Anirban657

@captainamerica raise I mean.

Hey guys. I live in India and I watch a lot of self-help videos from various self help gurus on YouTube. But I want to meet a self-help guru in person or attend a program or course. I know many of you in India are on this forum. Please tell me some names of self help gurus in India? Thank you for the help!!

@Mirror of Confusion You may go to meet Sri M. He is a real living yogi. His life is remarkable as I read in his autobiography "Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master" by Sri M. I live in India and he is very respected in the Indian spiritual circles. For registration- Satsang Foundation of Sri M Also if possible go to ISKCON,Mayapur (Location- ISKCON Mayapur Mayapur, West Bengal 741302 03472 245 213 https://maps.google.com/?cid=9184718793081552827

@ground Yes I feel like you are saying the right thing.

Please read the article by clicking on the link https://www.swami-krishnananda.org/spiritual.life/spiritual_13.html "What is required is not the length of time of practice, the duration of the hours of our sessions in meditation, but the intensity of the longing—tīvra saṁvegā. As Patanjali Maharishi puts it in one of his sutras, tīvra saṁvegānām āsannaḥ (Yoga Sutras I.21): “It is near to those who are intense in their burning longing for it.” The only qualification of the spiritual seeker is wanting it, mumukshutva. Seek, and you shall find it." Can one go through all these stages in one lifetime? Or is the above quote the only factor that needs to be considered in the spiritual path? Please comment. Thank you!!

Can thoughts directly affect matter? I was enquiring about if existence and non-existence are the same thing and I came to this point and I have no idea what the answer is. Please comment and thank you!!

@Leo GuraWhen will you do an international tour? Please come to India.

@Nahm Wow that's is mind-blowing. Thank you!!

How do I know if perception exists? How do I know if I can perceive? Is it just information that is transmitted to my consciousness or is it real? Please comment and thank you!!

I have recently started inquiry of every belief that I hold true. And I am questioning my beliefs and assumptions. But I am confused about the various degrees of realization and how I can get depeer realizations that may transform my life. So what is the difference between conceptual realisation and a deep reality shattering realisation? Please comment. Thank you!!

@FoxFoxFox What do you mean by "relative world"?

@Nahm Does that mean perception is not real? When I look around I can see, when I touch something I can feel, then I listen I can hear. So how can perception be an illusion? I am confused.

Do thoughts exist? @FoxFoxFox @DrMobius

@marijuanafinder Thank you for the kind words!!

This is related to Leo's blog post on Understanding Psychosis- https://www.actualized.org/insights/understanding-psychosis I had 3 psychotic episodes. I am mentally ill. It started after I started doing meditation. The first episode was after 3 months of 20 minutes of meditation daily. The second episode was after 5 months of the first episode. The third episode was 5 months after the third episode. I had no hallucinations but I was misinterpreting things radically. I thought everybody wanted to kill me. ( Maybe thats because I have a history of being bullied in childhood.) In the first episode I was thinking that God wanted to kill me for all my sins. And I felt a constant terror in my body to the point that I couldn't sleep even holding my parents' hands. I was taken to a psychic who helped me. In the second episode I thought that I was trasported to an alternate reality(I was wrong), I jumped in to a pond to commit suicide, I was unable to sleep for over a week, and I felt like my higher self was being expressed through me. I was taken to the psychiatric hospital but they did not medicate me thinking that I was just pretending because I was in the higher self mode. In the third episode I could not sleep(insomnia which may be caused by my 20 minutes of meditation), I again felt like my higher self was being expressed through me. This time too I was taken to a psychiatric hospital and they medicated me and diagnosed me BPAD with Psychosis and gave me medication. But now whenever I try to meditate now I am unable to do it. I also feel depressed most of the times inspite of 3 anti-psychotics and 2 anti-depressants. I feel headache on the top of my head. Life feels hopeless. As Leo said- "Doctors will often just think of you as crazy and load you up on drugs, making the situation much worse.", Doctors infact think me as crazy and have loaded me up with medicines. When I suggested to the psychologist that they need to fix the root problem which is my childhood trauma of being bullied ,they said I am just depressed and I need to do more activities to overcome my depression. I mean they give no importance to emotional healing. I feel lost when I can't even rely on the professionals. please give your opinions and advice. Thank you!!

@Hellspeed I feel pressure on the top of my head

@daniel695 My family is very caring and loving. They fully support me. Even when I was saying stupid things in my psychosis, they understood me and cared for me. Thank you so much!!

@kieranperez A mood stabilizer for mania, Zoloft, an antipsychotic, an antidepressant. I previously thought I was given 3 antipsychotics and 2 antidepressants but when I check the above were the current medication.

@Benoit Jazy Awesome post. Thank you for sharing your insight. Few months ago I was also into enlightenment but I started learning about it and what I read was similar to what you are saying. Now I am just trying to make my life better and not thinking about enlightenment that much in a desperate way.

@Hellspeed The doctors diagnosed me that I had BPAD with psychosis. The doctor also said that I had anhedonia. The label I think would be "psychosis". On a day to day basis I get headaches(not migraine) and I feel frustration,depressed and social anxiety.

@YellowButterfly Thank you so much for the advice!! As Leo said about journaling,I am journaling to keep my ego under control. I will be fine.

@Tetcher I just focused on my breathe during meditation. And I did not take psychedelics in my life.

@Charlotte Thank you!!

@Leo Gura Thank you so much for everything Leo!!

About the book- He came from nowhere to the sleepy little suburb of Tirumala. He called himself Shunya, the ‘void’. His unusual behaviour evoked varied reactions among the inhabitants. Some considered him a wizard; others thought he was raving mad. Some others were enamoured and thought of him as an avadooth, an enlightened soul, and started worshipping him—they called him Saami. He chose to live in a small hut beside the local toddy shop, where he spun fascinating parables, hugged, kissed, cursed, kicked, drank black tea, and lived in total freedom. On rare occasions, he would play soul-stirring melodies on his old, bamboo-reed flute. Those who happened to hear him swore they had never before been moved so deeply. This is the story of Shunya Saami, the zero-man, and his adventurous life. About the author- Sri M is a living yogi. A spiritual guide, social reformer and educationist, he heads The Satsang Foundation. In 2011, he wrote his memoir, Apprenticed to a Himalayan Master: A Yogi’s Autobiography, which became an instant bestseller. Over the years, his mission has given rise to many initiatives including several schools, the Satsang Swasthya Kendra, which provides affordable health care to people through holistic and comprehensive treatments, and the Manav Ekta Mission and Sarva Dharma Kendra, which promote inter-faith harmony.