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@Teags I was following Leo's direction in one of his video's when I felt the sense of no-self coming on. At that point I paused the vid and just sat with that. I never expected anything like that to happen though. It was the most powerful thing I ever experienced. And that is exactly what it is, just an experience of no-self that I'm sharing with you. Follow whatever path you find to be true, you will know it when it's right..

@Teags 5 seconds of seeing the truth is worth everything. You say you felt it too. It shakes your ground, so to speak. I did what you describe as getting a good sense of self, putting it into one pile and realizing what an illusion it all really is. I suddenly felt the bottom to my world fall out (the ego/self). I backed off at first b-c it was getting so intense with the no-self. My perception was shifted from my usual experience of "me" doing the perceiving to a feeling of Omni-present awareness. Consciousness was no longer at my body location, but in the surrounding field beyond me. I backed off wondering to myself, "is this O.K. to be doing" ? But that feeling of being Omni-present had a very inviting feeling to it, familiar and welcoming but freaky at the same time. I finally mustered up the nerve and surrendered to that state of no-self. This is where it gets hard to explain. Suddenly it was as if I was no longer in my surroundings but removed to a state of pure blissful emptiness/ pure aware. It felt as if I was witnessing the pure self or soul or Atman that connects us all. You may want to try something the next time you start to experience the sense of no-self, surrendering to it. See what happens. You asked for deep, there you go.

@Toby When we transcend the façade of self, all that remains is pure beautiful empty awareness. It emerges as a state of being that is found only in the present moment. It is what we truly are. What else could be said?

is resting as awareness the next step towards enlightenment? If I could ask, when you had the realization of self being an illusion, did it devastate your sense of "I" or was it more conceptual as an understanding. I guess what I'm asking is, how deep did you go? Did you totally surrender to it?

@Teags What now? Rest as awareness

@abrakamowse That's interesting. It is a classic. I haven't seen my copy for years so I ordered it on ebay this morning. About half the book is illustrations. The whole book is a trip in itself because it takes you out of the mind set of what is "normal" reality. It's one mans journey to India and finding a guru that helped him see through the illusion of himself.

I gotta go with Ram Dass. His book "Be Here Now" was the first I ever read on this subject. It was quite an awakening for that time.

@DizIzMikey I got to the point where my mind finally just imploded in on itself. I had that feeling that either I was losing my mind OR I just "lost" my mind (no-mind). That was just the ego/self realizing it's final demise through seeing the illusion of mind and the game it plays

@Sri McDonald Trump Maharaj Nice! His ego mind got the best of him. Who hasn't been there before? Haha

@Nick5050 Nice start for sure!

You may be right at the breaking point. The ah-ha moment as it's called. The first time experiencing it, I felt like a freaking ghost. Everything I ever related to as being "ME" was suddenly gone.

@Heart of Space When you had the realization, it was a seeing through the illusion of self?

@Heart of Space Listen to this very carefully and you will find the answer to what you really are

This being the case, find a way out. I know that sounds easy but your young. You can make it happen! Look at all your options. Education mostly.

@Heart of Space This is it without all the fancy additives-"Rest as Awareness" What a great message.

I would imagine meditating in a Zen garden would work really nice too.

@HereNowThisMoment Here is something that I find very beneficial and is so effortless and natural. Every chance I get I will sit in nature in a secluded spot. Like the deep woods. Maybe do some meditation to quiet the mind and than just sit quietly. In no time you will totally loose yourself and all that will remain is pure awareness of existence. It's like god is looking through your eyes. It may feel little freaky the first time, like your really letting go of yourself because you vanish as a self being the one doing the looking. Just rest as awareness and let it happen of it's own. It's great.

Koans are questions with no logical answer that are used to break the mind of it always wanting the answer to every question. Like breaking in a wild horse, it finally gets so exhausted it gives up. At some point the mind totally gives up and surrenders causing a gap. Than true progress can be made when the student realizes how futile it is to use the logical thinking mind. Allow pure awareness to be present as much as possible by becoming totally silent. It will consume what has never been true.

What is infinite and boundless is found deep within the stillness of the moment. If you can step back and let there be only pure awareness of one sunset , you realize the awareness of infinite sunsets. Your labels of the conceptual mind break down as in "counting sunsets". Every sunset that has ever been and will ever be is happening within the moment. Everything melts into oneness/emptiness and all the remains is what is boundless and infinite. It opens that door where there no longer exists "this" or "that" or you or any constraints of the mind...

The true self is that which exists beyond our 9-5 self. Sometimes also referred to it as pure being,, atman, soul ect. It seems to an essence of self as just a silent observer to pure awareness that exists beyond personal identification. When the mind and all it's noise is transcended, all that remains is pure awareness/emptiness for all things to arise within. Nothingness is a field that surrounds everything within the moment. This field can be experienced really strong after a deep meditation. Nothingness, pure awareness and existence within this moment are realized as one unified field. Each moment is a still or snapshot that is static. The illusion of time flowing from past to future is stills strung together, one after another like a movie reel that allow for change from one static moment to the next. *I understand that everything explained here is a conceptual framework, but sometimes it has to be digested by the conceptually thinking mind before it can be experienced directly. I do that often. BTW- "Zen Mind, Beginners Mind" is one of the first books I read about Zen. Good choice! "In the beginners mind there exists all possibilities".

@Rahul yadav When I first started meditation, I noticed a humming or ringing in my ears which is normal and most people have but ignore it for the most part. You may be talking about something quite different though. I read once that when the pineal gland is becoming activated, it can give the impression of a humming sound in the head. If that's true or not, I have no idea.

@Leo Gura Wouldn't a deep experience of something much larger than self cause a jump to a higher level? @JustinSThe hippie movement was a mass awaking by a new generation - mother earth, oneness. universal awareness. human rights. love, peace truth. no more wars, expansion of consciousness and so on. It was a sudden awakening to a universal view for a Lot of people who were raised by a self centered and paranoid culture that had no place for an all inclusive holistic view for the benefit of the planet as a whole. Those in the lower tier would not accept the different view that was suddenly emerging by people who realized the "status quo" was very flawed and "unhealthy for children and other living things".

@Atom Well that's nice. You did cry in the moment for a reason.

Just out of curiosity, which one feels right to you as being the most beneficial. @ChimpBrain