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I remember Leo's one video on Depression, and it was a harsh message to some people, but interesting to me. I believe he said it is the result of poor psychology, and it can be fixed by the person on their own through correct thinking, or something along those lines. My question is - are all mental illnesses a product of poor psychology? When I think of strong psychology, I think US NAVY SEALS - tough minded, thick skinned bad asses. But is this how people should be? What is the default/standard/normal temperament/mindset/psychology of a human being? Someone who is easily offended? Never offended? Tough and rigid? Soft and compassionate? Tough and compassionate? How can you feel compassion for a stranger who is crying, or down on their luck - but then not be offended when someone verbally attacks/insults you? Wouldn't both require having a soft heart? Soft Heart = compassion...Hard Heart = not giving any f*cks and never being offended...yes no? Possible to have both? Hard heart seems cold & uncaring, dull and full of hate How do I know if my psychology is how it should be? How do I know if it needs to be improved? What is the standard? Where is the bar set? I hope someone can understand what I'm trying to say/ask. Thoughts & concerns and appreciated!

@SkyPanther Thanks for those links, they had some good information. I am curious to know what your teacher says. @Arik Thanks for the reply - if it's hallucinations, I feel like it should pass eventually. For now I'll use it as a tool for mindfulness. Cheers

The title of this thread is also the title of a book, written by Ajahn Sumedho, an American Buddhist monk. It's also referred to as Nada Yoga, or 'the yoga of inner light and sound'. It's a noise that used to only be noticeable when my surroundings were quiet. It would sound like a high pitched buzzing, humming, electric static. Faint but noticeable. When I tried researching it online, most people said it was tinnitus. Even Ajahn Sumedho in his book says people think it's tinnitus. But this sound isn't bothersome, nor is it always noticeable, until I'm somewhere quiet, then it's clear as day. Although Ajahn Sumedho says he can now hear it even when external noises around him are loud. I've been using it as a meditation focus during 'Do Nothing Meditation' - I alternate between focusing on the noise and allowing my mind to wander. It's quite nice, I just focus on the sound, and it begins to get louder, until I'm absorbed in it. I guess my question is - 1) who else notices this sound 2) does it have a deeper meaning 3) have you heard of anyone talk about this before Thanks!

My not-so-scientific proof against free will...look at these penguins. Would you say they have free will? Is it plausible to think each one collaborated and in an orderly fashion they schemed this ingenious tactic to keep warm? Or could we say, the nothingness/energy which makes up EVERYTHING, including US, is at work? If the penguins don't have free will, why would we? Why does man consider himself separate and special vs the rest of nature? We aren't separate in reality. Only in our minds, which is why we don't realize we don't actually exist. That is the illusion. Not having free will is okay because, we never had it in the first place. Just like once someone becomes enlightened, they realize they never existed. Again, nothing I wrote here was by MY choice. Although it seems like it, in reality, it just happens. It arises from nothingness.

One way to not be upset over not having free will is to think (not freely)...it never existed in the first place. And if free will doesn't exist, that means anything you say in objection, isn't free will. Any argument against free will, isn't free will. You can do jumping jacks and sing kum-ba-yah, but it wasn't by choice. Although it may have APPEARED to be choice. But that's an ILLUSION, just how "ME" is an illusion. It means, there is no YOU (mental idea of self) and there never has been. It also means things happen. Thoughts, emotions, actions, conversations, opinions, HAPPEN. Everything which makes up life, just happens. Think about that. But remember nobody is thinking - rather the thinking is simply HAPPENING.

@Neo I do hear what you're saying. The idea is scary. So far I have seen two other people who talk/act exactly as Tony Parsons ( Naho Owada & Lisa Cairns) - short bits of their talks are below. Let me know what you think

I'm asking anyone who would like to comment on this to please first watch the video below before posting, so we are all on the same page. And we can all communicate using the same type of "language". I know it is lengthy, but please watch before commenting. Sorry if that request makes this seem like a country club discussion. Sorry if you are offended by that statement. Ha! The title is a fancy complicated way of playing with words to rephrase the question - can I become enlightened? - since there really is no "I" or free will then how could anybody become anything? - I know what you're thinking, and just so you know i'm with you, I agree with you, and "i" too want to become enlightened. Tony Parsons (video below) is enlightened. My pretend conversation with him would go something like this... Me - how can I become enlightened? Him - there is no you, so you can't become anything. Me - I understand what you mean on an intellectual level, but I want what you have Him - It cannot be understood, it is beyond comprehension. I don't have anything, because "I" doesn't exist. "I" isn't real, it is illusion, "me" cannot get what "me" thinks it wants, because that thing is the end of "me". Me - since I cannot say me or I, how about, illusion be gone! Him - illusion is not real Me - But for "me" it is real ! What can I do? Him - You don't exist. There is "no one" to "do" anything. There just IS what IS. And what "me" is asking everyone on this forum is - Can "me" commit psychological suicide, so to say. Sorry for the dark terminology, not sure how else to word it. His description of liberation using words is......"me", sense of self, illusion = constricted energy......liberation = when the constricted energy opens up and merges with the energy that IS (everything). Again, he claims there is nothing anyone can do. He says listening to the message itself is a way of opening the energy. Cheers!

these videos are awesome

@Leo Gura Thanks. Next time I'll remember it's just an Ego trick. Giant spider @Ayla do you mean focusing too hard is a form of resistance?

I read a good bit of the book "Three Pillars of Zen" and they talk about Makyos, or hallucinations during meditation. My question is, can they ever be physically dangerous? I was just doing a strong determination sit with my eyes closed, and was focusing very hard on dropping any resistance I had to the current moment. About 15 minutes in there was a wonderful feeling of peace that began to grow stronger from my stomach. It was growing rapidly and although my eyes were closed it seemed like the room was getting lighter. This was so unfamiliar to me I was frightened & opened my eyes to stop the meditation. It almost felt like if I didn't open my eyes, I would have left my body. Or the energy would have overwhelmed me and physically hurt me. Was this a Makyo? Should I have sat through it? I was legit scared. Is there some kind of tolerance we're supposed to be building up before reaching deeper states of meditation? I didn't think I was ready for what was about to happen, which I believe is why I opened my eyes. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Technically speaking - isn't fear of enlightenment (love of illusion/love of being a chimp) just the ego's attempt at survival? Aren't all thoughts just a product of the ego, since "I" am the one who is aware of thoughts, wouldn't that make "me" separate from thoughts, and hence make all thoughts, including the ones in this post, creation of ego? Isn't every thought born from another thought? What makes someone want to pursue or avoid enlightenment? Wouldn't both be born from ego & thoughts? "I enjoy life as it is. I don't mind the illusion. I don't see the point of enlightenment. I choose to play the game of life" - Where does that come from? Are those not thoughts? "Life is hard. I want to be free from fears, desires, and suffering. Enlightenment seems like the right path. I want to know the truth" - Where does that come from? Are those not thoughts? Where do thoughts come from? Is that which notices a thought the same source which creates a thought? If you ask yourself in your head - "What is aware of this thought, what hears this thought, this thought is noticed by whom?" - Aren't those thoughts just the contents of the cup, while "YOU" are the cup? Isn't EVERYTHING which is capable of being noticed, aka EVERYTHING in life, including life itself - (thoughts, emotions, sensations, beliefs, fears, people, memories, pain, happiness, the 5 senses, the body, delusion, reality, the world, this post) - just contents of the cup? Is enlightenment a permanent shift in perspective, permanently having moment to moment awareness of ALL the contents of the cup? Only then to go play the game of life, like the 10th ox herding picture? Wouldn't that make life more enjoyable? But of course, isn't this just a thought born from a thought, another thing in the cup, being noticed by....

Ahh yes! The question we're all curious about . Nowhere on the internet can I find a good discussion on Marijuana vs Consciousness. So please, don't be shy! Some questions that come to mind are... 1) What are the pros/cons of being high? In relation to consciousness. 2) Does it raise or lower consciousness? 3) Does it help or hinder self-inquiry? 4) Is it useful when applied to certain techniques, or is it just a stress reliever? 5) How does it affect mindfulness? 6) Does it put you more in the moment, or more in your head? Personally, I used to be a moderate-heavy user for 2 years with no complaints. I noticed when smoking after abstaining for a few weeks, the high is intense. Thoughts from my subconscious would arise, sometimes moving me to emotions. A few months ago I started practicing mindfulness. Not too long after, I began vividly feeling my heartbeat when high, which would cause anxiety & make it beat faster. Since then I have pretty much passed on grass!

The Power Of Now was one of the first books I read around two years ago when I first started getting into this stuff. Stumbled upon Siddhartha in the beginning of this past summer - loved it! Check out "The Untethered Soul" by Michael A. Singer. He has three other books which I also really enjoyed - The Search For Truth, Three Essays On Universal Law, and The Surrender Experiment. All quick reads, less than 200 pages each. Search for Truth & Three Essays were written by him when he was in his 20s, living in the woods practicing meditation. Untethered Soul & Surrender Experiment were written 30 years later & are full of wisdom!

I want to grasp what you're saying. I will have to work on this. So don't listen to thoughts or label things in order to become conscious of no-self?

Warning - long post! This forum is great. I've been hoping to find people who are into this stuff, I never knew what to call it before Leo's videos - Self Actualization. I felt lost trying to talk to people about anything one might find on these forums. So to have this forum, I believe everyone can share bottled up ideas and experiences and we'll all multiply our understanding faster than having to do it via happen-chance personal interactions in everyday life. Anyway...here's my thought/theory on life...I should mention this thought is molded from two years of heavy interest on the topic & all the things I've stumbled upon. This is just a thought, and like Leo says, it's still inside the Matrix. Since that's all we can work with. Two weeks ago I picked up a dead bumble bee and held it in my hand. It's the only time I had a chance to look up close at a bee without it stinging me, so I was curiously observing the thing. Then the thought popped into my head "this is just a shell" - meaning the body of the bee. Whatever would've made it sting me yesterday isn't inside the shell anymore, it's gone. The life was sucked out of it, but where did the "life" go? I didn't think there was anything individual about the bee, such as where did it's soul go (like the belief us humans think - we're individuals - with souls, and we have to "go somewhere"), I simply thought - where did the "life" inside this bee go? By "life" I mean an omnipresent force which creates wakefulness/aliveness in all things. Then I thought - well, whatever was in the bee made it appear "alive" and the bee was "activated/turned on" like a TV. The same thing that was in this bee is also in ants, birds, dogs, bears, fish, plants, trees, grass, etc. The "force" or "energy" or whatever you want to call it. It's all from the same source. Then I thought - that is just a perception. Just because the bee is dead, doesn't necessarily mean the force/energy left it. That same force is going to decay the bee (since everything is energy/connected), or decay itself, and blend it into the earth soil/air, which is really just more of the same "force/energy". The only difference with humans is we have a mind which is capable of thinking about all sorts of crazy things, like this! We're that force. We're that energy. Or should I say, the force/energy is us. The thing that is in the bee is also in us, just as it is in everything. Not only is it in everything, but at the same time it IS everything, including us. The only thing telling us otherwise is our thoughts/psyche. So literally, the "life" inside the bee which makes it seem alive, is also the thing which decays it, and while it's decaying the bee - it's also being the shell - so it's decaying itself - and it's being us, perceiving the death of the bee. It's everything! I don't know where thoughts come into play though. How can anything be separate from the "force/energy" if it is everything? How could thoughts exist outside of it? How could there be anything outside of to even exist, if it's everything? There was a great analogy in "Autobiography of a Yogi"...It said everything is light, and the light is taking different forms & doing different things, but it's all just light. I like to think the same analogy but instead of light I imagine water. The water can be all these different things (people, animals, plants, mountains) but in the end it falls back into itself. Like the bee appearing to have something sucked out of it, was just IT sucking something back into itself.