Ramu

I usually meditate in a cross legged position on my bed. I light a candle and bow to it with hands together in a praying position and put on a sash around my neck. The sash had colors sewn into it made from thread for each time I meditate. (Its getting some color). I then meditate on my bed for 15 to 45 minutes depending on how pressed I am for time, (work days, etc). I do a breathing meditation to clear my popcorn maker mind and then experience silence. Interestingly enough it usually quiets my mind all day. Its how I stay in touch with my True Self.

Yet its funny when you see other employees doing things that are wrong in the same department you work in. One guy is always 25 minutes late and never gets in trouble for it. I was asked to come in early to cover for him. The thing is, the team lead who asked me is always late herself! She can't talk to him about being late if she doesn't lead by example. The irony of this hit me today, so now I guess I'll say no from now on. If no one else cares, am I supposed to? Not exactly receiving any thanks covering for my slacker coworkers. Anyone else out there run into work issues like this?

@DizIzMikey not sure what you mean@DizIzMikey Well ive been through that stuff and at first it was bizarre...going through synchronicity experiences and peeking behind the curtain. Now that I realize that there is more to life than what appears on the surface (awakened), I can never go back to the way I used to live, (with ego, trying to obtain meaning through form, judging, comparing myself to others, ad nauseum).

At first she may seem a bit flaky, but I'm subscribed to her network and a lot of what she preaches is very grounded...example..the relationship between popular media and fear in the masses. I think she's onto something.

Well ive been through that stuff and at first it was bizarre...going through synchronicity experiences and peeking behind the curtain. Now that I realize that there is more to life than what appears on the surface (awakened), I can never go back to the way I used to live, (with ego, trying to obtain meaning through form, judging, comparing myself to others, ad nauseum).

@DanoDMano actually Dano, you're describing me to a T. I'll be fifty this year and I feel like I'm 35 although like most men my age I'm developing rotator cuff issues. I'm sure a lot of my habits like working out not smoking and only occasionally drinking are part of it. Spiritually I fell like I'm awake and I "get it". Still have a long way to go on this path but I've had tremendous insights on the way and had a big one this weekend. Most important is to have fun doing the spiritual stuff. Otherwise why do it, right?

I've found that deep breathing when starting a meditation session eliminates inner dialogue. One focuses with their mind very closely on the in breath and outbreath. By using the mind to focus on inhale/exhale it makes it harder for the mind to chat about bs. After I do 10-20 deep breathings I breath slower and more relaxed and the chatter is pretty much gone. When annoying chatter comes back I revert back to deep breathing. ALSO: Every time I return to deep breathing, when retuning to normal breathing, the silence increases. I then stay with the silence, and this has a residual effect of quieting the mind for the remainder of the day!

Yeah, I can relate to what you're saying. It seems that many of my peers only care about superficial bullshit like watching professional sports and getting all stressed out if the Patriots don't make it to the Superbowl, (like does anyone really give a shit)? No one really has intelligent conversation anymore mostly because of the fast paced media influenced culture we live in, especially in the United States. Is it me or does it seem like most everyone is brainwashed by bullshit popular culture?

Portland, Maine. USA

I think you will enjoy the book. Keep in mind however that a lot of people, myself included have read the book twice over. It's actually such a great read that I gave it to someone who I thought could benefit from reading it. After that book I read Eckart Tolle's A New Earth. Another good book that although written years after Singer's essentially talks about the same things from a slightly different perspective. Enjoy! By the way I'm on this forum a lot so let's keep in touch.

I generally avoid spirituality topics with others unless I know they're like minded. One concept that helped to awaken me is the realization that what I am is pure consciousness. One sentence in a video documentary made me see this: your mind is not in your body, your body is in your mind. From there I went one step further and that is my body and mind are in consciousness. But that's not true either. I'm not IN anything. I am consciousness or more simply, I Am.

When I started out as a psychology undergraduate over 20 years ago, I was a hard headed reductionist. I didn't believe in religion or spirituality and scoffed at the ideas of both being mere fantasy bs. Although at some point in my sophomore year I started experiencing weird coincidences. One week I could not for the LIFE of me get this song out of my head. It played in my head every day most of the day for a week. That weekend I decided to get out of the house and go shopping. When I got back to my car and approached it, I started having a strange feeling. I got in my car and as my keys were going towards the ignition I heard that darn annoying song again. When I turned the ignition the same song was playing on the radio. The song never got stuck in my head again. Anyone have any similar synchronicity experiences?

Hi there. I really liked your post because I have the same issue. Actually its not as bad as it used to be but at times it rears its ugly head. What's rearing its head? Ego is rearing its head. Why ego? Because ego notices differences in an attempt to solidify its identity in form. Ego thrives on having a separate superior identity but fails because its ultimately threatened by what it perceives itself to be superior to. Fear is what drives ego. You have great insight into this however because you are NOTICING this behavior in yourself. That's the first and probably the most important step in Spiritual Awakening. The Witness in you (your True Self), is observing the thoughts of your mind. After awhile you will not identify yourself with your mind because YOU are not your thoughts or emotions. The True Self is the Witness of Mind. There is a lot more about this in the Spirituality/Consciousness section of this forum. I wholeheartedly recommend that you read The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer. You won't be the same afterwards (but much better)!!!

Uhhhh I'm pretty sure he's being like, sarcastic?

So what is NoFap? Not jerking off? What does masturbation abstinence have to do with your list of benefits? Not giving attitude, merely curious. Could you explain in more detail?

Having a BA in psychology has in some ways been the worst thing I've ever put on my resume. I was accepted 20 years ago to Texas Tech to study psycholinguistics. I decided not to go after reading my advisors research papers. In a word: Dreadful. So I did not go. Getting somewhat off topic remember that an undergraduate degree, especially in a liberal arts degree like Psy doesn't get you anywhere in the modern job market. It is only a stepping stone for a masters, a PsyD or PhD. In truth liberal arts degrees do one thing: they teach you how to think. Thats pretty much it. My parents told me as a kid growing up that the people with the college educations get the better jobs than those who don't attend. Big surprise to me after I graduated from The University of Southern Maine with a BA in Psy, magna cum laude was that most employers didn't give a shit that I had a degree. Having one in psych? Even worse! I can't even count how many times job interviewers would look spaced out and confused when commenting on my major of choice. "What do you want to do, analyze people", would be a common, albeit ignorant comment. Why the dumbass comments? Because no one who has never taken a basic psych course knows anything at all about the field. The common perception is the man or woman talking to a person lying on a couch. There are two major branches within psych, Experimental and Clinical. Clinical deals mainly with pathologies. Experimental deals with a wide variety of topics from cognitive to sensation and perception to physiological. Actually psychology from a practical perspective is really the study of performance. Just some words of insight before you choose music or psych, from one who has experience in one of them.

You see I think there's a connecting principle involved (unless the guy at the supermarket likes 1979 also and is also going to the concert). I attribute my experience to The Universe saying "wake up". Indeed, I did wake up. I have spiritually awakened although it was far from a dramatic khundalini awakening. I've been getting glimpses behind the curtain since age five, but it only took me until now, at age 49 to put it all together. Imagine someone taking a nap who keeps waking up intermittently only to fall back asleep again. This happens for awhile until he wakes up FOR GOOD. That's my story basically. I feel basic joy just in Being. I like exploring spirituality but I don't know and don't care if im ever enlightened. The only thing that matters to me is that I KNOW without a shadow of a doubt that there is more to what exists than what is apparent in day to day living.

I have to say that back in the 90's I really liked what he had to say on his infomercials. No kidding, but he seemed liked the authentic one. He laid it all out talking about his crappy apartment and doing the dishes in his bathtub. Even though I've never seen his videos I think he comes from a place of Truth. Bless his heart for helping people and being a true inspiration. I know he's for real because he made it pass my bs detector.

He also has steak and whiskey for breakfast and not only is a great pick up artist, but created pick up!!

I think you've experienced Witness Consciousness which is a higher state, well above normal waking consciousness. I had it explained in a couple of ways. One way to consider it is to realize and tune in to the constant drama of your mind and listen to the internal back and forth going on. When you listen and observe this as a third party you are really listening as the Witness or the True Self. Another perspective that helped me is looking at what I do day to day and the roles I play as if I was an actor. I'm a son, a brother, an uncle, a lab production worker, a road cyclist, a racquetball player, a cross country skier, a good friend to a select few, a movie and book enthusiast, an athlete....but after I realize this I also realize those are mere roles I play as if I were a thespian on stage. The witness who observes these roles I play is the Real Me.

I've tried opening during meditation but can't seem to do it. Any advice?

I was in a great mood at work last Monday. I was working in the lab and dancing around a little while listening to music. I felt such joy and elation because I just felt good! A couple people asked me what my "problem" was and that if I knew it was Monday. I answered back that the day of the week was irrelevant!

I think TM is a bs marketing scheme. You shouldn't have to pay that much money for a spiritual thing. Like previous threads here have mentioned a little research or even trying group meditation for awhile will give you the techniques to meditate successfully. I was going to try TM but after a lot of contemplation I realized it was a scheme.

I think a big trap waiting for me is Ego. Its nice to meditate and come in contact with True Self. Its also great to read books by Tolle and Singer warning of ego's nasty tricks. Its also very nice to think that one has conquered this nasty ego thing, but I have a sense that its going to have a go at me again real soon. It got me today when I was least expecting it. Someone disagreed with me on the forum and it kind of messed with me....hello Ego!!

I can understand most of the book myself, but some parts do seem to drag on, like the pain-body topic. But the great thing about Tolle is that he's redundant, so he keeps giving you the same message repeatedly. The book intriqued me. I'm now reading Power of Now and it seems a bit too redundant after reading New Earth. Another great thing about the author is that he doesn't stray into spiritual fairy tale land. He just lays it out and says it.