RickyFitts

Poor guy, horrible way to go out. He was giving Nadal a real game too, from what I saw, it was shaping up to be a really good match. I hope Ruud goes on to win it now. Partly because it would be nice to see a Norwegian win a Slam (don't think they've ever won one, though I might be wrong), also partly because I'm just seriously bored of seeing Nadal absolutely dominate this frickin' tournament. I can't see it though, I think Rafa's going to be a bit too strong for him. Women's final today, I've no strong feelings either way but it could be a very interesting match.

You said you're trying to distract yourself - inquire into what it is that you're trying to distract yourself from. Notice any emotions that might be lurking within you, whether it's anger, fear, grief, or whatever it may be.

'If as a culture, as a species, we continue to dwell in a divided state of consciousness, no matter what we change on the outside, we will continue to manifest division. But each of us who comes into the natural, simple, undivided state is making a contribution to all beings - without trying, without taking any credit, without even knowing it. When you become undivided in your own consciousness, you become part of the manifestation of unity.' - Adyashanti 'The state of consciousness that a great majority of humanity is in isn't natural. It's altered. We do not need to go looking for altered states of consciousness; humanity is already in an altered state of consciousness called separation. Separation is the ultimate altered state of consciousness.' - Adyashanti 'Be aware of your habits of struggle, of trying to control your experience, but at the same time don't reject or repress those habits. Don't worry about trying to fix them or get rid of them. What frees us is not stopping the struggle, but rather our willingness to allow the struggle.' - Jon Bernie

I don't find either word particularly helpful at this point - 'God', 'Being', the words have lost all meaning for me at this point. I feel like it would be more helpful to meditate on the question, 'Who am I?', rather than try to slap a label on it. To truly know your true nature is to consciously be your true nature. 'Do nothing' meditation is an excellent practice in that regard, I'd say, keep that up and see how you go on.

@Preety_India Much the same as any other, to be honest. Spent a bit of time with the family which was nice, though I'm still working through some energetic and emotional issues at the moment (ah, the joys of a kundalini awakening) so I wanted to keep it as low-key as possible, I find social situations pretty exhausting at the moment. (How's about that, kundalini auto-corrects to 'Mussolini'. And 'auto-corrects' auto-corrects to 'anti-virus'. The keypad on this device suuucks.)

It was made all the more beautiful by your soul. ???

@Preety_India ?

Ooh exciting, all the best with it!

This is the most beautiful gift I've ever been given, I'm so touched and humbled - thank you, my dear soul sister. Thank you too, @Preety_India, what a sweetheart you are.

Are you referring to Byron Katie?

You're right, they can be so intense, particularly if they've been held in for a long time. That's why it's so important to do practices like yoga and breathwork that help the body to relax and gradually release these feelings, I think, otherwise they just continue to fester inside you and seriously impact your quality of life and cause issues in all aspects of your life.

@Eph75 You're very welcome, and you're right, it really is a powerful quote. ? At the same time, it's important that we don't judge ourselves harshly if we are experiencing feelings of anger, because such negative self-judgment is only liable to lead to emotional repression, not resolution. But if we can at least recognise how holding onto these feelings only harms us, that can give us the incentive to do the inner work that's needed in order to let them go.

Letting go of anger can be really challenging, I know it's something I've really struggled with over the past few years. I think there's a lot of truth in the saying that holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die, I think there's often a part of us that feels like we're doing the other person a favour by letting go of the anger we feel towards them, like we're letting them off the hook. When the truth is that it really is something you do for your own wel!-being, first and foremost. It can be very challenging, though. What's helped me personally is to notice how the anger manifests in my body as a particular point of contraction, and to allow that inner tension to relax and breathe. Deeper feelings like grief and despair might also then arise, but these feelings just need to be felt and released, and then the surface anger also tends to diminish. It can take time though, these feelings can be very deep-rooted.

@Gianna So lovely.

That's funny, I was doing the same thing a few days back when I found myself chuntering away to myself about this or that person whilst I was meditating (not an uncommon occurence when I meditate ), my thoughts would often then circle back to a certain lovely female and then I'd feel much more loving and happy. Which was much, much nicer. I think it makes you much less vulnerable to psychic attacks when you feel more happy and at peace within yourself, too.

Really informative video yeah, thanks for sharing.

Are you familiar with the story of the Buddha's enlightenment under the bodhi tree? Because he was practising simple breath meditation, nothing more fancy than that apparently

@Gianna You're very welcome, really hope it's helpful.

I know this has been a significant and really challenging aspect of my spiritual journey, and I imagine it's something that's pretty common in spiritual communities generally, so I just wanted to share this video that I thought was very insightful in the hope that it might be helpful for others who are experiencing these sorts of energetic shifts:

@Preety_India Oh excellent! I know he's been a God-send for me personally, his teachings have helped me so much in the last few years.

Yeah, exactly - what we seek is eternally present, it's just a matter of perceiving clearly.