Matt8800

Yes, I agree with that. I am approaching with an open mind but trying to balance with a healthy skepticism. My purpose for this thread is to try to suss out what aspects of Kriya are helpful on the journey to enlightenment and what aspects are a distraction or detour. I think both aspects exist within yoga.

There may be something to Kundalini. Maybe its possible that mine isnt blocked. I have invested myself heavily in spiritual development for about a year and have made huge progress. Yoga teaches the concept of reaching a state of Samadhi when someone has sufficiently evolved in their meditation practice. I initially combined DMT and meditation to learn how to reach samadhi. I can now reach Samadhi almost every time I meditate without the help of psychedelics. Yogas mention and description of Samadhi, and my experience of it, leads me to believe that Yoga has some valuable teachings. With that said, I think one should use caution with determining truth.

Actually, there is some evidence that would indicate that reincarnation is real. I have read the studies by Ian Stevenson on reincarnation, the critiques of Stevenson's work and the critiques of the critiques. For this reason, I feel that a belief, or at least a suspicion, in reincarnation is reasonable. I think there can be some good that can come sometimes from taking spiritual direction from people on faith but I think caution and a healthy dose of skepticism should be exercised to avoid getting off-track. Even in the Kriya book that Leo recommends, the author claims that his spiritual development was hindered by following false teachers and beliefs.

To answer this question, think of the most ridiculous claims of a religion and assess. When reading the claims in Mormonism or Scientology, is it simply a matter of incorrect interpretation? Are the claims in the Flying Spaghetti Monster religion correct? If Santa Claus was a religious story, would that transform it to truth? If its a matter of getting a lesson from a story, what spiritual life lessons can one get from humpty dumpty or three little pigs? Delusion leads to confusion.

I see a growing strength, wisdom and maturity. That might be confused with a loss of vulnerability. I suspect your anti-psychedelic position may be more from personal bias. I have found them to be profoundly powerful tools for self development.

I understand Leo's evolution and I have been on the same path. His more recent videos are for more advanced self-development. I suspect that there are a ton of people that love his new stuff but I also suspect that they are less likely to feel the need to comment in the forum.

Empathy is produced by the physical architecture of our animal brains. This is why brain scans of psychopaths show anomalies. It has been shown that some people's brains are genetically pre-dispositioned to not produce empathy in the same way as others. I am also one of those people which is why I have put a lot of thought into this subject. Mathieu Ricard, an ex-French Scientist/Buddhist Monk wrote a great book on Altruism. Studies have shown that people that engage in loving-kindness meditation alter the physical structures of their brain (neuroplasticity). I agree with Leo's suggestion of loving-kindness meditation and MDMA experimentation with a person/people you care about. Also, remember that intention and action to treat others with love and kindness is different than feeling love and kindness. I push myself daily to show love and kindness to others despite my natural tenancies and I have noticed huge changes in my attitude and empathy towards others. On a side note, I have noticed a strong correlation between developing love/empathy and happiness and the ability to perceive beauty. Its worth the work.

Is the relationship with the mother a healthy one or a toxic one? Just because someone got themselves pregnant doesnt mean they are a good person to have in your life. If that is the best reason one could think of to keep a relationship, they need to evaluate why they want the relationship in the first place.

As someone who has been a successful entrepreneur (I was a millionaire by the time I was 34), my advice would be to first find a reliable job that will support your basic financial needs. Start testing the waters with your business idea without giving up your regular income until your business income has surpassed your regular income. Then you need to decide if you are built to be an entrepreneur. Good entrepreneurs are logical, divergent thinkers and have strong personalities with flexible perspectives. If you start a business and you are not seeing it get solid traction on its own, as if it has a mind of its own to grow, cut bait.

Unsubstantiated assertion.

Nothing good comes from the habit of forming beliefs that do not have any evidence. It can be the cause of building a confusing and inaccurate world-view. What do you get from it and how does it help you? Dont rule out the fact that it might be caused by the shape of the human ear or design of the region of the brain that processes auditory signals.

If the ego is gone, who/what is experiencing problems?

Lust is an emotion that was formed by evolution to propagate the species. Im not saying that it is a "good" thing necessarily but dont read too much into its "bad-ness". Do you think that urges to have sex are "immoral"? Why? Who told you that and by what authority? Would you really want to be in a relationship with someone that you never had any feelings of lust for? If you feel lust, does that mean automatically that you consider them an object? When there is no lust, that is called the "friend zone". If something is not hurting others, focus less on the act or emotion and just stay true to working on yourself. As you grow, your urges will change to fit into something that is more healthy, whatever that is.

I sense a negative view of most people. The reason why many people love dogs is because dogs love people. Its the same with people. Individuals that have a natural love and empathy towards other people are usually very much liked by others. The world will reflect whatever you direct towards it. 1. I would recommend changing your nature using metta meditation (loving-kindness meditation). As someone that has a predisposition towards being anti-social, this has helped me change my attitude towards other people. 2. Cut out people in your life that are negative. Gravitate towards people that are kind and positive. How could you continue having the same attitude towards others if you did this? You get much farther in life being a likable person. Few people go out of their way to help someone that is unlikable.

I think there is something you have not experienced yet. Imagine telling someone to look towards the window. They look and see trees, grass, etc but what you were referring to was the actual glass. Its a matter of paradigm. I would recommend that you watch Leo's no-self guided meditation and guided visualization on the Neti Neti method and mediate on those. Once you have a real experience of no-self while doing self-inquiry, I think your meditation will be much different because you will now have something to shoot for.

I cant speak for anyone else but this is how I developed a consistent meditation habit: I used to be one of those people that knew he needed to meditate but couldn't find the discipline to stick with it. Part of the problem was that, in retrospect, my meditation pretty much consisted of me sitting there with my eyes closed, trying to have few thoughts and bored waiting until my time was up. About 10 months ago, I stumbled onto some DMT. I felt what it was like to have my ego shattered and I understood impermanence and interdependence. It was like someone flipped a switch on the back of my head that had been on the off position my whole life. I have meditated every day since then and my meditation experiences are totally different than they used to be. I recommended to someone else to go through Leo's guided meditation to experience no-self, smoke DMT and meditate again on no-self on the come-down. He claims it changed his life and got him on track. Sometimes someone just needs to have a glimpse of the sunlight for the first time to realize there is a beautiful sun to chase.