Matt8800

@Meta-Man You can judge the tree by the fruit on it.

@Highest "Miracles" is what religions call it when their leaders do magick. Its usually much later the religion bans magical practices for control reasons. The Christian church didnt ban magic until the 1500s. Jesus even makes reference of using a head demon (Beleezabub) to cast out less powerful, lower demons ("demon" simply means spirit - does not mean good or bad). The more interactions I have with the all, the more I realize that it is completely beyond our understanding.

@Highest Some people believe that many of the dark spirits that harass people are spirits that are created by their own shadows or past trauma. Other people believe they are separate spirits that latch on to some people through shadows or trauma. Like many spiritual truths, it may be paradoxical - they are both somewhat true. I know a guy that was sexually assaulted as a child and now he sees a dark, monstrous spirit hanging over him. Unfortunately, he has fear of confronting it, which just strengthens it. There can be lots of reasons for having these spirits cling to you but it is our job to figure out how to get rid of them sometime in our lifetime. Thats good that you were able to get rid of yours.

@Highest God can manifest in any form but in reality "it" is the All/the One. Spirits, and even gods and goddesses, are still in duality. God is beyond duality and cannot be comprehended. Communication with spirits are to build productive relationships. Its not an either/or....just like communicating with the All doesnt preclude us from communicating with other humans. With that said, I have had powerful interactions with the All.

@Highest Ive had a few strange experiences all my life, like reading others thoughts, had a weird experience twice when I was 19 where I woke up and saw a bright light while having a very real feeling of floating above the bed. I had a profound awakening close to 4 years ago when I tried some DMT. I spent several years studying and practicing Buddhism and Vedanta. Those systems are best for awakening. Then I started becoming interested in traditions that work with energy and was led to the occult. I dont have clairvoyant abilities like my fiance does but my abilities to sense energy and communicate with spirits has slowly gotten better.

@Highest lol...feel free to ask me anything any time

@Esoteric Yeah, I agree that the West's LHP goes a bit far but the RHP does also. I wouldnt throw the baby out with the bathwater. I think the answer is the middle but there needs to be an understanding of the extremes to know where the middle is. I agree with your assessment about Tantra being a balanced LHP but keep in mind that most Tantric schools believe in the eternal Atman. Regarding eternal individuation, how do you know that "you" will ever merge and not be individuated? At minimum, near death experiences seem to indicate that subjective experience continues after the body dies. If "you" dont dissolve into nothing right after physical death, when would you dissolve into nothing? Why would you think that and what do you base that on? If you investigate this, you'll find it is just unsubstantiated sectarian dogma that contradicts Ian Stevenson's studies on reincarnation and studies on NDEs. Many people discover the truth of non-duality and forget that it doesnt mean that duality does not exist in consciousness, and consciousness is eternal. I see eternal evolution like dividing distance in half an infinite amount of times - you keep getting closer and closer to merging with the ALL but not quite there. We cannot say that is "bad" unless we fully understood it. The real importance of having the correct belief is that it affects how you choose to live your life. Someone that believes they came to this life to learn and grow in ways that will affect them for eternity is going to live a very different life than someone that believes they will die and dissolve into nothing. I also agree with your assessment on Crowley. I thought he was an egomaniac that did not resonate with my values. I was never a fan.

@Identity There are no rules so you can do whatever you want. Just make it clear that you are both playing a character in a play for artistic and sexual appreciation. Hair pulling, dirty talk and a bit of slapping/spanking - definitely! A surprising amount of women like this very much. Calling her a bitch? I wouldnt but that is me. Putting a label on her that is derogatory might muddy the water. Remember, there are no "rules". Lust is not necessarily non-spiritual depending on how its used according to Tantra. If you want to know what she likes, ask casually ahead of time...."So, just curious...what kind of things do you like during sex? A bit of ass-slapping or hair pulling?" Keep it light.

@AwakenedSoul444 Yes, there are tons of ways. The best and easiest ways are in hoodoo or witchcraft imo. If you google it, you can find people giving some pretty crazy stories about how well they worked. There are a bunch on reddit. Usually people that dont think these spells work are people that have never done them. The more people do these kinds of spells, the more convinced they are that they work. Some spells will bind specific people to you and cause them to feel emotions they wouldnt normally feel. I would avoid this because if there is no real chemistry, it doesnt last. Ive also heard of people casting spells and then deciding later they dont want the person and the other person is turned into a stalker. What I would do is create some kind of talisman to create situations where you would bump into people that fit specific criteria that you feel would have some kind of chemistry. I would google "hoodoo love spells" and witchcraft love spells". I would avoid any spell that calls on the help of wrathful spirits to help if you are not familiar with working with spirits. Most love spells do not involve wrathful spirits. I havent done this kind of spellwork but I have heard many times to think carefully about what exactly you want because you sometimes get exactly what you asked for but not really what you wanted.

@Khron Tantra would say that sex can be used for spiritual illumination BUT it is not required for spiritual illumination. In your case, if you want to go have sex with another man, setting it as your will to get that accomplished could be good. It would get you out of your comfort zone, set a goal and go for it. Pushing boundaries is always good. Search yourself to find out what you truly want...then go get it.

@MNR Mackey Honesty in your communication to him and be true to yourself. You dont owe him anything so whatever you do, do it because that is what you want to do and apologize to nobody.

@Vaishnavi No, its a great question. Love and beauty CAN be tied to awakening but there are some enlightened people that have a very dry, cold experience of enlightenment. This is common with Zen Buddhism in particular. Ive heard of some of those teachers talk dismissively about experience and love. Without experience, there is no beauty. Awakening without love and beauty is an incomplete awakening in my opinion. I do see some value in this approach in the beginning because the neediness of the ego can attach to love and beauty in an unhealthy way. It can speed up an awakening (although can be more difficult) but one should shift gears as soon as they achieve it imo. What I mean by beauty is the intentionally cultivated ABILITY to perceive the beauty that is already there. Before my awakening, I could go for a walk and did not experience the extreme beauty that was already all around me. After my awakening, I felt like I was in a daze when I would go for a walk....totally overwhelmed by the beauty. The beauty of a sunrise, the flowers, the trees. The beauty of a kiss and physical intimacy with someone you love. The beauty that is in the taste of great food, the beauty of music etc, etc. All the small beauties that can become big beauties and can fill our lives and make them rich. Cultivate the ability to really feel the beauty. This is a central teaching in Tantra. When I talk about love, I dont mean the feeling. Drugs can create the feeling. I mean a high vibrational love that comes from a place of chosen action regardless of feelings. As someone that has a bit of autism, I dont feel it like some people but I can master living it and showing it to others. Beauty fuels love and love fuels beauty. They both fuel inspiration, which fuels evolution. No love and beauty, no inspiration, which leads to stagnation. Thats usually when depression and discouragement set in. We can create love and beauty in ourselves as a matter of our will if we know how. Something to think about - If this was your last day alive, would you express love differently? If it was your last sunrise/sunset, would you feel it differently? Live in that place.

Ive studied NDEs in depth in an attempt to determine their validity. I believe that to dismiss them as physical process in the brain would be an epistemological error - a violation of Occam's Razor. Someone that believes that they should just awaken, and exist in their awareness of the present moment until physical death dissolves them into nothingness is going to live their life very differently from someone that believes that they must learn and grow as much as they can in this life time, with no time to waste. For this reason, I think its an important consideration. I like this podcast. The host has a wide, balanced knowledge of both Eastern Esotericism and Western Esotericism. The woman he interviews was walking into her synagogue with her family one day and got struck by lightning. She describes here NDE, the absence of linear time, etc. She says that she found that all people have a "guide", and after one has learned what they need to learn in physical incarnations, will become a guide themselves. This echos what many mediums say that spirits tell them. She also explains why people from different cultures have different experiences depending on their cultural expectations. She does state that she feels her "mission" is to tell people that they dont need to fear death. My rationalist part of me tends to reject this due to the delusion by our tendencies to believe what makes us feel good BUT from her perspective, she is just relaying what is true. I have never posted a video before but for anyone interested in the subject, they might find this interesting:

@Leo Gura By nature, I am also hyper obsessive and focused. And also have a bit of Aspergers (it has its pros and cons). I have had my hard edges. When I was young (and Christian), I used to pray that God would give me a heart because I felt I lacked the kind of ability to love like "normal" people. The upside is enormous internal strength but felt like I was an empty shell. I suffered very much during my dark night but others wouldnt know it because Im the type that keeps pushing forward no matter what. Deep depression was constantly with me my whole life up until my awakening. I can almost guarantee that Ralston suffered through his awakening. The advantage I have over Ralston is that I did DMT 3.5 years ago and realized that love is the most important thing and that beauty is all around us if we just look. Love and beauty are inextricably connected. Love and beauty have become my focus for what I need to master in this incarnation and I plan on taking it to the peak of my potential. If one is awakened but they dont understand eternal evolution, love or beauty, than the only thing left to do is wait to die. If that is Ralston's state, I dont envy him. At minimum, how I invest myself in my life will be very different.

@DrewNows Love is not just a feeling. Drugs can induce the "feeling" of love. Real love is something much more and can exist without the presence of the feeling.

@billytblack First, yes, "you" are real...just not the ego that you think you are. Something was aware you are typing on the keyboard, right? You are going through the dark night part of the path. Daniel Ingram outlines Theravada Buddhist techniques for getting through that in his book Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha. I made it though several years ago. Very difficult letting the ego go but opens up to beauty on the other side. It will feel like death and the worst kind of nihilism but keep going. The key is to let ALL attachments and aversions go and accept ALL reality AS IT IS.

@Spiral Wizard Use some form of concentration meditation to concentrate the mind and Insight/Vipassana for deconstructing the egoic mechanism. Once on that path, experiment with some other techniques.

@mandyjw Great point. I certainly dont feel drawn to him. If he has love and joy, I cant tell.

@mindcentral Ken Wilber co-wrote a book Transformations of Consciousness where they studies people across the world, from different traditions, that were considered enlightened by spiritual adepts that know them. What he found is that the experience of enlightenment is NOT the same for everyone. It can be very different depending on the beliefs and assumptions of that tradition. Ralston's experience of awakening is going to be different than another awakened person that understands Absolute Love. Ralston's kind of awakening, along with much of Zen, can be very dry and "grey" with no connection with love, beauty, gratitude, etc, etc. Remember that the fact that many enlightened people disagree on a variety of subjects just proves that enlightenment doesnt mean they still dont hold delusional beliefs. Enlightenment is a process that continues to be refined after the initial awakening, not a destination.

@Sizeable Oof Its all perspective and depending on the "perceiver". To a family of spiders, an arachnophobe that kills spiders is evil indeed. The spider would ask, "Why is it so hard to say what they're doing is evil?"

@dvdas I think Qi-Gong is a very effective way for telekinesis. Qi-gong is a pretty intensive practice. I was told by a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner that it takes about an hour a day to build up any kind of proficiency.

@Nak Khid Low vibrational love (what they can do for you or make you feel), yes. High vibrational love (what you can do for them or make them feel), no. Low vibrational love is a feeling. High vibrational love is intentional action in the present moment, regardless of feeling.

@GreenWoods Yes, hot clairvoyant witch girlfriends are very helpful Yes, I think that would work. Also, shamanic journeying in the way Aidan Wachter describes in Six Ways is a way to meet various spirits. Body scanning meditation strengthens and forms the subtle bodies along with the subtle senses. This increases psychic abilities, the ability to astral project/journey and ability to communicate with spirits. If someone includes that meditation as part of their daily practice, Ive heard it takes about a year to fully awaken the subtle bodies. Ive been in close contact with my spirit guide for the last 3.5 years. He/she/it communicates to me in a "knowing" way. Its hard to describe but when its clear, its crystal clear. Some people call that gnosis. Many times when I look for advice, I consult the I Ching, which has been very effective.

@GreenWoods My approach to spirits is gentle and uplifting but firm. I dont approach them as equals; I approach them with authority but I will use my authority to show them kindness. If there is any doubt, I may tell them that I expect good behavior or I will destroy them with the help of my allies. Kindness can turn to wrath quickly, because thats the way it must be. Its an extreme carrot or stick approach. They decide which one they get. My experience is that many spirits behave somewhat like children. Give them firm boundaries/expectations but with a "scorch the earth" approach if they step out of line. I have never had a spirit step out of line with me. Treat them as an equal, a superior or with fear and thats when the problems can start.

@Kalki Avatar 1. If you would have asked me those things a couple years ago, I would have just laughed and said it was all BS. Now, I think there is something to that stuff. The universe is alive and teeming with spirit. 2. I dont have direct experience with this but my hunch is that it is possible. I believe I have read somewhere that people have experienced this but I cant totally recall.