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I'm no expert and this is prolly enlightenment 101. . . The default setting for my mind is that enlightenment is a "thing", an "it", an "event", a "destination", a "process". My glimpses into nonduality is "it" just "is" - it's all and nothing of that (and this is coming from someone who for 20 years of my search hated when people talked liked that). As well, in my glimpses into nonduality - there is no "one" and "the same". Everything just "IS". There is "ISness" - I can't detach from it or escape from it - yet I can lose my awareness of it. When I am in a mindset attached to definitions, I'm generally in a low state of awareness. When I am chasing girls on Tinder, I am generally in a low state of awareness - this activity is also "IS" - the same "IS" as meditating at Machu Picchu, yet the chances of being that awareness of ISness is much lower when chasing girls on Tinder. For me, I have a higher chance by "getting struck" by awareness when I am not conceptualizing, attached to thought or distracted. Generally when I read or watch spiritual teachings, my mind is in "learning mode" with thought, concepts, curiosity etc. It's the teachings that break through that and stop me that are effective. For example, during Leo's latest video, I was watching very pensively. All of a sudden, he became very animated - waving his hands and saying with emotion something like "This is actual!! Right here!!! Me, doing this!! NOW, NOW!! THIS!!. . . ". It broke me out of my thinking and I had a glimpse. As well, Richard Spira relaxes my mind and gently guides me to a space where I might get struck by awareness. A few weeks ago, I was walking along a trail in nature and a big piece of fruit fell right in front of me. THUD!!" A glimpse. . . Another time a squirrel jumped on a log and started chattering loudly at me. A glimpse. . . And of course there are psychedelics. . .

Last Saturday, I went on a date. I arrived at her house and we sat on her couch chatting for about 20min (before heading out to a Halloween party). I experienced a mild feeling of discomfort. There was a touch of first date jitters and much of the conversation involved learning about "who we are". In addition to the uncertainty of a first date, she was the first woman of an ethnicity that I have dated. I've felt this type of uneasiness in other types of situations. I lived in South America for two months last summer and immersed myself deeply into latin-american culture - several times I experienced a sense of feeling out of place and uncomfortable. Yet, these spaces are good for me because they can reveal old beliefs as being bullshit, break down barriers and open my mind for expansion and deeper connection with others. I told her that I was at the edge of my comfort zone, yet it was good because that is where I grow. She asked if "this was ok", motioning to the two of us. I said yes, and reinforced that this is a good place that I seek to experience. She was pretty much like "cool" and off we went. We went out to a couple Halloween parties and then back to her place. I'm not a "player" and have no "game". I just tried to let go, just be and allow events to happen. During conversation, my mindset included being curious and intrigued, having opinions and wanting to tell stories. (I generally feel comfortable in my head). There seemed to be some rich areas of conversation. We have some overlap, yet much of our experience is different. I'm curious how her experience has shaped her. As well, there were aspects of a cultural vibe that was unique to that which I have been exposed to most of my life. I found that very appealing. It was similar to what I experience in South America, yet another flavor. During conversation and physical moments, I didn't experience a strong sense of separation, it was generally at a basal level. Over the last year, I've noticed my separate sense of self has been reduced and at times I have felt "one" with my environment. For me, this seems much more likely solo in nature than during social interactions. Language and conversation are inherently dualistic. That's fine and I like that perspective and experience. . . Yet, there were physical moments we shared where the dualism seemed low. There wasn't a strong sense of "me" and "her". There seemed to be a shared energy that just flowed and moved and I didn't have a sense of where I stopped and she began. Those moments were discontinuous "glimpses" since thoughts and talking arose intermittently. I've only had a few glimpses into nonduality over the last five months. I can't explain it, yet it seems in the same realm as what others along the path have conveyed. Sometimes this path has moments of "oneness". Yet ironically, there are also moments of "aloneness". Could these both be of the same consciousness? Similar to how "It" is both nothing and everything?

@0ne With psychedelics, you have to go slow, gradual, and steady, sometimes taking months to integrate a trip before going back for another drink from the well of nonduality. If you just blast yourself with it, that's going to be traumatic, and it won't grow you properly. The process leading up to enlightenment is just as important as the enlightenment itself. That process is necessary to prepare the mind to surrender. If it take years for some people, that's sometimes because that's what they needed. Of course other times they were just dragging their feet. The problem with psychedelics is that you can easily shortcut this ramp-up, which sounds good on paper, but in practice it leaves you unprepared to handle the Truth when it reveals itself to you.

That was what they call a samadhi experience. A merger. Very common to lose your first glimpse like that. That's just the tip of the iceberg. It goes waaaay deeper. You got a good introduction to nonduality. Now the real work begins. First glimpses tend to be easy

@Space All that stuff is helping. Sometimes you gotta clear out emotions before you can dig into the existential questioning. The psychedelics will def help you with self-inquiry if you keep exploring them prudently. You've only scratched the surface of them. Any kind of retreats are good. I find meditation helps with self-inquiry, and vice versa. Of course a week-long 24/7 self-inquiry retreat would super-charge your practice, and likely get you a glimpse of nonduality. 1 weekly retreat is worth like 365 days of practice.

@smd You have no idea what you're missing. You're speaking about nonduality or 5-MeO as if it's a fad diet or a new TV show. It's not easy, but nothing life-transforming will be easy. "Looking into Zen" isn't Zen. Sit down and start doing some serious self-inquiry and go do some serious meditation retreats. If you ever try 5-MeO you will realize it is the single most important human discovery in history.

@Mathew Pav thank you for posting this. It feels great being able to relate to someone on such a unique experience. Man I love trip reports. The veil is really something man. What. A. Trip. Right? I had almost the word for word same breakthrough just a few months ago. The clarity on the One that I am, and the person / reality through the veil. I used to see the veil as something on the human, now it’s clear (for now lol) the veil is on God, imposed voluntarily by God, allowing / creating the experience of the human, which of course is God, or The One, and not seperate from the human. Last weekend, I went on a trip again, and the veil slipped off like taking off a pair of sunglasses. Like nothing. Effortless. But then I had a new experience. My previous experiences were basically, everything is One, then everything is dual of the One, which is actually me and non-dual. But this new experience was that what is, is, and there are no words or thoughts for it. Nothing to be said. Nothing to be thought upon it. It is. I get something I didn’t get. The ‘why people don’t talk about it’. It’s because there’s nothing to say. It is. It just is. There’s this factor of all this that I want to ask you if you can relate to or have any thoughts on.... It’s been a few days since the last ‘unveil’, which I’ve experienced a good number of times. But the ‘back in normal reality’ right now, is a new experience. I feel that (and who knows if there’s any “accuracy” at all in my experience) the veil isn’t there, yet at the same time, here I am. Maybe I just accepted the veil? I don’t know. It’s like, where did all the little emotions about everything go? Or, as if the micro judgements that I wasn’t so aware of are not there anymore. There is everything and nothing at the same time. Anyways, thanks again for sharing Mathew! Love you brother! Side story, two ufo’s hovered about me last Thursday night (while driving. Completely sober) then the same two hovered above me Saturday night. That could really sound crazy. It is crazy. But, it’s true. Nonduality is a hell of a drug in it’self. ❤️

A bold claim, I know. The truly important information is contained in the first hour; watch at least that much all at once.

@Psyche_92 from the nonduality perspective, there is no we or us. Thinking is illusion. Reality can never be manipulated because it is absolute. Thinking we manipulate ‘reality’ is part of the illusion. What you’re calling ‘reality’ is the illusion. What you really are is absolute.

@Wes Thoughts No, I think your brain may just be less vulnerable to psychedelics. Which means you require higher dosages. 250ug of AL-LAD for me is full-blown nonduality, can barely walk or think straight. Deep deep stuff. Or maybe your stuff is weak. Maybe they told you it was 150ug when really it is 50ug?

I've been doing deep meditation and contemplation work for a while now, and a couple of months ago some weird shit started to happen. Parts of my body would tense on their own, seeing bright colours etc. but this is nothing super out of the ordinary for people who do consciousness work. The past week my meditation has gone to a completely new level for me, seeing strange visions, both horrific and beautiful and i'm getting some conscious understanding of nonduality. I've also been having very vivid dreams at night. Last night though, my reality got flipped on it's head completely. I had an hour of kundalini yoga earlier in the day and I sat down to do an hour of meditation. I immediately went deep and being present to the moment was effortless and my mind seemed to just melt away. Then I started seeing some vivid images of faces, grotesque looking creatures, demonic looking entities, and beautiful creatures too. Some time passed and then I saw to creatures that I could only described as fairies and they were building me wings. Normally my mind would be going 'what the fuck' but I was in complete awe and was at a level of consciousness where everything made sense. I started to feel a spinning above my head and came to realize that it was a halo. I was being told that I was divine. (note I have never been a religious person in my life, or believed in anything supernatural before). After I finished meditating I was on a meditative high and was a bit blown away. However, this is where the seriously weird shit happened. About 20 minutes after my meditation I started to get the uncontrollable muscle tensions in my body. This only happened in meditation before. They slowly started getting stronger and stronger and were happening all over my body, my arm would tense up and move on it's own, my jaw would clench and move around etc. my whole body was just doing whatever the fuck it wanted and I had no control. Then I started masturbating, but it felt like someone else was doing it because I has such small control over my own body. My body or whatever was controlling my body intuitively knew what to do, and even put my finger up my asshole, something I have never done before and usually would absolutely not do. (Sorry for the explicit detail, but all of this really happened to me and I want to be completely honest about it, I hope you aren't eating whilst reading this lol). My body was still moving on it's own after this and I became very warn out, like all the energy was being sucked out of me. I tried to sleep but couldn't my body felt so strange and my whole understanding of the reality wasn't the same and I don't think ever will be again. As of writing this it's the following day and i'm extremely worn out physically. My consciousness is not the same and everything looks different to me now, I am not panicking but I am bewildered by this experience. After research it sounds like a Kundalini awakening , but if anyone has any information, insight or has had a similar experience then I would love to know what you think of all this, I don't think I will ever be the same again.

@Brimstone Thanks. After about 25 years of personal development, I’ve recently had some glimpses into. . . I don’t know what to call it. . . Yet listening to Leo, Rupert Spira and Ananta Kranti speak of nonduality, I’m like “yea, ir’s kinda like that.” That kind of talk used to drive me crazy. I’d think “Just explain it in plain English!”. Now, relating to people feels odd. There’s like a familiar dual perspective with language. Then, this nondual whatever. So many things seem important and meaningful from my dual perspective, yet there is a singularity from nondual perspective. It’s almost like flipping between two different languages. Or, English and some alien sixth sense of just being like everything else, without thought or talk. It feels awkward at times.

My job allows me to take a month off each winter and two months each summer. I'm considering using that time for solid consciousness work. I have a career that I find rewarding and it comfortably pays the bills. I'm curious to what extent full-time communities, such as ashrams, are necessary or helpful. I've had a few glimpses into nonduality (mostly with psychedelics, yet a couple sober as well). One recurring message is that "IT" is right here, right now. That I don't need to travel thousands of miles to India in search of anything, because right now I am zero miles away from "IT". The sense feels like "truth". Yet then I read about people going to ashrams and monasteries and think perhaps some are a good idea.

@Wes Thoughts You have to be smart here. Of course 2 solid months of personal development or consciousness work would be a huge boost. If you did it seriously, you might even get a glimpse or two of nonduality. But then what? You go back to working at McDonald's in your half-enlightened state with hardly enough money to pay your next bill? Going for broke is a bad idea. You don't want to paint yourself into a corner. It would be smarter to figure out a more sustainable solution. For example, many Zen monasteries charge a low initiation fee for living with them for a whole year. So if did that, you could buy yourself a whole year of practice. Or you could hatch a plan to save up more money so you have more time later and you don't go broke. If you are SERIOUS about pursuing enlightenment full-time, there are plenty of ways to do it. Society does have avenues created specifically for such people. That's what monks and yogis do. There are entire communities designed for that, and they don't require you to be a millionaire. But they do take serious commitment. So the most important first step is to clearly decide how serious you are and what you really want to do for the next few years. If you have no good career prospects, pursuing enlightenment full-time for a few years might be a really good option. But it must be done seriously.

@Nahm That's true. Nonduality is always the case, it's just whether you choose it to be the main theme of your life or not. Possibly in the next 20-50 years when psychedelics become more and more mainstream and accessible. Removing its negative stigma. The growth on the planet could be raised exponentially. I could hear the news, "young man took acid and realized he was mere frequency vibrating at a high velocity. Realizing he was one consciousness..." (Bill Hicks, something like that. 1:45 Jim Carrey is so going to be the next Hicks holy shit!

@JustinS Every person discovers nonduality. It’s almost always when they ‘physically’ die though. I think you did this life so you wouldn’t know and then could discover, the truth, and still be ‘alive’. That what we’re aware of is all that we’re aware of is a real mind bender. I hear you on avg Joe. It’s like being Jim Carrey who’s no longer Jim Carrey and trying not to pull a Jim Carrey.

There is a point during the trip (as in all my trips) where I have a feeling this nondual experience will surely last forever and that I'm awaken now. It surely is convincing at that peak experience when I feel limitless. But of course I eventually come down. However, I can see the subtle nuance pathway being veiled to me for me to be awakened. It's just a continual peeling of the onion and seriously questioning my limiting beliefs and paradigm locks and not to get so easily sucked right back into them as I sober up. Really I feel sharpening of awareness, more trips, and continual studying is necessary for a persistent breakthrough. I like the slow motion water droplet Leo posted in his blog. Each I time trip it's just easier and exciting to just go as far as I can. Dying becomes a skill to be learned or better yet surrendering is the most beautiful art. How willing are you to die right now at this moment? Enlightenment is right now. I am nothing right now. A ghost, a hallucination is a breathtaking dream we call reality. But it's so convincingly real. My parents are convinced, my friends are convinced, and society is convinced that this is real and that we are born and we die. How would an average joe in western society possibly find out about nonduality?

@Voyager I have an insurance agency, so I’m biased I’m sure, but man have I seen some horror stories when people do not insure themselves. Hospitals should not be this way, but they are. In terms of nonduality, it doesn’t matter.

I've experienced many ego deaths. When the self dies it's gone. There is no "lower" or "higher" self. In my experience, absence of self is nonduality.

Hmmmm, so a solo retreat without talk and thought would be nondual. And. . . using inherently dualistic language to describe my summer trip to Peru is also nondual - because the fundamental nature of nonduality cannot be separate. So, the nondual must be a "nothing" and "everything". Because as soon as I try to classify things as either "nondual" and "dual", I am making "nondual" a something that is separate from a "dual" something.

I especially like this segment because it elucidates research by Jeffery Martin and his term for non-dual consciousness, which is Persistent Non Symbolic Experience (PNSE). This is a crucial misconception many people have about consciousness work-- nonduality isn't simply about dropping linguistic paradigms; rather, it runs MUCH deeper. Reality is not simply the models that precede language, but something that precedes (and includes) even that. All perceptions are partial, symbols we construct for survival needs. To do consciousness work to look beyond that. What lies beyond experience?

@Leo Gura I doubt I've experienced deeply enough to really grasp this, and am of course asking this without really having taken a stance, but is asking about organism's survival in relation to the perception of reality, not a valid question just because of non-duality? Sure, you can make an arbitrary distinction you want, and of course, there's not really a separate being there, but is it misguided to investigate relative frameworks, like how organism survive while having certain mental models? I know that it holds lots of assumptions, like there being such thing as "organism", "life", "death", "survival", etc., but it just seems like a valid inquiry on the relative plane. For context, I've only had tiny, tiny glimpses of nonduality and am pretty indoctrinated by culture, naive realism, etc. I haven't experienced God, Absolute Infinity, absolute relativity, etc. directly, only heard about such things second hand.

@Barna Was just wondering if you had anything on that. I have 'channeled' as well. Not sure what else to refer to it as because it was not the same as nonduality experience. As far as I can see, we are the connection between quantum or superposition or everything everywhere....and physical, or positionally certain, or manifested (atomic). I think when there is something that just can not be seen, it might be me.

@Dodo Ah, thanks, Dodoster, for the compliment about my website. It is not very big and it is not growing rapidly, but boy, have I put in tons of time polishing up those essays. It sometimes surprises even me that I get inspired to rewrite an essay that I have had for years. This happened just last week when I took 4 or 5 days to rewrite this essay: Why Do We Call It Nondual Wisdom? https://infinitelymystical.com/essays/nonduality.html 4 pages

@Serotoninluv My opinion is this: The traditional "you" is an illusion and that means that it does indeed exist, but it exists in a deceptive way. First of all, the reality of what you commonly think of as "you" is indeed a person. What is the deception? It is not an autonomous being even though it looks like it is. It is not who or what you truly are in the most fundamental way. What you are fundamentally is Source-Awareness. As you know, I talk about this in many of my essays. By the way, I wrote the following essay two years ago but I recently rewrote it. Here is the link: Why Do We Call It Nondual Wisdom? https://infinitelymystical.com/essays/nonduality.html 4 pages Some of my points in that essay might be of interest to you. Best regards. In truth, I honor your divine nature. - Thomas Razzeto