The0Self

You say you may have a red shadow and are uneasy about being dominant. If you have that side in you, let it rip. If you mean you judge that aspect in others but don't posses it yourself, look for it in yourself -- most hetero guys have it somewhere; at least a little bit. (not the negative traits and red shadow -- the dominant impulse) Besides being confident and powerful-seeming, these dominant guys probably just subconsciously appear to women as more authentic, in a way. Since these women may assume that even if these nice guys want women in a deeper way, they only want the deeper aspects of a woman provided they also get sex... And you know what? They're actually right -- I mean... pretty much every hetero guy would totally be put out by a relationship with a woman who never had sex with him. If you simply can't muster up dominant sensibilities because it just feels SO wrong, then give it a rest. Not every woman wants a super dominant male. Just love and be comfortable with yourself. Kind but assertive, caring but unaffected, loving but blunt, witty but unknowing, knowledgeable but humble (etc; don't take anything too seriously). Above all, be self-loving, unserious, and fun/playful. There's work, and there's play -- dating is ALL play. It might be hard to hear, but when you're so okay with yourself that you don't even need a woman, it will be quite a bit easier to attract a woman.

This makes your mind not want to be mindful and realize you aren't meditating. Try going "oh wow! I am not meditating!" This way, the realization will happen more often and quickly, until it happens so quickly that the moment it happens is synonymous with the instant you get distracted, meaning distraction never occurs. The Witness is quite an advanced state. Unless you can meditate indefinitely with your attention on one main object, forget about The Witness for the time being. Perhaps read/listen-to The Mind Illuminated (very, very helpful) -- it doesn't even mention The Witness until 2 whole stages after intentionally entering Jhanas becomes feasible.

X is all there is. You can call X whatever you want. NOW seems as good a term as any.

Looked at the title and was like, uhh, that actually is a little too much open-mindedness for me lol.

Physicality -> Consciousness? Physicality <- Consciousness? Both are suchness; what is, appearing to arise from each other. Interdependent; the same voidness, seen as 2 from 2 different perspectives. It's the perfect design for a believable reality.

Since there are infinite levels of consciousness, when you do get there, you've still only just begun.

No matter how far along the way you get in figuring it out -- even infinitely far, with infinite consciousness -- you've only just begun. At least in Godel's models.

Well, there is no real separate self, so all words pertaining to it are just a story, but anyway... There might be an identification there with someone who thinks they aren't God. That's just what's apparently happening. No problem. What is? What is, is what is. What is, is what some of us call God. If you are, you are God. God is everything, including the apparent experience of being someone who has "forgotten" they're God, or imagines oneself to be other than God. If there were something other than God, then God wouldn't be God by the definition we're using here: all there is. The only means for discrimination and discernment is limitation -- God limits itself infinitely, in order to be and experience everything. You have a front row seat to one of those limitations -- your life -- since after all, you are God. To realize this directly generally requires meditation and/or psychedelics, and time.

Contemplation can be done in quite a few ways. Here are 3 of my favorites: 1. Allow everything to be as it is. 2. Ask a question, and do not attempt to answer it. Adjunct: Ask which questions would be most fruitful for the above exercise -- do not attempt to answer this question either! 3. Hold a word or phrase in awareness, and allow it to disclose a deeper meaning, without intentionally using your mind.

You are reading this sentence right now. You are you. Buddha is Buddha. You are not reading this sentence right now. You are not you. Buddha is not Buddha. It is not possible to speak the truth. It is not possible to speak the untruth. Reality is Reality. Reality is not Reality.

Danger arises out of safety, which arises out of danger. Timelessly. Limitation, journeying, fun, multiplicity, goals... Unconditional Love No stakes; high stakes Inevitable everything The beginning rises from the end, which rises from the beginning. Timelessly.

The story that's not a story: Reality/existence is the polarization of infinite interdependent dualities that have no existence in themselves. Every phenomenon itself arises out of another phenomenon that arises out of the first phenomenon timelessly, which is illogical -- they arise together but they don't actually arise at all -- this non-occurrence applies to every level of reality in infinitely interconnected web-like fashion -- nothing stands on its own -- that is voidness. There is no thing called void -- just boundlessness; unlimited inevitableness; unbounded nothingness; freedom -- not even that. Unconditional Love. It's so not-anything, that it isn't even nothing, so you get this appearance -- everything is not-anything.

In my view: The better the teaching, the more effectively it helps one get closer to seeing everything as a miracle. The best teaching is definitely self love. The best, most effective practices for a novice; the practices with the highest leverage, are probably forgiveness, gratitude, mindfulness, Metta (trains both concentration and love), and self love. The higher the teaching, the more directly it turns one toward truth and unknowing. The highest teachings are Self Love and emptiness. Somewhat to your point though, I don't feel that the highest direct pointings/"teachings" are even really teachings at all, since they don't aim to help anyone -- ultimately, there is no one that could be taught. IME...

One can have a lot of understanding, but what comes out of it into words often just becomes conjecture, if we're honest. For instance, the (very) loaded question, "why is there something rather than nothing?" It can be recognized directly that there is obviously no ultimate limiter on reality -- this is sort of square one. Why can't there be only nothing? Only-nothing would essentially be a thing with limitation, since it can't be everything. Why can't there be only something? Only-something would be a thing with limitation, since it can't be nothing. So there is neither something nor nothing. It seems to be the case that reality is just the infinite everything that is, timelessly, and amazingly, not anything at all. And since every thing depends on every other thing, nothing depends on anything. Everything consequential is inconsequential. And there's no defined existence apart from undefined consciousness; objectivity is subjectivity. But of course if we're honest, that doesn't make sense. It just seems to be the case. The substance of thingness itself depends on perspective. Whatever phenomena arise dependent upon conditions, do not actually arise. What is does not depend on anything; it neither comes nor goes. Everything depends on everything else = nothing depends on anything. There is no ground substance, only unfathomable appearances that don't actually happen. Surface-only; no depth; no self; no thing; no time. There is no substance at all. Bottom line: there's no bottom line.

Resonates with me. Anyone who thinks they can define consciousness is mistaken, as I understand it. Even defining one's current "state" or "level/height/quantity/quality" of consciousness can probably only be approached, say, by giving an example of a construct that intuitively seems to correlate nearly perfectly with it -- for instance, one's ability to see mundane (or otherwise) events as miracles, or one's ability to be grateful for whatever is happening.

Finite = limited; something Infinite = unlimited; everything; no-thing; what is and is not Knowing = duality If there seems to be a knowing of something finite, it isn't the infinite (everything; all there is) actually knowing something finite. It's the infinite simply appearing as finite, not known to anyone. And it's infinite, so there's no purpose behind it (if there were a purpose, that purpose would be it, not behind it, since it's everything), and so it has no need to be or do anything -- it's already everything. It doesn't need to be anything, and yet it is what it is anyway. And by the way, this recognition may seem a bit pedestrian, but when it is seen, it can be quite shocking.

It's actually kind of simple: if the infinite knew the finite, it wouldn't be the infinite, because there'd be something other than it, and infinity is everything.

Constant. And also in sitting practice. I also had previously trained some very stable attention using the TMI system -- had already reached Jhanas 1 and 2 at the time. Just kept resting as awareness which got easier and simpler as I realized anything that appeared wasn't what I was looking for -- I kept attempting to attach to the nonexistent knower, ignoring all experience in the process, leading to a very transcendent state where something quite magical would happen and experience practically flipped inside out.

Infinity is beyond any whys, hows, decisions, or control. It's beyond experience as well. And to God, there is no discrimination or judgement. God "longs-for" the experience of anything and everything, and so that's what God gets.

Sure, but you don’t choose whether it’s seen that way or not. The good news is x. The bad news is also x. Yes.

Well that’s somewhat good to hear. I too hope it continues to heal. The fact that it has gotten less bothersome with time thus far is probably a good sign.

Well, here’s to hoping it goes away in 6 months or so! One of the most annoying symptoms I had was this strange sound that sounded like a dial-up internet connection starting up. And it was only on one side (can’t remember which). The strangest noise. That went away as well.

@Forestluv How long ago was the 5meo retreat? I had symptoms so bad I literally lost the ability to see the color black — black would appear as a brilliant light show, even when I closed my eyes. That lasted about 2 years. It cleared up.

I sometimes do this in meditation to reach samadhi states

I don’t have it in a way that’s bothersome. Everyone can notice the sound of silence if they’ve done enough meditation but that’s probably not what you mean by tinnitus. I can make it very loud and use it as a meditation object, but only if I choose to.