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My wife and a friend have participated in this relatively free organization to improve and overcome some of these issues your speaking about. https://www.toastmasters.org/ Also no one cares if you have a big nose with a slight bend, its only you. If someone is childish enough to say something to you about it, its not worth your time to listen. If you really look at people, everyone has some imperfections to be found if you really want to find them.

I replied to someone else on another question and its connected to yours, so I thought you may want to see it. 5 hours ago, zambize said: What helped this experience stick instead of just being an enlightenment experience and coming back down? Ive thought a lot about this since and I'm afraid its impossible to nail down exactly. The biggest issues that were faced in the end was the complete acceptance that I can't avoid death and danger to me or my loved ones. That "I" can't be proven or dis-proven, choice and the arising of desire appear on their own, and God is All. There was years of meditation before this, years of contemplation and exposure to various perspectives on consciousness, thought, science, synchronicitys, speaking with spirits and angels, multiple mushroom and lsd experiences, many great adventures and travels, and many many many challenges of having to bear my own mind, emotions, and disintegration. My advice to you is if your interested in this "waking up" stuff, accept it as the biggest challenge of your life and that you may have to go through things you do not like and doesn't feel good, but at the same time, don't take it to seriously. Be consistent with your practice, but don't become to rigid that you feel guilty for dropping it some days. Ego backlash will happen and if I've learned anything, its important to respect those periods sometimes and just take a little break, do something fun or restful and non harming to yourself and others. This "awakening" thing isn't a race, the universe has been around for billions of years and if you've been doing a lot of personal work or implementing a lot of new changes (sometimes even just a little), this can challenge you at your deepest levels, re-calibrating the body, mind and spirit, and require some needed rest from from the process your putting yourself through. Meditation did wonders in cultivating a stance to be able to see the movement of thought and stories that we are believing without knowing it. Looking into these stories and understanding what attached me helped me let go of coming from those places. As stories fell away, emptiness, unbrokenness and new perspective slowly emerged. The mind and some of the many tricks and its core desires became more obvious. Wanting to feel important over other humans, feeling entitled to everything, the belief of being in control, that life is out to get you or against you, needing to be right and prove others wrong, and many many more, many of which are specific to this incarnation. Being open, and ready for the possibility that anything can change that your convinced is just the way it is, is just you, always has been and always will be. If this isn't confronted, chances are you will remain stuck, in the hundreds of ways this can happen in a life. Really finding it in you through investigation that ANYTHING is possible even if it seems scientificly so or rationally. Again, just the mindset will allow for your life, mind and body to do what you couldn't imagine. Trusting that life is worth living and inherently good and that most people mean well, is important, it will keep you grounded and sane, help steer you away from a lot of unneeded conflict with others, help with inner doubt, and apprehension on letting go of your trauma's, and pains you will face. Theres a lot more, but these are really important in my opinion no matter what path you feel drawn to.

Ive thought a lot about this since and I'm afraid its impossible to nail down exactly. The biggest issues that were faced in the end was the complete acceptance that I can't avoid death and danger to me or my loved ones. That "I" can't be proven or dis-proven, choice and the arising of desire appear on their own, and God is All. There was years of meditation before this, years of contemplation and exposure to various perspectives on consciousness, thought, science, synchronicitys, speaking with spirits and angels, multiple mushroom and lsd experiences, many great adventures and travels, and many many many challenges of having to bear my own mind, emotions, and disintegration. My advice to you is if your interested in this "waking up" stuff, accept it as the biggest challenge of your life and that you may have to go through things you do not like and doesn't feel good, but at the same time, don't take it to seriously. Be consistent with your practice, but don't become to rigid that you feel guilty for dropping it some days. Ego backlash will happen and if I've learned anything, its important to respect those periods sometimes and just take a little break, do something fun or restful and non harming to yourself and others. This "awakening" thing isn't a race, the universe has been around for billions of years and if you've been doing a lot of personal work or implementing a lot of new changes (sometimes even just a little), this can challenge you at your deepest levels, re-calibrating the body, mind and spirit, and require some needed rest from from the process your putting yourself through. Meditation did wonders in cultivating a stance to be able to see the movement of thought and stories that we are believing without knowing it. Looking into these stories and understanding what attached me helped me let go of coming from those places. As stories fell away, emptiness, unbrokenness and new perspective slowly emerged. The mind and some of the many tricks and its core desires became more obvious. Wanting to feel important over other humans, feeling entitled to everything, the belief of being in control, that life is out to get you or against you, needing to be right and prove others wrong, and many many more, many of which are specific to this incarnation. Being open, and ready for the possibility that anything can change that your convinced is just the way it is, is just you, always has been and always will be. If this isn't confronted, chances are you will remain stuck, in the hundreds of ways this can happen in a life. Really finding it in you through investigation that ANYTHING is possible even if it seems scientificly so or rationally. Again, just the mindset will allow for your life, mind and body to do what you couldn't imagine. Trusting that life is worth living and inherently good and that most people mean well, is important, it will keep you grounded and sane, help steer you away from a lot of unneeded conflict with others, help with inner doubt, and apprehension on letting go of your trauma's, and pains you will face. Theres a lot more, but these are really important in my opinion no matter what path you feel drawn to.

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If your looking for an idea of permanent peace you may find yourself searching forever. What you are is happening now with the experience that is present here now. Looking for a way out of your worries, anxiety and fear in this moment will often cause you to miss it. As for me, its pretty darn peaceful, a type of peace, awe and wonder that is worth the struggles that can come with the inward journey. And yes if something traumatic happened or I was tortured I'm pretty sure I'd feel it in the moment.

There is no path or method that is most effective across the board, everyones at different places and needs different things. Some people are control freaks and need to learn to let go and trust in the life process. Some are in a defeated self mind set and can't get started with anything and listening to a guy like Tony Robbins can really help the person get a healthy sense of self and confidence in going out into the world and making things happen. As for me, I went through both sides and in the end had to let go of both. Perhaps you can tell me about you and that will help me help you more. If your looking to feel better in general, I'd say follow your heart and be kind to the best of your ability, you'll avoid a lot of drama and regret this way and as a result your life will be more positve. That will get you pretty far.

If you meant on a deeper level, then I'd say when my eyes are open, I see the interelatedness and voidness of no-thingness.

The idea of a "must" is a interesting one to look into and I encourage this. Must from whom? No one chooses to wake up, but at some point in life people do find themselves drawn to this "spiritual" pull to look deeper into the everyday grind and perhaps what it is all about. One feels this in the experience of choice sometimes and sometimes its in the realm of a mysterious surrendering to you can't put your finger on at that point. If you feel like you have a lot of choice to do this or that I encourage you to ask yourself what is most important now and go for that even if it is that you want to make a good living or raise a family. If you feel drawn to a mysterious pull to find out who you are and you feel the others, they aren't incompatible.

I ask this to know your intentions, not a challenge or to shut you down, just want to be real with each-other.

Depends on what you mean by free will. And this is more important to your growth then an answer I could give you. Really look into what "you" mean by "free" and "will".

Lol depends on the light levels outside. Any questions that pertain to your understanding and growth?

Is this for you, or to test me?

Just making videos? Man way to make me question my worth... Lol j/k. Ya I'm sharing what I can hoping it helps others awaken and suffer less. I also have a practical job as a Body Worker/Healer type of thing 25 hrs a week. Wife, no kids a house. Do some working 1-1 with people who are interested in this "enlightenment" stuff.

Ya thats the flip side of what I was pointing to. You ever thought of just not going into any of this spirtuality mumbo jumbo for a while, seeing what other things are out there in the time being? Or maybe you are, what is your other hobbies and enjoyments?

Yes well said, AND theres no inherent "problem" to any of it, even the problems we spiritual people like to create sayings like, thoughts shouldn't happen, if one isn't or if Im not loving enough I'm not on the right path or getting towards enlightenment, I need to have this or that awakening in order to get more enlightenment,, or meditate in order to do this and if you don't your not awake enough, or if you breath a certain way or don't its an issue, or if you don't make enough money it means this about you or that person, or I need to have this or if I dress this or that way or say this or that kinda thing I'm not spiritual or getting closer to enlightenment. A big ingredient at least in my experience is the recognition of there is no problem in the most absolute sense of the phrase (and even if you don't get that, there still is no problem). I took this to an extreme that life living or not living, mine or another just is and is not a problem, health disease just are and are not problems, evolution not evolution, becoming enlightened (what ever that idea is) or remaining the same is not a problem. I don't know if others will have the same process or effect of letting that sink in, but for me it was unbelievably freeing.

I hear ya.

If you haven't I think a lot of you guys on here and what your seeking is strongly communicated in her presence and words. Enlightenment is a multidimensional expression and she definitely embodies an aspect that I think a lot of you guys and gals are wondering about and looking for. She's also female which is rarer in this realm of awakened teachers which offers an interesting component.

Hehehe, look deeper.

Look at all the shoulds and rules you still try and act by in order to be "correctly Being enlightened". I know you've had experiences and your genuinely interested in discovering what this all means, but if you want to see and understand more, find it within yourself to look at what Arhattobe and I am saying.

Hey Soul, I think your first two paragraphs have to to with the idea that theres more to understanding Self/Life/God then just Emptiness and Fullness and Awareness even maybe, and I would agree. And yes some consider the realization of emptiness "god" or the ground of Being, or any number usages of words to convey meaning/Absolute meaning and it can get very confusing and hairy when you try to really get what someone means or even what You mean, lol. And yes there are many doctrines that teachers and students adhere to with specific words and meanings to mean that your enlightened if you are doing such or realized so. Even the notion that if it doesn't lead to liberation its not useful is a hard one to quantify, at least in my eyes, because under scrutinization it "seems" to me that not many people awaken and reside in emptiness or understanding of god, or flow, or self realization even though they were doing all the "right" things and listening to Buddha or Ramanha or any well regarded "awakened" guru/master. So were they just bad teachers or students, or is there more to this then meets the eye? So to me, I leave a lot open and dont try to be to critical or judge and do my best to accept a wide range of people and their realizations, even if I'm not sure 'EXACTLY' where they are coming from. Because its all "God". So again about the video I posted, to "me", what ever that is, she seems to embody a piece of the picture in the broad sense, in the world of hard to pin down, what is what, and what means what, a communication of stillness/emptiness/authenticity, even if she appears to contradict (although theres lots of paradoxs that just are and to voice them puts you in a position to be judged by minds that dont see in such very well, including mine sometimes).

I find really not knowing and being able to see and understand as many lifes whether animal or human, reasons for ones actions, all the possible causes of actions ranging from scientific, biologic, social, environmental, etc.. , practicing non judgment, meditating on the heart chakra, can all have their effect on manifesting what you seek.

Being kind, Meditation, self inquiry, surrender, facing the mortality of nature, drop being entitled to anything.

Your body may not be ready for meditation. look at yoga for now to prepare the body for spiritual energy from meditating. This is not my strong suit so maybe someone with more knowledge can elaborate, or Tony maybe you can do some reading on yoga as preparation for the body to meditate.

I made mention of this in the first post, its not the full thing, but she conveys something very strongly that some people are looking for and want a taste of even if its partial and not the full picture, but honestly who do you feel as a teacher conveys all understandings and realizations and has videos online, because I'm not sure I know who that would be or what that may even look like, since I dont know what the limits of realization are, if anyone could say they know.... And I would strongly argue that she is just coming from the concept of "still" "empty", I think shes fairly immersed and has a good deal of experience to speak from in this department, but you may be right about the other stuff.

Sounds authentic. In terms of linguistics and how you put it into words, all the way up until "enlightenment" happens and "after", people of all types, philosophers, already "enlightened", students, will all have varieying usages of what they mean by their words, different facets of what they woke up to, and differences of opinion as well, so don't get caught up in peoples critique of what you felt and say, but still be open to finding out and learning.