Source_Mystic

@kieranperez I am not even going to start with what is wrong yet. I want you to do a exercise. I want you to go and look at your post and count all the "I cant", "I didn't" look at the wording look how utterly negative it is. You have a toxic thinking problem my friend. Seriously look. I am not going to place the blame completely on you. You are rather young and I am sure your relationships upbringing and learned behaviors and environment contributed. You are now an adult It is time to grow up take a hard look at your life and fix this shit. I know that is what this post is about. The positive side your young and all this shit can be fixed. Then I want you write a list of things you are good at and put them in a positive statement. Second , every-time you start negative internal dialog stop and reverse that ether tell your self something good and positive or correct the negative behavior choose a different path than give your self a positive affirmation or statement that is base on the thing you corrected. An example is you come home and you bedroom is trashed and you think "I am such a lazy fuck" recognize that as something you can change at that moment. Clean you room take a deep breath and say "This feels better I am getting organized and straightening out my life GOOD JOB" or if there is just a negative self talk At that moment focus positive affirmations that are opposite. A good example is you see a girl that is attractive you instantly have a internal dialog "she is out of my league , I am such a looser I could never get a girl like that" Stop that and change it to "I am a confident good person and I am going to actively approach more woman" Now why am I telling you this? This shit can not work! Yes it can and I will tell you the method behind it the mind works on repetition. You push rules into your subconscious thought repetition and up to this point all that negative self talk is telling you subconscious all that shit is true. Your subconscious is where you make actual decisions from. You conscious mind just makes up the story's that make it make sense and gives it illusion that you make your decisions from there. Here is the trick to changing habits. Repetition pushes rules and habits into your subconscious. I would suggest you get some mala beads and use them for positive affirmations. You can use them when waiting for a prescription or anytime you are waiting and it just is a really efficient way to get these Repetitions into your life. The trick here is it has to be positive like you would not say "I want to stop being anxious" You would say "I am calm and tranquil" always make it positive solution based statement. So here is my suggestion. first analyze habits. Your day , how do you spend your time. I want you to make a list of activity's and what they do for you both good and bad. Be brutally honest with yourself. Why are you doing the activity. what are the up sides what are the down sides how much time does it consume. I use to play video games as a distraction it also gave me a more aggressive attitude in general. The positive was it engaged my mind strategically. I stopped playing video games. because their was that negative aspect of a distraction and aggression as well as it gave me no real pay off. I have switched to several other activity's that give me all the pros and none of the cons. Same things with friends how much time do they consume do you feel uplifted after you spend time with them or drained. If someone is draining you and you can eliminate time with them then do that. If they are completely toxic try to eliminate spending time at all or to a minimum. lets start with that. Explore more, get out of the house , take walks , read more , anything that interest you explore that.

I can tell you I worked in a transitional living shelter for a 2 years and helped ran five programs from non-residential to the apartment program , An extensive in house 18 mouth program , groups of almost every kind from training to emotional support. The list goes on and on. I Thought I wanted to go into psychology and help people in that way. So I placed myself in a real world environment to explore that. I would not trade that experience for anything it was amazing. But I learned several things. If you can do this I applaud you. I can tell you that the amount of emotional, physical , mental and spiritual energy it takes to work in that field is Eminence. There is a reason suicide is higher in therapist psychologist and psychiatric disciplines. Addiction is a constant in every persons life in one way or another. You will get great insight into this aspect of life. That includes the simple fact that until the person hits their rock bottom they will not succeed. They have to make that choice themselves and until they do no meaningful work will be done. That being said you have to support everyone like that is the case even when they fail. Relapse is not just part of the process it has to be taken into concentration on a daily basses. I loved my time doing this type of work I would not trade the experience for anything. I met some of the most caring genuine people that ran these programs. I also experienced burnout and saw it in others on a semi-regular basis. It is more destructive than you could know. So anyone that wants or is thinking of doing this kind of work I would tell them to do the same thing I did get in this field in a real way. Even Before that make sure your own emotional, mental, physical and spiritual life are rock solid otherwise your setting yourself up to fail as well as those you could potability help. Second you better find a way to decompress and compartmentalize your life. I know it sounds like I am trying to discourage you. I am not people that can navigate all the challenges and pitfalls of this field are needed and ones that can stay healthy and happy are rare. Maybe you are one of the people that are needed with the rare constitution to do this long term. Get into field get your hands dirty and see what you are in for and start to develop strategy's and ways to cope and adapt. I would recommend at the least one year commitment at the most a two year commitment to really know what you are dedicating the rest of your life too. I can tell you after two years my delusion that I wanted to dedicate my life to psychology and helping other people in this way dissolved. My drive to help others did not change I just go about it differently now. Good luck

Do both, I say developing a daily habit/discipline of meditation is very important. From my perspective focusing awareness will help you in all other areas as well. After that look at the specific areas you want to focus on and the time allotted and make a decisive plan based on your needs and wants. YOUR blueprint is for you to design no one else. Good luck@zunnyman

@Nahm strains hight in thc and very low in cbd can cause depersonaization and paranoia delusions and psychotic behavior espicaly in people with past trama or mental illness in there back ground. ballence strains with equal amounts of cbd seem to counter act this. Where as supper potent skunk weed with high levels of thc are the ones to steer clear of. @Phill meditation is about mindfulness aka aquiring awarness. It sounds like you should try diffrent types of meditation I would suggest. Moving meditation like Thai chi , yoga, or quigong or maybe try a visitation or directed meditation. The point is the meditation you are doing is triggering you some how and that is not helping. Try other forms of meditation. That focus awarness on somehing else.

I am not a expert on psychedelic trips but I think I understand what you want. I would meditate on whatever you want your intention to be for a couple days before. Think about your intention over and over in diffrent ways keep bringing your attntion and focus to that intention with all your being all your awarness. If you are thinking about somehing for a few days using repitation inquiry visulation your mind will be more likely to focus your trip on this. As a secondary I would have a buddy that is not triping help direct and focus your trip as well tell them why you are doing it and what your goal is. Make vision boards that you can look at while triping record questions that you want answered in a mp3 and hear them them while triping. Basically you are trying to flood your mind with the problem or solution to be resolved. I would implement several layers of props and safeguards to direct or guide the trip. Again this is my take on what I would do. I am not a expert at trips. This is just how I would so approach it Understanding the mind as I do. Good luck

@egoless I could list all the religions I have studied over the last 35 years but that would be pointless. I was looking for the Rosetta stone, the blueprint of reality, universal truth. I was never seeking out a religion. There is a lot to be learned from looking and studding a vast array of religions and looking for universal laws. I would caution others not to do this. As there are better more constructive ways to cut though reality without taking the scenic rout. Why do I say that ? There is one glaring quality that causes religion and the followers of said religion to go off the rails and derail their life and give control over to others. DOGMA : a principle or set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true. This quality is self-destructive on so many levels. Dogma is given by authority and is taken as truth. When you add the next component which is systematic repetition then add group dynamics that reward people for "believing" the same things and shunning those that do not. There is also the aspect of altered or enhanced states of conscious for directed purpose. As well as teaching children this before their minds develop. I have to look at this as what it is and not sugar coat this. It is a form of brainwashing. I have a problem with authority especially religious authority. No one gets to tell me how reality is or how I interact with it or the rules of the game. I look, I find the rules that apply and I act accordingly. That is my job as a individual as well as a collective unity. DOGMA, limits progress , limits thinking , and teaches people to follow a path someone else created instead of investing in their own mind their own thought process and there own will to truly find what their path is. I am a mystic What does that mean to be a mystic? Look up the word and you will get a whole slue of different interpretations none of them hit the nail on the head though. How I would define mystic is : Through the practice of meditation , exploration of trance states, enhanced awareness or altered states of awareness seeks direct knowledge and of truth , God and or ultimate reality. This attainment comes through seemingly apparent subjective experience. This direct experience is where the understanding and insight comes from. The mystic is not told the truth it is shown directly though experiences. I would argue that a mystics experiences are not subjective but something more. So what is the core message I am trying to give you? Seek out answers yourself using all the facility's of your consciousness your mind , your emotions, and all of your senses . Never trust anyone's rendition of what they found to be true from Leo or myself or anyone else especially religion. Learn how your mind works learn how to achieve trance and altered states and enhanced awareness Go out there and experience it for yourself and until you do don't internalize that as truth. EXPERIENCE REALITY DIRECTLY. That is the most authentic and genuine thing I can tell you. Everything else is a distraction You have two propositions Be a spectator and be guided and told limited and controlled. OR Be a Active Participant Engage reality on all levels. Test, play, push, and pull and internalize what you experience directly. That is the really real.

Everyone thinks that eliminating thought is the point of meditation and enlightenment. That is only the beginning of the process and it is not the end goal. Meditation is about awareness that is the key to meditation and the process of enlightenment. Being completely aware. Thinking is not awareness and awareness is not thinking. The process of sitting until no thoughts arise is trying to get you familiar with the feeling of awareness. It is not the end of the process it is only the beginning. After you become familiar with awareness you need to learn how to use it or I should say aim it. That is where all the fun begins. The reason masters tell you to quiet the mind is that you can not think and be aware at the same time so gagging your monkey mind gives you better chance to actually feel what true awareness is like.

@Brandon Nankivell Do some research into how old the system is. Then ask yourself why it is still around ? Then you will have your answer. Better yet suspend your judgment and learn the system and see how it directly effects you. Then make you opinion . The problem with most people is they want to form an opinion out of complete ignorance. Do not be most people we have to many of those already.

You are looking at the answer .... Hi nice to meet you.

@egoless INTJ And INTP I fall under both as my J is 51% and my P is 49%. I just took the test yesterday have not taken it in like 10 years but the results were the same. All other percentiles are 73% or more and I doubt that will ever change. I think the Introverted Intuitive Thinking is the key because both seem to live in their internal worlds and work out problems themselves. I think to be really efficient thinker is to have the intellectual fuel to burn. In both cases that is expansive knowledge on a lot of topics. The more expansive their knowledge the more dangerous the strategist. The fact that their feeling is almost nonexistent or ether completely internalized means that they are not people pleaseers. The are more driven by principals, truths or out right practical solutions. I can tell you Nothing is off bounds for me if I want knowledge of it. I will study things that others shun or run from because I want to know what it really is? How it works? why it works? How I can use it? Can I take it apart? How I can improve on it? How it can be adapted to be used in another field or discipline? I also want to know why others view or fear some types of knowledge? This is where I think another strength is. I want to take something apart, reverse engineer it , improve upon it and then use it in a way you will never see coming. The reason why these two types can be so dangerous as when they are fed vast amounts of information at a young age they can make complex correlations across a vast spectrum of knowledge that others will miss. The combination of Introverted Intuitive thinking pared with vast resources of knowledge is the reason I think these types excel at tactics. I also think that because of their social and emotional shortcomings this energy is focused inward even more. Less distraction more focus. I can be also very unconventional when I am trying to solve a problem or understand a system. I have been known to then completely suspend judgment. Then dive right in head first use every assumption of the system every rule become a adherent down to the last axiom. After I feel the time is right I will come out of that system as adherent and look at it from the outside then make my judgments from both a insider and an outsider of that system. This is remarkably uncommon tactic yet is is exactly how the INT mind thinks. I also think you would find a higher than average rate of people that were high on the autistic spectrum. in the INT category. On the down side I think this is where you would find a lot of narcissistic behavior or tendencies As well as a fair share of Psychopaths as well. These would be the more unhealthy versions that have a complete absence of emotion or had traumatic upbringing that would make them even more dangerous. In these individuals here would be truly no bounds that they would not take and absolutely no limits. Their propensity for cold unfeeling ruthlessness would be unparalleled as they would have no empathy or even sympathy to regulate them.

@AdamDiC check your mail box that is about all the help I can currently give you. Until I do a meditation thread. It seems a lot of people are having problems with meditation. I just do not have the time currently to sit down and write a extensive post on meditation. what I sent you I think can help a lot though. Good luck, feel free to drop me a message. If I can help I will

My advice would be slow down a bit and focus on the few areas that you think you need the most help or need to learn. I think you are biting off too much , too soon and too fast. Take things in slower in a more directed and purposeful manner. Digest them in a slow and methodicaly. look at what you focus on in different ways and at different angles. Make a plan and focus your attention to get better results. We meditate to shine awareness on existence but the other disciplines give you something to shine your new found awareness on. They both go hand in hand. Stop going the fast sloppy way , Instead Go slower with fewer focus points so that you can really chew and get everything out of what you are doing. After you master or get in good place with your current practices acquire another one. You will concentrate you efforts and get better effects. The world is moving so fast and it is killing our ability to focus in a constructive and meaningful way. Eliminate distractions and Make a plan. Be deliberate and willful in your inquiry of life. “In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you.” ― Mortimer J. Adler I would also recommend using the Mortimer Adler method for reading books if you do not want to actually write in the book get a small note book.

Why are you letting someone else impose a limit on you ? I can not tell you how long it will take but I would not put a number on it. What I can tell you is if you say I can not do this untill I do 10000 hours well guess what you are right. You will make that true as a self fufiling prophecy. Telling youself you can not do a thing or puting a timeline like this is paramount to self sabatage in my opinion. Do the work enjoy the ride and do not impose such limits on yourself.

@Torkys I see several problems here over and over meditation is treated like a chore. They only practice one kind of meditation . They take on 5-20 practices at a time then when they feel overwhelmed , bored and frustrated. Then they slide ,slide and slide-down. I rather help you succeed than watch you fail. I can understand going back to sleep or taking break it happens especially when crazy traumatic shit happens that overwhelms your entire being. this happened to me so i can relate. That is not what I see here for the most part though. Creativity is the joy of life variety is the spice. In meditation do 30 minuets minimum a day. Change it up do different kinds. one hour is all you need minimum 30 minuets If you want to do more than one practice that is fine but you should start with no more than 3. Stabilize those become proficient and explore them from different standpoints find ways to make them interesting. No one wants to be bored to death. Stop looking at actualize.org like a all you can eat buffet. Stop binge watching 5-20 videos. Ask yourself what are the 3 things that I Most want help with or that I want to change? Then make those your 3 Practices that answer to that question. I strongly encourage your first one to be meditation because if you can not calm you mind on some level and acquire some awareness everything will be harder. Take notes : How will I incorporate this into MY life successfully ? Take subconscious resistance into account, Your mind has been programed Aka "brainwashed" from birth" to be lazy to have others think for you and force you into the idea that you are separate limited being. These programs to do everything to stop you from being or ever gaining awareness to see this very fact. That is just the truth . News ,advertising ,tv shows ,video games , the education system , culture in general enforce and reinforce this over and over until the patterns and habits you hold to are not even your own. Realize that it takes 40 days to establish a habit by repeatedly doing over and over until that habit is pushed into your subconscious as a rule to supersede previous shitty behavior. You better believe there will be resistance from your mind. Know it, expect it ,and plan for it. Stop caring what others think or if they are on the same level as you. or who is more enlightened. There is always someone doing better than you and worse. I person in the process of life long enlightenment helps those that are doing worse and asks for help from those that they know have surpassed them. Understand that you could be wrong and if you see shitty behavior realize after the fact accept and make amends for it. Then do better. All things in life can be a mirror If you can get out of your own way. This is just a rule am implementing When a person poses a comment that has nothing to do with a topic and you want to respond to them don't do it on the thread copy there statement and post it to them in mail. That will stop topics from being derailed and it addresses the comment directly to them. Sorry if this post went a bit off topic but sometimes that is how my chaotic mind "thought process works" At any rate I hope you find it helpful

@Eonn I have a reply in this thread that will help you. Good luck

Most teachers do not teach directly and there is a very good reason for that. They want the student to come to the conclusion themselves. They give the student processes that points them in the right direction. When the student comes to that realization it is valued more because it is their direct experience and it is internalized. In this way they trick your ego into thinking it was your idea. Giving people the answers rarely works because even if they know what needs to be done the subconscious mind has built in all types of defenses and offenses to trick the person into the same patterns of behavior. They will rarely see through that take action even if they do it is short lived. Masters , Gurus , life coaches , mentors and guides teach from from example then engage the student in a processes that brings him to realizations then and only then do they try to motivate the student and give training. Most teaching is a lot of repetition to get a realization. Until that happens it is a shit show.

@Ether It is not about letting anyone suffer !? We all cause our own suffering though our own ignorance. That is you, me, them , everyone on this planet. We all have the prescription for ignorance, it is awareness. Just work on getting more awareness and everything will fall into place.

@Ether So basically zan zen or sitting meditation. I will give you my take. One I do not do sitting mindfulness meditation. I do active mindfulness while I am walking though my day I find it much more powerful for me. It gets me in the habit of achieving mindfulness all the time . Not to say that I stay in that state 24/7 but when I feel like I am not being mindful I recognized the distraction acknowledge it and move back to mindfulness. I find this practice for me is the most causes the most significant growth because of its constant nature. That being said I tried to currently go back to this practice and I had a lot of repressed emotional distractions that made achieving almost any state of mindfulness for any reasonable time impossible. So how did deal with that ? I decided my mind need a place to freely play out these distractions. I just sat down and let the distractions come and when I saw something that disturbed me I pulled that image closer and felt the feeling attached to this event as much as I could. I did not judge the images nor my reaction I just let them come freely. I actually felt a great deal of gratitude for this process. For the first week it seemed to work like inverse mindfulness. Instead of acknowledging and the letting the distraction go. I pulled it closer and completely experienced it. This helped me immensely. After about a week I went back to my active mindfulness and there are still distractions but they are manageable. I continue to do this kind of meditation in the morning and it is very interesting because it is never the same. a day ago lead me to a path-working. I think there is something to be said about discipline in a practice some practices have to be rigid to get you to the goal. There also is something to be said for having a meditative practice that is not so controlled that lets you mind wander and explore the unknown. If your practice is not giving the results you want , ask why ? Then try to solve the issue ? Maybe try a different type of meditation along with you current sitting meditation. Maybe try Yoga or Tai chi or some type of moving meditation. Work the problem ! Try different things Hope that helps, Good luck to you.

"You can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink." I was not saying you should isolate yourself that was not the point. As you become more and more enlightened you should engage in life more not less. You just develop a calm and better perspective through enlightenment work . Once you progress to a certain point you will know who and when to help. Just keep up your practice and master yourself on some basic level. Enlightenment is earned for the most part. It's not that I want you not to care about people ether. It is just if they are not doing the work, you can not give them enlightenment. If they are resistant to help of any kind well then it is a waste of your time anyway.

@Ether your ego is showing ... it is ok it happens to us all. Everyone has the freedom to think act and do whatever they want to. It is not your job to save them. The very fact that you are taking this personalty an projecting anger in this thread is a warning sign that you should sweep you own porch. Work on yourself more and stop trying to save others. It should make no difference whether someone believes you or not. The very nature of enlightenment work is you gain the tools to see through reality yourself. If others are not at that point yet well then leave them alone. You do not ask a kindergartner to rebuild an engine, then get pissed at them when they do not have the ability. Enlightenment is a process. To get into that process you have to practice. Direct experience through practice is how get you there. Some people are not there yet , others are struggling but honestly doing the work. My advice take a break from the forums and work on yourself. Good luck

What are you looking to gain from meditation ? What kind of meditation are you doing and for how much time each sitting ? You have a couple of choices one refine and hone the type of meditation you are doing to make it more productive or find another type.

Master yourself before you try to teach anyone else. By that time you will know who what and how to teach. Until then do not try to teach anyone. If you do it will just take time away from your own practice and be a frustrating distraction.

@Arman This one only cost 495 to a 1000$ I am sure you can be enlightened in 2 weeks and in 4 weeks you can be levitating and sustaining yourself on nothing but air http://robbreport.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/worlds-most-expensive-yoga-mat-232825/ But seriously I would go for one is a decent thickness but does not break the bank can probably get one for 40 - 100 Bucks online. The closer you get to the $100 mark the thickness will get a bit better. It is not a magic carpet it is just a mat.

Bongo drums ,Tibetan singing bowls, Didgeridoo. Any musical interment really. The didgeridoo can be made out of bee's wax and white pvc in like less than 15 minuets and for less than 15 bucks . All of them effect your consciousness and can be great tools and aids. In this I am a bit of a old school traditionalist I like things that I can do and engage me in the process. Tip if you do make and learn how to play a Didge. Go to a park an put the end into a tube slide it. This amplifies the sound. Plastic tube slides will work ok but steal or metal tube slides are clearer and louder.

Well you have two options watch news from left ,right, and center, perspectives then concentrate on the facts that they all agree on. Then draw your own conclusions from the facts not the spin. I urge you to look into Mass Media and the very few Corporations that control it. Even the method I stated above will not give you a totally objective look at any event it will only help you sift thought the majority of the quagmire and get a more realistic understanding. Everyone says we are in the information age I would disagree we have descended into a disinformation age. It is easier to distract you with non-information or news story's that do not even mater. While behind the curtain shady shit is going on that is not even being talked about. We live in a age where if you really want information you can find it the problem as I see it is there is more garbage to sift thought and the individual needs better critical thinking skills to get to the truth. Tv ,internet and technology in general is making us lazy and we are being spoon fed perspectives that influence the masses to have a certain emotional response to bait us to take a side. News focuses on negative perspectives almost always this is another reason to limit consumption of it. So how do you fight this ? find credible sources , Increase critical thinking skills. You will still not be 100% correct in all your conclusions but you will be much closer to 90% at least. Your second choice is to see this for what it is. Read a news paper once a week and take everything with a grain of salt and put your energy into something more productive like self actualization or enlightenment.