Forestluv

There are valid concerns about vaccines, yet don’t hyperbolically distort such that it becomes misinformation. Spreading misinformation is against forum guidelines.

It depends what you mean by “surrender” to thoughts. To me, that suggests letting go of trying to stop thoughts. I would consider what the intention and goal is. Is the intention to calm the mind and reduce thoughts? Is the intention to have thoughts be more harmonious? Is the intention to have greater detached awareness of thinking? Is the intention to have thinking be more in the background of awareness? If I surrender to the dog barking outside, does the dog stop barking?

I think the best test is a single open-ended question. Clare Graves asked each of his students to write an essay describing “a mature individual”. I’ve asked my students the same question (with a little extra guidance). It’s fairly straightforward for crude categorization into different stages. Yet one needs to keep in mind, people can be mixtures of different stages and the immediate environment can have an impact. As well, there are various lines of development,: emotion, intellectual, spiritual etc.

With intention and goal, their must be some filtering and a balance between attention and awareness. If our intention / goal is to integrate psychedelics, Reilki and neuroscience - we would want to be a open to experimenting in all of these areas and being open-minded to people with experience and understanding in each of these areas. Yet where we draw the boundaries get tricky, especially when there isn’t clarity of intention and goal. There needs to be a balance of grounded and groundlessness. Flexibility and rigidity. This is where direct experience, maturity, holistic awareness and intuition come into play. I would also consider genuineness. A mind genuinely open-minded and exploring to expand is different than a mind contracted within its own narrative and trying to distract / hinder others from exploring and expanding. Imagine we teach a course on Genetics. Some pone enters very curious about genetics and sometimes raises questions like “But how do we really know that DNA mutations are random? Isn’t epigenetics similar to past lives? Why would scientists call epigenetics ‘science’ and past lives ‘woo woo’?”. This is a mind that is open to exploring and learning. It understands that it has gaps and is missing some things. A mind with an agenda seeks to distract and hinder is a very different orientation. This mind makes all sorts of assumptions and hinders the exploration. For example, it may assume it already nderstands what the geneticist means by “epigenetics”. With a partial misunderstanding, the person may make incorrect interpretations, become confrontational and cause distraction both to themselves and the group. The geneticist may say “No, you are conflating epigenetics with traditional genetics - there are distinct mechanisms between the two”. Yet the other mind may get defensive as it already assumes it understands and will interest things personally - which motivates all sorts of mental dynamics with narrative control and being right. Generally, the mind is “right” from one perspective, yet it is locked into that perspective and is unaware of the larger field. It would be like becoming hyper focused on something and losing peripheral awareness. The price is losing contextual insights.

I’m about 1/4 through the book. I love his model of bringing attention and peripheral awareness into harmony through practice - and increasing conscious power. A very detailed and practical manual. Yes, it’s a novice mind dynamic. Due the the recommendations in this thread, I’m working through The Mind Illuminated now. Culadasa goes into this mind dynamic in much greater resolution than I was aware. Very insightful and a helpful guide. It’s the best book integrating the art and science of meditation I’ve seen. “Science” in terms of deconstruction and mechanisms, not neuroscience / neurotransmitters kind stuff.

I like xQc. Who is a favorite of yours?

That is another way of looking at it. I hadn’t seen it like that. Thank you for revealing that perspective. I like to collect perspectives. Sorry I missed the pitch. That would have been a fun connection. I appreciate the sentiment. As I took a walk in the graveyard tonight, I thought about the riddle. It kinda has a Basho vibe to it, yet I also have a different relationship to it. For me, Basho is very fluid and can melt. When he asks questions, they are more like rhetoric questions in which the asker is asking himself, rather than asking another being and expecting a response. To me, this has a different orientation than a riddle. To me, a riddle is like a puzzle to be figured out. Self inquiry has a different vibe. If I self inquire “What is a thought?”. It’s not something to be figured out. It’s more like the question just lingers and there are appearances that dance around it.

The monk is Joshu. The rest is a zen-style koan that is generally counter-productive imo. Yet some minds resonate with that type of thing. Personally I don't like the style of indirect partial-truth riddles.

In the context of a movie character, I would agree. Not only depth, yet also breadth. I’ve sought to experience hundreds of very different experiences. This has certainly expanded my experiential range. I know have more lenses I can wear and perceive. In another context, none of it happened. It is all creations occurring Now. I have had no experiences. There is infinite possibilities and one of those infinite possibilities is appearing Here and Now as a “memory” of an “experience”. Yet this is very difficult for the character to see because immersion into the character is dependent upon not seeing it. These are really good introspective questions imo - and difficult to answer. Using a pointer, I would say “The Journey is the Destination”. This is the most accurate I can say, yet isn’t rational or practical. Another way to describe would be to lucid dream. To consciously realize one is in a dream and that as the character I now I have partial control over the dream - and realizing that it is all occurring with a higher “me” as the dreamer. Yet if awareness gets too shifted toward awareness of the dreamer, the character ceases to exist. The dreamer can no longer trick itself into believing that the character it plays is real. There is a big price to pay for this. At the human / personal level, I’ve had deep desires to share realizations with others, yet have been unable to do so. Imagine discovering wonderful gifts yet not being able to transmit it to others because you are mute. This is perhaps the saddest part of the spiritual path for me. For me, that has more to do with my relationship with spiritual dogmatism - in particular dualistic analysis, seeking, attachment and identification. Fluid detachment is a very different relationship. I can can hear a zen monk make proclamations and can observe the wisdom and truth within it, without being beholden to it, moments later I can see the wisdom and truth within bird chirps without being beholden to it, then I may experience the timeless inter-connectedness of a blade of grass with all of reality, then I may feel sadness that I cannot express this to another, then I feel joy reading a Basho poem as I smile and say “Yes! Basho knows!”.

Superposition observing itself ?

It depends on context. This would be related to the “pre/trans” fallacy. A mind at a “pre” stage of development will not be able to see or understand a “trans” stage. Re-defying terms does no good, because it’s not about the word - it’s about what the word is pointing to. Here the most important thing is to have an awakening / realization to what the word points to. It’s not just “God”, this also occurs with pointers like Nothing, Emptiness, Everything, Infinite etc. It’s not an intellectual figuring it out and debate over substituting terms. It’s more of a direct experience and awakening of “Omg!!! So that’s what Nothing is!! Or isn’t. Or. . .Or. . . How tf can I explain it in words. There is no “it”, yet also an “it”. This is a deeper / broader understanding. A major breakthrough for the mind is when it asks “what a minute. . . Have I even seen the Grand Canyon. It seems kinda silly to debate what we should call the Grand Canyon and what the experience is like if I’ve never been there. Perhaps I should take a trip to the Grand Canyon and see for myself what all the hub-bub is about” When the Grand Canyon was first seen by voyagers, they were awestruck and didn’t know how to describe it. They returned to civilization and regular people said “you are using grandiose terms. We don’t believe you! You are crazy”. A minority of people got very curious and wanted to see for themselves. Yet in this day, taking such a trip was very arduous. There were no planes or roads. People had to spend weeks undergoing a trek and foot and horseback. It it was expensive. It required effort, work and perseverance to see and experience it. Most people weren’t willing to do it and never saw/experienced it.

This is analogous to saying “I am simply addressing the grandiosity that comes from seeing the Grand Canyon to an everyday observer (who cannot see the Grand Canyon)”. I don’t know what you mean by reinterpretation and nailing personal coffins shut. You are creating a scenario through the lens you are wearing. All “worth” is relative. In this case, if a person did not understand the Grand Canyon, I would encourage them to visit the Grand Canyon. If they were open-minded and curious, I might take a trip to the Grand Canyon with them. Yet if they thought the term “Grand” meant turkey sandwich, it would present a block in communication. I would also say clarity of terms has value. If I’m in a restaurant and request my dish be “hot”, it can be useful to clarify I mean “spicy hot”, not “temperature hot”. Yet it gets tricky when someone doesn’t know spicy hot and they assume and defend temperature hot. Yet this analogy assumes equivalency of term usage and only points to one aspect. It doesn’t include depth and breadth of meaning, which is another aspect.

The Grand Canyon is Grandiose. That’s why it’s called the *Grand* Canyon and not the “Podunk Canyon”. If people who have never experienced the Grand Canyon think calling it the Grand Canyon is too grandiose, that’s their problem. It would be ludicrous, dishonest and misleading to call it the Podunk Canyon to satisfy people who have never even been there.

I think this is a good example that centrist conservatives contribute to society. Steve is a leading member of the centrist-conservative Lincoln Project. They are criticized by both left and right. Yet in this context, Steve looks like a healthy mix of Blue + Orange which is important to offset toxic red/blue/orange. He is advocating that the core foundation of U.S. government is democracy, integrity, fairness and access for everyone. Strong healthy blue/orange with a touch of green.

There are distinctions within scenarios. For example: A) 37 y.o guy sets his age at 35 and the female age filter to 27, so he doesn’t get filtered out by women in their late 20s that he would like to date. B) 37 y.o guy sets his age at 27 and the female age filter to 18, so he doesn’t get filtered out by barely legal teenage girls that he would like to date. Very different dynamics.

For me, 5Meo is like a clear crystal of pure Nothing in which any thing of everything may arise, including LSD-induced things. The existence of a “me” and relationship with the thing is not necessary. Yet it’s contextualization of the mind. I see others contextualize 5Meo very differently and it’s curious to observe mind dynamics. There seem to be a lot of factors iinto influencing how the mind contextualizes infinite into finite.

What is the self of expression? What is the human of expression? At a very young age, we develop a sense of personal self and desire to express ourselves. Some kids may rebel against anyone repressing their self expression “Your not the boss of me!!”. Others may reprepress self expression because it seems abnormal to society - they don’ want to be seen as weird or be rejected. Societies love to say “follow your heart, follow your passion”. Yet with this come untold rules, restrictions and stigmas. Many people have felt the sense of freely expressing ourselves. Perhaps a concert in a forest in which it’s all ok and you can express who you are without judgement and self criticism. To me these have been important experiences of contrast in which I realize “so that’s who I am”. The all the society conditioning is contrasted. All the judgements and critics programmed into the self. I lived in an isolated village in Belize for a bit. I asked a native woman to tell me about her tribe’s original spirituality and why it is considered taboo. She told me that hundreds of years ago western colonizers entered and told the indigenous people that their ideas of spirits was actually dark energy and demonic. Yet the people didn’t naturally believe it. The colonizers had to keep repeating this “meme” or and over for generations. Then the indigenous people told it to themselves and their children. After a hundred years, colonizers were no longer needed. The country and village is now liberated. The colonizers have left. Yet the meme continues. Most indigenous people saw the native spirituality as taboo, dark and dangerous. They feared expressing it. . . And so it is with a child who leaves the house carrying 20 years of imprinting, such that they no longer need their parents to criticize. They now have their parents / society in their mind self-criticizing and self-judging, thinking it is the self. Thus repressing their true self expression. And one can go to a transpersonal, transhuman area of Self expression. When I sit and observe the magic of a bumble bee interact with a flower, there is love, awe, appreciation and joy. Yet who is the “self” of expression? If “I” dissolves, “my” expression no longer exists. It would be odd to say “my self expression is observing the bee interact with flower”, since One could just as easily say “My Self expression is the bee interacting with flower”. When the boundaries of separate self dissolves, a new form of transcendent expression arises. And this can later be personified. After the arising of transcendence, the self can take ownership and personify. After the bee flies away, the person may continue e the hike and reflect “I really enjoyed that experience. I’m the type of person that likes to be immersed in nature. Perhaps I should express myself by painting nature or writing about nature”. . . .And then we we a beautiful dance between various characters of “self” within the movie.

The chewing aged my gums about 15 years worth of decay. My dentist says my mouth looks 15 years older than my age. The problem with gum recession as you get older is exposed nerves and needing root canals.

I think a big part is direct experience of infinity and the null void. Ime, LSD, mushrooms, aya are all mind expanding and reveal facets. Yet 5meo is the one for clear nothing / everything / omniscience. It's curious to me how different minds have different 5meo experiences and contextualizations. The personal/human aspects are fine in a practical sense, yet that is a mental contraction within infinite. How a mind can regularly do 5meo and not have this realization is beyond me. In a way, it's impressive that a mind can be melted by 5meo and then return back to it's formal rigid structure.

Quitting chewing tobacco was sooo hard for me. I kept relapsing. The final straw when when I was facing oral surgery. Yet it was still super hard for a few months. I joined an online support group and I would check in everyday. I also chewed on a lot of sunflower seeds and fake chew. It slowly got better and it was amazing to start gaining freedom from it. I still remember the first I went made it through a day without craving or thinking about it. Not a single thought. . . . That was over 20 years ago and I haven't had a dip since. Yet I still have dental issues related to it. In particular gum decay. I actually got some dental work done today. You can do it. One day at a time.

Being an intelligent, successful English teacher could also add worth.

Not at the U.S. college / University level. Male professors can show low levels of perversion under the radar. And a small percentage of female students flirt with their male professors. I'd say about 5% of my female students flirt with me. I can flirt back at a low intensity. Yet if it goes to far, there are consequences. Female teachers are awesome. There is a different dynamic with female teachers and their students, in terms of sexual energy. Yet I'm not as privy to that insight. That is also true. It's not either / or. Trust is a big component of teacher / student interactions. For example, many students have social anxiety issues and they will not speak up unless they trust the teacher will be supportive. As well, very light flirting does not necessarily break trust. Have had many moments with female students in which there is a wink or smile that evaporates. There is a sense of innocence and genuineness to it. The age of their father has a big impact on what counts as "old" to them. 20 y.o. females with 42 y.o. fathers see males males 40+ as "old". Yet 20 y.o. females with 56 y.o. fathers generally don't see 40 as old. Nearly all the female students that have flirted with me have relatively old fathers. The ones with younger fathers generally see me as a father figure. I've the 500+ female students I've had, I'd estimate only about 2-5% express overt acctraction toward above average male teachers 15-20 years older. There can also be a power dynamic. The intelligence, success and authority of the teacher can be "sexy" to some female students, without strong physical sexual energy. That's just my observations in a college setting.

Female students occasionally flirt with their teacher and it can be super alluring for the teacher. Many male teachers have sexual fantasies of having a fling with one of their students, yet the consequences are super high. They would lose their job and most likely their career. . . The next best thing is to have a fling with someone else's student. (A student age girl). . . The asymmetric power dynamic is still there. He still has the teacher / student dynamic, without the consequences. I'm not saying it is necessary abusive, yet there is a dynamic there. It's like real life role playing of teacher and student. That has more realness than role playing with someone your own age or watching videos.

He essentially gets to have a fling with a student, without facing any negative consequences. That's the type of thing a prof. loses tenure over. I doubt the guy is telling any of his colleagues what he's up to. And highly doubt he would bring her to any work-related social event.

I know a therapist who is trying to help a substance addiction councilor to overcome her addiction to substances. The substance abuse councilor takes 100+ mg THC daily in secret and is a mess. She is high as she councils her clients how to overcome their addictions. An entangled network of Maya.