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After maintaining 6 hours of practice for a few weeks I began to feel like a shell of a person. This is fine when you have time to spend in isolation but I was unable to balance this with conventional reality. For the time being, I have eased up my practice to 2 formal meditations a day. However, this shift has allowed me to put a lot of effort into Active meditation. I've been utterly shocked with how much progress I have made as a result of this. Here's a video explaining my experience with it.

@d0ornokey Where can I find it?

My spiritual practice is currently focused on concentration meditation and I'm looking for any advice that anyone may have, based on direct experience. I've been alternating my object of concentration every few sits, between the awareness of breathing sensations at the columella ( flesh that intercepts the nostrils ) and a fire Kasina ( Candle flame ). I'm sitting for 6 hours a day split into 6 sittings. I've found that switching the object helps sustain my enthusiasm. I've also found that Pranayama and stretching prior to my sessions has greatly enhanced my practice. Something that has become increasingly obvious to me is the delicacy of this practice. If I spend the day in isolation, only breaking from practice for periods of reading/writing, I am able to go a lot deeper. However, when I need to interact with people and do conventional things, my concentration during my next few sits is significantly worse. It seems to be based on my identification with a self. When I talk to people, my sense of self gets reinforced and the mind becomes a lot louder. From anyone who has experience with Jhanic states or at least has access concentration. Once these thresholds have been attained, Is the ability to access these states somewhat permanent or does it diminish quickly when not in use? From what I have experienced so far, it feels like the only way to reach these deeper states would be on retreat. Thanks in advance.

@Marc Schinkel 1000 hours is a good grind. I'm sure that was enough to rattle your fundamental beliefs about reality Good luck with the walking. I'm interested to hear how you go!

@Zigzag Idiot Thanks From what I've heard, worn out old men tend to take to these sort of practices like ducks to water. But I also respect anyone's decision to keep their sanity intact. I appreciate the subscription.

Stay tuned @d0ornokey things are gonna get weird for sure. I highly encourage you to do your own. Let me know what your plans are and I'll hold you accountable

@cetus56 This is music to my ears. Its sounds like you were experiencing what Theravada Buddhists would call 'access concentration' or possibly even '1st Jhana'. Did these experiences tend to be on the tail end of your contemplation sessions or did they arise spontaneously throughout. That's an interesting hypothesis with regards to the brains hemispheres. I've been meaning to look for neuroscience literature on concentration states. Ill report back here when I find some. Thanks for sharing.

@Nahm Thanks for the links. Do you have any personal experience with concentration states? I've read a bunch online and in books but there always seems to be gold nuggets in the nuance of ones own experience.

@JohnnyBravo Finding a master is a great idea. I agree that the mind isn't the enemy. Its a beautiful tool. But when you're trying to develop one pointed awareness, self identified thoughts are highly distracting due to their seductive nature. Thanks for your input.

@7thLetter Give it time and make sure you're constantly aiming to make better use of your time. When I shifted from an "institutionalized" life to one of self employment it took me a solid 2 years to really begin utilizing the time I had effectively. I was really young at the time though and my productivity was low after being disengaged in the school system for many years. I'm sure you will make the transition faster than I did. I found it beneficial to work on multiple different tasks throughout the day rather than trying to block out too much work on anything specific. E.g 1 hour listening to podcasts and doing chores, 1 hour writing, 1 hour networking online, etc. As @Space mentioned above I feel as though you need to construct a vision of some sorts. The primary force behind action is emotion, and in order to feel emotionally engaged in activities, they need to be personally significant. As @Leo Gura would say, we are doing Gods work. If you can truly grasp that on an embodied level, you will have no trouble manifesting the emotion needed to motivate yourself. A final note, try utilizing altered states. Preferably not drug induced ones ( even caffeine ) because they aren't sustainable long term. Altered states make it incredibly easy to tap into the emotions that will propel your action and intentions. My favorite ways to do this are running ( once you are fit enough to reach runners high ), Dancing ( if you can dance shamelessly and expressively enough ), Cold exposure ( cold showers etc. ), Singing ( In the car, speakers full volume ), Pranayama ( Wim Hof style works nicely ). Any one of these activities brings me to tears ( of joy ) on a daily basis. It's physiologically impossible not to feel inspired if you connect with these practices correctly. Even learning to manipulate your nervous system through the breath will have profound effects on your capacity for action. Best of luck, I'm confident you'll pull yourself out of this in no time!

Total hours of spiritual practice: 60 Lifestyle factors that influence concentration meditation Over these past 60 hours it has become clear to me, what external factors promote or deteriorate concentration practice. My best days have always occurred during complete isolation and very limited interaction with conventional reality. Anything that one does to be or feel ‘normal’ seems to disrupt concentration practice. Predominantly activities that involve interacting with other people. My hypothesis, based on self-observation, is that when I interact with people, I begin to unconsciously identify with a ‘self’. Which I otherwise, in periods of present moment awareness, perceive as illusory. This intensified self-narrative seems to increase the volume and frequency of thoughts that arise in my mind. On any occasion that I have meditated after conversing, particularly about something I am passionate about, the voice in my head becomes unbearably loud. Significantly diminishing my concentration. It seems that the more consecutive sits I am able to do in the absence of social interaction, the deeper I can go. My attention has also been drawn towards the relationship between diet and concentration. On the odd occasion that I have decided to indulge, it has had dire consequences on my practice. One of the most distracting sensations, when one is attempting to pay attention to the subtleties of the breath, is a heavy gut. Even worse, a sore gut. While fasting seems to create altered states that may amplify the potential for insight, I do not believe it has much utility for developing concentration. My best practices have been midway between meals when I am not being bugged by hunger signals, but I also don’t feel like any food is in my stomach. However, this window is short lived. My current routine involves 1-hour sittings, punctuated by periods of research, writing, exercise, and filming. Even these activities seem to have a dampening effect on my concentration states. My hypothesis so far is that concentration is best cultivated on retreats. Meaning periods of complete isolation and full immersion in the practice. My next retreat is in August so I will confirm this then. In the meantime, I have come up with this protocol. - Spend as much time in isolation as possible. - Limit activities that tend to invoke unconscious behavior - Eat as cleanly as possible

@Hellspeed I'm developing my concentration to become more proficient at other enlightenment practices. Insight meditation, self-inquiry, contemplation and the likes all benefit from a solid foundation in concentration. Otherwise you find yourself getting lost in thought when you were suppose to be investigating your true nature. Would you bother going to the movies if you couldn't stop watching people walking up and down the isles to get snacks?

@Privet Thanks! I actually bought it the other day. Just waiting for it in the mail. It sounds very comprehensive. Have you read Daniel Ingram's book? I found his models very insightful. Although his style of writing is quite polarizing.

@Marc Schinkel Synchronicity - I just filmed a video discussing Ken. I was listening to his 'Buddha at the gas pump' interview this morning and it made me realise that I had slipped into a one-track mind in regards to "waking up". I'm a fan of his models and a lot of the work I have done over the last few years would fall into the category of 'growing up' & 'cleaning up'. My reason for recently deciding to chase states of consciousness was because I felt like I had neglected my 'waking up' in comparison. I haven't read integral meditation but I'll definitely pick it up asap. I appreciate the recommendation. Thank you. I'm patiently waiting for a gnarly ego backlash. But so far everything has just flowed. It's early days though so watch this space, as the chaos is sure to emerge. What's your current practice like? and how long did your intensive practice last for?

Total hours of spiritual practice: 54 It feels as though the appropriate place to start is with a break down of the map I will be following for said consciousness work. As I mentioned in the previous post, I am focused purely on concentration meditation at this stage. My aim is generalized consciousness work, which will entail flirting with many practices from different beliefs, religions, and cultures. However, to get the ball rolling I’ve decided to nest the foundation of my practice in Theravada Buddhism. To my understanding, there are roughly 3 approaches you can take with Theravada. As there are 3 practices ( Morality, Concentration, and Insight ), and morality is non-negotiable ( From my subjective position ), the 3 choices are as follows. Build a foundation in concentration ( Accessing the jhanas ) as a sort of lubricant for the roller coaster of suffering that comes from insight practice ( Wet insight ). Go straight into insight practice without first cultivating a concentration practice ( Dry insight ). Or, for the talented practitioner, the cultivation of both practices simultaneously ( Damp Insight ??? ). As I am on no particular time restraint, nor do I have any urge or desire to reach any specific goals pertaining to enlightenment. I have decided that the development of a concrete concentration practice would be a beneficial and satisfying place to start. Mainly due to the enticing promises of bliss, rapture, formless states and dare I say it… Siddhis. Of course, taking into consideration the benefits it will bring to my insight practice in the future. It’s worth mentioning that I am being driven strongly by curiosity, which it seems to me is not always the common motive for someone pursuing enlightenment. From my encounters, there seems to be a common theme of suffering that propels many practitioners. While it would be downright dishonest for me to claim I do not suffer. My curiosity has been the driving force in my life ever since I decided to see what would happen If I stuck my head In an egg as a little sperm. Only in my childhood, did adverse experiences begin to impress themselves upon my psyche. Leading to annoying complexes that I watch “myself” act out on a daily basis, followed by the suffering they present. While both are constituents of my drive, curiosity is primary and suffering is secondary. I believe this is important because everything I’ve ever approached from a place of fear ( suffering ) has reflected that as it played out. You may get to the same destination, but the journey is a hell of a lot bumpier. As a very broad overview of my map, which as all wise men will point out, is not the territory. This is what I plan to do… I will maintain my concentration practice for roughly 250 hours at 6 hours a day. Although near the end of this period I will be doing a retreat or two in an attempt to escape the distractions that I can already feel damping the intensity of practice (social interactions and the maintenance of my conventional reality). I hope to have at least reached access concentration by this point ( My definition: Sustained, prolonged attention to the object of concentration ). These first 250 hours will also be accompanied by deep research ( down the rabbit hole type ) on the domains of practice that will follow, providing a conceptual framework of the work ahead. Somewhere during this first 250 hours I will integrate a Kriya yoga practice. I have explored Kriya in the past and experienced interesting results. I have already integrated stretching and Pranayama as a precursor to my concentration sittings. But proper Kriya seems an appropriate addition to add the dimension of energy work. At 250 hours I will transition to insight practice with sprinklings of self-enquiry and contemplative exercises. During this period I plan to play around with tools like fasting, breath work, deprivation tanks, isolation, silence, etc. to amplify the foundational practices. Once I feel as though I have established a very strong basis in insight and self-enquiry, I will begin tinkering with psychedelics ( If I still have the desire to ). While they present miraculous opportunities for deep insights, I am hesitant of their use. I am extremely sensitive to them and often find myself verging more on the side of psychological instability when I push my consciousness expansion too far, too fast. As Carl Jung once wrote… “Is the LSD drug you’re referring to mescaline? It has indeed very curious effects, of which I know far too little. I don’t know either what it’s psychotherapeutic value with neurotic or psychotic patients is. I only know there is no point in wishing to know more of the collective unconscious than one gets through dreams and intuition. The more you know of it, the greater and heavier becomes your moral burden, because the unconscious contents transform themselves into your individual tasks and duties as soon as they become conscious. Do you want to increase loneliness and misunderstanding? Do you want to find more and more complications and increasing responsibilities? You get enough of it. If I once could say that I had done everything I know I had to do, then perhaps I should realise a legitimate need to take mescaline. If I should take it now I would not be at all sure that I had not taken it out of idle curiosity. I should hate the thought that I had touched on the sphere where the paint is made that colours the world, where the light is created that makes shine the splendour of the dawn, the lines and shapes of all form, the sound that fills the orbit, the thought that illuminates the darkness of the void. There are some impoverished creatures perhaps, for whom mescaline would be a heaven sent gift without a counter poison, but I am profoundly mistrustful of the pure “gifts of the gods”, you pay very dearly for them. This is not the point at all, to know of or about the unconscious, nor does the story end here. On the contrary, it is how and where you begin the real quest. If you are too unconscious, it is a great relief to know a bit of the collective unconscious. But it soon becomes dangerous to know more, because one does not learn at the same time how to balance it through a conscious equivalent. That is the mistake Aldous Huxley makes, he does not know that he is in the role of Zauberlehrling, sorcerer’s apprentice, who learned from his master how to call the ghosts, but did not know how to get rid of them again.’e the splendour of the dawn, the lines and shapes of all form, the sound that fills the orbit, the thought that illuminates the darkness of the void. There are some impoverished creatures perhaps, for whom mescaline would be a heaven sent gift without a counter poison, but I am profoundly mistrustful of the pure “gifts of the gods”, you pay very dearly for them.This is not the point at all, to know of or about the unconscious, nor does the story end here. On the contrary, it is how and where you begin the real quest. If you are too unconscious, it is a great relief to know a bit of the collective unconscious. But it soon becomes dangerous to know more, because one does not learn at the same time how to balance it through a conscious equivalent. That is the mistake Aldous Huxley makes, he does not know that he is in the role of Zauberlehrling, sorcerer’s apprentice, who learned from his master how to call the ghosts, but did not know how to get rid of them again.” The above will makes up the bulk of what I have planned so far. However, I’m deeply interested in all the forms of mysticism around the globe. As my research progresses I hope to be able to diversify my practices from both a utilitarian and exploratory standpoint. I am also currently having one reiki session per week with a talented practitioner ( according to my estimation ). Although I’m still uncertain on how energy work functions, and frequently get bogged down by an aspect of my psyche that clings to rationality, using cognitive bias as an explanation for many subjective phenomena. I find these types of consciousness work very difficult to dissect, given their metaphysical nature. However, I will make more of an effort to explore and document these domains in the near future. It is hard for me to leave it out entirely, given the experiences I have had with this avenue. I’m sure the unconditional compassion radiated by the practitioner has a large part to play. I will continue doing this for as long as it is readily accessible. As a final note, this is a very rough and vague draft. Therefore I am almost certain it will change in accordance with the territory that presents itself in coming times and my ever-developing understanding of this work.

@Zigzag Idiot @Space Here's today's video -