Pierre

You're wiser than you think. Many people get into spirituality as a mean of escape. They're afraid to live, and so they'll never get anywhere. Go ahead, you'll come to it later. Or not. No Problemo.

@Ayla Sure ! Let's be honest, we don't really care about this enlightenment stuff after all, we just want to FLY !!!

Where's the boundary between credulity and open-mindedness? Very tricky... Something to do with pre-rational vs. post-rational thinking? Nice topic there. One sure thing though : you won't go far without a good dose of humor.

Initiated a major shift in my Journey. From "trying to attain something" to just being PRESENT.

And out of your *** too!

@Neo Sure, the finger experiment makes you feel like a complete fool !

@step1 Hello step1, yes it's very scary! You were quite comfortable with the familiar solid entity, and now there's this big Void right in the middle of your universe... I've been practicing for about 15 years, and it has become natural. For me the most difficult was that I tried to "force" the seeing, and to maintain it, which drove me crazy. It became a major preoccupation, but it's really not the aim. I'd say, let it come when it wants, be quite "light" about it. @Neo Hi Neo, it's not a metaphor or an illustration of something. Point your finger toward your head. What it shows is the background of all your experiences, the pure awareness in which everything happens. It is no less than the Bloody Holy Brahman in Person. Or whatever you want to call him/her/it. It's the silence upon which sounds appear, the absence of sensations that makes you feel things, the perfect calmness underlying all emotions and thoughts. But it's easier to get it through sight. Give it a try! Ps: and try to find "Look for Yourself", where Harding gives 30 different perspectives on this. At least one or two should convince you! "Behead yourself!...Dissolve your whole body into Vision : become seeing, seeing, seeing!" Rumi

Essentially, stabilizing the seeing through the practice of "headlessness". "Now the "hard" part begins, which is the repetition of this seeing-into-Nothingness till the seeing becomes quite natural and nothing special at all ; till, whatever one is doing, it's clear that nobody's here doing it. In other words, till one's whole life is structured round the double-barbed arrow of attention, simultaneously pointing in at the Void and out at what fills it. Such is the essential meditation of this Way." On Having No Head, p.50

@Arik Hey, that's well said man, I appreciate.

It's too huge and obvious. That's the beauty of it, it's like a treasure hidden in the open...

@step1 Absolutely the same for me.

@JessW There's a belief at the root of your anger. The belief that things and people and yourself could be different. They couldn't. It's a hard pill to swallow but it's one that will unlock the gate to your spiritual journey. As if you could unlock something with a pill...my metaphor is shitty, sorry !

@Mad Cat Shit, Alan Watts can explain everything, that's a Siddhi !!!

A lot of shit you eat affects your energy and your mood, and lowers your level of awareness. So I'd say, yes, it's bloody important. As to exercise, apart from making you healthy it connects you with the body. Which is also essential. We don't want a disincarnate spirituality.

For most religious people, God is a supernatural entity, outside the universe. If you tell them that God is the universe, they will take you for a horrible pantheist ! As to existence...any existence implies the whole universe, so yes.

@Ayla Seven days, wow...respect. You must feel damn well. @TruthSeeker Many spiritual seekers have imposed extreme trials upon themselves. It's not the way I would choose, but it's one. Push your free will till it bursts!

There is an obsession with the word "enlightenment" on this forum. Even Leo seems hypnotized by it. Be very careful, please. This fixation can only distract you from being present. There will never be a future enlightenment, it is NOW. WAKE UP!!!

There's no problem if you simply practice meditation and awareness, they're not on the same level. But if you start theorizing about spirituality, it will clash with your studies and you'll be in trouble! To be realistic, you won't avoid a bit of that...it's part of the Way.

Whatever the experience, there's something that never changes. He is the observer. He gives reality to your present experience.

Of course. But from the ego's point of view, it's mere disappearance. A kind of suicide.

Woooooohohoho it's getting so serious here! Go have a drink or bang someone!!!!!!! Ha ha ha

Yep. The transition is Presence, and Letting go. Without reserve. It's the big slip into the unknown.

The problem is that nobody wants to be "enlightened". We want to dream about it, theorize dogmatically about it, and get nice little emotions that make us feel superior. Awakening would be the end of us. Who would want THAT ?!!?

@Uncover You can blend this with informal meditation or contemplation. Just sit somewhere and relax. You don't even need to keep your back straight. And let things happen, movements included. It sounds unorthodox but it's powerful. And it will help you with formal meditation.

Hey guys, you're allowed to scratch your ass now and then. This is not a self-punishment contest...