askdfjnak

Here's a guided meditation that can be very effective at creating an enlightenment experience. It's a bit of a one hit wonder though, so don't waste the opportunity. I found it didn't work for me after my mind knew what was going to happen. Make sure you have 3 hours without interruption and participate in the exercise fully. It would be helpful if you set aside all your previous enlightenment theory/experiences and came at it with a clear, calm open mind. This seems to work for a lot of people, so give it a go.

Yes, because you are creating a false "you" who is then going to "train awareness" onto a moment that has now long since past. This is impossible. There is no past awareness, future awareness, present awareness - this is the mind. Awareness is always now in the absolute sense. Awareness cannot be trained onto moments, it is now. The mind can be trained onto ideas of moments, but no idea of the moment is the moment. It is against awareness that time is experienced. The word "present" doesn't do it justice. It's before the present in a "super" way, not a "past" way. A person/mind cannot grasp the present. But there is the present awareness. I guess this is one of those incommunicable things.

Close, but not entirely correct. The present moment doesn't exist to the mind but it does to awareness. You cannot talk to yourself in the present moment (this is 99% of thinking) but you can definitely be aware of thought in the present moment. If you think about it the only way that it is possible for you to talk to yourself is if each new thought draws meaning from the previous thought i.e. each present thought talks to a past thought. This duality is necessary for "you" to talk to "yourself". This is why the present moment doesn't exist to the mind, because it is caught in this limbo between new and old thought. If you become awareness you shut this process down because you become completely present. Each thought that appears in front of awareness becomes completely inert and meaningless because it cannot draw meaning from previous thoughts. Like one hand clapping. So you cannot "think" (string together many thoughts) in the present but you can watch a thought from the preset. It took me hundreds of hours of meditating to realize this.

Just watched Leo's latest video. I'm definitely addicted to them. I just wanted to add that overcoming addiction is synonymous to overcoming aversion. If you are completely happy doing nothing, you will also be completely happy doing something you would normally hate. For me now: Exercise is no longer an issue. Menial work is no longer an issue. Boring chores or errands are no longer an issue. Varies anxieties are no longer issues. You can judge your progress by your reduction in cravings and your reduction in avoidance of things you know are good for you. Has anyone else noticed this?

@charlie2dogs You're right. But at some point it will be necessary to go beyond self-help. Self-help is about overcoming your limitations, spirituality is about overcoming yourself altogether. They begin the same but eventually there is a fork in the road. @Henri Wow, comprehensive. I'll devote some time to reading it. Thanks.

@TimStr I see what you mean. That's not really what I'm getting at though. Like you say "fully at peace with whatever happens/is happening" means you neither crave or avert. You can kind of glide through it all with an even keel, without having to exercise will power. It can go for things that are "bad" for you too. Like things that induce physical pain. @Henri Interesting, Is there anything I can read about this stuff?

@Ross If you don't get into enlightenment work straight away it can be really useful to practice some pre-spiritual philosophy. Ask yourself questions like: What is thought? What is a belief? What is language? What is success? What is truth? What is right/good or wrong/bad?? What is a purpose? What is desire? What is time? What is reality? Who am I? What makes me, me? If you keep these questions open and you start gathering answers to them from a wide variety of sources your belief structure will stay flexible and you will naturally be more open-minded. This will make things easier later on. Speaking from personal experience (I'm doing this young) it has been BRUTAL, but I can say that nothing can compare to some of the things I have experienced. I once watched a leaf falling from a tree and went into a state of bliss so deep I thought I would actually die.

@Flower The true nature of the "I" is independent of thought. (I think) So, "I" have no idea what the "I" is.

@Dash Us Pain It goes deeper than that man.

For me I think it would be more accurate to say that many things have been taken from me. As my awareness has increased it has become harder and harder to keep doing stupid shit. Things I've "given up": All social status - Friends, Family, Facebook, Facebook Page, YouTube channel. Drinking, weed, TV, porn, most internet content Dropped out of university even though I was doing great Lived on the streets for a few months before moving back in with my parents - I had money for food but I slept outside. Swallowed the acid of truth that Leo spoke about; became completely honest with people. - This was probably the hardest thing I've ever done because I was/am a master of lying. Things I've started doing: Daily sds Got a job as a farm laborer - very humbling work I no longer disagree/argue with people or the world. I'm pretty sure I won't stay on this forum. I already know I'm wasting time lurking here, but I'll give it a fair go.

... are we human, or are we dancer?

This video is HD porn for intellectual masturbation.

@Neill Hahahaha Quote: “My advice is to go out and do really interesting things,” Tegmark said, “so the simulators don’t shut you down.”

@Khin How? I don't know, seeing simply happens. Who would be looking? What would be beginning? What do I have?

I like this. The problem is where he says "as far as possible". This supposes that doubt has a limit, doubt only needs a limit if you intend to continue thought. To obtain perfect truth, one must be perfectly skeptical. Perfect skepticism is silence. Absolute skepticism is an algorithm that produces absolute silence. Human weakness is the tendency to formulate base assumptions and then apply partial skepticism to knowledge and those assumptions, allowing them to create endless strings of thoughts from different combinations of data gathered through sensory input. If a machine wanted to trap a human, all they would have to do is provide stimulus for thought. The human process of thinking to obtain truth would become the trap. I think, therefore there are thoughts. I am, therefore I am. Not as object, but as subject the perceiver can perceive himself. Since all object perceptions are also subject, the perceiver can simultaneously recognize his existence in all that is subjectively perceived, and his non-existence in all that is objectively perceived.

@Khin Looking and thinking are both a means to an end. If the end is myself, there can be no means. I am already here. Looking and thinking are equally useless. Seeing and being is where it's at.

@Spiritjunkie Human Universe by Brian Cox I really love this one.

@Spiritjunkie Human Universe - Brian cox I really like this one.

Do we really need to define ourselves as four elemets? I can't tell if you're trolling or being serious. Touche. Just in case you are being serious: Right on man.

The final jump of my skydiving training is a low altitude solo with an unstable exit. I'm scheduled to jump from 4000ft which means I'm the first out of the plane. Nineteen people board making it a full flight. I'm jammed up against the plastic door facing everybody. Everyone is chatting and getting cosy, most are smiling, others are looking off into the distance. The plane's engine roars as we hurtle down the runway. Through the flimsy door I can see the ground rushing by, a few bumps and we're up. I feel my weight increase as we leave the earth and slowly circle up. After a few minutes a tone sounds, we're at 1000ft and we can take our seat-belts off. I haven't put mine on because it's impossible to reach through all of the legs and bodies to my side. It doesn't matter, I'm pretty sure I'm about to die anyway. My hands are drenched with sweat now, my legs are shaking. 2000ft. Oh god we're going up quickly. My instructor turns to face me and does a final check of my equipment. He guides my shaking hands through the deployment motions. I feel the hacky sack behind me and grip it tightly, I feel the cold steel of my cutaway handle, I feel my reserve handle. This is it. 3000ft. It's time to put on my goggles. I undo my helmet and pull them down over my eyes. I refit my helmet. Everyone starts getting excited now. People are cheering and leaning forward to fist bump me. The pilot waves from his seat and a few girls at the back blow me a kiss. 4000ft. A few seconds pass and another tone sounds. I twist my head to the back of the plane and see the red light has come on. We're a few minutes away from the drop point. Another tone sounds and the amber light turns on. 1 km from the drop. My mind falls quiet, my heart is pumping pure fear through my body. My instructor pulls the door up and a wall of cold air rushes in. There is no more sound, only an ecstasy of gestures. I'm right at the edge of the door with nothing to stabilize myself. I look down. I can still see the fucking cows from this height. My mind stops. Green light. I grip the door and stick my head out into the onslaught of air. I roll out. All fear leaves. I'm tumbling down in perfect silence. Earth, sky, earth, sky, earth. Where am I? Who am I? What is this? What matters? I enter a space I have never known. There is no dialogue, there is no me, there is no future, no past, only now. The cows are getting bigger. My body rights itself and deploys. The parachute slowly opens above me. I drift down. Seconds before touchdown I look down at the ground rushing past me. Brake. Flare. I land on my tippy toes, far away from anything and anyone. The grass whispers in the gentle breeze. Over the fence a grazing cow lifts it's head up to look at me. How absurd this all is. Two weeks later I am standing in a grocery store, the sound of checkout counters and soft jingles are playing behind me. I'm deciding whether to buy ramen or potatoes. I had spent all of my money on skydive tickets. This was the beginning of my spiritual life. 1 year has passed since then. I have moved deeper into myself than i could ever have imagined. I like to mute this video and play the song below to relive free fall.

I'm going on my first 10 day Vipassana retreat in a few days. I am unfamiliar with the technique and the setting. I wanted to know if there is anything I really should consider before going into it. I have read the guidelines and rules. Is there anything else you wish you knew/did before going in?

Couldn't agree more with this. Every moment of my entire life has been important, and continues to be so. From building my ego up to tearing it down, to doing absolutely nothing about anything.

@Kenya This is the best guide to self inquiry I've found. Single most important factor in "my journey".

That is how the Lama do

@Khin What does that mean?