happens it doesn't really matter because it doesn't impact the meditation itself, it's just that I am confused and my mind likes an answer. PS: I am not saying having thoughts during deep focus is a bad thing btw, as long as you stay present and don't get caught up in them and keeping the mind balanced, then it is just as fine.

Hey So one thing I feel holds me back in life right now is people pleasing. It puts myself and others in a vulnerable position. Oftenly I'd make assumptions in what the person might expect from me and if I feel like I could let them down I either excuse myself prior to them voicing it out, to make sure that, even if they don't voice it out that I acknowledged it already. Other situations are when I try to say words in the best way I can in order not to put another person in a bad position, if I am dealing with a situation that might not be beneficial for the other party. So then I can't really get to the point of what I'm really saying and just make the other person confused. Ok.. long story. I am very aware of all that is happening and what the impact is, but this force within me Is so strong that I am not sure what are easy tricks to stop giving into it. Has anyone else dealt with this and how do you go about it?

Dear, Recently I was attending a Vipassana retreat. It brought me deeper in my spirituality than I ever was before. I witnessed very deep and profound insights and states of being. However, on the last day of the retreat, we were allowed to talk, and one of these guys started talking to me, and he made me very confused. And since then it has been bugging me during my meditation. So I want to ask a question about it to help clear my mind.e He was asking me about my meditation technique. I told him I was observing my bodily sensations. He then asked, what do you mean "observe" I said "just.. observe.." He looked at me with an empty stare as if he was unable to grasp what I was saying. He then said "but you can't just observe, you're thinking" I got very confused.. He went on to say "you're thinking: "I observe" which is a thought. I think you misunderstood the meditation. It's impossible not to think. It is about not judging what your thoughts are, but you're always thinking" It became like a very strange conversation of yes / no and I didn't want to go on with him because I felt like it was going nowhere and I certainly wasn't into having a discussion with him. He ended the conversation with "the greatest meditation teachers are even saying that you can't stop thinking" This really annoyed me, because the whole way I understood Anna panna meditation, is about increasing your focus and awareness. Sit in stillness and keep your mind as focussed and sharp as possible, whenever you go into thought, you realize this, and you again regain your focus. By doing this, your mind becomes sharper and clearer, less thought and more clarity. Going on to Vipassana you maintain that practice during the body scan, and observe the sensations as free of thought as possible. Whenever a thought arises, you let it be. Now everytime I meditate this guy comes up in my mind and is telling me how no thought is not possible and I get into this paradoxical circle of whenever I reach clarity of mind it is obstructed by this voice in my head that is trying to tell me the opposite of what I am doing. So I'm here to ask: it is not "strange" to to be observing (or at least try to) without thought, right?

So lately I have been (trying) to be as aware as possible of my inner turmoil. I am very sensitive to outside stimulus. When something doesn't feel right, it immediately is felt in the heart and stomach where it itches and hurts. I am conscious that it are my thoughts that are causing these feelings. I am always aware of these thoughts but not always in "control". It is extremely hard to dissipate the thought's energy. The energy of these thoughts keep floating around in the stomach and heart area. I suspect it has something to do with my chakras; that they are blocked in that area? When I meditate, I focus on my breath and on the heart area. Now; I have been more and more conscious about how fear is a leading role in my life; so everytime I feel like I am doing something out of fear; I try to be aware of that and not go into it. But sometimes I am not sure what to do. It is a game between authenticity and consciousness in a sense. When I feel something isn't right, but I know it is coming out of fear: Do I act on it or should I just be aware of where it is coming from and not feed it? Then I feel like I am denying myself. I am just confused on what is the best to do in a personal growth type of setting. If a situation bothers me; should I just look into why it bothers me and learn from that and leave it be? Or do I do that while addressing the situation? Giving into my possibly irrational thoughts? It is a confusing / hard balance sometimes. But I do feel that addressing situations lifts a heavy weight off my heart; but in a sense it feels like cheating. I took the easy way out.. again. Instead of facing those fears and working through them by being conscious; and handling them on my own, it seems much easier to address directly and be authentic about how I am feeling which lifts a huge weight. But that feels like it is not helping my personal growth since I depend on external sources. Any thoughts on this?

Chapstick for reference. Without it you wouldn't know how big it (the musroom) was Or was it a joke? In that case my bad haha

@bobbyward Sure. The main point is moving towards absolute simplicity. No concepts, no ideas, no rules, no systems. Everything points to awareness of the void. The emptiness, which contains all the richness in the world. First, it starts about being aware of everything you do in every second of the day and doing it in a fully conscious way Breathing, touching, sensing, seeing, speaking, listening, going to the toilet,... It talks about the 36 tattvas and how they have to be experienced fully consciously all the time. It talks about how everything should be accepted and experienced and nothing should be resisted since it's all part of the divine. Resistance creates suffering. (e.g. when trying to resist a negative emotion, it only grows stronger) It also talks about ascetics and how some of them spend all their lives in solitude practicing meditation, which in turn makes them disconnected from the world they live in and thus not living life fully consciously and in all their possible / potential glory. The practices are pretty simple: -Being aware of your ego-mindset and breaking through it as hard as possible. There's no room for gentleness. Face your fears head on in the most confrontational way possible. They will be shattered. -Meditation: be aware of the pause between thoughts, breath,... Every thought and its subsequent thought has a "space" between them, a comma. Be aware of the stillness, emptiness between each breath / thought. Doing this every day, constantly, will make you more aware of this emptiness / void and will make you less identified with thoughts -Do everything fully consciously, never take anything for granted. Enjoy drinking water in the most pure way possible, do everything with pure love and gratitude -Everything should be felt by the heart, during meditation also focus on heart. Everything starts flowing when the heart is activated (all chakras).

I am reading this book of Daniel Odier and I must say I find it amazing. So much of the teachings in this book resonates with everything that is being shared on this forum. Just wanted to share this with you guys; a real recommendation to read! It gives you a look into tantra and the theory around it as well as practices and explanations. It's beautifully written and the master that is being referred to in the book seems absolutely amazing. Have any of you read Daniel Odier? What do you think of his teachings?

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