Jan Odvarko

I still struggle to grasp this. Some resources claim enlightenment is a permanent state from which there is no way back, some say they have experienced a couple of moments of enlightenment, which would suggest their consciousness must have then returned back to a lower level. Do they each refer to different levels/experiences of enlightenment? Or do they maybe confuse enlightenment with self-realization?

"self-aware to realize their enlightenment" See how oxymoronic it sounds? To be aware of self which doesn't exist in order to be able to realize their enlightenment. Then without self-awareness there can be no enlightenment. This is a brilliant paradox, I like it!

It has occurred to me some time ago that animals might be permanently living in a state of enlightenment. Surely this isn't a new idea though (-:

I think there might be at least two reasons why Jed claims there are so little enlightened people in the world: He's talking about a very specific level of enlightenment. He assumes the enlightened beings will be as open about it as he is, but in my opinion the vast majority of enlightened people are very reluctant to make this claim as they gain a certain level of humility along the path, or in some cases they simply don't feel a need to communicate it.

Whatever kind of meditation appeals to you most. You can try different techniques and stick to the one that suits you. I'd say for example simply paying attention to your breath as it goes in and out is a great technique. Someone likes to have surrounding noise as an object of meditation, someone prefers candle gazing... There is also a kind of meditation that is referred to as "do nothing meditation", but although it sounds easier, in my opinion it's one of the more difficult ones. But who knows, maybe it will suit you perfectly (-: Leo has some videos on meditation, for example: http://www.actualized.org/articles/mindfulness-meditation I'd have some tips for you: Be gentle, patient and generous with yourself. If you find you got distracted by thoughts, just gently shift your attention back to your object of meditation and don't blame yourself, that would only get you into a loop: blame -> thoughts -> more blame -> more thoughts... If you get into this loop (and everyone often does) then again be gentle and patient with yourself. Know that even if you manage to maintain attention for just a few seconds, it's still a good meditation. In fact, there is no such thing as a bad meditation. Which leads to another point: Don't judge your sits. There will be ups and downs in your practice. Even if you feel your sit was absolutely useless, you are certainly making some progress. Keep your sits short and regular, build your meditation habit slowly. Ideally you should sit at the same place and time every single day, but don't throw away all your efforts if you missed one or two sits. Set the length of your meditation and increase it little by little, let's say every couple of months. You yourself will feel when it's time to extend it. Itches and discomfort are likely to occur - that's your "monkey mind" resisting stillness, it doesn't like to be that way. In his videos Leo explains monkey mind well. Practically speaking, there is no such thing as a noise-free place on this planet. Instead of trying to find such a place or to get rid of all distractions, integrate them as part of your meditation and experience them as they come and go. You will develop this ability by time. Sit in whatever position suits you, chair is fine too, or a seiza bench (that's what I use). The cross legged (lotus) position looks cool and I believe it's a very stable position, since 3 points touch the ground, but don't think this is the only proper meditation posture. And if you try to develop lotus, do it slowly and patiently by progressively developing flexibility in your hips, or you will hurt your legs. What needs to become flexible is mainly your hips. Good video on this topic: