cetus

@Buba Here's a picture I took that represents passing through "The Gate of Fear". I know exactly what you mean b-c I've been there. I can't tell you how many times I've come up against the fear and turned away. But that's what builds the trust and faith within us. I alone would have never passed through the gate.

@billiesimon I just listened to the first 5 mins. and as Teal was telling her story it reminded me a lot of the sexual abuses that have been going on in the Catholic church for many-many years. Even if a child was to say something about being abused by father so and so to their parents they would never want to believe it. Telling the truth to a parent who obviously held priests (and the church) in such high reguard was quickly dismissed with a "how dare you accuse a man of the cloth of such things. God is going to punish you". Then the child was forced to not only live with the ongoing sexual abuse but also the guilt and shame that came with it. In the end it wasn't the parents who exposed the abuse it was the children as adults that came forth with the truth.

@Wisebaxter Put it on your "must do" list. It's a communion.

@StephenK Cetus is the imaginary fear each must face and overcome. He's of Greek Mythology. Leo did a video "The Hero's Journey". Plus I like gladiator movies.

@Buba Eairly explorers were warned that if they set out to find new land they would fall off the edge of Earth or be swollowed up by horrid sea monsters like Cetus. I'm sure there were sailors that after spending much time on the seas with only their thoughts started to actually believe in such tales and jumped ship in the middle of the ocean to escape something that existed only in their mind.

@Buba Don't thank me too soon. I have a question that you need not answer here. Is it guilt that is causing this fear?

@Buba That's a wall that we each place around ourselves (the ego). You built it-you can tare it down. Even if it's only one brick at a time.

@Buba In a way. It's different for everyone so there is no one way. Haven't you always felt that somewhere inside you there is a deeper connection to everything than just what's on the surface? I'm sure you have. Maybe it's been hidden for a while. But it's always been there and it will always be there. This is what you must re-awaken.

Sorry, my computer is running really slow today. When I hit "submit reply" it's taking forever to load. What should they do? Trust in faith that there is something much greater than this small existance we call the self. You gotta have faith! Faith is bigger and more powerful than "you" and "I".

@Buba This is normal. Maybe a bit excessive in your case, but normal.

That's what I'm saying!

That's because if they did find truth it wasn't what their ego wanted. You see it all stems around the ego.

There is no right way to think. That is illusion also. And believe me, there are plenty of ppl walking around believing they are thinking right and deeply buried in their illusion of themselves.

@Buba Have you talked to them about this? Meditation that is.

@Buba Who told you that? If anything maybe contentment but contentment comes from freedom from the ego's enslavement. This is why we meditate. Liberation.

@Buba Understand this is only an internet forum so don't take anything said here as being professional advise. If you think you may need professional advise please see a professional.

That's the ego!!!

@Buba Dark night of the soul is only a label for the fear that the imaginary ego creates. Both are illusions. When you say "I start to disappear" what you are really refering to is trancending the illusion of the ego. Happiness is also an illusion of the ego. There is only truth-liberation from the illusion that ego creates.

@Buba Yes to some extent but not usually to this degree or for this long. And you say it happens after only 8 min. of meditation.

@Buba Sounds like you could have latent fears hidden in your subconscious. Have you ever considered seeing a hypnotist?

@Manohar Sourcing drugs is against forum guidelines. Please read the guidelines!

Try floating outside yourself and watching all that happens. This is the method I recently found to be useful. I'm still exploring it so it's not happening 24/7 but in a way it feels like an OBE when it does. The body/mind is silently wittnessed and there is no attachment to it. No judgment.

It can be. Nisargadatta may have answered "whatever arises within consciousness is a paradigm". He wasn't in huge favor of "states". According to him non-duality is a state. So that could be seen as a paradigm. Absolute truth is no Knowing. When the "I am" has gone into oblivion all that remains is the absolute. Listen to what is said in the first 2 mins.

@StephenK That answers it and it makes perfect sense. I too had the same realization of toddler vs. adult.