Matt8800

@ltp Great question. Many people have different theories. One thing you have to define is what is "real"? Thats a deep rabbit hole if you pick it apart. Consciousness does not fit the technical definition of "real" and everything we experience happens in consciousness. When people experience manifestations of gods and demons, are the gods and demons believed in because they are real or are they real because they are believed in? Materialists think the answer is obvious but it is an assumption on a fragile foundation if scrutinized enough. Its common knowledge that one can pretty easily create artificial spirits by interacting with them AS IF they are real and infusing psychic energy into them. After awhile, these created spirits can start interacting with the physical world by moving stuff, making themselves visible, etc. (I have made artificial spirits) Tibetan Tulpas are a good example. Another example is when children create imaginary friends to survive trauma and then those spirits gain power over time and can manifest in powerful and malicious ways. I have heard of some poorly behaving artificial spirits attacking people, scratching them, choking them, throwing things, etc. Artificial spirits are like children - raise them right or there might be issues. Does Shiva manifest his power because millions (or billions) of hindus have worshiped him, pouring massive amounts of psychic energy into his essence, or do they worship him because he has manifested his power? When you consider there is no such thing as linear time in the spirit world, the idea of cause and effect gets a lot more complicated. Cause and effect, as we understand it, requires the existence of time.

@ltp In the spirit world, time does not exist. One of the things that people who have near death experiences confirm that they experience no time. Because there is no time, there is no difference in accessing the past, present or future. I have heard experienced occultists say that current magick can affect the past. I have had experiences which makes me lean towards this direction.

@traveler Its not what you do, its why you do it. We are social animals and making the best that we can of our appearance can influence our "social credit", which in turn can affect how and what we get out of life. Its neediness and insecurities that should be investigated however.

@assx95 You are one with everything and also paradoxically separate at the same time. This seems to trip a lot of people up. Anyone that disagrees with me can try slapping themselves in the face to see if I can feel it

@assx95 Buddhism says there is absolutely no "self". Many other traditions say that there is a True Self/Atman/Higher Self that emerges when the egoic self is transcended with various explanation as to what that is. Personally, I lean towards the Atman side, which seems obvious in my direct experience.

@Fede83 The dark night is a doorway that has to be passed through, no matter who you are. The spiritually gifted might just take less time.

@Strangeloop You are either bi-sexual, gay (if you dont feel attraction towards women) or straight with an unresolved fear of homosexuality. Whatever it is, investigate it and realize there are no such thing as "rules".

@ROOBIO Dont worry, these problems will all solve themselves when mother earth cooks a few billion humans. It was always inevitable.

@Jahmaine Sometimes the phone rings with more messages. Learning and growing isnt a destination. If I would have stopped picking up the phone after the first call, I would be way behind where I am now. I have used cannabis very effectively for spiritual work but whats most important is that if it has worked for you, than nobody else's opinion matters.

@Mada_ You're welcome

This is a generalized statement that is generally true. If you ever noticed, many intellectuals are regularly fatigued and sometimes can be more sickly than the average person. This is because they tend to live a lot more in their head and are disconnected to their physical body and subtle bodies. If an intellectual gets into a spiritual tradition that is body negative, as many of them are, this just exacerbates the issue. Of course, someone that is more intuitive can also be disconnected to their body but usually not to the same degree. Long story short, I petitioned healing spirits to tell me why I have suffered so much from insomnia and daytime fatigue so I can figure out how to fix it. They told me very clearly it was from a dysfunctional hypothalamus and that I needed to see a specific Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner. He had an exceptional talent for "seeing" energy and told me my crown would open wide up with energy but my lower body was energetically dead. I then consulted the spirits again and they told me that I need to "awaken through my body". I didnt know why they worded it that way specifically but my Chinese doctor told me that the way that statement was worded was very profound but I needed to experience it to understand it. I was led to some sources to start awakening my body but basically it involves moving pinpoint awareness throughout the body. For example, if you tell many intellectuals to bring their awareness to their knee, they simply focus their perception TOWARDS their knee. They need to move their awareness to their knee and feel the totality of the experience and all sensations IN and FROM the knee. This exercise can move the focus on all the points through the neck, shoulders, arms, hands, torso, back, pelvis, genitals, legs and feet. If walking, you can then move your awareness into the full body rather than just in the head as if it is riding on top of a mechanical machine. My Chinese doctor told me that it took him one year of these types of exercises to fully awaken through the body. The benefits range from increased health, better sleep, increase psychic abilities, abilities to heal yourself and others, trauma resolution, etc, etc, etc. A great book about how to awaken the body is Aligned, Relaxed, Resilient: The Physical Foundations of Mindfulness by Will Johnson.

@SoothedByRain Its a great book. Valuable info. I could say that I wished I would have read it earlier but I wasnt ready to absorb it yet

@traveler You're welcome!

@Mada_ In my opinion, incorrect is simply directing your attention towards the point (such as a knee, for example). Correct scanning of the point would be opening up to the full experience of that point and feeling it. Directing attention towards the point is more of an objective point of view rather than feeling fully IN the knee is more subjective. Hold your hands out in front of you and close your eyes. What feelings do you experience that tell you your hands still exist? If the point was the knee, some things to ponder would be: Do I feel any sensations in the knee? Is it warm/cold? Is there any tingling? Is there any pain? Can I feel my jeans on the surface of my knee? What sensations would be gone if my knee suddenly dissolved and disappeared? When you start to feel the sensations, lock on to them and intensify the feeling of them as much as possible. After you do that, move on to the next point. These might sound like strange ideas but when you start doing it, it will become more obvious what is going on.

@modmyth Yeah, I agree. I think interaction with devices and not enough interaction with nature is a big factor.

@Bryanbrax Yes, they are a "branch" of the occult. Just like there are different strains of Buddhism, Theosophy is a strain of the Occult. As someone that has studied and practiced the occult, I spent some time studying Theosophy and thought it had a lot of good things to offer. Regarding Chakras, everything that the West believes about Chakras came from them. I would ignore everything that Western spiritualism believes about Chakras. Here's why - https://hareesh.org/blog/2016/2/5/the-real-story-on-the-chakras Like every tradition around the world, it has its strengths and weaknesses.

@Consilience For me, I had always worked out, was athletic and looked fit but my relationship with my body was more of a machine, with the exception of sex. Sex was the only time I felt truly connected to my body. I had also tried body scanning techniques but I realized now that I was doing them wrong. Adding correct body scanning techniques was what started changing it....for me anyway.

@TrynaBeTurquoise Totally agree! Microdosing LSD and packing a bit of DMT into a joint are also both extremely effective. I usually make my best progress into new territory with a bit of help from psychedelics. Then I work on the integration with some additional help from psychedelics and a lot without.

@peanutspathtotruth I think it definitely can....if done right. Ive had a fair amount of experience with Yoga asanas but they werent as useful to me as they could have been because I didnt understand how to bring the awareness to specific parts of my body. If I had understood that well, it would have been so much more useful to me. Since I have been so out of touch with awareness of the body, right now, I am just focusing on body scanning meditation. I have noticed big changes in just the first week however. Once I have made a lot more progress, I might try experimenting with combining my new body awareness abilities with physical practices like hatha (or Kriya) yoga. Ultimately, I believe these new abilities will supercharge powerful energetic practices like Inner Fire meditation (Tibetan) and Micro cosmic orbit meditation (Taoist). There are many interesting things that can be done with these practices

@Surfingthewave Im excited to work on this and experience it! Its going to be a big focus of mine in 2020.

@Nak Khid There are ways to combine visualization and breathwork to move powerful energy through the body but in the beginning, it is best to just focus on the awareness of that body "spot". Focusing on the breathing can detract from the fragile awareness of things one is usually not aware of. Until one fully awakens their body, I think they should probably just do your normal meditation breathing. Since I am just starting on this new chapter of my path, that is what Im doing. Once someone awakens through their body, they can integrate other techniques for healing, vitality, protection, sorcery, etc.

@oMarcos It works great for this!

@Nickyy Yeah, it has an amazing connect to the body. Its crazy that Ive gone this far on my spiritual path and didnt understand this until now

@Milos Uzelac I wouldnt expect too much initially. Just like it can take effort and time to awaken in the head, it can take time and effort to awaken the body. I would suggest incorporating it into your meditation for a couple months to evaluate but should take about a year to fully awaken.

@Milos Uzelac Yeah, that sounds like what Im describing. I have also tried overcoming my issues with exercise and diet through sheer discipline....even when I am exhausted. Its better than nothing but my mind-body disconnect was exacting a big toll. I would get that book and just integrate a head to toe body scanning/awareness into your meditation time. I also try to move my awareness into feeling my whole body at random times throughout the day. There are also some body awareness/scanning guided meditations on youtube. Over time, you will start seeing a shift in your relationship to your body. Its hard to explain but you will know how big it is when you start to experience the shift.