ajasatya

@quantum hello. your sincerity deserves contemplation. you're doing the real work. the work that "spiritual" people usually avoid. watch closely. can you connect with the suffering your father was going through when he did those things to you? the experience you're having is a call to break that cycle. love and forgiveness is the only way. cry as much as you need. grind it out. grind it all out.

@jjer94 your text is orgasmic.

@Andrew do it. you're going to die eventually so what'd be the point to live the kind of life that you don't even enjoy fully? my advice is: find a spiritual practice you can maintain naturally. i'd recommend zen with a sangha that practices zazen. also yoga and healthy nutrition. maybe it's not about life purpose. maybe it's about finally stopping everything and living what you really are. the life purpose should come out of it as a consequence among many others.

@John meditate with semi-closed eyes on a not-so-dark and not-so-bright environment. here you go.

and somehow both of you look alike hahahaha!

@Donald it's when you observe a thought without judging it. without creating more thoughts about thoughts. your mind remains focused, your mouth remains silent, your body remains still. this is zazen.

@Donald yes, "still" as in "stillness", "quietude" or "silence"

@sgn if you try to sell meditation with makyo, you're doing a tremendous harm. give them the challenges they need to overcome instead. during the practice of meditation, the person needs to sit still even though he's watching the thoughts that he's been running from his entire life. meditation is a tool to disorient the ego with artificially generated crisis.

@Mr Lenny the purpose of self-inquiry is to let your ignorance flow into your heart. surrender completely. this ego vulnerability, if done properly, is a breach through which Reality will flood your sense of being with Love. as maharshi himself said, it's not about getting an answer, it's about dissolving the questioner.

@Frogfucius @Martin123 it's about unconditional love and compassion. it's always about valuing the human being over words or points of views. and @Shane Roberts , it's also about growing up out of the dependence of external approval and sexual satisfaction. for god's sake, this freestyle spirituality requires maturity and a huge sense of knowing why we're here. if we cannot access that just yet, we're better of committing to a single method. i'd recommend zen practice. ALL of it. the noble eightfold path, the five precepts etc. this is a forum for consciousness expansion and we're having a hard time trying to help a human being who's having a hard time on his path because we're stumbling on our own intellectual penis. where is our practice?

this is why the buddhas emphasize the third jewel: the sangha. the first jewel is the buddha, which means your very own potential for complete enlightenment. the second jewel is the dharma, which is another word for the truth about what you really are. then, the third jewel is the sangha, which is the community of practitioners, so you don't fall back into the old patterns ruled by ignorance. you need to learn how to get along truth seekers in real life. this forum is just a tool. do whatever it takes and be serious about your own life and true happiness.

what is it that wants to know? what is it that is curious? if you can't feel these questions yet, dedicate more time to meditation.

if you want to know the truth to be a better person or to run away from your personal problems, you'll be crushed. i recommend a meditation routine and some advaita study first. after a few years, MAYBE you'll be ready for it.

you'll be ready for a relationship when you realize that you don't need one.

@Visionary as dogen zenji said, realization and practice are the same thing. the best way to avoid language is by practicing enlightenment. zazen is solid and straightforward. if you practice with proper effort, your mind-body experience will embody the enlightened conditioning. as a very tangible result, you'll be able to silence your mind almost anytime you want. it takes you into a deep state of peace and compassion.

@Elahe feel free to throw yourself into new groups of people. personally, i like kundalini yoga practitioners because they're super healthy. in the USA there's this big event called Sat Nam Festival, for instance.

@Peace and Love i'm going to answer from my own experience learn how to be 100% happy alone and build solidity on that state don't demand anything from others know that people only hurt others because they're suffering be able to love everyone. EVERYONE. not just your intimate lover learn how to satisfy yourself WHILE satisfying the other person sexually don't quit things you enjoy doing alone even on a LTR, know and feel that you'd be just fine if it doesn't work

i simply feel what i read

@jennywise oh wow, i could almost feel your anxiety while reading your text. i've been where you are so i'm going to say what i did and why. i noticed that i had been building my own cage somehow. i couldn't see it. it just felt extremely claustrophobic. i had had tough moments before and everytime they came i tried to meditate but it didn't go quite well. but this time it was different... the suffering i was going through was too heavy for me. i couldn't handle it so i gave up completely on the ideas i had about life and myself. i finally admitted that i was very ignorant and started to invest time on a journey to comprehend the source of my suffering. i started to study the life of siddhartha gautama (some dude who had this same issue a few years ago), the four noble truths and zen. i joined a meditation group and that was it. i remember going to the zendo (meditation hall) just to cry and cry for the first 3 weeks. but the zen method healed me and i turned my life into a zen practice. it works.

@traffy.law i suggest the historical buddha's advice. just don't take jobs that concern to killing stealing sexual misconduct lies intoxicating drinks and drugs

@Huz i found this method that works for me: read a book while listening to its audiobook. as an example, i recommend the deep experience i had with this book audiobook

@somenathpal don't try to use spiritual teachings to explain reality. nothing can explain reality. not even the most precise equation can explain reality consistently. spiritual teachings serve to push you towards liberation. be truly free. can you let reality be the way it is without justifications or judgments?

@Anna Konstantaki the first set of teachings that really hit me came from a book called nothing special - living zen, written by a female zen master called charlotte joko beck. the teacher doesn't really matter. for me, it's about being able to embody and practice the teaching. this is where the finger pointing to the moon analogy comes from.

@Anna Konstantaki sages have no gender. first step is quitting sexism.

@somenathpal you're still confused, mixing the relative and the absolute perspectives. quit intellectual reasoning. you have to go beyond that. far beyond. do the job. there's no shortcut. zazen takes you straight to IT, but it might take a while. maybe some years. do you want the Truth? i cannot give it to you. nobody can give it to you. no words can express it. the price for the Truth is higher than you may consider.