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Yea you really need to stick to one technique per sitting. No harm in doing 20 minutes of Do Nothing and then 15 minutes of Concentration practise straight after one another, or whatever, but don't be swapping every minute! Focus and don't be lazy! Try setting a intention before each meditation. Say to yourself that for the next 20 minutes (or however long you're gonna' meditate for) you will do X technique and describe to yourself the process of the technique, what you are going to do etc, and then commit to it!

@Gabriel Antonio Quality over quantity is very important with meditation. If you’re sitting down for 2.5 hours a day but half of that is lazy, unfocused and unconscious, then personally I would recommend cutting it down. Not saying this is the case for you, but it’s important to realise that there’s no point forcing yourself to do a certain amount unless you’re really really committed to it. With regards to the technique, it could just be a matter of more thorough and focused practise (I don’t know how long you’ve been meditating for), but as Leo said you may want to experiment with a more rigid technique for a few weeks or a month. Just remember that this work is not meant to be easy. It’s nice when it is, but for the most part it’s not. Yes the noting practise is more intensive, but like anything, if you work it into a habit where it becomes just as effortless as Do Nothing then it’s a great alternative. This is what I did. Also, you say you feel like you’re wasting your time with the technique. Realise firstly that this is just the egoic mind creating excuses. See it for what it really is. And secondly remind yourself that the technique does work, and has worked for many many people over thousands of years. As I said, you may just need to put more intentional focus into it - don’t be lazy! As you probably know, for some a technique like Do Nothing comes very naturally and they can make some nice progress in a short space of time. However, for others it can be the complete opposite. Don’t be discouraged by this though. Shinzen Young says that most people’s spiritual development looks like a hockey stick if plotted on a graph. Basically an exponential growth curve. In the beginning it may not appear like your meditation is doing much at all, but there is still spiritual purification occurring deep in the subconscious. It sounds like you’ve got the Do Nothing technique down though. Personally i’d avoid saying things to yourself during the meditation, but if it helps you then go for it. Shinzen also says that if you’re too spacey, Note, and if you’re too racy, then Do Nothing. I know it’s tempting but try not to get attached to your ideas of what meditation might do for you. Keep your practise method-orientated as opposed to goal-orientated, particularly long-term goals. Focus on the quality of each particular sitting, rather than what you might get out of it. This way your not expecting some kind of particular result from your practise, even if it’s just being more present.

It's my favourite book on Leo's booklist by far. It was the first spiritual type book that really clicked with me. I've read it three times over the course of about a year and a half, and every time it's like a completely new book. There's enough information and insight in that book to last a lifetime. If you're doing any form of consciousness work or just spiritual development in general, and you haven't read The Book of Not Knowing, it should be your number 1 priority. Pursuing Consciousness is great too, but focuses more on very very deep personal development work (Ralston calls it transformation).

Anyone want to know whats really going on at the forefront of AI then watch/listen to Ben Goertzel (23:41). He's awesome.

Yes that answered my question perfectly, thank you!

Hello all, I have a question about the Do Nothing technique. When doing the technique, should you be intentionally trying to not go unconscious? Because when I completely let go, and drop all intention, I end up just going completely unconscious and getting lost in my thought stories. So do you make an effort to not let this happen? Do you try to remain aware of your thoughts/mind activity as much as possible, or do you just literally go in with no intention to do anything?

Unless you're super committed to going ALL OUT with enlightenment, then I'd say do both for now. You'll need to find the right balance. Experiment with it.

Ok then, if it's that simple or easy, why don't you or the millions and millions of other spiritual seekers just go ahead and get enlightened? To say that there is no work necessary is completely stupid, and missing the point entirely. Go and ask an accomplished insight meditator if they reached stream entry, let alone enlightenment without doing any work. Maybe you have a spontaneous awakening? Sure thats certainly possible, but so unlikely that theres not much point talking about it. For the average person, 'simply realising something you have forgotten' is not going to happen without massive action and massive effort.

He's such a legend! I always knew he was into his spiritual stuff, but sounds like he may have had an enlightenment experience of some sort.

@Voyager Mildly confident, yes. This was the scale I bought: https://www.amazon.com/American-Weigh-GEMINI-20-Portable-MilliGram/dp/B0012TDNAM/ref=pd_sbs_79_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0012TDNAM&pd_rd_r=ES1H4EFAF6N959H64XR9&pd_rd_w=hz7Bc&pd_rd_wg=mfzNK&psc=1&refRID=ES1H4EFAF6N959H64XR9 The majority of feedback on Amazon says that it does well at 0.000, and I generally trust Amazon reviews. Either way, i'm sure you wouldn't need to spend over $75 for a sufficiently high quality scale.

@Voyager Yes, you need a scale that has 3 digits after the decimal point. I bought my 0.001 gram scale of amazon for like £20/£30...

Shinzen is awesome! If you want some more detailed info on his techniques, I believe this is the most up to date version of the Unified Mindfulness pdf: http://www.shinzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/FiveWaystoKnowYourself_ver1.6.pdf There's quite a wide variety of 'noting' styles and techniques around. Different teachers have different methods, particularly when it comes to what labels are used, how fast you should note, what you should note, etc. Probably one of the most well known noting styles was created by a man called Mahasi Sayadaw. It's very different to Shinzen's. Both have their pros and cons of course.

If you want to get some crazy psychedelic-like effects then try working on getting very high levels of concentration, either by focusing on the breath or some other object (see Leo's concentration video). You can experience all kinds of crazy stuff in the higher samatha jhanas, or concentration stages. If you want to bring up (and then work through) any deep rooted emotional stuff, the higher concentration stages are apparently very effective at doing that. You can also experience some extremely blissful states that are probably far beyond any sort of psychedelic induced body-high. However it's likely you won't be achieving this any time soon, unless you've already done a lot of concentration, or are just naturally good at it. Some diligent practise is all it takes though. Plus concentration meditation is easy-peasy. Just a matter of putting in the hours. Try getting access concentration (the first stage) i.e. staying on your object of meditation for a good 20 minutes without getting lost in thought. Also check out Holotropic Breathwork. It's not so much a meditation, but it apparently induces some mind blowing psychedelic states.

As someone who has studied music technology and is also using Holosync I wouldn't worry too much about the quality of headphones, although there's no harm in buying some really good ones if you've got the money. Just make sure to get some in-ear or over-ear headphones in order to block out as much external noise as possible (i.e. not the normal Apple headphones). If you want to splash out then i'd recommend the Beyerdynamic DT770 Studio headphones (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Beyerdynamic-DT770-Pro-Headphones-Ohm/dp/B0016MNAAI).

You shouldn't be moving your body around during meditation. Small adjustments to correct your posture are ok, but be mindful and don't be doing it constantly. Try to get as comfortable as possible before you start meditating so that you're less likely to want to move about. I'm not really sure what you mean when you say that your body "wants to move around everywhere". If you mean that you want to move around to avoid feeling uncomfortable, pain in the legs or the back, then you should avoid this - except for small adjustments as I said. The important thing is to be mindfull of the sensations of pain or discomfort, feel into them, don't try to get rid of them, observe them in an objective and non-judgmental way. Also be mindfull of the thoughts that arise with the discomfort. Don't be a slave to your mind when you start thinking about wanting to move or get up. Just remain aware and mindfull. The Do Nothing technique is simply about being completely aware of whats going on with your mind, body and other senses, without intentionally doing anything. The main 'rule' is to just drop any intention to do anything, particularly when it comes to thought.

@nightrider1435 Woah sounds like you're making some great progress. What is your daily practise like?

Telling people that becoming enlightened doesn't require any effort is stupid. For 99.99% of people it requires massive effort and massive action. The paradox is that only after a lot of effort do you get to a point where no effort is required. The exception being an Enlightenment Intensive retreat where you have a good chance of having a breakthrough in a matter of days.

@Heart of Space Sounds like you're making some serious progress! It's actually quite inspiring to read comments like yours, so thanks.

@Lenny Realise that "the mind" is just a thought. What actually is this mind that you're talking about? Is it a collection of thoughts? Is it the brain (also a thought). Maybe it's neither of these, but look at whether you're answer is actually something in your direct experience, or whether it's just a thought/idea/concept. How could you be a thought? Is a thought aware of the feeling of your hand? Maybe you think that you 'use' the "mind", but again, what and where is this 'you' that is in control? Maybe the sense of being the 'user', the sense of being the do-er, is also just a thought? Open up to the possibility that your current experience right now is an experience of no-free will.

Beginner's Insight Meditation (Mindfulness) Here is a video of Shinzen that really helped me when I first started doing the 'Noting' Mindfulness technique. Shinzen gives a quick and easy to understand explanation of the technique at 15:15, followed by a guided meditation, and then a demonstration of the labelling at 36:42. As simple as it may be, listening to Shinzen actually verbalise his labelling whilst he's meditating is great, even though it's just for a few seconds. I thought this video would be helpful for those of you starting out. Additional Information If you want to read up on Shinzen's 'Basic Mindfulness' techniques in detail, here is a link to his free PDF: http://www.shinzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/FiveWaystoKnowYourself_ver1.6.pdf This is another very interesting and useful PDF from Shinzen: http://www.shinzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/WhatIsMindfulness_SY_Public_ver1.5.pdf

If anyone has listened to Shinzen's 'Science of Enlightenment' audio book then you'll recognise this guy.

@Mondsee Focus on what is occurring in direct experience, right now. This is the only thing that matters because you have to make a distinction between what is clearly within your awareness and what is actually just belief. You think that you exist, so where are 'you' in your experience? If you say, "well...i'm just here somewhere, I must be!", realise what that literally is - it's a belief which is unsupported by any 'evidence' in experience. I've found that there is a lot of very similar beliefs that need to be questioned. You just think that you exist somewhere amongst the body/mind, but it's really just an unquestioned assumption. You might think that you're the thinker of thoughts, but look carefully and see what your experience really is. Is it true that 'you' are creating the thoughts, or is it just another belief? It may be true that you are indeed the thinker of thoughts, but is that true for you, in your experience, right now?? Probably not - the source of your thoughts is unknown. The point of this process is not to try to 'work out' the question of What Am I? on an intellectual level, but rather come to an experiential understanding that you don't know the answer. You say that, 'the voice quickly came with a ridiculously logical answer', but this is just you trying to work out the question intellectually. When you ask yourself 'Who is aware of this voice inside my head?', look to your experience, rather than coming up with some intellectual response, which is just another meaningless thought, and ultimately just another belief. Without thinking or saying anything, do you know what is aware of the voice inside your head, or the sensations of the body? Hope this helps!

@MochaSlap Personally I think you get more growth from doing a highly focused 30 minutes of noting mindfulness, than an hour of Do Nothing each day. That's not to say the Do Nothing technique is bad but noting mindfulness is so straight to the point and, as Leo said, your a lot less likely to go unconscious. If you've got the time do an hour of both! You can certainly alternate depending on how you feel though. Shinzen Young has a good approach to this. He says: If Do Nothing makes you too spacey, try Noting for a while. If Noting makes you too racy, try Do Nothing for a while.

I just started reading Sacred Knowledge - Psychedlics and Religious Experiences by William A. Richards. He works at the John Hopkins Medical Centre, which i'm sure most of you are familiar with. At the end of the book there is the 6 hour music playlist that is given to the people taking the mushrooms. The Spotify playlist is below. I'm not suggesting that people listen to music whilst taking mushrooms, but thought some of you guys might find it interesting either way. I love how the music choices get increasingly weird and trippy the further on the playlist goes, with an absolute banger of a track to finish it off. Enjoy!

I discovered the other week that semen retention has been a practise of Taoists for potentially thousands of years. "Many Taoist practitioners link the loss of ejaculatory fluids to the loss of vital life force: where excessive fluid loss results in premature aging, disease, and general fatigue". This isn't to say that every man should be doing this, or that they were correct in their beliefs, but they clearly saw some benefits from not ejaculating. They believed that if you have a 'retrograde ejaculation' or non-ejaculatory orgasm, the semen would go up into your head and nourish the brain. Obviously this doesn't happen, but i've no doubt that there are other benefits to nofap. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taoist_sexual_practices