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I've just had some profound and yet weird experiences. I wanna share and hear your thoughts. When I sit quietly in a restaurant ( I always eat alone) suddenly something went through me. I felt blissful. The whole world seemed to me like a dream ( I don't know if I deluded myself or not because to be honest I already watched Leo's video: Life is a dream). And all the desires for sex, power, money did not interest me anymore. If I had a wish at that moment, I just wanted to be nobody and stay in that moment for ever. I sat quietly for hours and came home. I meditated. Something strange happened: I remembered my weird dream. I was clear to me that the person being conscious in the dream was LITERALLY me. When that dream happened I identified myself as that man in the dream. My mind immediately contemplated: Could it be that in my awakening state I feel conscious and able to think but ACTUALLY there's a higher being that has that feeling and I'm just a vessel. I became conscious of all the irrational and stupid things I had done in the past. I felt every thought I had was not under my control. Moreover, I realized the mind was just a concept. I realized the difference between we (ordinary human beings) and geniuses is the latter not only have strong personality but also they're bestowed with more intelligence. The thought that comes to a genius's mind contains more insights and ideas than ours. 2 days after an insight came to my mind: Everything is unique in its own way. The Buddha is the Buddha, Einstein is Einstein. The Buddha cannot become intelligently at physics and maths as Einstein, simply because the Buddha is made out of certain elements that make him the Buddha. Albert Einstein cannot meditate because he's made out of certain elements that his mind always receives crazy insights. That insight feels a bit sad to me because it means we cannot change anything. The universe runs on its own accord. We're just the vessel. About EXPECTATION: In the way I see, people view enlightenment as something like super power. Honestly, Enlightenment is just an awareness-base pursuit. It does not make you as intelligent as Albert Einstein if the universe does not bestow you with that. I have a feeling enlightenment is not only not for everyone but also for people who are exceptionally gifted like scientists who have push their brain to the absolute limits and now they meditate as a way to surrender themselves in order to receive insights from the universe. The second type of people that are suitable for this path is the people who are not so creative. Their mind is quiet and that's why they can just sit and meditate. After hours meditation they receive insights about the nature of life and reality. It's clear to my that enlightened people are wiser than an average person. It's hard for enlightened beings to do stupid things because they're closely connected with their true feelings and they do not lie to themselves. However, enlightenment can make you lazy and passive. What would you expect from a person who has realized life is just a dream and he's got no control over anything? Do you really thing the person who has realized that has the motivation to go out there and compete with other people? I honestly don't see any chance for that. Take an example: Osho. He's no doubt enlightened. But what did he do through his life? Just meditate and bliss out in nothingness.

The trickery of the mind is of no concern. My mind is silent and in bliss for the most part. I call upon it if i need to do something practical. I have gone past the "I-am" state. Alas this is how we communicate in English.

@yawning_ Thing is my dude, stuff happens when within samadhi. Gems are seen and doors are opened, figures approach you and share their truths. Sometimes they merge with you and sometimes they don't. So yes, things can be said about samadhi. I am strictly speaking about higher states of enlightenment. Of course many neo-advaitans tell me that once you are self-realize, there is nothing more to it. They vehemently reject the notion that there are stages to enlightenment and that there is more to it than just void. I'd say in response that unless you are living in bliss, then you haven't gotten the full package yet. If all you have is void, then you have seen Shiva but not the Shakti. My question to all of you is this: Do you wake up in the middle of the night as your true self, in a dreamless void, brimming with bliss? Have you had all your identification mechanisms utterly crushed, so utterly that someone had to tell you what your name was? Can you follow the trail of your memory to ages past? These are all achievable. So when I ask what is after turquoise, what I meant was at what level of enlightenment does it end and coral begin? Self-realization? God-Consciousness? Shiva Consciousness? Moksha?

I thought I write this because its helpful to those of you here who have active Kundalini but not much knowledge about it: Short Description: Siddha Yoga is the Kundalini Path of enlightenment. Kundalini is divine energy which has manifested and upholds your current state of ignorance. In Siddha Yoga, truth or reality is described as having two aspects (which really are the same) known as Shiva, which is unmanifest potential (often described as pure void), and Shiva, dynamic creative energy which manifests the world within/from/as Shiva). Now after manifesting an individual, the Shakti resides as Kundalini within the body and lies dormant. In special cases, whether through divine grace, or the grace of a guru, the Kundalini can become active. It then works within your system and rewires it so your body can uphold higher and higher states of enlightenment. It will eventually leave its resting place at the base of the spine, reaches the top of the head, and merges with Shiva. The state of enlightenment is described as Sat (being-ness), Cit (Consciousness), Ananda (Bliss). Stages of enlightenment There are several stages of enlightenment (Consciousness) within this model: Ignorant - Self-explanatory Awakened - A person who has "awoken" to the spiritual path, and has begun to question the nature of reality (his own nature). Turyia - A transitory stage before self-realization. The person has begun to seriously doubt and dis-identify with the ego, but is helpless in doing so thanks to subtle identification mechanisms that have not been crushed yet. Dark night (or years) of the mind often happens right before/at this stage as the mind frantically search to find its true nature but cannot come up with an answer. Self-realized - He who has lost all identification with the body/mind/emotions/ego and moreover has lost the identification mechanisms bring about ignorance. God-Consciousness - The person begins to see the divine in everything around him but himself. He has achieved non-duality within, but there is still a duality between him and the outside world. The dark night (or years) of the soul begin here as the person sees (projects) god in everything but himself, and this makes him miserable). Unity Consciousness - The person unity between the inner and the outer. Duality stops here. Shiva Consciousness - Happens within Blue Consciousness where the individual soul merges with the blue being (Krishna, Mary, Jesus etc.) Practices A seeker in the Siddha Yoga path uses many methods to assist him. He can receive Shaktipat to arouse Kundalini. He can use self-inquiry to silence the mind. He can contemplate the nature of god as Sat, Cit, Ananda (which is called Dhyana, the true form of meditation). He can use kriyas and pranayamas to arouse more and more shakti within him.

Hypnogogic jerks are also known as sleep starts or hypnic jerks. They’re strong, sudden, and brief contractions of the body that occur just as you’re falling asleep. If you’ve ever been drifting off to sleep but suddenly wake with a jolt and a jerk of the body, you’ve experienced a hypnogogic jerk. I didn't know this Hypnic Jerk term prior to thinking about making this thread. Did a google search of what happened to me and this is what I got. I have experienced this before too, not just when meditating, but during school/class when boring and I am day-dreaming or falling asleep. So just today, during my meditation sit with eyes closed I guess I was getting sleepy and ready to fall asleep when this happened. Now each time this has happened to me, it's been the same experience. A very short+quick moment of blackness followed by that jolt which wakes/jerks you up. The time it takes is almost in an instant, almost like any deep-sleep state where no-matter if you slept for 5 mins or 5 hours, it feels the same - timeless. I was thinking that as I am trying to get the no-self experience during meditation, this happens... maybe it is at this point where I am about to get a glimpse but am unable to stay "conscious" through that process? One of the things, which is remarkably notable in that almost non-existent tiny moment of blackness is the deep relaxation/bliss which is felt. I would describe that brief relaxed moment as those mini sleeps we all get when we snooze our alarms. they pass by as if it took 0 seconds but they are so good. I could snooze all day on my day off just to enjoy those mini wake-ups and sleeps. so yeah, could this be just me dozing off to sleep and getting this state or could me wanting to get a no-self experience by clearing my mind have something to do with this... but as I am new to this, I am unable to sustain the experience?

Get ready because that bliss is going to end and you are going to be left with an expanded consciousness which is a double edged sword and must be respected

Even Leo knows this. The shakti speaks within him: retire. Leave this business. Come and live forever in bliss. When will he listen, I don't know.

There was no goal to begin with. You flow with Karma. The rest is illusion. Find out which layer of your ego came up with that and annihilate it. There's nothing you should do. Or sleep and be lazy. These were all serious answers btw. I said the same thing to Leo: If you realize your existence as Sat Cit Ananda, the rest is illusion. You don't have to be a saint. You don't have to be moral. You don't have to be productive. You don't have to be anything. Who am I talking to? The ego? You are helpless. Deal with it. Shiva is sitting within you, idly looking at me. It is not touched by concepts. It is eternally in bliss. It has by its unknowable power, manifested ALL THIS. It certainly doesn't need the ego to tell it what it should or should not do.

"The basis of Buddhism is a doctrine known as the Four Noble Truths. The First Truth is that all life is suffering, pain, and misery. The Second Truth is that this suffering is caused by selfish craving and personal desire. The Third Truth is that this selfish craving can be overcome. The Fourth Truth is that the way to overcome this misery is through the Eightfold Path." "Despite the fourth luminous jhāna’s many virtues, it doesn’t result in the complete absence of craving, or in the perfect equanimity that would entail. However, through experiencing the bliss of equanimity in the fourth jhāna, you begin to understand the possibility of perfect bliss and perfect equanimity." "Perfect equanimity and the complete cessation of craving are called Nibbāna in Pali (Nirvāna in Sanskrit)."

@SoonHei The thought of feeling good is a thought of feeling good... it’s still thinking / efforting though. Whereas bliss is without “feeling good”? You sayin that kinda pointer so to speak?

@Salvijus Oh man Im getting super excited for this. I used to be thirsty for spirituality, but recently I’ve been turned off. I want to reconnect with that love, adventure and bliss. Your words are truly inspirational. I hope we can share our experiences with each other and the forum on Isha yoga

I had similar problems in the past. In my experience, it was that my being focussed too much on the head/mind. Start meditating and focusing on the opposite side of the body (south). Pain will rise but it will get into bliss after the drama. Best of luck!

Last November I had a rather odd experience while driving that I can only catergorize as a brief 'awakening' experience. Last year was a very trying time for me in my personal life (working two jobs to save up for my wedding, sleep loss, demanding work at my primary job). Despite my circumstances I maintained a daily practice of meditation. There were some days I would awake extra early to do 2 hours of meditation. I believe maintaining a consistent practice is what 'opened' me up to have this experience. One day on a particularly stressful day I was driving (more like racing) to my second job after work in heavy traffic. I became very frustrated and angry with circumstances of my life. I began to mentally curse out the slow driver in front of me. My mind became a cesspool of all these negative and self defeating thoughts. I felt myself going over the edge. And in that moment the mental dialogue had abruptly ceased and I took a long look at every other driver around me. It then occured to me that most of the drivers were in the exact same sort of misery I was (beeping their horns, risking their own safety and others to get ahead of each other etc). It all looked so vividly ridiculous that I began to laugh hysterically. Any onlookers probably thought I had went insane. We were all racing to get 'somewhere'. The epihpany I had at that moment was that this 'somewhere' didnt exist. All that was, was just the present. I went deeper and began to question more. There was no 'I' that existed. 'I' was a complete and utter fabrication. The 'I' that 'I' identified myself as was a complete sham and so were all of the things 'I' stressed out about so much. Every concept. Every notion. All of it was a complete sham. 'I' felt like an actor in a lifelong movie who forgot he was a just an actor on a set For the rest of the evening I was in total bliss. I appreciated every moment in heavy traffic and complete the task at my 2nd job with joyfullness. The following days afterwards I had very intense meditations. During these sessions I would feel an unconditional sense of love and compassion for everything that made me weep tears of joy. Whenever I saw my wife, dog , or anything for that matter it was as if I was seeing them for the very first time. The world felt mystical and mysterious again. It wasn't too long before I found myself getting more and more enveloped in the world around me. I had what you may call a major ego backlash. I was exhibiting the same unconscious behaviors as I had before....but with slightly more consciousness. I have been struggling to feel that sense of union I had those days last November and often find myself confused about where I go in my practice from here. For one I am not sure if this was an elightenment or awakening experience to begin with. I know I must go further inward but present circumstances in life make the possibility to do so very limited. Has anyone ever been in the same boat? Have you ever had an awakening experience only to go unconscious shortly after? Thank you for reading all of this. Your advice is greatly appreciated.

@Tistepiste There are good moments and bad moments. Bliss, Happiness, Sadness, Anger. No matter what the experience is there is an underlying peace.

I will break my statement to not write again, because it occurred to me how I can explain to you all the difference. First you are ignorant, as everyone is at first. Then you go look for meaning to explain everything you experience. If you then so happen to stumble upon enlightenment, and I mean the Western definition of enlightenment here, formed to you by Leo and many others, you might start to believe it. You see Leo's movies where he achieved multiple 'enlightenments,' to finally become absolute infinity and god himself and he created everything. Then you start to believe this, just like Leo did before he turned to psychedelics. Although Leo also read or heard about 'enlightenment' from someone else. Then you try psychedelics yourself, if you take a big enough dosage or a strong enough psychedelic like 5-Meo-dmt, what happens is that your neurotransmitter (serotonin, dopamine, noradrenaline, etc.) activity in your brain is greatly enhanced and the balance of them is distorted. As input from the senses through these neurotransmitters forms your consciousness, your awareness of your senses, and therefore reality, gets distorted. Therefore it seems like reality is falling apart, but it is only your consciousness, which is so fucked up that it can not process input from the senses anymore. It might lose connection to the senses as a whole, causing a blackout. This of course, makes sure your ego dies. After you come back to your senses, you think that you created reality, because you believe you do, based on your believe in enlightenment or absolute infinity etc. Your consciousness however is just getting back to normal. Because you believe you created reality, are god, absolute infinity etc., you are disconnecting yourself from reality. Of course the non-duality experience is real, but how it came to be, the nature of it, becomes related to your believe. A child is ignorant, people tell the child about santa, the child believes in santa. The child sees someone who looks like santa, the child believes he or she saw santa. Now, Buddhists learn that the ego consists purely out of desires and believes, formed by your ignorance in thinking that the universe and reality exist on their own. So they dissolve the ego by learning the mutual dependent origin of the universe, which means that the universe does not exist on itself. Therefore opening their minds for the experience of non-duality. This does not mean you are totally lost or wrong. You are just disconnected from reality. Therefore, a lot of you experienced this disconnection, thinking it is a stage you have to go through. You are not completely lost, you are actually already halfway there, you just miss understanding. If you understand, your believe and disconnection will go away, filling your heart with compassion. Everything is explained on http://www.foundationsofhumanlife.com but I believe our generation is tired of reading. But I don't blame you, there is so much shit written. Everybody who thinks they created a fart, starts to write a book about it. Selling it to the gullible. Take 'The power of now,' for example. Why take the time and effort to read and meditate, when one can take some psychedelic substance and buzz your tits off. Leo seemed to have a good time, so it must be right. What it does to your body and mental state, with frequent use over time, nobody knows. But who cares; cause you already smoke, drink alcohol, eat sugar, refined carbohydrates and Fetts, sprayed vegetables, etc. Not saying you do, but you might. But suit yourself, a lot of Christians and Catholics are perfectly happy believing in god. Ignorance is bliss in some way. @Nahm so I ask you, do you take the blue pill, or the red pill, and find out how deep the rabbit hole really goes? Hope this will reach everyone in a good state and may it help you on the way to feel enlightened. And don't forget, sharing is caring.

I witnessed something really important: I literally observed my mind generating suffering. a slight feeling of emptiness came up - after weeks of joy, love and bliss. the contrast was huge. the resistance too. I felt tensing up, not wanting to loose all the positivity I've 'gained' in the last months. it felt like a small death. slipping back into old patterns, old pain. there my mind played right into it: thoughts came up, fantasies of victimhood, suffering, loss, loneliness.. it created a whole cycle: thoughts deepened the painful emotions, which in turn stimulated new destructive thoughts, which again intensified the suffering. it was so painful, but also sweet in a strange way. I felt something in me grasping onto it. my ego? identifying with familiar patterns? I suddenly thought: whoa, wait. is this me? does this actually belong to me? am I really this suffering? as soon as I thought that, I felt it becoming less intense. I gained distance, as if observing it from afar or through a veil of fog. I instinctively knew what the answer was: to love the one who is in pain. and I genuinely want to love that one. I don't want to judge and beat myself up for suffering and for getting caught in old toxic patterns again. I really want to love myself. unconditionally and every single aspect of myself. if I only knew how..

Sorry. I did not mean to make it sound like "you're not so wise yet". Simply that the factors that lead me to Buddhism, and whatever factors lead you to your path differ. I was simply trying to point out what the differentiating factor might be. I am not enlightened in either sense of the word, yours or mine. But I have seen enough to have an idea of where the two paths might lead. I seek not happiness nor understanding. I know suffering in my heart, and if there is a way to put it to an end, then that is what is worth pouring my efforts into. I don't even mean to say that I'm depressed and I'm looking for happiness. Nah, I've tasted pure cosmic bliss and heaven. If I wanted to pursue cosmic union or non-dual "perfection of everything", I could have chosen to do so. But heaven doesn't wash out the taste of knowing that suffering exists. When you climb the throne of God and look down upon the cosmos and say "This is perfection", and the denizens of hell look up from their torment and find no saviour... well, then the search for a way out begins; a totally individual journey, although it is nice to have compassionate beings to help guide the way. I have noticed the hole, that's what this whole post is about. The hole is explicit and intentional, not an accidental "oops we forgot to talk extensively about the nature of reality, our bad!". It is pragmatic. Focus only on what is absolutely necessary to end suffering. You need not wonder about the nature of the burning house you are in. Just find the exit, and walk out.

Yup, triggered. This guy probably thinks Viktor E. Frankl is insane too. After all, the guy experienced moments of bliss at Auschwitz while he knew everyone he loved had been killed.

The mind is normally silent. I guess what you could call mood fluctuates around contentment, peace, happiness, joy, bliss, etc. There are moments when there is a feeling of more or less bliss, but I don't demand that there is always bliss. When I am most down (so to speak), there is contentment...which is not considered very low by most standards. Normally, I am just happy and at peace. I do not judge when I feel bliss as a better moment than when I don't feel bliss. Bliss or not blissful...doesn't matter. Just content and at peace either way.

@Mikael89 You are a all-powerful creative being, and always will be. You have the same potential as anyone you admire or look at AND greater. See that in yourself. You judge yourself lots beloved when you are more deserving and worthy of that. You are greater than the best vision of yourself you could imagine. Remember the times when you felt freedom, power, confidence and courage in your life. Remember the times too when you felt peace or bliss. What thoughts would such a person have about themselves? People underestimate the power of being forgiving and accepting to yourself, warts and all, for all of your flaws. You are worthy of every compliment you receive, for every smile you get from a stranger, and for every act of kindness done onto you. And in all of that you still deserve more love, not less. PS: lots of the things you post here are so amazing. Thank you for taking your time to do that, it's really appreciated. Also Mikael, you don't have to change anything about yourself. You are perfect just the way you are. We are on this Earth for a small amount of time, so we may as well celebrate, relax, and just have a good time in whatever way that looks like. You have so many more years to live, and you will look back and have a giggle ?

@Barry J Simply bring your awareness down to your Heart area in meditation, and keep returning this place whenever you get pulled into a thought. Focus on the Love that arises there, and if you can't feel it, still keep your attention there, and trust it will happen. Even if God appears keep focusing on the Love I also use like using simple intuitive affirmations throughout the day, they are also very effective for opening the Heart. In this practice, bring your awareness down into your Heart (it might help to feel the space of consciousness around and within you too to get grounded), and allow yourself to speak words of Love to your Heart, like a mini love-letter to your soul. Statements such as, "I am beautiful, and all of reality is beautiful", "I am Love, All is Love", "Everything is peaceful, I feel this peace all around me", "I am bliss, happiness, oneness and love right here and right now". Don't think about what the next word is, just speak while feeling your Heart.

I started meditating since July 11th 2018 first month 20 minutes a day, second month 25 minutes a day, and about two weeks ago I started doing 25 minutes in the morning and 25 minutes before I go to bed. Then I bought Leo's book list and have recently finished reading Mastery by George Leonard. Now I'm working my way through the second book on the list which is Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz. Hoooolly shit, just these two books alone + Leo's recent video technique on sending consciousness to where your body tension is located then sending a signal to relax it has made a noticeable change in my behavior/thoughts. The most prominent theme I've noticed since all of this self-actualizing work is a CONSTANT battle of 'self's' going at it. I answer a question in class correctly and the higher self get's validated, I get it wrong then the lower self gets validated. Get rejected by a girl or accepted by a girl, same thing, two different self's battling it out. I can literally see/feel it happening. Now, I've finally learned to drop all of this completely, to stop identifying with the good OR the bad and the effects are just pure bliss. I literally don't care what people think of me and I'm much much more grounded in who I am. I can't imagine reading all of the books on the book list and being able to apply all of the techniques. LOL. It's like being a low level in a game, then when you get to a high level the capacity of your abilities are 'god-like.' This is only from a few months of working on self-actualization too! Wow..I'm mind-fucked right now

@Recursoinominado yeah it really melts away the self, and the self is compiled with limiting non-sense. Thus, bliss and "higher self"

I think it's a good thing to be skeptical of ideas but when I watch Leo's videos it opens my mind to different possibilities. I may not agree with these ideas or possibilities but it makes me question and look deeper into things. Even when it comes to enlightenment I thought that was just some nonsense belief but Leo clarified by calling it complete skepticism of everything. Although, when Leo talks about becoming God or experiencing bliss it seems like BS and one of those too good to be true things. But maybe that's just to get the ego engaged with inquiries and meditation to then become the "true self" or "no self". Although, when Leo talks about psychic ability supernatural phenomena and I see how this has been debunked time and time again I think he's just wrong. I guess if it's a real thing i'll believe it when I see it or if it looks like it has been verified by science. I don't really think it would be that hard to verify some of these things either if they are true.

right intention I know there is nothing. no reason, no purpose, no meaning. I've experienced that nothingness. the ego uses the mind to construct all of that. why? it's about survival. to keep going. to get up in the morning. motivation, goals, validation. to reassure I am, I exist, I matter. I matter in this world, I matter in other people's perceptions. it's not necessarily a bad thing. I don't want to judge that anymore. the k.ey is the light of awareness. I see that it's all a projection of my mind. but why not embracing it? I don't want to get rid of 'my' ego. I want to integrate it. I want to embrace it with love. the mind is a poor master, but a good servant. I create my own meaning, I've always done so. I can do it in a mindful, conscious manner. why am I doing all of this? why am I living at all? what's the purpose? what is my purpose in life? my mother says I'm egoistic, self-absorbed. that hurt me. am I? why do I spend so much time meditating, doing yoga, reading/studying, practicing mindfulness? my goals have changed over the last year.. what I am aiming for now is something completely different. I couldn't have ever imagined. I want to become empty. so empty, to be filled with the only thing there is: divine love. I'd like to become selfless, a mere vessel of love and compassion. all of that to serve; I want to heal and help others like I did with myself. I've managed to drag my poor soul out of self hatred and victim mentality. I would like to share all the bliss and love and empathy I've experienced since then. am I tricking myself there? is that ego searching for validation, a sense of importance? I don't know at this point. I hope not. it doesn't feel like that. my desire to share and to reach out feels genuine and deep. and if not, maybe it will become along my journey. to change the world one must change herself. I shouldn't feel guilty for spending so much time on myself and my inner journey. Matt is right, sometimes awareness can become quite toxic. when it's tinged with judgement. the answer? love. I want to deepen my self love <3