Wisebaxter

If I observe the world without perceiving objects (naming them) and having thoughts, is this basically a state of non-duality? Or is there something more to it?

@winterknight Cool, I've found a website already and they do have reduced rates for people in my position. Thanks man!

@winterknight Yeah good point, I do have a bit of a 'saviour' complex, probably as a distraction from doing work on myself. It also stems from hating to see people suffer. If they have some knowledge of spiritual concepts (on say an Eckhart Tolle forum) I usually spout off a load of spiritual cliches at them and they reward me with a thumbs up for using the right labels. They probably think 'yeah, that sounds deep and spiritual, it must be true (even if I don't get it) and nobodies any wiser. I'll put a stop to this now and focus on myself I'd love a piece of that psychodynamic pie but I'm out of work at the moment. I'm assuming it costs a buck or two. Thank you for taking all this time to help us and answer questions

@Outer Ah many thanks my friend. I always have time for more Adya in my life. Well I've listened to a lot of his youtube videos and have a couple of books I've yet to read. Got hold of 'True Meditation' today, which I'm excited to look at. He's got a such a clear and concise way of explaining meditation, it's really helped me avoid some pitfalls. I find the idea of 'focusing' on something during meditation to be just another form of control so I like it that he's all about letting go of that. I've been overly controlling everything my whole life. Thanks for that link, I'll definitely watch those.

@winterknight When you come across someone suffering in your day to day life, say a friend, family member or a stranger, and they don't dabble at all in spirituality and have a lot of ego, do you tend to make your advice more palatable and less say, mystical? For example, would you tell them that there is really no 'them' to be suffering? Or do you try to come to them where they're currently at? I find myself always laying it on too thick with people and they just stare at me blankly lol. I also get this feeling of frustration as the root of their problem seems to simple, but they're so wrapped up in believing in their stories. I feel so desperate to share these fundamentals truths with people and set them free but I can't. Do you ever feel any frustration because of this? Or do you just accept that it has to be that way

@winterknight Do you have any pointers on the best form of meditation for enlightenment? Adyashanti refers to a kind called 'true meditation,' (or Leo calls it 'do nothing' mediation) as being the best one. Here you just keep letting go of the urge to control your thoughts when thoughts arise. There is no specific object to focus on. He says this helps you give up resistance and control. Have you found any particular methods better than others? Or did you focus mainly on self enquiry? If so, should I be doing more self enquiry than meditation, in your opinion? Oh I just read up a bit and you've already said that Self Enquiry is the best. Feel free to ignore this question then

@winterknight I'm become obsessed with intellectualising about non duality and enlightenment throughout the day, getting bogged down trying to figure out the meaning of labels like awareness, consciousness, etc. I'm always trying to work it out. Is this simply pointless? Unless maybe I'm doing it consistently using self enquiry, which I haven't been...or maybe contemplation, which some gurus swear by. But it's like I always feel I should be thinking about it and feel guilty when my mind gets distracted with anything other than existential questions. I've become so obsessed with spirituality that I feel I'm not living life to the fullest. I'm always searching...searching, doing this technique or that technique. I'm a hermit, very introverted and see relationships as a distraction. Will this go against me in the long run? If I want to become awakened? I'm worried I might be using spirituality as a smokescreen to avoid sorting out more obvious stuff...

@winterknight 1. It seems a theme in spirituality that the world I see is born from some unmanifested void which I am, that when I look away from objects, they no longer exist, until I look at them again. Is this true? That I'm God and I'm creating it all? The world around me seems to have such an independent existence from me...

@winterknight When people question your sincerity or say dumb stuff to you it appears to me like jealousy or cynicism on their part. I can't help feeling triggered by their lack of open mindedness and how they miss an opportunity to ask you an intelligent question. What reactions do you have when someone doubts you like this? Is there any emotion at all? Like frustration, etc? Or maybe compassion? I'm interested to know what's there for you experientially, in these moments.

I've been enjoying a 'do nothing' meditation habit for a couple of months but now I hear of this form of yoga which can awaken the chakras and lead to enlightenment. My question is, is it worthwhile throwing a bit of kundalini yoga in to the mix for good measure, to help me along the path faster perhaps? Or will meditation do the trick anyway and open up the chakras, allowing this energy to flow? I guess the main point of my question is, do they do the same thing? I've heard that the energy that kundalini unlocks can lead to physical and mental issues if not handled properly, so that scares me a bit, but then again some of the same symptoms have been reported from doing meditation. Shinzen young talks about meditation causing Kriyas and how people can have spasms and shit. Does this mean that meditation and kundalini yoga are both unlocking this energy? But what about this kundalini syndrome which can effect people adversely for years? I haven't heard of meditation having those kind of adverse effects. To summarise, questions are: 1) Do Meditation and Kundalini yoga achieve the same result? 2) Is it safer to stick with meditation or will I have to go through some crazy shit at some point with this practice anyway? 3) Is it a good idea to do them both together for maximum spiritual gainz? 4) Which approach is this least likely to land me in a padded cell frothing at the mouth? This shit's supposed to be make me happier ultimately, after all If anyone can answer any all of these questions that would be great

Oh yeah, sounds like you're doing just find without using substances. Very excited for you man

What a lovely idea. I sure hope so. It would help me deal with the nightmares too as they'd be easier to explain. I also woke up the other day not knowing where the hell I was or who I was and had this sense that I was experiencing non-duality or some form of awakening/altered state. It felt very scary and disorienting. Slowly I came back into a normal state of mind. I may have just been half asleep and my mind was screwing with me though lol. What the hell I'll tell myself I was awakening life energies though and it will inspire me to continue

@Salvijus lol, walk naked in a blizzard? That sounds strangely arousing. I'm doubling my efforts now. Is Sadhguru not referring to a situation where all of your kundalini activates at once? Or is anyone talking about awakening their kundalini energies confused? I mean there are whole books written on the subject of Kundalini awakenings. Sadhguru's a very reliable source though of course

@Tony 845 @Tony 845 @Tony 845ah845 ah sds means strong determination sit. I wandered about that. I did my first 2 hour one the other day and I ached all over. I'll try and do more of those then. It's interesting because I've had trouble sleeping over the past month and have had really weird dreams along with some anxiety. It's coincided with starting meditating and sometimes whilst doing it I feel a warmth in my body. But then again I have given up a major weed habit recently so all these symptoms are in line with that also. The positives of your experience sound really worthwhile, although I hope the dizziness and the issues with sleep subside soon. It's like Leo said on another thread though, spirituality isn't for pussies lol, in his usual eloquent way of putting things. When the kundalini comes knocking, you just have to let that shit do its thing and not start panicking like a bitch hehe. Glad I know that now. Dude it definately sounds like your conscousness level has been raised, so yeah maybe you're not enlightened but this is a big step you've taken and now you've got tangible proof that this stuff is legit. It's funny, up until recently I was still skeptical that all this chakra stuff was real as I come from the scientific paradigm a bit like Dr Strange lol, but after hearing all this stuff, first hand accounts of energy pouring out of people's heads, I'm like woah, this stuff is REAL. Now I'm gonna go balls to the wall hippie mode, reiki, aromatherapy, tarot. I honestly do feel like Dr Strange when he first goes on that trippy voyage though parallel universes, and I've only just started! Do you take psychedelics at all?

@Tony 845 if you'd have known about Kundalini energy do you think you could have prepared for it more? Leo has a book on his booklist which he says can help you to be safe. I'm probably going to get it. Another question is, what exactly were you asking or investigating during self enquiry when your crown chakra got blasted open? I know it's not like like I'm gonna emulate it and get the same result, but I'm still curious. Have you felt much different in general? Aside from the physical sensations? Do you feel more awakened, or conscious or whatever? Your advice has been invaluable as now I know to just surrender if it happens. I listen to a lot of Adyashanti's stuff. I've heard him mention these intense energy flows but quiet sparingly. I'll have to delve deeper. Leo also has a book about the dangers of meditation but it's like £20 on Amazon or something crazy. if my kundalini energy starts gushing forth you'll be the first person I come to for counselling lol. Please keep me posted on any further developments

@Tony 845 That's really helpful stuff Tony, thank you. Congratulations on experiencing this awakening and hats off to you for keeping calm and having faith that the energy knows what to do. I guess it all comes down to the spiritual idea of surrender again, which seems pivotal to progress and a fundamental part of what spirituality is about. It must be challenging though when you already suffer from anxiety. I get bad anxiety too so I think I'll have a similar experience. With your sage advice I will plough ahead though and get more serious about self enquiry too as right now I'm just focusing on meditation. Bring on the coiled serpent!

@Rachityczny If you meet a girl who isn't as conventionally attractive as you like but fits the bill in every other way might you sabotage this as you're looking for this stunning pin up girl? Something to be aware of. It might be worth pinning up some 6s, 7s and 8s, that way you won't feel so self conscious and you'll have more options, win win. You can just tell your family they're comedians you like or something. The truth is also that when you love a chicks personality she'll appear like a 10 to you anyway. I'm assuming your pinning up stunning hotties though, you may not be. Also I'm not saying it's impossible to find one that's perfect for you, but it's better to have wider options, just my two cents

@Serotoninluv Reminds me of this fantastic talk on how to be creative by Sir John Cleese. I'm pretty sure at one point he advises to combine random ideas to come up with comedic, original concepts.

@kieranperez Thanks for the advice man, I'll heed it and hold off from the 5-MEO for a while. I'll do what you're planning and ease my way in with some microdosing maybe. Yeah not a good idea to take 5-MEO whilst living at home. Imagine getting called down for tea and you just stay in your room because you don't identify with your name anymore Not that you get called for tea - that's a cliche, but still funny... Be really interested to hear your experiences with microdosing. I'm really exciting about this idea and about how it can connect ideas together and lead to major insights. I read an article about a Silicon Valley top exec who doses in the morning before work. She says in the article 'I don't do coffee, I do acid,' lol

Oh absolutely. I've actually given up creative ventures as carrying them out became way too stressful. This is compounded by the ego trying to hijack the venture and use it for it's own gain. To even start thinking about creating again I've had to let it all go and just become happy with sitting in a room doing nothing. I'm seriously considering using LSD to help me on my way starting up a new creative habit, but I'm little worried as I've only just kicked a daily weed smoking habit and I was using that for years to be creative, up to the point where I didn't want to be creative without it. I'm worried this could happen with microdosing, What happens if I stop doing it and my creativity dries up? By the way I've only tripped once in my life so I'm a total newbie. Also, I seem to have an addictive, pleasure seeking personality, hence the pot habit. @kieranperez How certain are you that you're gonna do a nice big hit and see where it takes you? I'm totally in the same place as you, I feel like I really need to expand my mind a bit. What psychedelic will you go with first? Part of me is tempted to jump in the deep end with some 5-MEO but probably a bad idea given my level of experience. Great thread

@Joseph Maynor Thanks Joseph. Do you mean just making sure you're residing as awareness when you meditate? Being in the moment? Could you elaborate a little a bit?

Can this happen? And if so is it a bad thing? I started a meditation habit a month ago, 1hr a day and I'm loving it. It's even helped me kick a pot addiction. But now 1hr doesn't feel like enough and I keep wanting to get back into that place. Today I did 1hr 20mins and I feel like I could do more. I'm getting an urge to go and do it again even though I've done my hour today and it feels like an addiction as it's almost a craving. I just want to reside in that blissful state of no-self

Oh I certainly will, thanks. I'll let you know how it goes

Ah this is exactly the advice I was looking for myself. I've recently been rocking some 'being cognition' and finally started learning how to let go of control and resistance, which has been very blissful as the control I've been exerting for years has brought me nothing but toil and shit results. But I too have a life purpose and when I get distracted from it, bringing my attention back to it feels like a manipulation. Part of me feels like I should just get out of the driver's seat and wait for awareness to naturally move back. But really it's God manipulating himself, right? The idea of 'I' getting out of the driver's seat is an illusion. So I need to learn this skill of shifting focus in an unattached way, without resistance. There are two forms consciousness can take, resistance and no resistance, attachment and non attachment. The paradox of directing focus in an unattached way...this will be interesting to work on I'm sure that achieving deeper levels of non-dual awareness will help with this as well. At the moment my illusory self is still quite prominent and I need to shift from understanding the truth of Non-self to an actual realisation. My new meditation habit has been helping with this

@Mikael89 I'm inclined to agree