Forestluv

There are professional cuddlers that cuddle and love someone (nonsexually) - and they earn far less than a million dollars. I've considered trying it out as a practice of expressing unconditional love.

It seems deactivating the sense of self can also happen temporarily due to life events as well. For example, Pema Chodron built an entire sense of self and identity around being a wife and homemaker. Then one day her husband tells her he is having an affair and is leaving her that day. Pema's entire reality and identity collapsed in that moment and she was completely groundless. Her whole sense of self was temporarily deactivated. She could have created a whole new identity - for example that of a resentful victim. Yet rather, her awakening appeared and she became an awakened nun.

Trapped in a story. . . I know it well. Most of my life, trapped in a story. . . The solipsism thought story is just one of millions of stories to be trapped within. Entertaining the thought story just reinforces the pattern. . . If I believed at midnight tonight I will turn into a worm burning in the sun, then my mind and body would be filled with anxiety and panic. If I believed this thought story, I would be freaking tf out. People all around me could say things like "The worm story is just a metaphor, don't take it literally", "You are already One with the worm", "You and the worm are both a dream and were never born". Yet, if I believed I was actually going to turn into a worm at midnight, none of that would do Jack Squat. My mind and body would still be freaking tf out. . . Even if one lets go of the worm story, the human mind would likely create another anxiety-producing thought story - like "I'm going to get cancer", or "What if I never get a job and become homeless?". The storyline itself doesn't much matter. It's being trapped within the story that produces suffering. And I know how hard it can be to break free of a story trap, especially a storyline that involves pain and suffering. . . At the personal level, there are practices one can do to dissolve and let go of the story - yet the person is often attached and identified with the story and is unwilling to do so. Ultimately, true freedom, stillness and peace is Now. Whatever is happening Now. The reason you are suffering within a solipsism story and Bob Smith is not - is because you are immersed, attached and identified to a solipsism story and Bob is not. The reason Bob is suffering within a storyline that he will get struck by lightening and Shaun is not - is because Bob is immersed, attached and identified to the lightening story and you are not.

@Ibn Sina "Is it possible to be enlightened without psychedelics?" Of course. Enlightenment exists with or without psychedelics. That is like asking "Is it possible to be Now without psychedelics?". Of course, it is always Now. It can't be anything other than Now. Human minds are highly conditioned, attached and identified to a personal story within a time construct of past, present and future. Dissolving that can be extremely challenging and uncomfortable to a human mind and body. It may take years, even decades, of practice for a mind to surrender that narrative and surrender to the direct experience of Now. Psychedelics can dissolve the personal storyline and time construct and allow for beingness in Now within hours. Yet, it can also be done without psychedelics. "Did the Buddha use any substances to get enlightened?" According to the story, no.

Plugging is far superior than snorting. And use the salt form for these ROAs. It’s like trying to smoke a joint through your nose instead of your mouth.

One way to look at it is there are different orientations on how one builds constructs and concepts. They vast vast majority of humans use constructs and concepts to speculate and try to figure things out. Then there are the very small minority that have deep direct experience and awakenings, realize it is impossible to explain via constructs/concepts and also realize that's the main mode of human communication - so they do their best to explain the unexplainable through construction concepts, understanding that it isn't "IT". (Which I am doing now). For example, imagine a planet "Glemdosh". One orientation is to speculate what Glemdosh might be like and build constructs and concepts. Another orientation is to actually go and experience Glemdosh and return utterly speechless. "Holy crap, there are no words to explain Glemdosh. How the heck can I possibly explain that?". This person may do their best to explain Glemdosh, knowing full well the limitations of language and any explanation they give cannot capture Glemdosh. The former person is generally attached to and identified with their view. The latter person is not. They understand the explanation is an imperfect pointer that has nothing to do with them personally. The irony is that Glemdosh is always apparent Here and Now, yet humans get distracted and live within a dream story constructed of thoughts and concepts.

Many forum members are native English speakers and, as you suggest, could probably clean up some of their grammar so their posts are more easily understood. Yet for many forum members, English is their second or third language. We have a globally diverse community here. Learning proper grammar in a second/third language can be really challenging. I'm at an intermediate level of Spanish and my grammar is no where near optimal - I make a lot of errors. I'm very grateful for the patience and understanding that native Spanish-speakers have had with me. And I can't even imagine trying to communicate self-actualization and nonduality in a second/third language. I have a lot of admiration for those that do.

@Kushu2000 I've had a recent case of tinnitus that I think may be related to pyschedelics. It's only been 9 days, so I hope if I go "all-natural" for a while and allow my body to reacclimate, it will dissipate. From what I've read, I would say I have a moderate case. It can get loud in quiet settings (e.g. during meditation and yoga), yet is quieter in a work setting or outdoors (yet still quite annoying). Here are a few of my experiences: 1. I've tried to see some type of positive in it. For example, during meditation it can be a source of grounding that can immerse into the environment. If I ground into it, it can help me reach thoughtless states of being. 2. Last night I discovered that the below audio can help immensely. During my meditation, a swirling high frequency appeared (8/10 volume). I grounded with it and found a place of stillness and beingness in the moment. I then played the below audio and the vibration immediately changed from a high frequency siren to a gentle background hiss. I was amazed. Most of the masking audio just cover-up or distract, yet this audio literally changed the vibrational dynamics in my mind/brain. The background hiss frequency in the audio perfectly matched the hiss in my head. I lowered the volume so the volumes matched. I then couldn't tell whether the hiss was coming from inside or outside of my head. I could direct my attention to separate the hissing sounds (I could focus so the hiss was coming from outside my head or focus so the hiss was coming from inside my head). Or, I could allow there to be One hiss. Ironically, this turned out to be a wonderful dual / nondual system. With the One background hiss, my inside / outside sensation dissolved and served as grounding for my other senses to dissolve - allowing a type of nondual experience. I find such nondual states of beingness difficult to attain, so I was grateful for this ability to do it at will. . . I've been playing the video periodically and the high pitch sound is starting to dissolve into a more gentle background hiss (which I find much less bothersome). I'm hoping with enough reconditioning, it will fade away with time. . . 3. I have read many reports that Gingko helps for about half the people who try it (I haven't tried it). This is a quote that I read from Dr. Bauman, a specialist with tinnitus. "One herbal is Ginkgo biloba. Just be sure you take a proper therapeutic dose of 480 mg per day. To be effective this dose should be standardized to contain a minimum of 24% flavone glycosides, 6% terpene lactones and 2.6% bilobalide". 4. As a general comment: psychedelics can be very taxing on the mind and body. One can temporarily expand multiple conscious levels and then get condensed back to their baseline level. That is a lot for the mind and body to absorb. As well, psychedelics hyper utilize the serotonergic system and can induce neural plasticity. Make sure to give the body time to recover and reacclimate. Take some time off after a trip, relax, meditate, spend time in nature, journal, get grounded and enjoy life. Be kind to the body.

@MezzoAria Why get so complicated? Just get a standard dry herb vape that goes up to at least 428F. Sprinkle some in and press a button - it's so simple. Perhaps a simple vape is all you need (as it is for me). Or perhaps you might want to pursue advanced gear in the future. Yet it doesn't make sense to me to start off so complicated where you need some fairly advanced skills to pull it off.

And also Ayahuasca

In saying “look around”, I mean both “inside” and “outside”. The same principle applies.

Look around right now. There is nothing to prove. You would need to come up with an idea of something to prove. That is one step away from pure Beingness.

Of course logic is limited. Logic itself can show us this. . . Obviously, logic is not everything. If logic was everything, it wouldn't be distinguished from anything. We distinguish logic into a category within everything. Thus, logic is limited in that it is a subset of everything.

@JustinS That’s a sweet space ?

As many reminders as possible to bring awareness back to Now. Over time, the unaware stretches will get shorter and shorter and the aware stretches longer and longer. One will catch themself falling asleep faster. Yet the ego want like it because it will lose control.

@Aldo There would be enlightened presence revealed within the stage Orange businessman. Yet he still has the same human form with the same conditioned mind and body. The same neural pathways in his brain. His interests and desires may change a lot or not much at all. It’s not like he would suddenly undergo 20 years of development, integration and maturity to stage Turquoise.. . Awakening is along the vertical axis of Now. SD stages are along a horizontal axis of development over time. And the person doesn’t get enlightened. The personality construct is illusory. There is no thing called a “person” to get enlightened. From the perspective of personal self preservation, enlightenment is personal death.

@Nahm I imagine the phrase “I aint ‘fraid of no thought. ThoughtBusters!!”, with a picture of a cowbell in a circle and line though it.

@chudders Thought impulses are no more dangerous than bird chirps. It is the attachment and identification to thoughts can have a negative impact on the body.

@chudders This is just what comes up for me: my mind loves to create problems and drama. It may create an irrational scary recurring thought pattern that seems like a monster. What I find helpful is to first stop feeding the beast. If I have an irrational fear of having a stroke, I shouldn’t be online reading stuff that will enforce that irrational pattern - such as reading about the Law of Attraction and stories about how thoughts of having a stroke may attract a stroke. Not helpful. Next, during meditation, I would observe and label thoughts and practice detachment and identification. I would not beat myself up about it. I would treat myself with care and love, just as I would a child that has an irrational fear that a monster is under their bed. I would also try scrambling the recurring thought into nonsense. I have found that rational thinking is not always a cure to irrational thinking. Sometimes it’s helpful to match cra-cra with cra-cra. For example, if the recurring thought arose and I couldn’t seem to let go of it, I might make silliness of it. For example, imagine pulling back the curtain to the source of these disturbing thoughts. And behind the curtain is. . . The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters. It’s really hard to take The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man seriously. If he keeps it up, tickle him and make him giggle - and laugh at the absurdity of it all.

I’ve found spending a day immersed in nature with no cell phone or human contact is helpful to recondition the mind and body. A weekend or week, even better.

Very nice. I immersed myself in nature yesterday and my self dissolved into it. Similar to what you wrote, I was amazed by how strongly my mind and body resonated with nature. Nature is a profound teacher and guide. It holds no expectations or agenda. Nature is absolute genuine. . . I can let go and go much deeper in nature than with other humans. I can be hyper sensitive to human energies and awkwardness and anxiety may arise. Yet in nature, that dynamic is not in play and layer after layer can dissolve without anxiety. . . It is so healing, it’s as if nature baths the minds body in healing energy and drains out unhealthy conditioning. I spent several hours laying in nature yesterday. Thoughts, worries and stories dissolved and simply Being arose. And simply Being nature is wonderful ♥️

These are internal issues arising. You are creating a thought story in your head about how you were hurt. And you believe the thought story is true. Seeking an external remedy for relief is a self fulfilling prophecy that will fuel the thought story and keep the mind immersed in the story. . . It boils down to a story of “who I am” and trying to maintain and protect that identity. To grow and expand, I would look inward. Deconstruct the thought story. What feelings are associated with it? From where does it arise? What are my attachments to it? How is my identity grasping at this story? In terms of self development and actualization. It’s not about the other person, it’s about what is being revealed about your personality structure. The identity of gender and sexuality is one of the deepest for the psyche and can be challenging to observe and deconstruct. I would first observe how the mind has assumed this is a “problem” and that “I have been hurt”. If the mind holds onto those two assumptions, it won’t be able to observe the underlying dynamic.

❤️ ?

@chudders You are not these worrisome thoughts and feelings. These worrisome thoughts and feelings are arising in your mind and body due to conditioning. There is identification with the worrisome thoughts and feelings as being “me”. I would recommend putting in effort to dis-identify with the worrisome thoughts and feelings. This can be very difficult when the mind and body is deeply immersed in thought stories and feeling anxiety. The mind and body may desperately want relief and try to repress or escape, which can perpetuate the recurring pattern. It takes time and effort to deconstruct and dissolve this conditioning. I would try to relax the mind and body as much as possible - via yoga, running, a bath, meditation etc. and observe. If the worrisome thoughts and feelings arise, observe from a neutral viewpoint. There will be desire to identify and engage with the thoughts and feelings, yet you are not the thoughts and feelings. Having detached awareness of the “storm” appearing and disappearing gives a very different perspective. One can then start the process of uncover, discover and discard - allowing letting go and reconditioning the mind and body.