zazed

@Dodo Exactly, this is precisely the issue here. She couldn't handle the truth for a fact This is someone without any knowledge at all, who just does some meditation and uncovers these issues. What is this person to do, how is the woman supposed to make sense of these emerging issues so suddenly? Before she was buried in work, never stopping, never slowing down, no time to worry or think, going on full-auto. She wakes up, and finds reality waiting for her, and she has no skills to deal. Isn't it kinda logical? People are not born all knowing, when suddenly confronted we must make the best of it. It's why meditation on it's own, is rarely the full solution. It's only half of the story imho. Perhaps reading some of the philosophy of these theosophy's that promote meditation, is a better starting point?

Mindfulness is a powerful technique that can have serious impact on one's mind. It's like giving someone who is being robbed a loaded shotgun to help deter the robber. Perhaps your aim will be true, and the robber is dead, or you just destroyed your new flatscreen tv. First, one should study self-discipline and cultivate it. Cultivate positive and constructive thinking. The mind is still a tool to be used. In this way, Mindfulness requires knowledge of the Four Noble Truths, first and foremost. These truth's are the aim of the shotgun. When confronted with pain during the meditation, these truths help guide the way trough those pains. The eight-fold path shows the way. These teachings are not dogma or religion, but they are psychology, and guidance. Mindfulness can awaken past experiences or trauma. It can put into focus issues in day to day life, such as shyness, perfectionism, or all other kinds of stuff. Because surely, Mindfulness heightens perception and awareness. But if there is no understanding of the 4 truths, the mind does not know how to deal with it. Offcourse, you can fully surrender, skip the mind entirely, and become enlightened. Or perhaps you are already quite centered as a person, and such "big troubles", simply don't exist. Then mindfulness is unlikely to expose deeply rooted problems. YMMV

I tend to experience a similar thing. I seemed to fluctuate between no-mind meditative states, and feelings of self-doubt and of emptiness, i was questioning the value of existence. Recently i have taken a more firm hand in my psyche, and started watching motivational video's, reading about confidence building techniques. From this i concluded three things: Ideally i would be bliss 24/7 and not need motivational confidence building techniques building up the self in between moments of no-mind is preferable to the alternative (depression) Watching the mind and steering it by rejecting doubt, increasing confidence and strength, takes a form of mindfulness For me, just watching it without intervention, was spiraling me into depression in my daily life. This did not impact my meditation rly. I am curious to learn how others view this, am i going backwards or forwards in my spiritual practice, by keeping my mind in check? A small addendum: I was not bothered by my lack of motivation, or my feelings of emptiness emotionally. It was all perfectly fine for me. The issue was, it was impacting my work, my social life. I was not really living anymore, i was just mindful and passive all the time. I could find no reason to do anything anymore, other than striving for enlightenment.

This video, although a bit cheesy, goes about the power of awarenes without intending it Especially the end, shows the kind of "power" or "control" awareness enables. It's the video i talked about earlier. But i warn you, it's super cheesy, i usually would not watch this kinda stuff.

@Dodo this is true

@John Iverson You are most definitively a wonderful person! You don't need to do anything to be valuable, you are perfect as you are. You can only do what you think is right. And even then, what you do or think doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, and it certainly matters even less what other people think. Still, it is human nature to want to feel "valued", purpose is often defined by the acceptance of your ideas and views. Respect is given as a currency by others, or rather, more often withheld. As Nahm says you are focused on rejection. This is because we are biologically inclined to strive for acceptance by the group. You are normal in this way. It's totally not about the content of your ideas or interactions anymore. Its a deeper issue. Ask yourself, why did you cry, what causes the pain? And you will most likely find, you are unhappy with the response/reaction you get from your fellow humans. It's about being loved/wanted/accepted. You expect more, you want them to appload you, tell you how insightful you are. In this way, you are giving their opinions the power to create inside your head feelings of sorrow. When in fact, they don't intend to do this, and don't place the same weight/value upon the idea's as you do. Likely, they don't even care about it at all. You are sad, because the unacceptance gives you the feeling of failure, of being worthless even. You are attaching the value of your self to the opinions of other people. You don't need their acceptance to be you, you are always you, and you are perfect and exactly what you need to be at this moment! perhaps watch this?

wonderful, thank you for sharing!

@ThirdEyeSees Thank you for your insights, it was very helpful for me!

@ThirdEyeSees Thank you for sharing. It seems you have walked quite a path already, trough the hardship of life. It's very similar to my own life story it seems, i've quit weed a couple of months ago and it has been quite the experience these past months. I feel sometimes like i've deconstructed my "identity", by reading about all sorts of spiritual things making me wonder what/who i am at times. It's definitively an ongoing process For me, in most spiritual practices, i've found it is certainly possible to have experiences of bliss and rapture like sensations when i'm "working on it". But it is when out in the world in daily life, at work, or interacting with people, that i quickly lose most of it. That is why i was interested in your experience with kundalini that stays with you for longer periods, or the entire day even. How do you suggest i could try it out for myself, what is a good place to start to cultivate or even "master" it? I do have strange sensations around my belly and heart at times, that feel sort of like what you describe. I also have something that feels a lot like the orgasmic head feeling you describe. But when life's demands call me to "reality" it all quickly fades for me. Leaving it to have little impact on my daily life, aside from perhaps stress-relief and a good time in between the rest of my "harder life" I'm not skeptical at all, more than perhaps looking for "help" on how to do it myself?

@ThirdEyeSees Honest question, since you have the experience i would like to learn more from you? What is the benefit of the kundalini? Does it improve your quality of life? Is it just an enjoyable feeling, or does impact other facets of your life. Does it change the way you act, does it impact your personality in any way. Does it change how you see others. Regarding the third eye visions, do they have benefit, does it help you, or is it just "fun to see rain during sunshine"? How does it relate to enlightenment, is it a prerequesite for it, a result of it, or not much related to it. I don't want to come across as a skeptic here, i really want your insights/answers on some of these questions that pop up with me.

Its hard to know another persons's reasons or motivations. He may really believe the human experience is "meaningless", in this case especially his celebrity status, and these high society get-togethers. From such a perspective, shocking these "famous/important" people, some of them likely narcissistic, may be a self-liberating and fun thing to do. From such a perspective, these actions are risk free, without consequence. Because there are no consequences left to have. If life is really such a "game", and the individual personal life is not perceived as important, why should he not i ask you? There are around 16 waking hours a day for most people. Should one just sit 16h a day and wait to die? Meditation is one thing to do, but meditating 16hours a day get's old fast. What else is there to waste these 16 "meaningless" hours on? Even an enlightened Buddha, has these 16hours that are happening one way or another, followed by about 8 hours of sleep. A Buddha could undoubtedly sit 16h, no sweat, but history has proven they did not. @Heart of Space I don't think he is like these Christians pushing his idea's. Because this approach is destined to fail, and guaranteed to make people think he is crazy. So either he is really crazy, or he just does not give a flying fuck what people think and is just entertaining himself. (which can be considered being crazy, depending on who you ask) Worst case, it is slightly zen-devil like behavior, liberated morally and thus lacking restraint.

one does not become enlightened. Enlightenment is not an experience, instead it is experience. You can never be alone, but you can be the experience of "being alone", the awareness of it. It does not change experience itself, the awareness just goes on. The body/mind is maybe alone or afraid, but the experience is just experience, it does not care if you are alone and whether that can be considered good or bad by some. Enlightenment never was about gaining something, or reaching for, nor learning something. It is about letting go, and allowing the simple experience of life to remain. Because essentially, that is all there is, our "essential being" or "enlightened self" just is. Our existence is not the human idea's/morality/feelings/body, but it is that "capacity for life" deep within us, our soul perhaps, that is aware of all these things. This experience or awareness we actually are, just exists, like a witness looking at it: It exists in war-zones existing aware of pure horror it exists in utmost bliss at the happiest experiences in human life, it cannot be escaped from, it cannot be turned of. It cannot be chosen to be believed in, or searched for, you are always "enlightened" It is there when you dream, and when you wake up. It is always there and always has been. It is the alpha and omega It is where time moves through, unchanged as the sun sets, and as it rises, always constant. It is unchanged by time. it never changes, whether you are dying of cancer, lost your legs, or just cut your hair, it is always exactly the same. Always there to experience more. If you have a mental disease you are experience as true self if you get Alzheimer, experience continues unchanged (only the body input has changed) If you become blind, experience continues unchanged (only the body input has changed) if you become deaf, experience continues unchanged (only the body input has changed) If you are an animal, you are experience as true self Perhaps even plants and trees have an "aware" inner self somehow, aware of certain chemical signalings. It will experience everything you throw at it, even an atomic bomb, it does not matter what, but it will just experience it without judgement, without reason. Perhaps even after death it may continue, i don't really know about this now In my humble opinion, if you let go and dwell in it (meditating), feelings of "undirected love" start to emerge. But whatever feeling we experience is not us, it is a gift from the body perhaps when it is released from the burden of self? And there is really nothing there, no time, no worries, just the experience of life at that simple moment, which seems to feel "good" unless you are in physical pain perhaps. (but i don't meditate with physical pain) But most of us think, most of the time, we are a human, with a body, and desires/dreams, with a future and also a past. And so the "thing" that is aware of the human is forgotten, the mind takes control of our life, and as human we live. sometimes dreaming, the human is forgotten, or takes different form, and we still experience it, our true self "experience" is there to witness. Those who forgot about enlightenment are actually more correct. If you meditate without goal, just being calm. You are being, you are enlightened. Perhaps you may not fully understand all the implications of it, and as such it is fleeting and temporary. But many and most can manage such brief periods of turning off the body-identification and being pure experience. It's not sexy, it's not revolutionary, it seems like a simple mind trick, or semantics. So you read all these fancy things about it, cause that sells off-course. But the simplicity is huge in its depth.

Mind Cannot Understand Eternity Watch from this position i linked at least

It depends on why do you meditate? Just for relaxation like many people these days (which is fine), or for actual spiritual insights and enlightenment. There is study in books and writing, or listening to masters. Learning about enlightenment by words, trying to understand concepts of many religions and the guidance of people who went before. This is not bad, but it can only get you to the doorstep. After a years of this you start to get frustrated and think : "this is just more of the same, i already know all of this conceptually for years and years". And you put down the book you are reading, realizing there are no more answers to be found in human knowledge for you. Having read it all. Then there is study of existence itself, of what the fabric of reality is made up, of what enlightenment actually is. You cannot learn about this in books, nobody can teach this to you. So you meditate and you look for it in your own experience of life. Many things can be found by looking at "what is". Once you have truly found it, time of meditation is irrelevant. This is the actual work, we should have been doing from the start, instead of reading so much. It's like asking. If i'm learning to play the piano, what is the difference between practicing 1hour, or 2hours. There is no difference, but you experience more the more you do it. Meditation is special in once aspect. If your mind is unusually troubled. The first hour of meditation may be "wasted" just calming the mind. If that is the case, first go for a walk, or do something relaxing to quiet the mind, then meditate when you are already calm to go deeper.

When you ask this question, you actually are identifying with your brain. Because who is asking the question, is your brain, it is just thoughts. So the you who you referring to in this post, is your brain, or your thoughts. But it is not really who you are. If you were not your brain, you would be fully awakened already. @Socrates said pointed it out simply but powerfully. Your thoughts, are just one of many things in the your true self's experience.

It's a good question, and i had the same question when i went vegetarian/vegan, and whey is actually not that unhealthy as far as i found. It's not a typical animal protein in that regard. Even the china studies and such, that say casein is bad and can cause cancer, don't really apply to whey, which is free of casein. Also interesting to note is "The protein in cow's milk is 20% whey protein and 80% casein protein, whereas the protein in human milk is 60% whey and 40% casein". For me this implies whey is actually more suited for humans since human milk has a lot more whey in it. But that is just my bro-science, which proves nothing. Whey protein is also a waste-product of the cheese industries, so its a bit more ecological than eating actual meats/milk https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whey_protein It can even prevent cancer some statistics show (which may mean nothing at all): That's not to say pea protein is bad http://www.today.com/health/pea-protein-it-new-soy-t10501. From a pure health perspective it may perhaps be the safer more certain choice. But... the amino acids are be a bit incomplete, so if muscle gain is your primary goal, whey will be undisputed king i'm afraid. In the end, i think it doesn't matter that much. And training will overcome the little difference between whey/pea protein. You could buy some vegetarian BCAA's, if you want to keep going vegan, and have similar benefits as from whey. Since the BCAA's is mostly what is missing in vegetarian diets/powders. The only reason I switched back to whey from Soy protein, is because there was a specific blend that contained extra L-glutamine, creatine, HMB, dextrose, oats, together with the whey, that was ideal for me for a post cardio workout, mainly because of the carbs, glutamine and creatine. And i'd rather not have all those different bags lying around, having to mix them. It also ended up being cheaper also premade. If i could buy it with soy or pea, i really would. Since I eat vegan for health reasons mostly, it was also a good way to get quality proteins in me easily, although i lose my 100% vegan badge Also, now i'm hungry for pea soup

@Shanmugam I agree with that interpretation of bliss. What i wanted to point out, is that bliss is considered a pleasurable emotion by most people. Most people seek enlightenment to gain something, such as the pleasure to be released from their suffering. This desire in itself is in conflict with gaining enlightenment. If the desire to gain bliss is the driver for a seekers practices, then enlightenment will never be found. It is the ego that desires. If you define bliss as something that just is, without looking forward to it. Then you are rare and already outside the trap of it. Yes, but the ego is not just a part of you. It is what most of us are fully and completely, at least in my experience. Its not that we are the ego in actuality, but it's all we know we are until we go deeper and let go of it. There is no problem at all, you are right about that, but only if you are already enlightened. If not, then the ego will cling to it as a desirable outcome. This is the trap of seeking enlightenment to gain something, when in actuality it is more an act of letting go and accepting life. Bliss is just something desirable for most normal human behinds, something they want and are striving for. Because of this i warn against it. It is my opinion, that focusing on desirable outcomes of enlightenment is dangerous, and beside the point. Because bliss has no meaning or purpose for an enlightenment person, it has no value at all. It's like showing a picture to someone who is blind. It's like asking the day of the week to a goldfish. Also i have lots of respect for your traditions. Tho i must admit, i do not know all of your religion in detail, as it is complex and vast So please forgive me, if i put my western spin on some insights, but is another perspective not worth wile at times?

I also enjoyed Ramana Maharshi's writings. And this quote of you is exactly why it doesn't lead to eternal bliss. Bliss as we consider it, is an emotion. With the cessation of duality, who is there left to feel the emotion of bliss? What remains to even care about feeling bliss? Why is it even important to feel this pleasant bliss? And what are pleasant feelings even? It is just semantics and bickering when people say there is no bliss, so you are right in a way. But it is in reality totally beside the point. In actuality, bliss is a mundane idea of the human brain. The enlightened one is above bliss even, so it is irrelevant to him. His state is unfathomable and beyond words or any comprehension of both of us now. And yet extremely simple and non-special in its non dual reality. When there is no duality, what is there? Who/what am i really? Is bliss not an emotion to desire, am i that desire, or that emotion itself? And if i am experiencing and enjoying bliss, there is bliss and there is me, so there is again duality? If there is no duality, then yes, i am bliss. but i am also hate. i am love. i am pain. i am joy. i am green, black, blue and orange. I am high and i am low. i am sound and i am light. i am thought and i am speech. I am you and i am this one. I am all the things, for if i was not all the things, then there is me and the separate thing. Two things is duality, and there is no duality, so they say. This is why it is irrelevant to think it leads to eternal bliss, its a trap of the mind/brain, a limitation to let go. Its not that you are wrong, its just not the right question to ask perhaps? But what do i know.. I am talking about non-duality, this creates duality, because there is non-duality, and there is my talking about non-duality?!

Do it as fast as you can take it. I suppose you won't be used to eating more, just do what comes natural, trying to up your intake. I'm not a fun of extreme diets. One rule you should follow, no simple sugars, meaning no soda, and nothing prepared with plain sugar. Carbohydrates are fine in small amounts, and its almost impossible to avoid. Eat healthy carbs, like potato's, carrots, dark grains. Quinoa is a super food containing carbs and a full protein profile. And offcourse eat protein. For weight lifting 15%carbs 30%fats and 55%protein in amount of calories is best in my experience. If you are unsure buy a scale, i weigh all my food. Especially weigh the carbs. Protein can be eyeballed, to much isn't that bad, to little perhaps is. You should feel energized, like you can take on the world, if you eat properly. If you eat carbs, eat them after exercise, as then they will contribute most to muscle gains, together with protein. Insulin is mostly known from diabetics, but it is actually a muscle building hormone pulling nutrients into your muscle cells. So some carbs are not bad after training, as carbs spike insulin in your bloodstream. However, this is only beneficial after exercise If you want knowledge, find reputable sources with real science, such as the above. But it may be less easy to comprehend. Be careful of fad diets that have bad statistics. Don't be too scared of carbs, it's more about quality and timing than total abstinence (after workouts, in the morning after waking up, dark only).

Eating only 1000cals is rarely a healthy diet. It will put you in a state of catabolism, where your body will consume your muscles during and after you workout. You will have to much cortisol, which destroys muscles. You will have reduced HGH, and HGH increases muscle growth. Basically you will be in starvation mode. In starvation mode, your body likes storing anything it can as fat, while quickly burning all your muscle to conserve energy. It does this because maintaining muscles requires calories, heavy muscles burn energy even at rest. your body will try to live as long as possible this way, so the muscles have to go first. So you will be fighting against yourself, unable to gain any muscles or any meaningful physique, as your body will be constantly cannibalizing its own muscles for energy. If gains are your goal, this will not be helpful. For gaining muscle, you want to be in an anabolic state always, which means you have to eat slightly more than you actually need. An anabolic state reduces cortisol, and boosts Human Growth Hormone, making muscle gains a lot faster. As well as reducing recovery times. Perhaps if you are terribly overweight it might be good. But, you weigh 140pounds, which is like a featherweight (63kg). If you want to bulk up, you should eat up to 3000calories a day to gain muscle. I know bodybuilders, been at it for years, and they eat up to 4000cals a day to sustain their exercise levels and muscle mass. It is a common tactic to eat less carbs. In which case you should eat more fats. You need to be able to burn something, and protein is a poor fuel. Personally, for gaining muscle i think 15%carbs 30%fats and 55%protein would be more helpful. For heavy cardio i would do 30%carbs, 30%fats and 40%protein. Muscle glycogen stores need replenishing after intense cardio sessions, which fats/proteins won't be good for. If i go cycling for example, i can burn up to 3000calories in one session. I become a fat/carb burning machine, that needs lots of fuel to survive this intensity. With your diet i would just die What are your goals, i'm kinda confused. Since you are not fat or overweight at all? Are you trying to get more muscle, are you going for long cardio sessions, are you just looking to maintain? Before giving any advise, it is better to know what your goals are, because ultimately your goals decide your diet.

I approve of your edit! Why would you like to disprove or approve any of your thoughts? Who is aware of thinking, who perceives stuck, why is it important and to whom?

The path has made me more social if anything. Now whenever my family or friends asks me for help, i will try to do what i can. I do this because i have nothing better to do really, how could i refuse a cry for help and instead sit and meditate? That would be ironic really... Because of this, i have unintentionally become more social. I was never the most social person. And at first the idea of the being a hermit sage was appealing. Finding comfort in solitude and avoiding people. It meant i was doing great things, in my comfort zone, in this way it stroked my big ego. But what i was actually was doing, was hiding from my discomfort of social situations. Hiding from what you dislike is never going to bring enlightenment, it is just escapism and self-gratifying behavior really. Once i came to realize this was the cold hard truth, enlightenment actually came a lot closer to me...

What is reality from the human perspective? Is it not just the 5 senses plus thought. Sight, smell, touch, hearing, smelling. It all comes trough the body. Something is aware of all of this. Consciousness is aware of this experience. But this experience is certainly not absolute. Is it real, but only to this specific body. Also, humanity is not special. The universe is very large, the earth is smaller than a microbe in the desert. Do we exist for a purpose, or is it just a random event? Some say the chances of a habitable world, with a moon, orbiting at the right distance around the sun, are so infinitely small, there must be a reason or creator. I say, if those are the requirements for life to grow, the chance that intelligent life will experience those exact conditions is a 100%, because otherwise it wouldn't be alive to experience it. Isn't it all just being, isn't being just rolling dice, for billions of years across vast distances. And yet, here we are, somehow. Some say this universe is created by consciousness, and as there is awareness of it, more of it is created somehow? Like consciousness dreaming up the universe. I think that is possible, maybe. But does it matter? Is it important to know such things, will it give enlightenment really to know this? It doesn't mean much either way, when all you can do is be. Isn't this all just creating duality, trying to use the human brain to understand what you are, when you already are what you are? You can struggle and fight and inquire into "what is" as a human-mind, or you can be what is. Do you care about all the specific workings of your car and the chemistry of the concrete road you are driving on, when you are driving somewhere? "Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water."

@Principium Nexus That it is. “Why are you unhappy? Because 99.9 percent of everything you think, and of everything you do, is for yourself—and there isn’t one.” ― Wei Wu Wei “Play your part in the comedy, but don't identify yourself with your role.” ― Wei Wu Wei

@Principium Nexus Yes exactly, most people think they are their thoughts. so their thoughts are very important. They think many things, and need to act on these thoughts. They think they need a girlfriend, they think they need to have vacation, they think they need unhealthy tasty food, they think they need alcohol or drugs as a distraction, they think they need to meditate, they think they need to be enlightened to be happy, they think they need many friends, they think they need less friends, they think they need all these things. And these thoughts usually win, like you cannot just think you want something and let it just be a thought. It really has to happen for most people. Like they have no choice, it's who they are, they thought it, so it must be true. If you are thirsty or hungry, even that is a thought. One you should usually act on, but also one that can show you how powerful such thoughts can become. They can become so strong, so unbearable, that eating is inevitable, unless you already have reached enlightenment. I think this may be why fasting has been used to reach enlightenment, because it creates unbearable thoughts to learn to accept. If you realize your thoughts are not you, that they are not even your thoughts, because you have no thoughts. Basically you realize that they are just thoughts. They lose a lot of power. Especially these circular thoughts about who we are, and what value we have in society, are just bullshit. They are unrequired and they just make us terribly unhappy. And trying to stop thinking is even worse, because then you are unhappy because you are unable to stop thinking. Whatever you do with your thoughts, it will fuck you up. Because in the end, it all strengthens the illusion of being a separate self, the ego. In reality, your thoughts are not you, they just come and go. But to fight them, is just thoughts fighting thoughts. It's again being hijacked by them.