Consilience

Well I'm not claiming enlightenment nor do I ascribe to the Neo-Advaita perspective. What I'm pointing at is the stillness out of which thoughts arise. When this stillness is palpably experienced, it doesn't actually matter whether thoughts are active. This IS NOT the same as being addicted to thinking. Thoughts arise spontaneously due to karma. There's a saying from the book Wu Hsin along the lines of permanently attempting to still the mind would akin to trying to stop grass from growing by screaming at it. It's foolish. There's a vital difference between being addicted to thinking, and recognizing the origins of thinking as thoughts arise. There is no "I" to control whether the mind is active, but there can be a palpable awareness of the stillness within the literal substance of thought. And as @Shambhu pointed out, this is a truer stillness than the gross mental activity of mind. Furthermore, as one deepens their practice, it will be seen that there are layers of mind activity that are going on even as the surface manifestation of mind is "still." It's crucial to begin recognizing the nature of mind rather than getting lost in its content. Typically this is easier to do when the mind is still, as Ramana points out. But ultimately, the insight can occur without such stilling with enough metacognitive awareness, as defined in the book "The Mind Illuminated".

Lmao. Keep fighting the good fight @Salvijus Yeah @Sugarcoat this post is potentially a HUGE trap on the path. Tread carefully. For those reading, know there is most certainly progress, attainments, and radical transformations available for those who persist with their practice. The goal should be striving and seeking from a position of infinite detachment, imo.

True stillness is recognizing the stillness within thoughts, the silence within sounds, the space within physical objects.. Recognizing THAT stillness is way more satisfying than a still mind. I would describing it as a formless womb that is in a perpetual state of creation, moment by moment big bangs birthing the arising and passing of all experiences, all sensations, all form. To tap into this stillness/silence/space is like going home.

yes it is possible to have genuine insights that haven't fully sunk in yet. That's pretty much the mechanism with psychedelic breakthroughs. I think to some extent we're all bullshitting ourselves, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. Just being aware of the possibility and taking it seriously is a huge step towards bullshitting less. My advice would be explore different techniques, find a technique or techniques that resonate more deeply. I'd also recommend meditating in intervals and switching techniques up mid sit to add novelty. For example: 60 minute sit: 0 - 20 minutes: TMI Mindful Breathing 20 - 40 minutes: Vipassana See Hear Feel 40 - 60 minutes: Silent Illumination/Do Nothing The increased novelty not only helps settle the emotional stress of sitting and essentially doing nothing for 60 minutes, but we're actually also training different parts of the mind with different techniques. A double win! But yes, sometimes there's a place for just diving into a long sit without any intervals or technique changes at all, facing the void of time breaking down and not knowing how much longer the sit is, returning to our object of focus. But there's also a place for supporting ourselves, and being gentler with our approach. Yeah that feeling better/worse simultaneously is pretty indicative of the process of purification taking place. The mind is literally burning through its bullshit, which is both cathartic, but also painful. Kinda like how when we workout, our bodies are experiencing pain but we also feel really great. However, if we overdo it, we end up just crashing and burning physically, sometimes injuring ourselves. We feel worse even though exercise can make us healthier. It's a similar dynamic with meditation. Because meditation is a practice partially aimed at purification, we should expect the purifying process to get a bit painful at times; if we overdo it we can end up just feeling worse. With patience, persistence, compassion though, we not only begin to increase our tolerance for this purification process, but we begin to acquire a taste for it as well - we literally can begin to enjoy how the mind is, in a sense, burning up as we sit down to practice. Once the taste for purification is acquired or as we begin cultivating the taste for it overtime, our "progress" with practice begins to really speed up.

Love your posts Arda! Thank you for your contributions to the forum man. ? This tends to be my default technique with SDS, but mainly because the pain eventually gets to a point where all pleasure and positive sensation production just stops functioning… All that I can do is surrender to the pain. However, what happens is my mind will go through cycles where equanimity slowly starts ramping up, eventually enough sensory clarity of the pain occurs where I begin perceiving the arising and passing nature of the momentary sensations, which seems to “unhook” the aversion - there’s no longer any sensations for the aversion to hook onto because the individual sensations are too transient for the mind to attach. Then the pain usually reaches new levels, and the cycle starts over from a new starting point both with the equanimity and the pain. However, this is probably an indicator that my samatha skills are lacking… lol. And furthermore, this is unreliable. It seems rather random whether that level of mindfulness actually unfolds in an individual sds sit. On the other hand, Ive been able to perceive what shinzen calls “the taste of purification” even when surface level mindfulness seems low. I can tell any sds sit is deeply productive regardless of how much suffering is present. I believe this is only possible because of being more of an intermediate meditator, I do not think an overtly painful sds sitting would be productive for a beginner. A sufficient level of of metacognitive awareness seems necessary before sds can be productively explored. A metacognitive awareness that can skillfully ride the highs and lows of the mind, so to speak. Great job with the 3 hour sit! The only time I attempted a 3 hour sds I wasn’t able to not move and felt like I was traveling into hell realms… lol. The only reason I was able to finish just the sitting part was I was with a meditation group.

Thank you again for the opportunity to be on your channel man ? You're a great interviewer and I'd love to listen to further conversations if you plan on doing more podcast styles in the future. Your normal video graphic content and essays are also really great.

That's one one to frame it for sure. Awakening to what one is can also be quite mystical and becoming conscious of the nature of physical reality is an awakening when the lack of separation between physical reality and self is seen.

One useful way to frame spiritual bypassing is when conceptualization, beliefs, and unconscious mechanisms of the ego mind have co-opted deep, existential insights as new forms of self activity. This can commonly manifests as the dogmatic position in the whole "there is no one here and nothing to do! This is it!" type of attitude we see in the Neo Advaita movement. Other common forms are the new age belief systems around spirituality and "oneness." When the ego co-ops these positions, the outward manifestation of mind and body are not actually aligned with authentic realization, but instead, still caught in the dream, but a pernicious version because of how sneaky it is. We think we're being spiritual, but the ego has simply manipulated the insights to fit its new survival agenda, all the while what we actually are is still unconscious to itself. The biggest danger is never having actually aligned with our highest desire, which is to self-unity, become conscious of what we actually are. The danger is particularly bad in the examples I've listed because the ego truly believes it's "got it" but the truth remains hidden. The work is falsely seen to be done, or the ego thinks itself much more advanced than it actually is. Thinking one is awakened while not actually being awake is tragic, really. Usually it's only seen in hindsight, once one has had legitimate breakthroughs and can examine retroactively. Clarity clears ignorance. Consistent meditation - meditation is like a bullshit detector. If meditating for long periods of time causes suffering, that's an immediate indicator you have not unraveled the mystery of self. You want to have so much conviction in your insight, you can look death in the eyes and smile. Cannot emphasize enough how important and how simultaneously grounding and mind blowing rigorous meditation is, especially long term and especially for helping us avoid spiritual ego. Nothing like a good strong determination sit to humble the ego, but usually much less intensity is required. One of Leo's old vlogs talks about the importance of doing quarterly meditation retreats. I wouldn't say that frequently is necessary; quarterly is pretty extreme. However, doing at least one retreat per year is also really powerful and making sure our insights are grounded in experience, rather than belief. Understanding the mechanism and extent of self deception. Leo's video series on this is insanely powerful and underrated, imo. Adopting principles such as - Integrity, honesty, humility, persistence, gratitude, patience Values such as - truth, love, self-actualization, wisdom, harmony Be extremely weary of those who promote or demonize spiritual practice. There is certainly wisdom in the "This is it!" perspective, but in my experience, most of these individual's level of awakening is shallow. After a certain degree of awakening, one begins to see when someone is bullshitting, and when one is authentic. Kinda like how it's obvious who's a virgin and who's not... The presence of a truly awakened being is radically more powerful than, for example, the myriad of Neo Advaita or New Age YouTubers out there. However, detecting this subtle transmission is usually only available once one has had legitimate breakthroughs.

Right here: “Best psychedelic for the next level? Even though I love meditation, psychedelics are what I need for the next level.” Was this interpretation wrong? All Im asking is do you think meditation doesn’t take you to this “next level”? By all means, explore psychedelics!

You think meditation doesn’t do this?

1) 4 years 2) maybe 40-50. Meditation has become much more powerful/productive than frequent tripping. Will most likely still use, but in a much more sacred, reverent, medicinal context. 3) Daily. Used to be 1 hour per day. Now 2 hours per day usually. Also have been going to lots of meditation retreats. 4 in the last 14 months, about to attend another 8 day retreat. 4) Dramatically, indescribably better. But also a work in progress. 5) Wherever you are on the path is an expression of absolute perfection. It‘s difficult to describe if one feels they’re still a beginner or before one has really seen the nature of self. But if I could go back, Id want to travel with more compassion, patience, and relaxation, knowing exactly where I am is an equal expression of the divine as where Im going as a result of this work. Second insight - Eventually the work happens on its own, purely spontaneously. If you quit, or ramp up intensity, both are derived from Truth. However, I would recommend keep going, keep going, keep going. Full buddhahood… the world is in desperate need of “buddhas” and though everything is perfect, the compassion it takes to see our own perfection may also be applied towards all sentient beings. If for no other reason than to alleviate the suffering of others and this planet while we’re in the dream, keep going. This work has a harmonizing effect not only on yourself, but towards all lives you interact with. It is precisely because there is no one at all and our infinite interconnectivity that the work is able to radiate out externally. (By work I really mean meditation.)

Im not suggesting that necessarily, no. Im simply saying that if one is seeking from the orientation that they are a separate self, it is not actually the nature of seeking. Seeking energy happens utterly spontaneously, without a self, and as a function of the whole. Im also suggesting that it is only after the nature of seeking is realized that the real work of “seeking” begins. At that point it is like surrendering or “letting go” as it’s seen there is no one to hold onto or act. As @Fearless_Bum mentioned in the OP, we simply relax into the flow of how things are. And if seeking energy persists as the relaxation is recognized, that’s what Im referring to as having your cake and eating it too. As for next steps… what worked in my experience was just an obsessive amount of contemplation, meditation, and psychedelic usage. On a meditation retreat I basically hit what in Buddhism is called stream entry and life has been radically recontextualized since then. Some teachers swear effortful, deliberate meditation and seeking is not only useless, but reinforces a sense of self. This claim, however, was not my experience. My experience was the opposite. The pressure of seeking eventually popped and I saw the nature of self and world. Id say follow your heart and the desire for truth and the compassion to alleviate your personal suffering not just for your sake, but for the sake of all beings. Between these, your intuition on what to do pretty much can’t fail you. Id also suggest though when in doubt, practice more, find a way to he happy with nothing but your own being, ie meditation. Hopefully this response helps in some way.

@OneIntoOne Fair enough. Good day to you as well. ??

@Shambhu Thank you, sincerely. And I actually appreciate you using technical yoga language. A few questions that come to mind 1) What do you think drew you to this form of yoga vs. a more buddhist oriented path? 2) What you’re describing with the kriyas I interpret as massive amounts of purification taking place. Im curious, are you sympathetic to the teachers/teachings that say all of the purification is not needed, what is true is already true right now and therefore requires nothing but the realization. It’s interesting your original guru worked with Charles Berner. Peter Ralston also worked directly with Berner, but is very much in the position that enlightenment is not process oriented whatsoever. You either get it, or you don’t. If I tried to make a case for purification, he’d probably laugh at me and brush it off. So yeah just curious what you’re thoughts on this topic are. 3) From your report and response, it sounds like your main meditation technique at this point is full on surrender. It sounds very similar to shikantaza, from the soto zen tradition. Would this be an accurate interpretation of your “technique”, or am I wildly off the mark…

It’s all ego dude. This post was one big ego flex. Especially the whole “Ive realized it! But not gonna share… “ attitude. If you want to help the forum, help. These kinds of posts and spiritual dick measuring contests without the dick pick are pretty… dickish, unhelpful, imo at least. I say all this with metta though. May you be free from suffering and truly happy man.

Tbh man Im not sure what this has to do with my post. I wonder if you’d believe me if I said Ive experienced telepathy on an absurdly high dose mushroom trip…

It’s not the state itself that is anymore valid or not valid. It’s the obliteration of the ego mind’s interpretative mechanisms that allows one to see direct experience in a new way. Yes the content of direct experience is radically augmented on DMT, but specifically, one’s relationship to direct experience also shifts. Such a radical shift in one’s relationship to experience creates the possibility of insight into the nature of experience typically unavailable due to the highly biased, conceptually marred and tangled mess that is the ego mind. From this new space of direct observation (rather than biased ego mind interpretation), whether from a high dose DMT trip or rigorous meditation, insights into the nature of life or death can arise. One may see that nothing is actually dying upon physical death and just as profound, nothing was actually born to give rise to “life.” “Life” is nothing but an enormous, interconnected flow of experience; to believe this flow is somehow contingent upon the physical body is a misperception of direct experience originating from the faulty perceptions of ego mind. This ego mind being highly biased due to the fear of death and pain, addictions to pleasure of various kinds, and essentially addicted to the web of conceptual activity giving rise to suffering. The extent of this conceptual bias is unimaginably enormous, often not taken seriously until one has it ripped away either through psychedelics or high level meditation. Once the biased conceptual activity is released, one begins to observe direct experience more objectively. Through such objectivity, the actuality of what models of reincarnation point towards become increasingly clear. To reiterate, this objective observation is not about changing the content of one’s experience (“how is a DMT trip more valid?” is a misunderstanding of the true value of DMT trips), but the context in which experience is experienced. Such recontextualizations provided by DMT are completely independent of the contents of DMT. Until such objective observation of direct experience is seen, it is unlikely reincarnation will make sense, even conceptually. The real treasure, as it has always been, is the experience, or the truth.

This is an extremely interesting journal. I've been meditating 2 hours per day for the past year as well as having gone on 4 meditation retreats, 9, 11, 8, and 14 day retreat and it's been an absolutely absurd and wild journey. In some ways, very similar to some of the things you're describing and in other ways, very different. I read in another forum post you said this in reference to your meditation practice: I'm curious if you'd be willing to share how things are different now, how your practice is going, etc. Either way, thank you for sharing these reports. Really cool to see another serious practitioner on this forum.

It actually isn't about a self being preserved in a soul and leaving the body. It's about the actuality of one's direct experience, which is that experience rises and falls moment by moment by moment. Moreover, this rising and falling exists independently of the physical body which can be verified by 1) observing there is no physical body through extremely high levels of mindfulness, 2) observing the arising and passing of experiences in dream states where there is no body, or 3) taking psychedelics in which all experiential evidence of the body ceases. In any event, experience arises independently of the physical body and there is no separate self. Reincarnation, therefore, would simply be the continuation of this arising and falling of experience, moment by moment, within a seemingly new set of conditions. Yet even the distinction between sets of conditions that would give rise to the illusion of one self dying and a new self being born through the continuation of some kind of "soul" is itself empty. The idea that incarnation is a one and done deal is actually more aligned to the false perception of a separate self, however this relationship is so deeply hard-wired, most will not see it, even those that buy into the idea of reincarnation or those who have seen the illusion of self.

I would gently suggest this is a misperception of direct experience. When it's recognized there is no one seeking, the seeking can then happen on autopilot, purely spontaneously and without the need for any specific answers, conclusions, or progress as a result of such seeking. Counter intuitively, this lack of attachment out of the clear seeing of a lack of self is the most powerful space for seeking to occur and "spiritual progress" to emerge. At this point, all progress is meaningless, just reality dancing with itself, like a flower spontaneously blooming into its highest beauty for no reason at all, yet there is a blooming and there is an emergence of the flower's "actualization." The art of seeking without seeking should be every serious sage's goal, it just demands the dropping of all goals to truly grock lol.

Do you recognize that the idea that there isn't reincarnation takes just as much, if not more inference than the idea of reincarnation? Again, "incarnation" is already proved to have happened once. Seriously inquire, why wouldn't it happen again? If we know it can happen (your life is living proof of the possibility of incarnation), what possible reasoning could you use to assert it won't happen again? In many ways, reincarnation takes less faith or inference than the idea that physical death is the permanent end.

Confused because part of the assessment is about parental upbringing. But if we’ve healed our relationship with parents even though we felt insecure *as children* these answers are contributing to a non-secure attachment style.

I learned how to relax into my existential curiosity, and seeking. I learned how the intense movement of rigorous meditation, contemplation, and “progress” on the path was non other than relaxation. I literally get to have my cake and eat it too. Incredible.

? It's utterly insane how deep the path actually goes and just what is possible without any psychedelic intervention and instead, with enormous personal practice. One thing Leo's completely misunderstood about meditation is that its results are non-linear in nature. The first 5 years of one's practice will look radically different than one's last 5 years of practicing, assuming equal amounts of practice are taking place. At some point in one's path, there is a seemingly exponential take off in meditation's results. Once true exponential take off has happened, yeah DMT levels of consciousness without DMT are entirely possible. Of course that's blasphemy around these parts.

At the most basic level, if a dream popped up once, why couldn't it happen again? I mean seriously... What is more likely, the 0.00000000(to infinity)1% chance that you managed to spring into existence and it's a one and done deal, or that the same mechanism where you spontaneously appeared could happen again? There's also apparently objective data giving authority to the idea of reincarnation - children recalling specific details of past lives, or how their last life ended and the researchers being able to verify that information. Overall, my thinking is why wouldn't it happen again if it already happened once? At a higher level, there is no reincarnation. The flow of experience just flows. To suggest there was ever a "life" that was "incarnated" to begin with is a misperception of perception. Therefore, when the physical body dies, this says nothing about the flow of experience already present and the fact that this flow of experience is utterly independent of the physical body. Nothing actually dies, just changes.