UnbornTao

If the person is committed, no matter her genetics, she will get it done. That's the point of commitment. Just more work will likely be required.

Some do it for entire years, so maybe try doing it for longer periods. Also, channel that energy into something constructive/creative like exercise and art. Reading, writing, cooking, exercise, watching TV, meditating, contemplating and doing nothing. Look up dopamine detox.

With a journal. In your mind it's like a pingpong ball that gets stuck and goes nowhere. Expression forces you to keep your contemplations clear and honest. How valid and real a thought is may become evident just by writing it down, making it easier to move on and process it. Ideally, talking out loud is probably the most effective, even if just to yourself.

As a teenager, Ramana was a normal kid. He didn't meditate and was clueless about spirituality. Then, in a matter of minutes, he had a complete, abiding awakening out of the blue. Now you attribute that awakening to special powers, providence, predestined karma or some such. It is uncommon. But that doesn't mean he had special genetics. Isn't your nature and mine the same, so to speak? Then what is "special" about you except the the degree to which you're conscious of the truth?

Validating your claim would go first. What is mind? What is self? What is consciousness? What is the nature or substance of you? What are you made out of, so to speak? What is another? What is life?

Be skeptical, especially if the explanation (chi) comes from a belief system, which it does. Ask him what he's doing. What happens in his experience that presumably allows him to do those things? I can't boil eggs with chi, I use fire.

What about Ramana? Surely not having any (intellectual) knowledge of the possibility of enlightenment would be a huge impediment to realizing it, and yet it happened for him. As far as we know, he was just a normal kid. Then he got profoundly enlightened, and now we attribute him special genetics or powers.

This is similar to saying that skinny individuals are that way exclusively due to genetics. Genetics play an important role, I hear tell, but being fit/healthy mostly relates to lifestyle factors that you can change. Habits then get compounded over decades to create the apparent end result. You're looking for an excuse to load off your responsibility in the matter. "Buddha was born that way." Horseshit. Gotama threw himself into transcending suffering like very few humans have done before, that we know of. It wasn't about his genetics but about being really serious. So I don't think that "having special qualities" is true in this field. The work isn't done without your participation and commitment. That's ultimately what brings results, not genetics, environment or logistics.

Chatting is convenient. It is prevalent. Contemplate instead. Once you have an insight or breakthrough, share it. Before that happens, want to know the truth. Avoid sharing, as best you can, preconceptions, assumptions, extrapolations, opinions, etc. Just be curious.

Emotions come and go, you don't. The relative can't affect the absolute. Consciousness ~~of your true nature~~ can't be touched by anything you experience.

"Spectacular, grandiose, huge" are ~~relative~~ distinctions. What process?

I don't know how they're using the term but literally the first question relates to emotions, which are irrelevant when it comes to enlightenment. There's no way or methodology to verify enlightenment except by becoming conscious yourself. Perhaps another realized human can sense it on another.

Knowing what consciousness is vs exploring altered states: Is that what you're talking about? Seems to me like it is.

First, let's question the validity of such claims. What did he went through? This "ask me anything" attitude is predicated upon false preconceptions -- assuming that enlightenment implies knowing everything. It doesn't. It's being directly conscious of the absolute nature of you, existence, life or another. It's only the beginning. It doesn't tell you what time, self or space are, as examples. OP doesn't clarify what enlightenment is in his experience. He also seems to be coming from a cosmology.

Nobody knows whether genetics have anything to do with "spiritual attainment". Honesty and hard work, on the other hand, do seem to have a correlation with producing insights. Genetics isn't an impediment to enlightenment because it is relative. In the end, what matters is what you become conscious of, not whether it happened on the beach or on the mountain (relative).

Sounds good. Too much rhetoric though. Your description is too dramatic and doesn't sound like it's grounded on experience. Another issue is that you bring up irrelevant stuff when it comes to enlightenment: Why bring up life purpose, meaning, good and evil, shamanism? These are relative matters. That it is beautiful and that many people get convinced doesn't mean it is authentic. To be clear, I'm not denying the possibility that you might have had an enlightenment or insight. If that's the case, you might be confusing the consciousness with what your mind did with it. Only you can know. Coming from a cosmology and referencing external sources doesn't sit right with me. Phrases like "I'm the father, I'm the bodhisattva, I've crossed the stream, holy grail, winning love, true vine" sound like your experience doesn't stand on authentic enlightenment. You seem to want to convince others with rhetoric instead of simply communicating what you went through.

@ThePoint semen retention works relatively quick for me. It's been a couple of weeks at most and I already feel more masculine, deeper voice, stress resilience, etc. Probably because it increases testosterone. Now, I can't say for sure. There may be various factors involved. This is obvious but nevertheless useful to make sure that it is well handled: restful sleep, clean diet, mindfulness, exercise, etc. Start with one small change, if you prefer. Avoid added sugars, caffeine, TV, excessive internet and smartphone use, etc. That will at least free your awareness and time. From that, a course of action will become clearer, imo. But in the end, you need to take action. I stopped using internet and my smartphone for an entire week and that dramatically increased my calmness and sleep quality improved.

The only thing that's true is the truth. So yeah, -isms are false specially because they approach the matter superficially, intellectually. A lot of people want the convenience of just having to choose and adopt a belief system of their liking. Even if the -ism is based on an individual that was authentically realized, it inevitably degrades into dogma as that's what the masses tend to do with any teaching. That said, Buddha's teachings are genuine and profound. They may empower your work in various ways. For me, they're simply inspiring. No need to become a Buddhist (whatever that entails in actuality) in order to benefit from its teachings. Just, you know, kill the Buddha in the end. Which is to say set your so-called "knowledge" aside when contemplating your own experience.

That it is uncommon doesn't imply impossibility. Anyone can become conscious of their nature because what they are is already the case. If you disagree, you're conflating possibility with probability. I guess "should" is irrelevant in that aspect. And meditation seems to me aimed at healing and calming the mind, which of course won't necessarily lead to direct consciousness. For that, we should start thinking in terms of contemplation, in my view.

@Godishere is never late. He arrives precisely when he means to.

@Adamq8 I think you're confusing a self with the nature of Being.

"Alexander the Great found the philosopher looking attentively at a pile of human bones. Diogenes explained, "I am searching for the bones of your father but cannot distinguish them from those of a slave." – Diogenes.

We're born ignorant and with almost nothing. Based on that, my claim is that a genius makes himself one. There certainly are factors beyond one's control. Of course, a supporting environment and a healthy upbringing can assist you in becoming masterful but these things in themselves mean very little when it comes to being a genius. If you think that geniuses had a luxurious upbringing, filled with comfort, excess, and ample free time, take a look at their biographies. From my experience, geniuses are more likely to be made from really painful upbringings.

We're born ignorant and with almost nothing. Geniuses make themselves that way. Certainly, a healthy upbringing and supportive environment can assist one in becoming masterful but these are external factors beyond the individual's control. Take a look at their lives. The ones with painful upbringings are more likely to be geniuses, not the other way around. Trump vs Elon Musk lol Additionally, Da Vinci was homosexual and left-handed in a time when both were socially condemned, plus he had some serious emotional problem/s and a shitty childhood if I recall correctly.

Two intriguing perspectives concerning maturity: Being able to do something that lies outside of one's self-concern, something that doesn't exclusively serve your individuality but something beyond it Being able to do something beneficial for another without her knowing about it