The0Self

Can very much relate. Though, it was after a whole lot of constant intense practice, so the subsequent release was bound to have some kind of effect. Sort of like how a deload in barbell/athletic training will increase/peak one's strength. Sort of like: when contemplation becomes automatic, stop contemplating.

It needs no explanation. There's only what is. You are where you are. But location is a thought. "Using my eyes" is a thought. There is simply infinite. You can't get insight by talking on forums, only tips for your practices which themselves can provide insight. If you want to know what's absolutely true, be aware that truth is not a thought -- therefore, if you can think it, it isn't absolutely true. Everything that is untrue is a thought. This isn't getting you anywhere, you have to do the work. If you don't want to do the work, do something else, but asking others existential questions will do absolutely nothing. If you believe that you're ultimately a finite human being living in a material reality, then that's where you're at, and obviously this won't mean anything to you.

By the way, if you're just doing "concentration" (stillness; happiness; blissfulness; steadiness; samadhi; jhana) meditation to get into those wonderful expanded states, stillness, and jhanas... you can do that all day for months, or even an hour a day for years (or even a whole 10 day retreat of 18 hours a day), and still never reach jhana... or if you do reach jhana you might only develop the ability to feel insanely good -- on demand maybe, if you're really skilled... But concentration meditation will never ever lead to awakening. If you're not investigating experience, you might not get much insight. If you're having a difficult time reaching jhana (the inflection point where meditation becomes preposterously fun and blissful), perhaps try noting -- Mahasi method or just noting experience (preferably aloud, once per second, for a full hour at first -- this can blast you right through a plateau like nothing else) by using the 4 foundations of mindfulness... I like Kenneth Folk's guide to noting more than any other. The insight stages (mind and body, arising and passing away, dissolution, dark night, equanimity, etc) are indeed real, and when you're able to clearly move up and down that ladder (you actually feel it and can clearly identify the stages/states), jhanas become far easier, as you'll find specific jhanas correlate to specific nanas (insight territories). Check out these links: https://kennethfolkdharma.com/quick-start-guide/ http://insanebraintrain.blogspot.com/2013/10/meditation-practice-journals-from-old.html "Every time you discover the "problem" with your meditation, note your reaction to that thought. Note the thought itself. Note once per second, aloud, for the duration of your sitting. Note catastrophizing, dramatizing, histrionics, self-pity, evaluation thoughts, impatience, despair, self-loathing, joy, triumph, scenario spinning, longing, desire for deliverance, irritation, doubt, bliss, absorption, distraction, fear, anger, rage, disgust, euphoria, hope, contentment, anticipation, softness, hardness, coolness, warmth, pulsing, burning, itching, throbbing, stinging, tingling, hearing, seeing, tasting, smelling, pleasant, unpleasant, neutral, petulance, futility, dullness, fatigue; what have I left out? Of course you would like some kind of a shortcut or a tip. There is no such thing. There is only the mastery of this simple technique. By the time you master this technique, you will be an arahat. If you distract yourself from this technique by trying to tweak the recipe, the warrantee is void." Kenneth Folk ^^^ Quote is not from the links provided, I had it saved. The thing is, noting is very hard to start with and get the hang of, but fairly soon it's impossible to deny its power. So don't get caught up in pure concentration, the noting/investigation will help the concentration practice tremendously. If you think you can investigate effectively without noting, or simply can't believe it works, just try it. There are people who have tried to just get into 1st jhana, for an entire year of intensive meditation, without success... and after a week of noting they get to jhana literally on accident. When you get the hang of noting to the point where it happens automatically temporarily after a sit, you might find yourself avoiding noting, not because it's so hard (it'll be easier at this point), but because the territory it leads to is SO far out and unfamiliar and it's changing your perception so quickly. In my experience, noting is even far more conducive to kundalini explosions than even TMI/TM/TWIM/samadhi/etc... but especially more conducive to awakening, if not necessary for certain kinds of awakening. If you're like me, you'll go through a period of avoiding noting... because it's very easy to delay your awakening by simply avoiding the hard (especially until you get the hang of it) work of noting. Edit: This woman was not getting much progress until she started noting. Lots of concentration practice (left work to meditate many hours a day) but she didn't start popping off until she tried noting. She didn't see the logic behind how noting could possibly work to awaken into truth and end suffering, but this was her last option, and so she took a leap of faith and was pleasantly surprised. She's a physician, and the side effects of doing real noting for a couple hours a day were so intense she self-diagnosed them as simple partial seizures (clearly it was kundalini energy). She starts talking about it around minute 19...

It's better if some things are censored. Otherwise it's just a free for all of untrue but seemingly plausible ideas that further confuse people. Unfortunately you can't get around this.

Even if this somehow did happen (certainly not in the way you're likely thinking), if definitely wouldn't be permanent, as nothing actually lasts, much less lasts forever. But there's no one separate from everything to fail or pass, and it's all self-imposed despite the fact that there is no self. But it's not that there being no self is true for you, or that you have no self, as that would obviously be contradictory. There's just no separation.

There's a sort of inflection point where all psychedelics can do so. Before then, 5-MeO-DMT and LSD-25 may be more conducive. You'll know you're there when psychedelics are just associated with expanded consciousness, and no longer visuals and contact with imaginary or divine beings.

Causality is only an appearance; thought. The subtle feeling that something does (thinks) the thought is itself more though. All untruth is thought. This is indescribable but one could attempt to describe it as a play with no audience. There was no Big Bang; this is the Big Bang. Even if we say the Big Bang happened, it was still the beginning of time, and so it's creation/beginning or prior to it is timeless, and so you're no further away from it now.

At a certain level of skill, it's almost hard not to meditate 4 hours a day. If you can enter jhana or samadhi at will, you'll likely be doing so quite a lot. Until then, to get to that point, I'd say it takes several months of at least an hour or two sit a day (practicing for the entire sit; only having intermittent mind-wandering for the first few weeks or however long) plus focused intent throughout the day. That's not the same thing as awakening, but it certainly won't hurt and indeed will likely be extremely fruitful.

@Razard86 Nice report! The so-called "work" to awaken can basically be summed up as this: The friction between 1. trust in the direct insights into the true nature of reality, and 2. the experience that the true nature of reality is not experienced by you here and now -- That contradiction is the fuel of the awakening process, which is peeling-off/peeling-back layers of delusion (shedding beliefs, attachment to thought, and identification with thought) that make up the seeming separation between truth and experience. Draw a line in the sand between what is learned or changing, and what is always true here and now. "What IS everything?" There already is no individual self. But it's not that you have no self; it's not that there being no self is true for you -- Hopefully you can see how that would be illogical/contradictory! There is no separate you/self period. An insight can arise that untruth is always thought (you don't even have to know that all thought is untrue, merely that all untruth is thought). When this happens, a wise intuition may be to direct attention to what isn't thought... Whatever you can't think about or describe. Everything the illusory ego does (it doesn't actually do anything, it's being done) is a thin, futile, yet miraculous effort to avoid this. This is completely indescribable, and certainly not a thought. This individual moment is gone forever -- this ever-present death is ever-present aliveness. The illusion of predictability seems to cover this up. What's really going on is simply what's really going on. What is not thought is simply what is not thought. There are no complicating layers, though they do appear in and as the dream of separation / self/other.

The truth cannot be offered to another. It will be clear when it is clear, and at no other point. The simplest possible answer is the only true one.

All the work to awaken is really just a pretense for what’s really going on. What IS really going on? What’s really going on is what’s really going on — simple as that; there is no additional layer of complication. All layers are illusory. Even if you resolve may I transcend ego, ego still takes credit for that resolution and so it continues on. Keep-going does in a sense mean keep-staying. The character/ ego... It’s all a show. But there’s nothing to show. No inside and outside.

This is honestly how I sometimes feel about people who do not train or do not know how to train (i.e. train seriously with barbells, even just lightly). They obviously don't care about their health... Hot take. OR... more likely: they aren't aware of just how beneficial proper barbell (or similar) training is. [If done throughout one's life, even with a fairly miniscule amount of time delegated to the task (especially realistic if one has equipment near or at their living space), regular barbell training can result in one having bone density 4-7 standard deviations above the mean when over 70 years old... and that barely puts a dent in the benefits to be listed, which include a host of cardiac benefits, a preposterous decrease in all cause mortality, and more.] Sort of the same thing with meditation and mental/spiritual-health (and actually even "hedonic health") could be argued -- e.g. "if you're not meditating, then you don't care about your mental/spiritual-health," or my favorite, "if you're not meditating, then you don't want to feel good, simple as that." NOT saying any of this is actually 100% true. They probably do care about their health, they just haven't been made sufficiently aware of the benefits of x -- whether it be barbell training, meditation, or avoiding cheap vaping materials.

@Someone here Sexual health Meat Sleep Exercise Principles I love it! Sexual-mental health is extremely important. As far as the no-fap goes, I experimented with it and noticed no benefits, but that could be due to strong sexual and relationship confidence, lack of personal guilt or shame for masturbation, and the fact that I often have a girlfriend anyway. As long as you can do no-fap, that's all that's required, imo. But many I guess just can't stop masturbating (to porn) once they start, so no-fap is for them. I will suggest though (twimc, not necessarily you), if you do end up jerking off to porn (or just masturbating...or even having sex), after you finish don't immediately just go about your daily life! Mindfully rest in the post-orgasm calm for an extended period of time, not just to enjoy it, but for two reasons: 1. to ease into the transition back into daily life and intentionally leave whatever dispositions (which may arise during extreme arousal) behind that you don't want to transfer to your daily life, and 2. to mindfully reflect on exactly how your state was changed during the sexual interaction and relax any leftover edginess -- use deep belly breathing throughout... The overall purpose and intention of this "technique" is to not bring excessive images experienced back into your daily life. ^^^ That's not really an instruction per se, it's simply a rough description of something I've intuitively done organically/automatically for quite some time... and I'm sharing it because I detect a correlation with its development, and my own mental and physical health, ease, and energy. For instance, although I'm someone who practically discourages no-fap, I have at some point clearly noticed a significant negative effect on confidence, mood, and mindfulness when masturbating (especially to porn) and then immediately taking a shower... fwiw. Perhaps consider avoiding that if it's something you do, and see how it goes, just out of curiosity. I don't really know the precise mechanism behind that phenomena, but it seems as if: while you're closing your eyes and washing your hair and doing the repetitive tasks necessary to take a shower, and the mind is allowed to wander, leftover sexual images and remnants of the sexual headspace can sort of solidify in the mind and create lasting tension and who knows what else. But it's not as important to take time to transition from actual sex to life, as it is to do so from porn to life -- i.e. by all means take a shower with your partner after sex if that's the plan, though even in that case it's still probably best to take at least a few minutes to actively cuddle in bed with them or whatever. So while I am very much not a proponent of no-fap, there are at least some stipulations... it seem porn and masturbation and even sex have avenues for causing harm, but I believe there are ways around that, as alluded to above.

There actually is no herd/mind, but in a sense the underlying truth of the herd/mind is that we’re the imagination of ourselves. Timelessly. So all talk of sequential lives is referring to something within the completely imaginary time-bound context of reality. The you that’s dreaming that you’re not dreaming is an imagined entity, imagined to be separate from what’s immediately recognized as “other.” Other is self. Not-self is really just self. And every single thing is imaginary all the way up and down, to the imagination of what I am.

I’d respond just so to all existential matters such as the one mentioned, since the matter is decidedly existential and thus I’m in a position to respond to it in an undistorted fashion on some level: From the nondual lens: You’re looking for the end of looking, which is this. To a self, the absence of a goal or agenda of any kind (which is the truth) is incomprehensible. When this truth is comprehended, the self is no more and there’s no one left to comprehend what’s happening. And combined with the enlightenment lens: We can point to truth simply with the example of qualia. Any and all perception is qualia. Red, salty, hot, etc. Red is a qualia related to the higher holonic qualia, the strawberry a human is looking at... but so is everything else simply qualia — that there is a strawberry; that the strawberry exists in a reality; that a human sees it; that I am perceiving the strawberry... and that there is a real context to reality... and that I am something that exists in time and space. All are qualia = perception = reality, and none have separate existence. So, at every holonic level of qualia simultaneously, all qualia are just like any other ride in the park — and with no context or outside purpose. We could call this infinite imagination. I, infinite imagination, am the only thing that exists, yet I have no separate existence either — I am imaginary too, and yet also the beginning and the end of all knowledge. There is no such thing as separate existence; now and then; here and there, are not two. Life has no meaning... If this is perceived as a bad thing, then it is misunderstood — you could say: life has absolutely no meaning/point/purpose, but simply because it’s too free to be bound by meaning.

This is related to having more working memory capacity -- the best way to increase this is meditation... Probably not all methods would be conducive to this, but TMI and noting of increasing detail of the breath would be. And the "dual n-back" game/app can improve working memory capacity to some degree but likely works best if also doing daily meditation. Many say the "dual n-back" effect on fluid intelligence is insignificant, but I at least felt noticeable effects from 10 minutes a day, and it even reliably produced more vivid dreams -- that made it worth it on its own, though it is a challenging and frustrating game (as is almost any rewarding endeavor; self inquiry, etc). But "being more clever" mainly just requires exposure and practice. In my experience, it seems when I'm socializing more, I'm more clever, and when I'm meditating more, I'm also more clever.

First: truth exists, it's hidden to me, and nothing else means anything in relation to finding it. Last: no thing or thought relates to any other thing because the distinction between them is illusory, they're all the same truth, and there is no other.

Definitely needs more than just psychedelics. A cultivated intense desire for truth, love, God, and sustaining expanded states. (From a certain perspective, psychedelics are actually for leaving oneness, rather than entering it. One could say God gets tired of oneness and so imagines a human who is coming down off a psychedelic, thereby appearing to enter the world... As one does... An ingenious illusion for concocting "other" out of oneness. All other uses of psychedelics are, in a way, just collateral damage that happens to also be fun, useful, and insightful.)

Among the fastest methods is probably Culadasa's TMI. But it's comprehensive and takes a while to read -- or listen to; audiobook is available. Although obviously you can start practicing well before you finish reading the book. Bhante Vimalaramsi's TWIM is great too, especially if you prefer Metta over breath. But Culadasa's TMI is extremely comprehensive -- it even gets into the underlying mechanics of entering nirvana, daily life aspects of the meditator's path, and ancillary practices, etc. Time frames are useless to think about, but if I had to estimate I'd say for most people they might reach takeoff -- imo this corresponds with the ability to enter jhanas at will, as this pretty much just straight up ends the search for worldly pleasure -- within about 3-6 months of daily practice if it is truly priority #1, and then you might consider reading Rob Burbea's Seeing That Frees to navigate the more advanced territory of meditation land. It's definitely incredibly fun stuff, once it takes off; even from the beginning if you're lucky.

Psychedelic.

This is from a holistic view so I can't really give you any specific studies, but after a decent amount of research you may come to roughly the same conclusion: for lifters of most bodyweights, less than 80-120g protein per day (complete protein) basically always = shooting yourself in the foot, but there are drastically diminished returns above 120g... though they still increase (very) slightly all the way to about 280g per day. If you're not lifting, and neither muscle growth nor body composition (fat loss) is a concern, then there's absolutely no need to eat more than 80-120g per day... but muscle growth from barbell training is an extremely healthy thing, so... not a bad concern to have. More specifically, you get near-maximal muscle growth at about 120g per day (assuming you're training moderately hard and consistently making progress on weight and volume moved), but the nutrient partitioning effect (i.e. less fat gain per unit of muscle growth) increases all the way to 280g. The muscle growth portion starts to cap out at about 120g, and is virtually completely maxed out by about 0.8-0.9g/lb in almost all cases, but you get significantly increased nutrient partitioning (away from fat gain) all the way up to at least 240-280g. Again, that kind of protein overfeeding has essentially no significant additional effect on muscle growth -- it's the nutrient partitioning that continues to benefit with such large amounts. In most cases, there don't seem to be any serious adverse health effects from overeating protein like this, especially for short periods. Just get minimum 120g if muscle growth is your main concern. But if fat loss is your main concern, still get minimum 120g but it's actually best to eat basically as much protein as possible in that case, lol (up to about 280g). 3 protein feedings (meals) a day is better than 2, 4 is slightly better than 3 (and only if training well), and 5 is no better than 4... for muscle growth and nutrient partitioning, as per scientific studies. So a good guide is simply 4 meals a day with minimum 30g protein each -- as long as you do this, the only "timing" that is significant is simply ensuring that you don't train fasted... "Anabolic windows" are insignificant unless you're training fasted -- which is not optimal except in some rarified highly specialized situations.

It is definitely less harmful, and does sound like a step in the right direction! However, there are a few things you seem to be unaware of: First of all, vapes do not necessarily contain less nicotine than cigarettes, and in fact can (and often do) contain far more, especially if using mods where you build your own coils and drip the juice — even using 6mg/mL (I’ve seen people use 24mg and I’ve been close to that when I was vaping) with a dripper/mod (a powerful kind of “designer vape”) will provide far more nicotine per hit that that of cigarettes. But here’s the thing (it’s still to this day just absolutely amazing to me that nearly everyone including many doctors and even some scientists don’t understand this)... Nicotine is only a small part of the chemically addictive profile of cigarettes. Cigarettes contain harmaline alkaloids classified as MAOI’s (monoamine oxidase inhibitor), which become active upon burning the leaf (which is why smokeless tobacco is nowhere near as addictive as cigs). If you go on vapes, quit, then go back to cigs again, and/or vice versa, you will soon become aware of this fact as well — the nicotine ain’t the thing that causes the majority of withdrawals upon cessation. MAOIs are very effective antidepressants but they’re overpowered so they’re usually second-line, after SSRI/SNRI’s which are less powerful but have more tolerable side-effect profiles. So when you switch to the vapes, you’ll still be able to get a nicotine buzz, but you will absolutely still experience MAOI wd. Just be aware that the vape isn’t going to quell your WD completely — not because it has less nicotine (it will likely have a lot more unless you get very low concentration juice), but because it doesn’t have any MAOI. Now, nicotine is certainly addictive in its own right by definition — it induces CPP (conditioned place preference)... I’m not disputing that. But it’s not the primary addictive component of burnt tobacco. The primary source of the WD is MAOI, so it’s like antidepressant WD. Nicotine has its own WD as well, as you’ll find after you’ve switch exclusively to the vapes for several weeks — when you go without the vape, you’ll feel cravings for it but you’ll be able to tell it’s almost nothing like cigarette WD. So why do they make nicotine gum for getting off cigs then? Exactly my point ? it’s amazing. Although they probably do help somewhat since nicotine does give a buzz, it just won’t help the MAOI withdrawal (the most uncomfortable part of cig WD). tl/dr: vape has more nicotine yet is less addictive than cigs bc it lacks MAOI, which is the primary dependence-causing component of (burnt) tobacco... so it won’t really replace cigs you’ll just be quitting cigs and then taking nicotine. The mood-lifting effects of cigs are almost entirely MAOI-related (MAOI literally forces higher concentrations of dopamine and serotonin in the synaptic cleft, which nicotine doesn’t do).

^^ Definitely true. @aklacor727 Timing isn't completely irrelevant, but it is virtually insignificant in relation to other concerns as long as you're not training fasted. If you're not fasted, you'll still have circulating amino acids anyway, so the meal-timing anabolic window won't be very significant, although a bolus of carbs and protein immediately post workout can still be somewhat beneficial. But if you are fasted, you won't have a sufficient amount of amino acids circulating for optimal recovery, so you'll want to consume protein (and carbs) ASAP -- it's far better in virtually all scenarios to just train while fed though (meaning after having consumed at least one meal with at least 20-40g protein since waking up). In fact, pre-workout protein is arguably a lot better than post-workout protein, as it will be available both during and after training rather than only after -- and it's best to have the amino acids (and glucose) immediately available as the adaptation-producing training stimulus is occurring, so that they can be utilized exactly as soon as they're needed. The most important thing by far is ensuring progressive overload (with multi-joint pushing, pulling, and posterior-chain/leg-dominant movements) in combination with optimal protein consumption throughout the day (meaning at least 120g per day over multiple meals). As long as you did that, you could even completely disregard timing. (Key exercises include squat, deadlift, standing overhead press, bench press, and chin up. Multiple sets. Generally 5-15 reps per set, stopping short of failure on the big movements as failure induces asymmetrical neural stress and you end up getting stronger adaptation by just doing more work over additional submaximal sets. You can go to failure on smaller/ancillary exercises though -- side lateral raises, barbell curls, etc.) 3 meals (protein feedings) per day is definitively much better than 2, and 4 is slightly better than 3, but additional frequency (beyond 4/d) has no additional benefit (the science shows). So, a good guide is to eat 4 meals a day with at least 30g protein at each meal -- and to train full-body 3 days a week or upper/lower 4d/wk. Light "cardio" multiple days per week is fine too but it may hinder muscle and strength gains unless it is cardio that essentially signals the muscles not to eat themselves -- sled drags, prowler pushing, barbell step ups, push/pull/leg circuits, stair climber with heavy pack on, and even circuits of several of these 5 examples are all good for this.

You mean besides the fact that there’s no one else to spread it to?

There’s no way to describe it really. But there isn’t actually someone who dies a bunch of times — sounded like you were assuming that for some reason but maybe I misread you (what did you mean by someone returning to a finite self?). There’s just this dream I’m having, but I am imaginary. For you (though there isn’t really a you) there’s just this dream you’re having. As for how it is when it does get “so total” as you say... What is absolutely obvious here: What’s really going on is that I am creating this entire limitless reality by using the simplest and most elegant possible mechanism — the timeless imagination of a single frame of reality... This one. Can’t get simpler than that (or at least what the words point to). But I’m not under the illusion that I’m telling someone else anything right now, or at least that isn’t being mistaken for reality.