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@Speedscarlet I have something more for you. Ram Dass talks about his devotion "technique" in this lecture. He basically says, that you can make an imaginary friend, give him all the best qualities you can think of, and basically hang out with him in your mind all day. He talks about it somewhere in the middle of this lecture. As for Yogananda, what I am concluding from his autobiography is, that he was big on worshiping the Divine Mother even before seriously practicing Kriya Yoga.

I would recommend studying the bhakti path of yoga. I haven't seen the video, but I assume that this is what Leo meant. From Wikipedia: Bhakti (Sanskrit: भक्ति) literally means "attachment, participation, fondness for, homage, faith, love, devotion, worship, piety". In Hinduism, it refers to devotion to, and love for, a personal god or a representational god by a devotee. An example I know of is Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. An Indian saint, who was communicating with what he called the Divine Mother and she was sending samadhi experiences onto him. "The Gospel of Ramakrishna" is an interesting book if you are interested. I have also seen similar concepts in shamanism. The shamanic practitioner communicates with Spirit Guides and Power Animals. Check out Paul Chek's video about the topic, if you are interested. I might also add, that these paths are a big trap that you can get caught into, if you start believing unconditionally what you are experiencing. Watch out!

@YaMayka oh yes! I read Witkacy's book. His descriptions of his peyote experiences are truly amazing!

I am excited to be writing my first post on this forum! I have been a passive visitor for a long time, but today I had an interesting insight, that I thought would be worth sharing. Here I go then, wish me luck! It was about 9 PM, when I took 200mcg of LSD. I seated myself in my armchair, made myself comfortable and cozy and waited for the show to start. It took about 30 minutes, for things to start changing. I was pleasantly present as the observer, letting all the energy and visions pass by me. Everything was in a flow and going very smoothly. I decided to lie down and open up even more. Still, a constant movement of energy, very enjoyable... Aaaaand, STOP! It all stopped in a flash. I was very confused, not knowing what is going on. My body, just a second ago full of emotion and vibration, was now completely life-less and blank. I did not feel bad or unpleasant, I was simply cut of from experience. After taking a seat again, I consciously started putting attention back into my body, starting at the feet. Immediately I felt energy coming back in, without which my life was like a dead thing. My attention stopped somewhere in my lower part of the body. A huge obstacle was uncovered there, but once seen was easily focused on and released. I am guessing that is what some would call The Second Chakra. With the release came an intense feeling of energy, stemming from the ground and above all from the area around my testicles. Where there was no life just a moment ago, now it was overflowing with an unimaginable richness to it. My vision got sharp and I could easily distinguish objects in the dim room. I grabbed a notebook lying just beside me feeling a deep need to create and express this glorious energy. I started drawing. This was a different kind of drawing than I have ever done before. It felt like energy from my testicles was going directly through my arm into the pen and was itself creating this masterpiece. Again, I was comfortable situated as the observer, seeing my body creating this beauty. I came up with this: Art = Fun = Freeing of sexual energy = Unknown This equation perfectly sums up a moments insight that was revealed to me, meaning: Art is just having fun, which comes as a result of letting your sexual energy go wild and do its thing. The person doesn't have the central role in this process, he just stays in the zone - Unknown. Open, curious and willing to let anything happen. A simple process for creating art, having fun and staying healthy by letting your energies flow, that I came up with: Connect to your sexual energy. feel your balls (or the female sexual organs I guess) Have a piece of paper in front of you. Channel this energy through your body into any form it likes. TIP! Believe, that amazing things can come out of you. In this energy free-flow state ideas and art come. I think, this is also the way to do proper contemplation. I think, this is what Leo meant by sitting down and doing nothing - letting the energies flow. I thought I understood this simple process, but until this day I actually did not. I clearly see now, how many of the principles shared by Leo are only grasped on the surface level of my mind So my call to all of you, dear fellow Actualizers, is: Drop your control and desires from time to time! Go, be bored! Have fun, do silly things, let your spontaneity take care of life for a minute! And this way, make room for new ideas and perspectives. Have fun in this process of self-improvement.

Some amazing gurus that come to mind and have not been mentioned: Ramana Maharshi “Happiness is your nature. It is not wrong to desire it. What is wrong is seeking it outside when it is inside.” According to me, the most in-depth and advanced non-duality teacher out there. He was teaching mostly through silence. When that was not enough for someone, he spoke, pointed to the Self, in many cases advised Self-Inquiry. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa "He is born in vain who, having attained the human birth, so difficult to get, does not attempt to realize God in this very life." Another mind-blowing Indian saint. This one went the devotional way. I think he is very valuable to study for us, Leo's followers, as there is so little said about bhakti (devotion) on this forum. Thomas W. Campbell “The smaller your reality, the more convinced you are that you know everything.” A living enlightenment teacher. This one is a westerner, a scientist. Amazing teachings, very comprehensive for us logic-based people. Often compares our reality with a virtual reality or a video game. Check out his YouTube channel, it is well worth it! Thích Nhất Hạnh “For things to reveal themselves to us, we need to be ready to abandon our views about them.” A Buddhist monk. His teachings are very simple, poetic and gentle. He is all about mindfulness. Dalai Lama “Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.” I am sure you heard of this one. Another Buddhist monk. He is a very wise, old man. Funny and easy to assimilate. Lao-Tzu “The truth is not always beautiful, nor beautiful words the truth.” An ancient Chinese philosopher. I think he is the founder of Taoist philosophy. His amazing work Tao Te Ching speaks for itself.

I also had a couple of freaky strange loop dreams. One in particular was very interesting. Here it is: There was an insane guy wrecking havock near my house. It was getting out of control and I called the police, so that they come and get him. As I was calling, I remembered how I ended up in my family. I was not born there. Before, I was a crazy guy destroying stuff near a random family's house until the police came and arrested me. I was cured of my mental illness and afterwords the family, that lived in that house adopted me. I started living with them until one day I had to call the police because of a crazy guy... It was me. I called the police to get my past self, and that's how I got to the place where I could call them When I got it, the dream reality just broke down. It could not work any more and I woke up!

Check out Osho Dynamic Meditation. It's a practice designed to safely get emotion and all the stuff out of your body. 1. You pump yourself up with fast breathing 2. You exploooode with all that you have got. Spontaneity is important. 3. You ground yourself. 4. You let go... (do nothing) 5. You celebrate, dance! This really helped me, when my kundalini was shifting and I was experiencing similar stuff that you are explaining. It might be difficult and you may encounter resistance, but it is well worth it