You could try to slow down and savour the energy behind each concept, word and impression in connection to the material. Maybe give yourself permission to prioritize your relationship with the material over efficiency and productivity.  Make studying a part of your meditation space, rather than an obstacle to awareness. 
Tip: I like to savour the energy in bite sized pieces (entry way being non-detailed thought forms), rather than large chunks. Its easier, especially if its something difficult to be mindful with already. Sounds weird af I know, but it works 99% of the time.

You will go passive for a while.
But then...
After enlightenment, the laundry. Life goes on. Until it doesn't.
Survival will still continue. Infinite intelligence will work through you to keep you alive. As it always has. The only difference will be, you'll be less egotistical in your manner of living. You will need less. You will stop grasping at things so much and just enjoy being.
The irony is, surviving without ego is easier than surviving with ego. You get out of your own way. You let things flow more rather than fighting with life so much. You trust life to just unfold for you. And you stop worrying about death.

I would hugely recommend a book called: The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead by Timothy Leary for anyone taking psychedelics. I've gone through a lot of mushrooms and ayahuasca trips in the past year, and so many things that he talks about in the book are SPOT ON and helps me continue working on this path.

@Charlotte
He’s spot on. There’s no rush. 
Lol. You’re sweeter than apple pie, and I love you, but...don’t compare and equate a panic attack to death of self. It’s way off and lays negative pipes in your connotation. You are an honest seeker, you are not fucking around anymore, you have balls of iron. Panic attack is the polar opposite of death of self. Be without expectations. Master the neutral state, the empty cup. 24/7. Stomach breathing!!!
What will be revealed to you in this part, (the psychedelics practice), is so amazing, so much bigger than the universe, so far beyond “thinking & not thinking” “levels of awareness” - that it simply will not fit in your current conceptual mind. So, don’t bother trying - the outcome will always be a false assumption. 
Every minute of calm peace is building your foundation. It started almost a year ago for you. Thought comes up - concern comes up - perspective that feels less than wonderful ease comes up - you practice the art of breathing and letting go. It is like learning how to use a light saber, which in your near future, your life will depend on. Take it seriously, but don’t be serious about it. 
The phase of ‘what you do’ is coming to it’s organic finale. The ‘what you are’ is coming. You know this. You’ve sensed it for a while Char.  

Are you familiar with work of Oliver Sacks? He connected neurobiology with humanistic approach and wrote many brilliant books. I think you might like them. If you don't have time for reading more books now, you can always check out a movie based on one of his books titled "Awakenings".
He is a very inspiring guy who at some point of his career was taking psychedelic drugs to better understand his patients. His autobiography is of great value if one is searching for a life purpose or inspiration.

Healing goes hand-in-hand with awakening/enlightenment. 
The only true tip i can give is: Breath!,
master the attention on the breath until becomes automatic, until you meditate 24/7 no matter what activity you do. 

Well that happened for me a couple of days ago, and needless to say it was reeeeally something. These tips are written sort of like notes for myself, so don't read these as commands you must follow. This thread is not a "tell us how you did it" thread, because the truth is, there is no method so what's the point. If you really really wanna know it happened trough (in order of importance):
Pure, cosmic dumb luck I was on mushrooms (quite mild trip, could have had a normal convo although it would have not been pleasant at the time) Prolonged daily meditation practise (30-120min per day) Mindfulness (I consider myself a beginner) Self-inquiry (gonna do ALOT more of this in the future) At the time when it happened, I had been meditating and self-inquiring for about 50minutes. Then: BAM! But here are the insights:
 
Forget enlightenment, instead go straight for TRUTH
Leo (among many others) has mentioned this multiple times but I'll mention it again because its CRITICAL. Enlightenment is not true for you (or me atm, I was not awakened permanently) until you have it, until then, forget enlightenment and set you course for truth. Consider enlightenment as another bullshit story until you get it personally. Stop thinkin "Im awareness, Im awareness, Im everything...." This trap is a big one and I was In it for quite some time. Truth and enlightenment are NOT the same thing in this sense. I strongly feel one big reason my awakening happened because I really really really forgot everyhting I had heard and read about enlightenment and the truth of no-self moments before it happened. Thats why it blew me away so hard: THE SELF DOES NOT EXIST! The deeper you forget enlightenment, the better. It helps if you:
Stop consuming enlightenment theory (so much at least)
All this is doing is filling your head with bunch of ideas, and you don't want that. It's just another distraction from doing the actual work. Your mind knows this. it's really safe and sound when you are concentrating on ANYTHING other than it.
When you inquire, its CRITICAL to REALLY mean what you are asking
You must really be interested to the bone what you are, you must crave the truth with every inch of your being. Robotically repeating the questions will get you nowhere. I encourage you to think about other things as well before/during inquiry to really get your interest and love for life going, like the universe, life, death etc.
Also, when you inquire, do it with a big dumb smile in your heart and face. LOVE the question, LOVE the fact that silence is your answer EVERYTIME you ask a question. LOVE that you feel frustrated, because:
The more you "fail" at inquiry, the better
Feeling stuck? GREAT! That means your mind is hard at work trying to do the impossible. Realize that thats the purpose of inquiry. Do it anyway.
Become really aware between the distintion between a memory and a truth
Cross your hands and look at them. There they are. Now close your eyes. They now have zero reality to them physically, now you only have a memory of them. Memory is just a mental image and NOT true. You only have the sensation of your hands, and you percieve them in your consciousness. Also, the room you think you are in, does not exist, nor does your head, body, the world or ANYTHING other than the stuff that is in your direct experience. When you close your eyes, the world literally disappears. You must be diligent to give absolutely ZERO reality to anything other than your experience.
Spiritual ego exists only so you can give it away
Don't try to become really "spiritual" person, thats nonsense. You already are the spirit, there is nothing that could build it more. Don't mistake spiritual ego to be some better and kinder version of your regular ego. It's a hot potato your ego latches onto, it possibly makes you feel happier and more positive, but it blinds you from the truth. The general feeling I got was, that when I just handed everything I was holding onto away, my beliefs, self-image, assumptions and especially spiritual ego, I was so naked that the truth could finally reveal itself to me. It felt like I was talking so loudly my whole life without a stop that the truth simply did not get a say. When I finally shut up for just a second, it said:
 
 
 

Yes, philosophy is king for critical thinking and examination of ideas.
This is a good 18hour course giving an overview of philosophy, albeit long. Im only 2 hours into it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybBwsldL0k4
01. Philosophy and the Modern Age 00:01 02. Scholasticism and the Scientific Revolution 29:47 03. The Rationalism and Dualism of Descartes 1:02:24 04. Locke's Empiricism, Berkeley's Idealism 1:33:32 05. Neo-Aristotelians—Spinoza and Leibniz 2:06:20 06. The Enlightenment and Rousseau 2:39:30 07. The Radical Skepticism of Hume 3:11:52 08. Kant's Copernican Revolution 3:42:27 09. Kant and the Religion of Reason 4:12:50 10. The French Revolution and German Idealism 4:44:09 11. Hegel—The Last Great System 5:15:01 12. Hegel and the English Century 5:46:57 13. The Economic Revolution and Its Critic—Marx 6:16:38 14. Kierkegaard's Critique of Reason 6:47:36 15. Nietzsche's Critique of Morality and Truth 7:19:32 16. Freud, Weber, and the Mind of Modernity 7:52:03 17. Rise of 20th-Century Philosophy—Pragmatism 8:24:07 18. Rise of 20th-Century Philosophy—Analysis 8:55:09  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rs1PiXu8G_c
19. Rise of 20th Century Philosophy - Phenomenology  0:00:00 20. Physics, Positivism, and Early Wittgenstein  0:32:16 21. Emergence and Whitehead  1:03:00 22. Dewey's American Naturalism  1:34:27 23. Heidegger's Being and Time  2:06:31 24. Existentialism and the Frankfurt School  2:37:54 25. Heidegger's Turn against Humanism  3:07:52 26. Culture, Hermeneutics, and Structuralism 3:39:03 27. Wittgenstein's Turn to Ordinary Language  4:09:57 28. Quine and the End of Positivism  4:41:02 29. New Philosophies of Science  5:12:49 30. Derrida's Deconstruction of Philosophy  5:43:55 31. The Challenge of Postmodernism  6:15:42 32. Rorty and the End of Philosophy  6:46:09 33. Rediscovering the Premodern  7:18:08 34. Pragmatic Realism - Reforming the Modern  7:49:59 35. The Reemergence of Emergence  8:19:44 36. Philosophy's Death Greatly Exaggerated  8:50:13

Mind, there is not necesarily much to find in these fields. But it interests me also.
Coincidentally I've been reading and watching various youtube channels on neuroscience and also theoretical physics.
Neuroscience is very interesting, it teaches us how our mind works, and this helps in understanding some of our behaviours and problems as individuals and as a whole. 
Theoretical physics is certainly very interesting, to see how matter at the low level interacts. But the math is very complex and a bit over my head, so i usually don't pay much attention to those parts.
One course on neurobiology is very illuminating https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL848F2368C90DDC3D, It is not so hard to grasp also, I highly recommend this to anyone on a spiritual journey.
Another course on theoretical physics is more complex : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzhlfbWBuQ8&index=10&list=PLQrxduI9Pds1fm91Dmn8x1lo-O_kpZGk8, It may be a bit much.
There are a lot more high level youtube video's on theoretical physics, that show the metaphysical implications in layman's terms. But as you want to actually go to university i posted a complex course. Susskind is very knowledgable, and i like listening to him.
This is more understandable https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DIl3Hfh9tY also from Susskind.

@phoenix666 Witnessing... It is actually a form of self-inquiry. When done correctly, it is extremely powerful. And, it is not even a doing.
Read these talks by Osho:
http://www.satrakshita.com/witnessing_the_only_meditation.htm
http://www.satrakshita.com/the_inside_mirror.htm
http://www.satrakshita.com/remaining_a_witness.htm
http://www.satrakshita.com/witnessing_a_simple_phenomenon.htm
http://www.satrakshita.com/watchfulness.htm
http://www.satrakshita.com/awareness_a_transforming_force.htm
http://www.satrakshita.com/witnessing_the_last_frontier.htm
http://www.satrakshita.com/bliss.htm
http://www.satrakshita.com/the_observer_is_not_the_witness.htm
http://www.satrakshita.com/witnessing_not_an_experience.htm
http://www.satrakshita.com/the_fire_of_witnessing.htm
http://www.satrakshita.com/choicelessness_is_bliss.htm
http://www.satrakshita.com/witnessing_is_so_easy.htm
http://www.satrakshita.com/alchemy_of_real_religion.htm
http://www.satrakshita.com/satyam_shivam_sundram.htm
http://www.satrakshita.com/the_appearance_of_the_new.htm
http://www.satrakshita.com/the_witness_the_inner_voice.htm

I written many , many post here about meditation and I was thinking about making a longer thread on misconceptions and a whole slew of other things. I decided I  am not doing that as it is time I do not want to spend on something I understand.  Constantly posting on the subject is exhausting.   So instead I am going to start posting videos that give different perspectives of meditation when I find them. It is up to you guys to hear these people and do the work. Good luck and I hope this helps dispel some of the misconceptions of meditation.
I became aware of this guy yesterday and his perspectives are solid as I share many of them I also  agree meditation is not just a practice to be used apart from life. It must be integrated into life itself.
Where I disagree is just focusing on one practice.  Then again I have been meditating a long time and my focus during any meditation is to shine my awareness of whatever  target. I am not a novice so what works for me might not work for you.
 
 
 I changed the name because I am going to make this  my default information thread on meditation. All things meditation related that I find accurate and helpful I will place here. Please do not post other links on this thread you can ether start your own thread on meditation or mail me the link. I will vet it.  If it passes what I think is acceptable I will email you back and tell you to post it with a short description So you can get the reputation points for contributing.  It is not that I want to keep people from freely posting    I want to keep this thread as concise and focused so that it can be a useful resource for anyone starting   So I can Give beginners as well as some moderately experienced mediators  new ways to meditate as well as understand the vast array of meditation practices available.
 

@Marco_the_Ape How do you define the increase in awareness? Awareness is always the same, but the perception changes, perception contracts and expands. Thoughts are like clouds that, awareness is like the sun above the clouds.                              My recommendation: Be aware in a non-judgemental way, without labeling, without constructing meaning out of arising thoughts (focus on breathing), aware of as much content as possible in a detached way (being the sun, not the one below attaching to temporary phenomena of the senses). Awareness of as much body sensations as possible, awareness of the breath ( slowing it down after a dualistic pattern shows up), awareness of all of the sounds in the environment (acknowledge the source of the sound without labeling), awareness of the light that is present. All of this combined, all the time, for ever. Remember: it is extremelly easy but when you use thinking a simple truth becomes complex and hard to grasp.