RossE

@Nahm LMAO! I know what I'd rather be reading @Leo Gura That's true, I think some spiritual doors will be opened but for most it's just not on their radar.

@Phrae I love these videos Leo does with Peter - I wonder why Leo hasn't promoted the series on here, unless he did and I've missed it. There's some great nuggets in there. @Rebecc I also feel quite lonely on this path a lot. The deeper i go, the less I can discuss any of it with anyone close. The only people who understand it are actualized.org forum members! Just have faith that you will still retain friendships and/or gain new ones who share the same drive for PD and/or spirituality that you do. Have you noticed your relationships with people without this drive weakening over time?

@Reality If you're on the spiritual path then you're questioning everything about yourself and I think psychedelics just takes it to a new level - I wouldn't call it weird in fact if you've been through that shit and come through it, great. Give shrooms another shot and even if it's not a good trip you will be better equipped next time. What is weird is the things that non-spiritual people report on psychedelics. DMT aside, I see videos on YouTube or stories from friends who've done psychedelics and just talk about the colours and all the visual shit. It blows my mind that people can take shrooms and not have a profound experience of any kind - be they terrifying or beautiful. Then I come on actualized.org and I hear about Leo cuddling a bin, bowing to god and worshipping the dirt on his bathroom floor because of its profound existential beauty. To me, that contrast is very weird.

@Reality That's crazy, have you done them again since?

@Nahm My true nature didn't really occur to me - the concept of a thing called Ross just seemed ludicrous. My memories, my habits, my story, my ambitions - all a fiction. My physical body felt like life's puppet.

@Tronds World @John Flores I agree with a lot of these points. Open mindedness can take you far. I also think we take ourselves way, way too seriously. That is, we think the earth and the world depends on us humans. I call BS! I think science as it's currently used is a big stumbling block to truth. It's great for the technological, engineering and medical side of things but the dogma is so strong. My friend asked me about my trip, I told him that this thing I experienced was definitely god, no doubt about it. He then got defensive, said there was no actual proof that God exists, as if I had attacked him. When people put theory over direct experience I think we're in trouble. It's not his fault; just shows how far we put science on a pedastal IMO. It will probably never be able to explain God and in fact tries to do the opposite. Humanity has a long, long way to go.

@Evilwave Heddy I did a little bit, but watched a lot of YouTube videos including Leo's and spoke to some friends about it. By the time I ate them I wasn't worried at all, which I was a little surprised about. I've panicked a little on weed before when my heart started racing! I'd definitely recommend it, the first 30 minutes was a meditator's dream. The rest is just crazy! @aclokay I do occasionally smoke weed, I'd say in my whole life a dozen times, since I started meditating maybe 3/4. I had an enlightenment experience on weed once! I can see what you mean by the enlightening effects, take just the right amount and it calms me down a lot. I'd say doing it occasionally is fine, and maybe helpful. I didn't feel like I lost control, everything felt very, very different though. Give em a try and you'll see @ZeN I'm keen to do them again so you might have some more evidence! I'm wary of not getting cocky though, I can tell that shrooms could ruin me if I fuck about with them.

@Razvan When you awaken, those questions will be wiped away. You'll see the ego for what it is, you'll see life for what it is. Split hairs all you want about who or what sees it, it's definitely possible to go beyond the ego.

I think people are generally quite happy but I propose that they're not as happy as they could be. They're selling themselves short. When I look around at others, and of course myself, at the things that bother us in life, I wonder how much better they'd feel if they just let go of that shit, realising we only have this one chance. PD gives one the opportunity to improve behaviour in regards to hobbies, motivations in life and reaction to external events. Those that do PD know there is a way out of the petty bullshit, and ultimately attachment to the ego. Those who don't do PD don't even know there is a way out, can't even comprehend it. I now realise how much of a mess I was in, how much of a mess I'm still in, and what I can do about it. Even on the days I feel shitty I'm grateful I got this far.

I think you're doing a good thing. After at most a fortnight you won't miss it. It can be useful for practical reasons, like you said you have a group with your friends. Personally the group with my friends is usually just general chit-chat that isn't helpful at all. Ask a friend to keep you updated with the important things and you'll be fine. When I look around now, I see so many people using their phone, not aware they're even using it. They're absorbed in snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, whatever. I think the more people that break the mould, the better.

@Tancrede Pouyat Please do!

@Leo Gura He does say that "10,000 hour meditators" were used in the study but: 1) I think he just uses it as a way of saying "lots and lots and lots of meditation". I'm not sure the 10k can be relied upon quantitatively. 2) I'm fairly sure that he does not say that after 10k hours mental chatter stops, he just says that the people used in the subject didn't have mental chatter at all. So bringing points 1&2 together it may less be considerably less than that! Besides, thoughts only have power if you believe in them. If they have no power then their existence v non-existence doesn't really mean much.

@Leo Gura Have you experienced this Leo?

That's the ego talking.

Eckhart Tolle thinks that we are on the brink of an enlightenment age - to have such a revolution the egoic stage needed to exist. Of course nobody can know for sure but if that is indeed nature's master plan then it explains a lot.

@spicy_pickles It's good you've admitted that for a start, and gained the awareness over the problem. Do you meditate?

I'm interested in your meditation practice @Leo Gura, particularly what you experience during it. You've been at it for 3 years daily now, which is about 6 times longer than I've been doing it! During a session is there much less internal talk? Are you very detached from the events within experience during meditation? Most importantly, have you experienced the exponential results that you (and Shinzen) have said that regular meditation delivers?

@Principium Nexus Very true. Our whole ego structure takes events and adds so much meaning to them and it's crazy to see that. I wasn't attempting to patronise you or suchlike, I just feel it's easy to "come down" from these experiences and attach to them. It's a big reminder for me too!

Yeah I've experienced similar, you're not alone. In the "journey" to come don't fixate on the experience you had though. It's just another arising. You've not gone anywhere or done anything special. That's an interpretation of the situation. If the reality you are experiencing right now is infinite and impersonal then you can't go anywhere can you! This is fucking it. Just start to realise that all the time throughout your day.

I had an experience while high a couple of months ago. It was one of those "this can't be unseen" moments where I became the true self, in a room full of people. I think it was caused more by the fact I was very relaxed and was not thinking about enlightenment or being "spiritual" whatsoever, not the weed itself. I suggest a little bit is good for meditation and contemplation - it definitely makes you more open minded. But if you go in expecting an experience it's not going to happen.

I've been on this path for 4/5 months, had a few experiences, two big ones, but I've still never really taken what I learned and thought about its implications, until yesterday when it hit me. The prospect of enlightenment really just fell on my lap for no good reason. None of my friends or family know of it and where I live I'm fairly certain meditation and non-dual practice is extremely rare. I don't know anyone else that meditates except from a yoga teacher that I know very obscurely. In some ways enlightenment is a terrifying prospect. From what I experienced it's an end to all meaning, all attachment, the realisation that your mind has played so many tricks to prevent you from ever seeing this. It's the end of life as you know it. There is no going back after that. It definitely has its positives - end of all suffering (which I've had a LOT of in my life), a freedom from the braces of the mind to do what you want, an embrace of life which is unparalleled with the egoic state. The end of suffering I experienced is certainly very attractive to me and I imagine most people. In some ways though it is good being ignorant about how meaningless this all is as it gives your life an (albeit false) purpose. I think I could be too far gone to turn back, but right now I'm not sure if I REALLY want enlightenment. I'm not sure if it's something I'm chasing to feel like I've made it or achieved something or if it is a genuine desire to get the benefits and take the huge lifelong hits that come with it. It's like a jump into a never ending hole which you'll never get out of. How do I decide if this really is for me?

@Gabriel Antonio If anything you're toxifying yourself by judging your neighbour's music so much! It's just some music dude, if you don't like it then move away. Calling it low consciousness, toxifying and saying you're being mindful about closing a window (that's quite bizarre really) says nothing about your neighbour's music IMO. The planning part is just a collection of thoughts and images, they'll calm down after more meditation. Just notice you're going along for the ride with them/create separation between the observer and the thoughts.

@J Just do it every day. No excuses. It becomes like brushing your teeth (assuming you do that every day) I started in July and haven't missed a day since. After the first few weeks I felt incredible. Then around September/October time things were not the best - emotions were all over the place, my physical energy was also unpredictable, my mental chatter was also very unpredictable. Now I'm much more stable. Who knows what the next year will bring but I'm in for the journey.

@abrakamowse It's easy to say that on an intellectual level but fully grasping that on a permanent basis is a different ball game. I won't walk around convincing myself that I shouldn't be scared because I don't exist when that's not my experience. I understand what you're pointing at though.

@Martin123 I feel like we are getting off topic here, I could easily say "there is no self-improvement" just to split hairs Through meditation I can see how flimsy the separate self is and all the bullshit thoughts which create it. I also feel a lot better on an average daily basis. I'm happy with that.