Gopackgo

@Dodoster Its the only way I can think to explain the sensation. I have never experienced it prior to meditation. It's not like flexing, It is like it locks on to what it is focusing on, and when I relax, I am meditating all the sudden. The opposite is living life in thoughts, with your head up your ass.

I just wanted to write again how important concentration practice is. Do nothing is a good type of meditation, but the effects of it are muted until you can concentrate effectively. Concentration practice should be the primary concern, because access concentration is the most valuable state, until you realize that it is actually not a state, but who you naturally are. For me, what started as a meditation practice, turned into constant access concentration. You will get to where you can literally feel your brain locking onto an object. An example is when I am in class, my brain latches onto my professors words, and I can feel the unwaivering attachment even when I turn my head, or write something. When I am concentrating and I start relaxing my body and breathing, I immediately go into access concentration. This is so valuable and has really changed my life. What I would recommend is to start every sitting with eyes open and concentrating on breath and an external object. When you reach access concentration, then you can close your eyes with concentration on breath, and you will notice that you have become removed from your thoughts so that you can just watch them. When you start to get good at this, keep doing it, but add in alternating concentration around sensations. Expand your ability to concentrate until you can hold concentration on more sensations constantly. What this does is it shows you how small a portion of awareness is required for thought. It is all about attention. When people begin, they think they are their thoughts because their attention has been so acutely concentrated on their thoughts their entire life, that they think there is nothing else. Basically, when this is done over time, the locus of attention retreats to be more encompassing of all that is going on. This is our natural state, so they returns you will notice will be immeasurable. You will learn that you have no idea what your mind is truly capable of, and that will continue to deepen forever. Throw your attention outside of your body, and you will start to notice how boundless your awareness is. As you incorporate more sensation into your attention, you will see what I am talking about, and you will notice that since breathing is the core concentration, it will become a trigger to push thoughts out of the mind and to be present. Finally, if you do this, you will begin to notice that you can actually feel your brain changing permanently. Don't let this freak you out. This is your mind learning that thoughts are not the only thing occurring in awareness. It will make you more productive and you will be pleasantly surprised at how simple it is to be happy.

@Dodoster lol. I know, that was just the only way I knew to compare. It doesnt have to be pain. I feel it too, and thats what I think it is. Brain changes have to require a lot of blood flow. The brain is such a complex and amazing thing. We Have no clue how it works really despite having studied it extensively. The way to study it is subjectively though. That is the problem with psychology. You cant study the subject from the level of objects. Anyways, I think it is a good thing to have these sensations. I personally feel it 24/7, and have for months. It bothered me a bit at first but then I relaxed into it. Scientists like to use fmri to find associations in the brain, but the problem is that they have no clue what is coming first. Is it the feeling? or is it the brain activity? Its a chicken and the egg scenario, and they really have no clue. The one thing that seems legit is that in monks that meditate their who life, they have substantially thicker cortical mass than a non meditator. Meditation adds mass to the brain. They thought this was impossible not too long ago. They thought neurogenesis (sp?) ended in early development.

It is normal and good. There are no sensation cells in the brain. The only part you feel is the tissues surrounding the brain. When your brain begins to change physically, more blood is directed to the brain and you can feel it. This is why there are headaches. The blood vessels in the brain constrict and the brain pulls back from the inner skull. This causes pain. You are fine. That feeling is actually the natural you. The feeling like there is space above your head is the void. That means your mind is clear. Give it time, eat well and stay hydrated. Your mind is shifting emphasis from the default network to a balanced resting point. Congrats.

Concentration practices are really important. This is why. When you can concentrate and move attention around sensations, It is easy to see that thoughts are such a small portion of everything. It is brain unification and a switch out of the left brain heavy thinking required by society. It really is amazing. It feels like constant meditation.

@Erlend You are the first person I have heard mentioning this. Yes. I feel it constantly. In my face, and it feels like there is a muscle in the middle of my brain and in my frontal lobes. It feels like space, but also similar to muscles. When I watch something that I am interested (related to awakening especially) It feels as though my mind is physically locking on from the back of my brain. It is especially pronounced when I am sitting in class listening to professors with my attention on breathing. I feel like I am meditating pretty much constantly, but in class, it feels like I am in samadhi. I would bet anything that you do some concentration practices. It is crazy and awesome. It is just pure empty space. When you "flex" the muscle by focusing it has the effect of clearing thought. It is a good thing. I am really happy to see that someone else has experienced this.

Leo presents the information as he needs to. He knows his audience: selves. You dont tell a self: "hey, seek enlightenment so you can eventually not exist." He's sneaky like that, but I mean.... here we all are.

There is nothing in liberation for the individual. Any feeling of superiority is illusion. Nothing is added, It is a loss of something. I know what you are talking about though. It's not necessarily competitiveness, but there can be feelings of superiority over others. Generally it points to some kind of external sense of value or a belief. I promise you that any feeling of superiority is matched by an equal feeling of inadequacy. Thats why it exists. Without inadequacy, there would be no reason for needing to feel superior. The question to ask may be along those lines. What is it that is creating the need? Something in the past? Something in the Present? A certain relationship? This is what the self does. It plugs holes by running the other direction to distract. Don't think about it too much though. Anything can arise. The content doesn't change the fact that it is only a thought. It doesn't define you more than any other thought. There is also nothing wrong with the feeling. Be aware of it and it will self-correct.

It is funny that you posted this. I looked up the soliloquy the other day. It is for sure talking about enlightenment.

This video started playing on youtube while I was listening to music. This is one of Leo's best Riffs. It honestly made me laugh out loud but also its so true. This whole video is good, but the most powerful part is at about 48 minutes. I have felt this way a lot with some of my family, but what can you do?

@zazed Good clarification. I mean only that the conceptual knowledge of what you think enlightenment is start to fall away as you realize: "fuck.. I am peaceful.. What was I searching for again?"

Yep. This is right on. Thinking you can control the universe is the illusion. Really you are the universe, so all the knowledge you need is already within you. That's the thing about containing everything: Nothing else is needed.

No one will ever be sure of this stuff. Thats the point. Be sure of nothing because nothing is knowable. How could it not be that way when we will never know what is outside of us? Think about it this way: When there is no self, there is no center for beliefs to occur. Therefore, this is an obvious step to holding no beliefs. Because it is a belief, all of the beliefs about enlightenment also have to fall away. What you are experiencing was the experience here as well. Everything that happens is how it is supposed to happen. I know this because what happens is what happens. Disagreeing with what happens is fighting with reality by definition.

Alternate with concentration practice, but do nothing doesnt mean force nothing to occur. It means exert no effort to stop whats occurring. Vispassana goes in cycles. It's not meant to mean that nothing should be happening, it is meant to mean that something happening is ok and theres no need to stop the flow. What is happening is exactly what you are aiming for. Let yourself feel the feelings. You are making progress.

Remember that you come previous to thoughts. They are arising inside of you. You are thinking that you are thinking, but thinking is just occurring. You can watch them but you will never be only them. It just takes the recognition in a single moment that thoughts are sensations. The thing is that the rational mind wants to box all of this in, but it can't be known. Thinking occurs within being, so how can thinking encapsulate being? Being can be thinking, but thinking cant be being. Being is permanent, thought is impermanent. The mind says all of this is bullshit because it can't understand it.Thought is born in the dream, how can it grasp whats outside the dream? Also, who fucking cares if this is all bullshit. Being happy in the dream is plenty. Or even when you aren't happy in the dream, consider the alternative (not existing). Its not you, it doesn't control you. You also can't control it, but obviously the thoughts are appearing to something. You are what the thoughts appear to. How could it be any other way? You are what gives the thoughts meaning. Also recognize that the thoughts are occuring in the present, and they are really about the future that doesn't exist yet. 1 of 2 things will happen, there will be a recognition that all of this is bullshit, and then it is back to what was before, or you will realize that the thoughts are the self trying to grasp control over what it can't understand. Either way, the thing that is looking is what is giving them meaning. the thoughts don't have meaning by themselves. Either way, the content of the thought isn't the only thing that is happening right now. The thought might be happening, but it is happening now. That is the essence of what is being said. So... are the thoughts you? Or are you what the thoughts are trying to convince because you decide what has meaning? It will pass like every other thought process.

@Shin Very often I laugh out loud at the ridiculous thoughts that run through me. They are outlandish as hell. It's easy when it is seen that the looker precedes thoughts. That feeling that you are talking about that talking is just coming out, that means you are learning that your body works really well without self in it. It actually works better. Funny right? Actually scientists have shown that the self center shuts off when talking occurs. Thats because the body needs you to shut the fuck up so it can get a word in...

@unknownworld Lol. I mean really. Just put on some music, be present, close your eyes and feel that aliveness in your chest and the endless space that you are. Just pure potential for all that occurs. Life is so damn good. Liberation from being the center of the universe is enough in itself. It's so funny that reality complains about fake reality(including the person I thought I was until very recently). Tell someone that they are infinite, and the first thing the mental state does is say: "well there seems to be more infinite infinities than I am." When that thought process releases, there is no center and nothing sticks, there is just being in wonderment that what is is happening. It's incredible, and it is right under your nose.

I actually used this method in the beginning. The length of distance you need to go to get to "enlightenment" is no further than going from believing you are unconscious (a ridiculous assertion) to being aware of being aware. It takes no time. It is always available. If one were to do this throughout the day consciously, then they would be constantly aware. I mean, its not going to bring you psychic powers or anything, but it will remind the self of what is aware. That state is where you enter enlightenment. Everything works itself out from there. The problem is when one can't separate from and disidentify with thoughts. The self is consciousness acting like a self. When this is seen, the rest is just details. When the thoughts arising are not about you, you wont care. Then you will be at peace, and won't need some earth shattering vision of infinity. There is just peace, and whats happening. You already contain everything, so what more is needed to satisfy no one? When people talk about all of their psychic experiences, it is irrelevant to you, its not something to chase for aggrandizement. How can you chase anything when you have no control of what is appearing in you, and who cares if someone has some supernatural power in a dream... It is a dream.

Like soul is saying- The teachers you are asking about have recognized that addiction to spirituality is no different than any other addiction. The problem with a lot of the spirituality message is that it suggests that all of these amazing things which are outside of your experience will all the sudden be given to you if you become enlightened. What that does is creates a feeling in people that what is already in experience isnt whole, so they need to seek out enlightenment to be whole. It is the same cycle of wanting that is behind any addiction. Outside of perception is nothing. Assuming that you need to find what is outside of yourself is assuming that you need to know nothing. It is completely unknowable. Liberation is realizing that what is happening is already whole. It is not about becoming a psychic, or attaining some power that will make a self more special. It is about what is already there recognizing that it already is. It is not about what is already there reaching out into unknowable nothingness and pulling an object back to itself. There is no one there to be improved in the first place. There is what is happening, not what might, could, or should be happening. All of that is the thought process of self, and is an utter illusion. It is what Leo would call a trap. The assumption underlying it is that to be happy, the dream has to be made better with objects that are separate. It's ass backwards, and it is the self trying to fight against not having control.

That realization that if all sensation including thought stopped arising, there is something behind it that contains it all. It is all arising in no-thing.... The funny thing is that it really is very obvious when it is seen. It's fucking amazing. Just a peaceful sea of am-ness that contains everything and is boundless. It is always in the same place, it never runs out of energy, and it doesn't know time. You can be it, but it cant be known. No one knows it, it is recognizing itself. Paul Hedderman puts it well: We are verbs, not nouns.

Anything can arise. ANYTHING. It just happens. There's nothing to give up. The illusion is that what is arising is you. The best thing is that there is no way that you should or shouldn't act, because should or shouldn't is irrelevant to what happens. Thinking otherwise is where judgment enters.

It is good to see people waking up on this forum. Enlightenment is the sum concept of all the teachers pointing to the unknowable. It has taken on a form of its own which invites people to seek it. It is completely contradictory to what the words point to, which is about being what you already are. The need appearing distracts from being. What is appearing in consciousness is not consciousness itself. It can't be. Back up and see the bigger picture. It is about what is, not what will or could be. The reactions to posts, the dreaming about enlightenment, or how you may be able to use it to be happy, are the things that arise in you. They are not you. This message is written with love. Start seeing the thought patterns in terms of structure, not content. Or even better, realize that thoughts aren't going to solve anything, because they are not you. You are not the see-er or the seen, you are seeing itself.

@Annetta Maybe you don't get it. Don't you know that enlightenment is all about psychic powers and transcendental unicorns with rainbow farts? If you level up to lvl 60, you also get a ghost steed. It is funny. There are so many assumptions about what "enlightenment" is, and after you cut through all the bullshit (which really just seems to happen) it is recognized that striving for a concept that is outside of what is already present is so crazy. That is what the self is in its most basic form. Striving after enlightenment is the same as striving after money. Its just different content. It doesn't matter how many crazy experiences you seem to have in the end, because it is seen that nothing outside of what is happening can be known, which makes sense because it is nothing, so knowing it as a separate object is impossible. It also makes sense because the self is knowing which arises as the same unknowing that is everything, which means nothing can be known with certainty. When that is recognized it can be seen that the self is entirely made of unknown claiming to be known. It is a contextual story claiming to assert control over separate objects. People see enlightenment as a separate object that will make them whole, just like anything else. In this case the self just happens to insert a value judgment which makes it ok because it is "spiritual". But no one can control how they approach it, it just happens.

It is so fucking funny. There is no choice. Ironically, the questions you are asking will ultimately lead you to nothing, once they realize that the contradiction being questioned is the crux of the matter. There is no way to say this without being contradictory, so I will just say it: 1) Do you control your thoughts? If not, Is there control over any sensation? 2) If there is no control over any sensation, and they arise out of nothing at complete random, How can nothing ever have choice? If Nothing can't have choice, what is the purpose of the self? Is it an assumption that life must have a meaning to the self (i.e. does what is happening care about thoughts about what is happening.)? IF there was no overarching meaning, and no choice, would whats happening care, or would it continue to just happen as it is? 3) What is nothing. Is it a void, or is it something that is completely unexpressable? Is it an empty space, or is it NOTHING!? 4) Can thought ever know nothing? Can something imagined ever know the nothing outside of itself (where all the unicorns and psychic powers are supposed to exist)? 5) What do you think enlightenment is? Would a good guess be: "never this"? Why is this so unacceptable, and what is it unacceptable to? Things just happen. After things happen, deliberation happens. Deliberation is what is happening after what is happening happens. Either way, there is only what is happening. Have fun working that out. Or not. Whatever happens is what will happen. It is completely unknowable. Also, working at walmart isnt what is happening, which makes it a story. Stories are irrelevant projections. There is no reason to think about it happening because if it happens, that will be what is happening.

Something popped into my head the other day that I wanted to share. I have given no regard to non-duality semantics in this post... Why do you think thoughts are closer to you than physical reality? Isn't reality more fundamental to what you are than thoughts? If you think about it (not to much hopefully) the physical reality one is in is the fundamental experience of existence. It is uncontrollable. You cant choose whether you want to see today, you just wake up, and boom... reality is there. Thoughts are very much secondary. For purposes of this post, I want to imagine they are separate from physical reality. Imagine whats around you as a bubble of what is (as if all of it is being created by your brain or something). This bubble is what is. It always is and the nature of it is unchangeable. Now think of thoughts. Where would they be in the bubble? It seems that they are dependent on what is in a physical reality doesn't it? I mean, without what is, how can you possibly have anything to think about. Is it your experience that there is a physical reality and that the content of thought seem to impose or project what "should" be on them? Does physical reality care what thoughts think it should be, or is it just what it is regardless. It would seem that if physical reality is the fundamental bubble, then thoughts float around the edges. They may be part of reality, but in many ways, they are irrelevant, and often tend to confuse. This raises important questions. If thoughts are obviously not the most fundamental thing to what you are, why do you continue to believe that thoughts are you? If thoughts have no basis on reality, why do you continue to trust them to lead you to what is reality? Look around you. That is reality. That is what is. There is nothing outside of that. Recognize this, and realize that you will never think your way to "enlightenment", you can only be it by being. However, don't for a second think that somehow all the things created by the mind (i.e. every fucking sensation) is separate from you compared to thoughts. It all occurs in the same space. It is all you, and it could not be any other way than it is. Thoughts can do nothing to control what is. What is the self composed of ? Thoughts/beliefs. You can't use the Buddha to seek the Buddha. Thinking occurs in reality, and they occur right now. The more thinking that occurs, the less attention there is on what is for sure happening. Ignore the peanut gallery and just be what you are. This is just a model/story, but I thought it would be helpful maybe.