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I painstakingly wrote the entire transcript because this video for me is probably the most important video or message of my life. It opened the road to self-actualization for which I will forever be indebted and grateful. If it inspires you, then I am glad. This was the first video that opened my eyes and for the first I saw how important it is to focus on self and changing oneself in order to see a change in life... ..............So Enjoy The transcript is typed a little haphazardly. So I apologize for that. Mattieu is very gifted scientist who became a buddhist monk. He was regarded as the one of the most promising scientist of his generation. Sorry biologist. I took it from web. He completed his PHd thesis in 1972 before like most of you were born.and unfortunately he wasn't able to join google at that time. So he went to nepal and became a biologist. Now thats kidding. He became a monk. He has lived and studies in the himalayas for the past 35 years where he has been doing humanitarian projects. . Mathieu is also a best selling author.he is a translator and he is a photographer. And all these pictures they are taken by him. He is also an active prticipant in current scientific research on meditation and the brain. And inmany of the those studies he is the brain. So mathiey so he wrote an entire book on happiness. Its honour and pleasure form me to welcome mattieu ricard in our presence. There called noora nasrudden. He asked how do you know its me. Enjoyabl eplace i see people with their swimming trunks moving in the alleys going to the swimming pool Occasonaly meng as he leaves his massage chair to go to his office. So definitely i would like to work here. this is better than being at home. So probably i have nothing to teach you about happiness. Someone told me equally that I should never have written this book because i never suffered very much in my life i am the last person to write a book on happiness and suffering. So anyway. I though to share few ideas because they were very dear to me. ............. ..... This came through meeting beings of great wisdom. It sort of started like that. We speak of leadership. Leadership has to be someone who somehow inspires you the potential that you can actualize, showing you what you could become. And give you a sense of direction and inspiration. Thats not very frequent in life.i was quite lucky in my teens to be born in a family in France where my father was a philosopher and we so got all these poets and thinkers at home My mother was an artist and all these soriya painters coming becaue of the muscial connections when i was 16 years old i had lunch with Stravinsky himself just for 2 hours with three people all together my uncle was an explorer. He went around the world on an board after the second world war and worldclass of eccentric friends Such as one when we went to paris there was a small note on his door saying i left on foot to Timbaktu. And things like that. So lot of wonderful people. And in science of course... The lab i was working with 2 three nobel prize winners in medicine jakolt mono and wolfe at Pasteur Institiute .So it was very exciting very there was definitely lot of people to look at as to know what could i do what could i be inspired . At the same time definitely i would have wish to play the piano you know like Stater srivester or the chess like bobby fisher. I dont know if you remember bobby fisher . But Who wants to become Bobby Fisher. So there was some kind of discrepancy you know you could take 100 governors and you will have a number of wonderful people and some governors who are quite short-tempered not so as to deal with but the same thing with philosophers same thing with scientists same thing with artists no matter what their particular skill or genius was there was no correlation as such between their human quality and their particular genius. So you could try to pick up things and make your own salad and try to but thats somehow didnt seem bit artificial.Like making a palace of all that and think its going to work. So then I was lucky enough to travel to the Himalayas. And Then i met something different. I saw men of wisdom men and women of wisdom. What was bit special about them and they are all great tibetan teachers who have fled the invasion of tibet and towards india and other places.I didnt really care so much what they knew themselves you know poetry tibetan grammar and even buddhist philosophy in the beginning that was not my interest at all.but what they were that was inspiring the quality. The human quality and then i thought how i would become like them not just know what they know. And because there was a kind of a The first trigger was seeing a documentalry movie on some of the great teachers and some friend of mine those and at the end of the documentary there was a five minute silence upon one face of the meditators and hermits and spiritual teachers the dalai lama one after another just like silent it was so powerful. I thought like 20 socrates or 20 senfosis or fasisceists whoever .you feel like representing them wisdom of humanity just there alive in all times and so i thought where i should go to see and that was very interesting because Somehow someone like that and i am going to show some images show you what you could become its a source of inspiration. Give you that that this is possible you know somebody made it somehow then of course you get interest in how.first you have to see that it makes sesnse . So also in the course of living in the himalayas. After a while travelling back and forth . Some of the things became quite clear. You know what brings a sense of fulfillment in life. And it seems that we so much put our hopes and fears in the outer conditions.So now.Lets be clear from the beginning. Its its we want outer conditions to be optimal compared to 150 years ago when the life expectancy even in europe was like 30 years and now who doesn’t want to live long to be healthy to have access to education to have a wonderful working place harmonious human relations in one’s family and friends with people living in country where there is peace where there is not a oppressive regime so all that we deeply sort of yearn for that and thats right. WE ought to develop that to the maximum we can to and especially . In a world where there is far from being granted for many many places of the world where 3000 children still die everyday of malaria and all that you know and there is so much to do just to bring those minimum outer conditions. Yet its quite clear too that if we only put our hopes and fears in the outer world we Its not going to work in our search for direction for meaning for genuine sense of fulfillment and accomplishment what we would call genuine happiness. genuine happiness does not mean pleasant feelings one after the other each one more and more intense piling them up renewing them seeking them and then falling out collapsing of exhaustion at the end . Thats not going to work . So its more like a cluster of qualities that we can develop as skills you know openness genuine altruistic love compassion inner strength some kind of inner peace and then that gives you a sense of confidence thats not just like the false confidence of arrogance but confidence that you are less vulnerable and therefore more ready also to be of service of others and contribute to a more compassionate society that gives you better way of flourishing yourself and others and because less means more confidence means less feelings of insecurity or fears then more readiness to be there for others. So its quite clear that outer conditions themselves are not enough however necessary or useful they might be. Not enough because we also can clearly see that our state of mind the way we interpret and translate those outer conditions in our inner sort of experience are what really determines states of well being and or misery and the state of mind can easily override those outer conditions. 11:17 We can feel terrible in a little paradise and we can feel still very strong and joyful to go about one’s life and contribute to the happiness of others even in the face of adversity and So dalai lama once gave this striking example if you move in a very luxurious flat at 100 floor of a hi-tech skyscraper for the first time you just bought it and then you are totally ruined within destroyed in your your heart and in your mind all you are going to look for is a window from which to jump, On the other hand you could have this great joy to be alive and petty and whatever all those human qualities even when you know when the outer conditions doesn’t seem nice at all because your state of mind is stronger.And that such a fortunate situation. Because imagine that to find happiness 12:16 The world will have to be the image of your desire your fancies. the universe will have to be vast catalogue in which you can order all the ingredients for happiness.forget it. No Its never going to happen like that. There should be 6 billion catalogues and everyone will choose different items and they will never work. So but no this is not just a it seems obvious but great thinkers thought otherwise. Emmanuel Cant wrote complete happiness will be the complete fulfillment of all our desires in quantity quality and duration.now. Just the whole idea of happiness goes to the drain . this would never happen never how can that be and anyway in permanence is there even if you had for a fraction of a second everything to be happy then one piece was turning to be missing the next day so again collapse. It doesnt work. And we know in real life as i remember once going to tahiti with the young abbot of my monastery first two buddhist monks in tahiti was big news So in the ....... In the ....in the ....yes ..so in the evening news there were two big items . They found a snake in the forest there are no snakes in tahiti and second item two buddhist monks arrived in tahiti. SO The next day we were in this wonderful like postard looking sunset in Paul gogenz house and while he was not there but a beautifully lit swimming pool.I am sitting there and we are looking at each other and you know.....ss.. Who is the owner of that supposed to make us happy. There seems to no relation.And if that makes us happy then what If you double the size of the swimming we would be twice as much happy. So of course no no relation. Its the way you interpet things. 14:25 And we had the confirmation of that of the way of interpreting the world the next morning because you know Tahiti looks great on postcard.but its pretty hot and damp wet when you are there . So We were sitting under a beautiful tree and there was imagine there was this kind of soft sort mist refreshing mist falling from the tree. We are sitting there in complete bliss thinking wow This is a real paradise no even the trees are air-conditioned. But Then someone came and said you know those are pissing flies/. So Our perception of the world changed right away. 15:05 So now so lets assume that the inner conditons for well being are really what will determine the quality of every $$$ that goes by. And Thats fair assumption .but then thats when in the most metaposition because Thats our mind. The final experience of all of that.Thats At least i am not having to modify the whole world to our taste. But we can change our mind. If we can change our mind then we can change our world thats the world we experience so thats the idea so for that we need to identify which conditions in our mind are leading to sense of fulfillment sort of fruition accomplishment and sense that we look 20 years ahead if we look back we see that somehow thats the best that we could do with our capacities and which was the right direction something that is truly meaningful in our life. So what are those conditions that will nurture the quality also the quality of every moment that passes. Because after all Life is not just remembering the past and projecting the future. The quality of the present moment. Thats what the days is made of. As someone said If we take care of the minutes the hours will take care of themselves. If all the minutes are unhappy how could the hours and day be somehow be fulfilled. So we need that quality . 16:31 That has to do with the states of mind. Then there are states of mind which are totally detrimental to the quality of that life like hatred to be sentimental grudge nagging jealousy obsessive desire sort of arrogance all those (are just) makes you feel miserable and of course they also induce you to act and speak in ways that also cause suffering around you. so its a lose lose situation that comes to very self-centered excessive $$$$ feeling self-importance bringing everything to oneself and trying to buildup so called selfish happiness sometime at the detriment of others well being Thats absolutely not going to work.if a selfish happiness is the goal of your life then that life is soon going to be without any goal .because That simply cannot work. The reason it cannot work is because excessive preoccupation with onself is the constant source of torment and being vulnerable to everything criticism praism failure and success all those would take a disproportionate sort of importance there. You will be like a storm in a glass of water. And thats each of those will be like small balls bouncing in that small tiny bubble of the ego and then hurting you every-time .we need to explode that self-centeredness bubble and let those bullets be lost in the vast space of open-minded and so that we not just simply obsessed whats going to happen to me and how do i feel. And all these things Its just way of buying trouble for ourself . So now there are other types of emotions and mental state which definitely we feel as something that is nourishing the sense of well being like say loving kindness unconditional love wanting to an act of generosity with no strings attached . Just a mere wish of bringing some happiness or relief from suffering to others and some sense of inner peace inner strength inner kind of contentment. So all those together makes a way of being. And thats what genuine happiness is. Its not just pleasant feelings even and trying to like accumulate them endlessly because pleasant feelings are so much fleeting even if you try to renew them they depend upon circumstances upon time. They change in nature from one moment to the other. Something that is very pleasant like a chocolate cake one serving is great two three you become nauseous so the same thing as a change of nature there must be beautiful music you can dream of you might if you have really hooked on to it listen 3 4 times at a row but imagine 24 hours nonstop what a fatigue . Doesnt work. And also it is something that somehow is so centered upon oneself you can experience intense incessant pleasure if everyone is suffering even at the cost of other making suffer its not something that it is inspiring necessarily and so vulnerable to change. No. Happiness as a way of being as a optimal sort of way of the mind to be. . Wil remain throughtout the ups and downs throughout the different emotional states and give you give you the resources to deal with whatever comes so rather than being dependent on the fluctuating changes of ups and downs of life lets give you the resources to deal with those changing conditions. Its like the depth of the ocean its always there compared to the change of the surface where theres sometimes storm sometimes beautiful weather but in both if you dont have the depth then you are in the midst of the weather change of the surface with nothing to refer to 20:41 So it is a way of being. Or as manner of being. But manners need to be learnt. Its not granted. yet Its true we are more or less born with the kind of triats.There are more happy and extrovert kids or kids which are little bit more violent and some others are very sweet and will give their toys to others. So we have traits. But those are just blueprints. This is not the time to elaborate on that but epigenesis means that even you have this set of genes at any time something that could regulate their expression. Wonderful studies now done showing that almost any kind of gene that determines traits can be modified by the environment by receiving and giving love and tenderness. Gene can be for stress can be blocked for life if there is a strong component of tenderness very early in life and so those are just sort of potential that we are more or less sort of gifted in the beginning but hard work and the interaction can change that. So there is this flexibility in everything in genes in the way we experience the world. So there is margin to change. 22:05 And not only that but by which can kind of mystery our mind the way we experience things will just change towards happiness because we wish to be happy. Everything else in life we need to learn. Like going to school leanrt by experinece. There must be some fundamental quality just come like that. Its human nature. It would be terrribly boring three days on uninterrupted happiness is so boring its always the same but suffering is so vibrant. It always changes you know so exciting but you know is it true or are we just saying that to justify the fact that we are not quite sure how to change that. And then we try to make a philosophy to it with that state of affairs because in truth you know 23:52 When you are sitting maybe in a beautiful garden or somewhere by the lake with someone you love and just like enjoying the beauty of nature and feeling harmony with the world with others with yourself with less inner conflict working the stars or something like that and feeling really at peace are you going to regret the tense atmosphere of a emergency room of a hospital or something. Or if i come now and you are sitting peacefully and say please get angry right now and you will say why should i you know i am fine or would you like to spend the whole afternoon being terribly jealous. You will say no why this doesnot sound such a nice prospect but if i say would you like to spend the next two three hours you know having compasssion or loving kindmess as the main sort of state of mind Wows that seems pretty you know. We feel instinctively that even though we cant escape from the for the time being from those kind of different kinds of mental toxins.WE rather be well off without them. Now is it possible to change that because we might say its so deeply Intrinsic to human nature that we cant do anything. So yes ina way it is in human nature and we all have those positive and negative emotions. So in that sense it is part of human nature but to be part of something there are different ways of being part of something. You could be part of something like the whiteness of the screen thats all over the texture of the screen and to remove that we would have to destroy the screen.But this is also somehow part of the screen. It stays on the screen but it doesnt penetrate the screen doesn’t belong to the screen doesnt remain on the screen and the screen allows it to appear yet it is not modified as such but it allows it to appear so thats the key in order for all the mental states mental constructs to arise in our mind whether positive emotions or negative ones no matter. There has to be some kind of basic screeen or like the light If i show a torchlight to shine on you the light can show in the garden beautiful flowers or maybe a pile of garbage so you might say this is beautiful this is ugly the light allows you to seee that but the light doesnt become beautiful or ugly the light just makes that perceptible visible. 26:19 Likewise at the fundamental aspect of cognition of the mind we call the bay of consciousness or the sort of pure awareness. Its kind of basic cognitive factor and that thing meditators can introspectively sort of experience that behind the screen of thoughts this kind of pure way of presence or we call the laminous aspect of mind in buddhist terms . luminous not that it glows in the dark or like those google thing shooting from the earth. But that it is luminous compared to a dark object like this stool where there is no cognitive quality whatsoever. So it luminous. It a cogni..cognicent. So now that is not tainted by hatred jealousy and so forth. It allows that to occur . It cannot be. If hatred was so intrinsically part then it should shine on everything like the light was beautiful in itself everything would be beautiful when you shine the light on something or ugly or whatever. So thats not the case. That gives margin because those mental constructs are result of causes and conditions . So it gives modify those causes and conditions and thats the principle of mind training, and thats what meditation is all about. Meditation has many meanings 27:38 But the root the actual literal meaning in sanskrit bavana means to cultivate. And in tibetan gom means to be familiar with something to become familiar with a new way of being with qualities with the perception of a world which is ore attuned with the reality and not seeing the world as autonomous permanent objects but as a dynamic sort of flux interdependent on ceaselessly changing causes and conditions even our consciousness is a stream a dynamic stream constantly changing and so it also develops qualities like compassion and loving kindness so meditation is really to cultivate something. It can be to cultivate inner calm to begin with like through mindful breathing let the thoughts subside little bit and through not being caught in the constant whirlpool then from that state we can develop those qualities like compassion and loving kindness. So it is something that need to be trained and everything has to be learned. Our life is spoiled brat of our mind it is going to continue to run over the place and this you know we are the mixture of constant joy and torments we can do much better. We say this is normal but normal state is just a pandemic. We are so much alike we think that everything is normal. But optimal is something else. And with this is possible. So we can use all kinds of methods and techniques thats what the sort of he methodology or the science or the contemplative science is about. 29:09 Using antidotes. For instance. Antidotes means there are things that are one to one that are mutually exclusive. You cannot in the same gesture stretch your hand friendly way and give a blow. You cannot in the same moment of thought want to harm someone and want to do good. Its very simple but if you think of that the more you bring say altruistic thoughts thought of benevolence in your mind the less at those moments there will be space for malevolence harmful thoughts and so forth. So you can imagine that yes we do feel moments of love and moments of resentment but we dont cultivate them we dont try to generate loving kindness and just keep it flowering in our mind and remaining it and feeding it and sort of maintain preserving it for 5 or 10 minutes its not something we do but thats what we need to do if we want it to become a part of or mind. To change our minute to minute emotion and then moods then finally traits thats how we learn. 30:10 fgbvb It wont happen without a mimimum of sort of dedication and to dedicate oneself to someething and to find the time for it we need to see the advantages of doing so. And in case of changing one’s mind the advantages are quite obvious. Ther are many other ways but just to give you a quick example Not indignation in the face of injustice 34 Since we speak of changing your mind chnaging your brain some years now we have been collaborating with neuroscientists. This is an endeavour that has was started by dalasi lama inspired by him to study the influence on the brain of The areas that deal with the fingers with the motor coordination and all kinds of things. It has vastly increased in activity even in size so what happens not if you not learn the piano but if you learn compassion. You know training vigilance attention. Would that change the brain too. If that does it means that meditation not only blissing out under a mango tree and trying to empty your mind unsuccessfully. But it is really a deep change that comes through mind training that was an interesting sort of approach so 35 we need to start with experienced meditators because now if there is a noticeable difference in them. If there was no difference in the experienced dont expect 35:25 Here are the place where they come from. Well its almost as nice in the google campus but its still easier to meditate there then on the subway. But we can soonhave a google campus on tibet or something somewhere and so meing will be very happy to be on top of everest without oxygen and So those are the beautiful places where they come from and this was in eastern tibet August 1st the hottest day of the year and the night before we were camping with tibetan friends they said we are going to sleep outside. I said why we have big tents. No its summertime. So they slept outside. 36:11 In the morning there was 10 cm snow on their clothes. So this is what i am fortunate to see from the window of my small hermitage in the himalayas so i cant complain And this is a example of a what is spiritual teachers here. You can see that there is some kind of beyond word it kind of human quality that we sort of cant miss. In reality it is sertainly very strong it is almost like human goodness becoming almost palpable. Thats what Paul eckman you are going to receive soon one of the world’s specialist on emotions thats how he described his encounter with the dalai lama there is something that you almost physically not there not this weird vice but something that so sort of natural ands simple and yet something that you can really feel. Inner strength mixed with goodness and sort of solidity but at the same time sensitivity . I mean its very hard to describe but its really that makes an extraordinarily good human being and this cat is certainly one of the fortunate ones and this is my first teacher Kanjuriem bushey and then and ya this is the hermit who comes out of 6 years of meditation in the hermitage so the question is Is he so happy because he finally he is coming out or because he did 6 years of meditation and knowing him well i would favor the second hypothesis that this is something that he acquired through his training. So in madison wisconsin the meditators have 256 electrodes and they are two ways of measuring brain activity one is through electro cephalogram that is a very good time resolution thousands of seconds change can be recorded on the scalp but not so clear exactly where it happens in the brain. So we have to combine that with fmri which is magnetic resonanace scanner which is a very good 3 dimensional analysis of way things happening in the brain and imaging but not so good in time wise . The resolution is 1 or 2 seconds so its like a camera in the first case its very fast shutter speed but not so well focused second case it is very well focused but slow shutter speed but if you combine both you get both time sort of resolution . So thats coming out of 2 and half hours in the scanner so theres huge relief from the mini retreat . This is richard davidson the lead scientist in madson wisonsin In the labs doing this tsudy in princeton and harvard and berkeley and so far from here and more and more 38:58 So there are many states you can study because meditation is very varied so that you can focus on attention mental imagery visualization you can study compassion and thats one of the one way studied most and each of these as different brain signatures. So compassion here i spare you all the reading the unconditional feeling of love that begins with an object but then to more and more universe and and to all sentient beings and this is a very powerful and strong feeling of loving kindness 39:33 So this is the first paper published in the PNAS and now the actual first results. So now what we need is to compare things. We need to compare the meditator at rest and in meditation . Also we have compared meditator with control group those who are novice in meditation and see if there is a difference. So we give the instructions to them same instructions that meditators used for many years and ask the to do it for a week and come back to the lab and then in the lab what we do is the minute of rest getting into state of compasssion or focused or whatever the subject is and then doing that again and again 30 40 times in out in out and measuring changes with the experienced meditators and with the controls. In case of the controls the green line is the resting state the blue line is also the meditation state. They try they feel something but its not so strong enough to elicit a strong response in the brain. Here you see with the meditators that the rest line is the same but now when they engage in compassion meditation there is a huge increase 1200 percent of their brain waves particularly in the gamma waves which is connected with the connection in the brain and so forth. It does happen also interestingly enough mostly in the areas of the brain where the left prefrontal cortex which has to do with positive emotions so compassion is among the most powerful positive emotions and just to give you an idea this is a huge increase: 41:00 Maybe there is something big happening in the brain if you are about to be run over by an elephant. But to go from a resting state and in 15 seconds voluntarily bring a powerful mental state thats never been recorded like that in neuro science. So even they everyone started to doubt is it an artifact something so it almost a year to make sure that this was really the result of meditation and not just something else. This is just a different way of showing or displaying the same result. Another way. Here are the controls here are the meditators. Its very very different this is the real time monitoring the compassion meditation sort of takes off increases then the meditator will have a small keyboard and with the right and left arrows he will command 1 2 3 4 5 and then if you prolong that to some minutes he might stop losing it little bit so that he will go down he is not going to look at the numbers to be influenced but he will check in with the keys and then he will come down maybe 4 3 2 and then brings it back to from here again he will go up the ups and downs seem to be very closely related to what is actually measured in the brain 0.69 corelation you know if you are statistician there is a chance of one in a 40 million times that this is just random or due to chance 42:27 And this is now the brain imaging and here the compassion the area that is vastly activated is the left pre-frontal cortex which has to do with positive emotions joy Sense of enthusiasm so compassion is in itself the most powerful emotion . Now interestingly enough too the blue signifies the decrease of activity and that area of the right pre frontal cortex is normally associated with depression rumination excessive self concern negative effect so here that compassion is almost as an antidote to depression which is of course a fascinating avenue of research 43:11 Now also this aspiration to relieve suffering that comes with compassion strongly reduces activity in the amygdala which is known to be connected with fear and anger. So again compassion reduces that. It also increezes activity in the motor area of the brain that means compassion comes with a readiness to act of couse for the benefit of others. So now attention normally if you have to maintain your attention very sharply you start losing it out of fatigue and now if you are the task where you see flashing numbers very fast and this time you have to press a button after 5 or 10 mins you start making more and more mistakes your score goes down which is happening here but with meditators after 10 mins there is no change and now we did that for 60 mins absolutely no change 2 errors in thousand trials and they dont report to be tired just like a set of flow this is specialty what the skill is about you do it naturally perfectly without being tired but you know this a in the face of so much assumptions The founder of modern psychology no one can maintain their attention for more than a few seconds on a given object. But its to be quite different here. And this shows areas of the brain those that are activated in the meditators when they perform those attention tasks and compared to the controls that just cannot do it that much. So now what about short term training ou may say its great for you to be in the himalayas for years what about us you know you can go to the swimming pool yes there is yes thats quite good but what about meditation we your dear friend is trying to ring a boon an extra boon in google. What if we do 30 minutes a day for few months well thats exactly what was done in a very highly stressed employees of a biotech company in madison. They volunteered to do 30 minutes a day for 3months and there was a control group which they said we will give you the training after please come to the lab every week. So then the measurement was done before and after . So this on trait of anxiety a bunch of questionnaires and that determines your level of anxiety can see here time 1 the control group and the meditator no difference and there was a significant difference after just 3 months . Now the left i mentioned about this right side activity of the brain negatives one as you can see here at time 2 i dont know why it says 3 here the meditators are much more activated on the left side and surprisingly the control group was even negatively activated because you know its kind of boring you have to the lab without doing the meditation they were a little bit upset at the end of those 3 months. But later they went through the training dony worry Now interestingly enough the immune system is boosted and significantly not to miss work they have to get a compulsory flu shot in November they dont skip coming working so now when you give a vaccine whether it will work or not it depends upon he strength of your immune system . Now in the first iraq war a vaccine that normally would take 80% cases because the soldiers who were going to the war so stressed it would take only 50 %. The level of stress decreases the effectiveness of the vaccine So those who are gone through this 3 months of 3o minutes of meditation their immune system response was boosted 20%.. So that also means the same strength to fight actually flu and other diseases 47:10 Now the stress level which is measured with the cortisone in the saliva in the meditators is 4 times less than in the control group thats not with the novice meditator thats with the meditators people doing long retreats. So there is definitely an effect in those preliminary studies even for short term i mean not short term but a short amount of time everyday already in 3 months it shows significant effect and then maybe next year by something that might make big time sort of news we are now studying the aging process which has to do some of you might be know at the end of the dna the chromosome they are free what they call as telomeres and it shortens the age. Now it still is a preliminary result. I am telling us between you and me 48:00 After 3 years of intensive meditation thats not 30 mins a day theres more like a in a meditation workshop for 3 months a significant decrease or diminishing of the telomeres. Wow that would be big news isnt it? Stay young meditate So now to come back to the outer conditions which i mentioned in the beginning we often see people who are extremely rich extremely powerful on top of that they might be strong and beautiful and you hear they are miserable or depressed you say whats wrong with this guy ? If i had all that i would be happy weel thats not the case of course for money which is one of the obvious candidate if you are below the poverty line and cant feed your kids and suffer terrible conditions . Yes o go above that makes a huge difference in the quality of your life. After that beyond that then doubling tripling just doesnt make any difference 48 : 55 Here is the gdp in the united states three times increased from 46 to 96 . The gross national happiness stationary even slight decrease. Now marriage buys you happiness. Here you are. Time zero. 5 years later. Well you know richard davidson who gave me that slide said i have been married happy for 30 years but thats what has come out of the study. Yet there is another data that shows it still better happier repoted life for people who are married or companionship rather than people who are single or separated but relatively the change of happiness basically you come back where you were. And now widowhood. Well you recover from it also. 49:55 So external factors only have a limited effect on our level of happiness. They do have but altogether if you bring all the social factors then there are thousands of studies over 70 years basically they contribute to something about 15 % of your reported happiness. People differ in their emotional disposition and affective style and those dispositions are relatively stable if you win the lottery you are greatly happy but one year later you more or less come back to same level, they can be changed thats the point. 50:26 Meditation has demonstrable effects on the brain and they represent one of the few ways in which purely mental training has been demonstrated to have robust impact on brain function. And this is a meditator and these are the monks escaping from the lab. So now here you might say well theres a contradiction here . You said that happiness can be trained and we just show that before after marriage before after widowhood money doesnt make any difference so then what if thats stable whats the point of meditating you are going to make just another of those peaks and come down.so whats the point. Well remember as i mentioned in the beginning genuine happiness as a way of being is not the peaks of joy and pleasant and the lows of depression and so forth. This is the ups and downs, but when you go up and down you go up and down above and below a baseline. So here mindful. Meditation and mind training raising the baseline. 51:26 The platform in which you standing in line the place where you come back. Those ups and downs its going to happen. Maybe you will be less vulnerable to them less carried away by them less affected or impacted by them you maintain this sense of direction and meaning in life. But you can change that. And so thats a really worthy endeavor in life. And also to get inspiration to do that we need to identify some kind of potential we have within ourselves. We need to at some point sit quietly and say what really matters for me in life what do i really want to accomplish in life.not just you know filling questionnaires after you pass some test put that into a machine or computer or going to a professional orientation and then okay you have this this this and thats what you are good for. But really feel what deeply you would like to spend your life so that 20 years later when you look back you say no i did my best thats what i wanted to do and i have a sense of fulfillment and accomplishment thats otherwise you know whats the point. Even if you succeeded in this this this that and you feel not so you know there is no sense of accomplishment is not there some sort of fulfillment was worth it to live in that way. Thats what we want. 52:49 I think its so important to identify in ourselves what we really want what really matters and then find a way. Theres always a way to accomplish it. So i think this if meditation could be as a mind training not taking the exotic aspect or oriental aspect of it. Just it it could be become a genuine contribution to a more open compassionate society and so to the quality of our life. So thank you for your attention 53:16 Questions Thank you very much.That was fascinating. I am just curious about the power of meditation. Children with Aspergers. 54:09 since last year we are taking trying to study education not only from educators and social but bringing together psychologists educators social workers neuro scientists and contemplative science and this is the first time that it is happening at a very good level of science and contemplation. So there have been obvious ideas of doing with children which have attention deficit and you know this is very really beginning approach but this is part of the what we would like to contribute to more like a secular approach to those things not just the Buddhist level nothing wrong with the buddhist level but it might look too much like a religious approach and then deprive te tools for actually serving society in a deeper way so i have a friend in france who has a trainig called secular training to attention its very good and everybody is very happy about that. Well i think this is the way to go yes no the mind and life institute 55:30 I keep hearing the number 10000 tens of thousands of hours of training and its really cool to see the fmri effects of meditation but i also curious there have been advances in training so that random people who cant do that for 20 years ..a simple biofeedback kind of a thing where people can recognize the state like the monk who was pressing the keys on the keyboard he knew what he was feeling 56:00 You know we have been taking our feedback and when we start to get hooked on the electro cephalogram and we can look you can start generating compassion and you see those gamma waves going bzzzzooo its kind of fun but at the same time you know Its little bit interfering you know suppose i see myself in my hermitage trying to meditate i dont want to watch a screen on brain waves and this is electrode 825 and i am trying to make it shhweep go up. I think this is more like a distraction . But i think again the 10000 hours argument its thats why we do now all these studies Our goal is if there are robust results there was one groundbreaking paper in PNS three years ago and now there’s 3 more coming this year which will really establish that contemplative neuroscience field maybe better but the real goal is once there is robust study with the experienced meditators and really to go to everyone otherwise there is no use of the curiosity but if it really applies you know in the biotech company certainly it can apply here 57:11 I am wondering when you are an expert meditator you have an average level of happiness and desire otherwise. What if you stop meditating . How long does it take to go down. Is it something that lasts for long ever or not at all Well you know the idea of stopping meditation of 20 years to see how terribly miserable i would become. Thats not exactly. Meditators are very determined volunteers you know. Its like the kamikaze of happiness No then its like a medicine you have to take forever No no i think there are things like skiing. I skipped skiing for 35years i can show you a photo last year it was a joy after 2 hours to be able to ski as before. So i think there are i think there is something that so deeply changed thats it certainly remained. Thats the point of a way of being of a baseline it takes time to acquire it but because of that it has a really strong and firm foundation And actually it has to be a test. We say you know its fine if the meditators are siting in the sun basking with full belly no problem but when confronted with adverse circumstances thats where or she is put on the scales and i think that way in daily life we can see what we need to see . Now The fireworks of mystical experiences dont last. But its like the hand of a clock. When you stare at it its not moving but when you look from time to time it has changed so those changes are slow hence the need for mind training but because they are slow they are much more likely to be stable. And thats the idea. Now the brain wont degenerate too quickly hopefully and then your experiences also i think its something that at some point there;s a kind of a sort of a no return point in this kind of a baseline. Yes thank you . Thank you so much for your attention applause Complete

So, I just went through the dark night of the soul, which made everything meaningless, in a depressing manner. I had a ton of spiritual awakening symptoms, some are gone by now, but something wanders my mind. I had this one dream a few days ago where my mother told me to stop running from an entity that was chasing me and I just fell in a total blackness in my bathroom, while everything was disappearing, including my mom, which I was being afraid of initially, but felt like a total bliss once I "died" there(I found out that there were people who got enlightened while dreaming, like Jiddu Krishnamurti) . After that, I woke up with loud sounds in my ears(which I had up until that point, but now have disappeared) and a wild energy rush through my spine. Ever since then, I'm living in the Present Moment all the time, as if I'm constantly meditating. I permanently have the feeling you get after a meditation session, being extremely calm and peaceful. Matt Kahn also helped me a lot, with his love teachings and acceptance techniques. The "problem" now is that my ego tries to grasp this new realization that there's nothing to realize, do, fear and it's kinda confused and apathic. Adyashanti said this is a normal thing after awakening. I also see through my roles everytime I'm in different groups of people, or when trying to impress or manipulate people, and I see through all my schemes and victimizations. My intuition is skyrocketing, basically. I want to know your experiences on the matter and what do you think. I know that I'm not fooling myself, but man, I'm drunk on emptiness, as they call it. Death seems like a concept. Kinda shocking, I gotta say. I also totally relate to what Adyashanti says in this video

@EmilyCook26 Your mind is not going to shut up because you find its content so fascinating, every time it appears you see another horizon appearing, even if it is the same confused horizon which disolves again and again your life is lost in one direction, it's inevitable, you want to emerge from it, like If you will ring death and ask yourself when this is all over? Mind and this moment are inseparable, although it seems that you go somewhere with it that is not true, you are always here, when you are meditating you are here and when you are with your children you are here too. The essence of thinking is this moment. But you are so accustomed to things that you have forgotten and only with meditation will stop you from passing high, meditate is so simple, just enough patience, be attentive and infinite patience, you can force your body to meditate half Hour but until you do not allow the world to meditate you will be lost, understand this meditate does not have pauses, to meditate is everywhere, at all times and is joy, it is enjoyable fresh, always new Osho: The Guest, Chapter 15. Your mind is accustomed to dealing with difficult problems and has completely forgotten how to respond to the simple things in life. The simpler a thing is, the more difficult it seems to the mind, because the mind is very efficient at solving complicated things. She has been trained to solve complicated issues; Does not seem to know how to deal with the simple. Meditation is simple, your mind is complex. It is not a problem that is creating meditation. The problem comes from your mind, not from meditation. Vipassana is the simplest meditation in the world. It was with the vipassana that the Buddha became enlightened, and it has been through the Vipassana, more than any other method, that many more people have become enlightened. Vipassana is the method. Yes, there are others, but they have helped a few. Vipassana has helped thousands, and it really is very simple, it is not like Yoga. The Vipassana is so simple that you do not even notice it. In fact, when encountering Vipassana for the first time, one doubts whether it can be termed or not meditation. What is it? Without physical exercises, without breathing exercises, something very simple: simply to observe your breath as it enters and as it leaves .... it's over. This is the method. Sitting in silence, watching your breath come and go, without losing track. That is all. You do not have to change your breathing, it is not pranayama, it is not a breathing exercise in which you have to inhale deeply, exhale, inhale. No. Simply breathe, just as you do. It only introduces a new quality: attention. Exhale; Notes. Inhale; Notes. You'll notice: breath touching your nostrils for a moment; You will notice. You can concentrate there: inhale, feel the breath in your nostrils; Then exhale, feel it again .. Fix your attention on the tip of the nose. It's not that you have to concentrate on the tip of the nose; Only remain alert, aware, observing. It's not concentration, make no mistake. Just keep remembering. At first you will lose again and again, then you will return. It is difficult for you, for some it is difficult to observe. Then you can observe the breathing in the belly. When you inhale, the belly expands. When you exhale, the belly goes down. Keep watching your belly. If you have a prominent belly, it will help you. You can observe either the belly or the nose, what seems to you or is easier for you. Whatever is easier is what matters. And just watching the breath, miracles happen. Meditation is not difficult. It is simple. Precisely because of its simplicity is why it is difficult at the same time. You would like to do many things and there is nothing to do; that's the problem. It is a big problem because we have been taught to do things. We ask what we should do and meditation is a state of not doing, you do not do anything, you have to stop doing. You must be in a state of total inactivity. Even thinking is doing; Abandon it too. Doing, feeling, thinking, everything disappears; You are simply This is to be. And being is meditation. It's very simple. In your mother's womb you were in the same space. In vipassana you will be entering again in the same space. And you will remember, you will have deja-vu. When you enter the deep vipassana, you will be surprised because you know it, you have known it before. You will recognize it immediately because nine months in your mother's womb you were in the same space, and you did nothing, just you were. Never think about meditation in terms of success Because that is bringing your ambitious mind towards it, the selfish mind towards it. Then meditation becomes a goal of the ego. Do not think in terms of success or failure. These terms are not applicable in the world of meditation. Forget about all that. Those are terms of the mind; Are comparative. And that is the problem: you must be watching others succeed, achieve it, ecstatic, and then your self-esteem falls. You will be feeling like a fool sitting and watching your breath, watching your breath. You must feel very foolish and nothing is happening. Nothing is happening because you are waiting for too much. And at the beginning, every new process seems difficult. One has to learn to savor it. Just wait a little. Just have a little patience. At first everything seems difficult, even the simplest thing. And do not be in a hurry. That is one of the problems with the Western mind - the haste. People want everything immediately. They think of the terms instant coffee, instant meditation, instant clarification. No, that's not going to happen quickly. Simply sitting for a day in vipassana, you will not come out dishonoring. You will be utterly tired - tired because they told you not to do anything, tired because you had never before been doing such nonsense before. Not doing anything? You are a doer! If you had cut wood all day long you would not be so tired. But sitting silently, doing nothing, just watching your silly breath coming in, coming out ... many times the idea comes up, "What am I doing here?" And time will seem very, very long, because time is relative. Time will lengthen. The meditation of a day will seem as if years and years would have passed- "And what has happened? Is not the sun going to set today? When will it end? " If you are in a hurry, if you are in a hurry, you will never know the taste of meditation. To savor meditation you need great patience, infinite patience. Meditation is simple, but you have become so complex that relaxing will take time. It is not meditation that takes time-let me remind you again-it is your complex mind. It has to be taken to rest, to a relaxed state. That takes time. And do not think in terms of success Never think about meditation in terms of success Because that is bringing your ambitious mind towards it, the selfish mind towards it. Then meditation becomes a goal of the ego. Do not think in terms of success or failure. These terms are not applicable in the world of meditation. Forget about all that. Those are terms of the mind; Are comparative. And that is the problem: you must be watching others succeed, achieve it, ecstatic, and then your self-esteem falls. You will be feeling like a fool sitting and watching your breath, watching your breath. You must feel very foolish and nothing is happening. Nothing is happening because you are waiting for too much. And at the beginning, every new process seems difficult. One has to learn to savor it. Just wait a little. Just have a little patience. At first everything seems difficult, even the simplest thing. And do not be in a hurry. That is one of the problems with the Western mind - the haste. People want everything immediately. They think of the terms instant coffee, instant meditation, instant clarification. No, that's not going to happen quickly. Simply sitting for a day in vipassana, you will not come out dishonoring. You will be utterly tired - tired because they told you not to do anything, tired because you had never before been doing such nonsense before. Not doing anything? You are a doer! If you had cut wood all day long you would not be so tired. But sitting silently, doing nothing, just watching your silly breath coming in, coming out ... many times the idea comes up, "What am I doing here?" And time will seem very, very long, because time is relative. Time will lengthen. The meditation of a day will seem as if years and years would have passed- "And what has happened? Is not the sun going to set today? When will it end? " If you are in a hurry, if you are in a hurry, you will never know the taste of meditation. To savor meditation you need great patience, infinite patience. Meditation is simple, but you have become so complex that relaxing will take time. It is not meditation that takes time-let me remind you again-it is your complex mind. It has to be taken to rest, to a relaxed state. That takes time. And do not think in terms of success and failure. Enjoy! You also do not target a goal. Enjoy the pure silence watching your breathing come and go, and soon you will have a beauty, a new experience of beauty and bliss. Soon you will see that you do not need to go somewhere to be happy. One can sit quietly, he can be alone, and he can be blissful. No more is needed, only the beating of life is enough. If you can beat her, it becomes a deep inner dance. Meditation is a dance of your energy, and breathing is the key.

Studies and work/job are secondary. All what matter is passion / follow your bliss. If you have an intuition about something to do, it's probably the right thing. Don't listen to parents, friends or anybody else. It's just you. Invest 10,000 hours the sooner the better (see life-purpose course). Also, keep a journal of your thoughts. (I'm 26)

@ChimpBrain Your inner experience will always mirror the outside circumstances so you can learn from them in the fastest way possible and climb the ladder from desperation to bliss.

my advice, always follow the joy, follow what feels good. you do not ''need'' any specific spiritual practice to grow, there's no meditation that is so important that you can't grow without it. you are free to chose how you evolve, as you want it. one can try to awaken spiritually in a hardcore way by going hard, facing negative feelings as much as possible and that's fine if you're beginner and you're desperate to advance but ultimately the goal of enlightenment is to feel good. one has to keep that in mind, and ultimately the task to feel good will fall upon yourself, that's enlightenment. you'll be responsible to make yourself good, so the habit of going hard and pushing yourself because you're chasing something is never going to get you there. I think some people might be lost in this, thinking they can go as hard as possible till they reach a spiritual breaking point and boom, eternal bliss and happiness. That's not how it happens, that's too easy.that's why people fall in and out of enlightenment. going hard is easy, going slow is not the sooner you realize that you have to get rid of suffering yourself,it's not gonna fall out of spiritual sky, the more seriously you'll take your good feelings. you have to cultivate a state of good feelings, and that's only possible if you start paying attention to what feels good

You're already perfect in every way. It may have taken you many lifetimes or just one, who knows, to start seeing the truth behind the illusion of the mind. And it was no coincidence, all your doing up until now brought you here, to this open-mindedness you have. And that's fine, it's not about getting there, it's about the journey. The world is perfect as it is, the universe is infallible, it's infinitely intelligent. Society is perfect as it is. There's nothing wrong with it and there never was. There's nothing wrong with people who aren't self-actualizing. To be enlightened is to start seeing beyond pain and suffering. Beyond life and death, beyond duality. See beyond ''I'm at this stage and she's at this stage, he's there and I'm here, I'm above he's below..'' Everything is inherently neutral.Meaning everything is fine.Everything is perfect. The resistance you feel towards the state of society, towards your own state is guidance. The bad feelings are merely guidance to where you need to go. That doesn't mean there's something inherently bad going on. Bad feelings guide you to good feelings which guide you to new places in your journey as an immortal being. To be enlightened is to see as the universe sees, death and suffering, the things we resist the most, have their place in the universe otherwise they wouldn't exist. You may not be able to understand why these things have their place in life, because you're not at that spiritual level yet. But you can imagine there could be a reason, you can be open-minded to the idea that there is a good reason. This is trust, it's putting your trust in the universe. Trust that these things have their place in life, that everything has its place in life, from the most innocent child to the most violent murderer. You don't understand what the violent murderer is doing here, but you can trust. What's the meaning of a violent murderer in a cosmic play where everyone is immortal? maybe we don't know it yet But trust. Trust is the bridge between higher self and lower self. It's being open to higher possibilities. infinite possibilities. You've learned so much on your journey so far. Until you've actually reached the spiritual state where you can merge with all that is, with the universe itself,which will be in a journey as long as eternity, you're gonna have to be able to deal with the fact that some things you won't be able to know their meaning but that doesn't mean you should judge them, you should trust in infinite intelligence. To judge something is to judge yourself;. The judge is the one being judged. To judge is to separate yourself and bring duality into your consciousness. To get back to the main point, you need to have trust in every ''issue'' you seem to have in your life. This trust will allow you to relax. You may have heard that spirituality is not about seeking or chasing, or achieving a new state. You're already completely perfect, you're already divine. So what's it about? It's about releasing constriction, the constriction of illusion. The constriction in itself isn't wrong, the illusion of the ego isn't bad, but you may feel it's time to move to another part of your journey. I repeat there's nothing 'wrong' with not being enlightened, only someone's who's not enlightened would look down on people who are not. To enlighten is to release the chains, to let your deeper self flow through. It's there, just waiting to burst out, but it's constricted by fear. That's why I call enlightenment an exercise of relaxing. Relaxing all of your fears, so that you may flow naturally. It can only be done this way. If you're already perfect as you are, there's no stage, no state to reach. It's important to realize how you're changing. You're not adding to yourself,you're just trying to relax. Enlightenment IS this realization. There's nothing you need to do or change. As a result of this realization you will change, but you won't change because you're trying to reach a new state. You'll change because you'll naturally relax into yourself, you'll finally let go of all the stress of trying to be something you're not and reach bliss, reconnect with your fully natural self. So to recap it enlightenment is not about changing through actually changing yourself, it's about relaxing yourself. a deep relaxation into deeper levels of yourself, you can relax yourself into a state of absolute magic and bliss...but for that you have to actually fully believe that you are fine and perfect just the way you are right now. this very second as you're reading this, you're already completely perfect and complete. And this is where the fight against the ego will come in, with millions of reasons as to why you're not fine. that's why fear is the ultimate enemy, your chains are made of fear. any thought, any idea, any concept that is making you feel like you're lacking something in your life is wrong,it's an illusion, a chain. anything that is making you feel afraid is absolutely detrimental to your spiritual evolution, do not believe in fear. feel it, let it go, but don't believe in it. don't believe in ideas that make you afraid. and if you fear something you don't understand, trust in the universe. you are completely connected to an universe of infinite intelligence....simply trust, there's no need for you to understand! you're effortlessly linked to infinite intelligence, trust, let go , relax,..you don't need to understand everything right now, just enjoy. stop fearing, relax, enjoy.

Jesus said : When he finds he will become agitated, when he become agitated, he will be astounded, and he will reign over the all. Why? When you find, why will you be troubled? You will be troubled because the thing is so great. It is so vast, infinite, that when you find it for the first time you will be completely lost. When you become aware of it for the first time, it is as if a man who has lived all his life in a dark room, in a dark cell, has been brought into the open sky, into the light of the sun. He will be troubled, his eyes will not be able to open. Even if he opens his eyes, he will be so dazzled that the light will look like darkness. The first encounter with the divine is a crisis, because you have lived many, many lives in a wrong way. You have lived many lives so miserably that when bliss happens you cannot believe it: you will be troubled. You never expected it, you never knew what was going to happen. You talk about God -- do you know? What do you mean? The word god is not God, the theories about God are not God. You may know the definition from the dictionary, from the scripture, but what do you really mean when you say, "I am seeking God"? And every seeker is in this situation: you don't know what you are seeking, you don't know what the goal is, you don't know where you are going, why you are going. A deep urge is there, that is right: a deep thirst is there, that is right. But you have never tasted that for which this thirst exists. You move, you grope -- when suddenly it happens, you will be troubled. This sentence shows that Jesus has known. A man who has not known God cannot write this sentence, a man who has not known God cannot say, "When you find him, you will be troubled." He will say, "Then you will be blissful, absolutely blissful." he will be astounded But if he has not escaped, not turned his back and run about in the world, then: ... HE WILL BE ASTOUNDED. Then he will feel the mysterium, the mysterious. Then he will laugh and smile, because out of this night such a beautiful morning. Out of this troubled state, out of this hell and fear and anguish, such a blessing! Out of thorns, such beautiful flowers. Then: he will reign over the all. Then he is a beggar no more. When desires disappear -- and they disappear only when you have attained to your self, because all desires are basically desires to attain the self, the inner consciousness, the innermost -- when you have attained the innermost, desires disappear, you are a beggar no more. You have become an emperor, you have become a king: ... AND HE WILL REIGN OVER THE ALL. Now this whole existence is his kingdom.

OSHO KUNDALINI MEDITATION This “sister meditation” to the OSHO Dynamic is best done at sunset or in the late afternoon. Being fully immersed in the shaking and dancing of the first two stages helps to “melt” the rock-like being, wherever the energy flow has been repressed and blocked. Then that energy can flow, dance and be transformed into bliss and joy. The last two stages enable all this energy to flow vertically, to move upwards into silence. It is a highly effective way of unwinding and letting go at the end of the day. Osho on How to Shake: "If you are doing the Kundalini Meditation, allow the shaking – don't do it! Stand silently, feel it coming, and when your body starts a little trembling, help it, but don't do it! Enjoy it, feel blissful about it, allow it, receive it, welcome it, but don't will it. "If you force, it will become an exercise, a bodily physical exercise. Then the shaking will be there, but just on the surface. It will not penetrate you. You will remain solid, stonelike, rocklike within. You will remain the manipulator, the doer, and the body will only be following. The body is not the question, you are the question. "When I say shake, I mean your solidity, your rocklike being should shake to the very foundations, so it becomes liquid, fluid, melts, flows. And when the rocklike being becomes liquid your body will follow. Then there is no shaker, only shaking; then nobody is doing it, it is simply happening. Then the doer is not. "Enjoy it, but don't will it. And remember, whenever you will a thing you cannot enjoy it. They are reverse, opposites; they never meet. If you will a thing you cannot enjoy it, if you enjoy it you cannot will it." Osho Instructions: The meditation is one hour long, with four stages. First Stage: 15 minutes Be loose and let your whole body shake, feeling the energies moving up from your feet. Let go everywhere and become the shaking. Your eyes may be open or closed. Second Stage: 15 minutes Dance ... any way you feel, and let the whole body move as it wishes. Again, your eyes can be open or closed. Third Stage: 15 minutes Close your eyes and be still, sitting or standing, observing, witnessing, whatever is happening inside and out. Fourth Stage: 15 minutes Keeping your eyes closed, lie down and be still.

This morning when I was meditating, I had this moment where I realized how hilarious my doubts are. I realized that The one creating that is irrelevant. I choose what I am. I choose to be pure awareness. I am the only one who creates my reality. I just busted out laughing. I could feel doubt rising and just cant stop laughing at it. Mara is a joke. I keep laughing every time I feel it trying to rise. It's so funny. How could I ever be anything other than what I want to be? I don't know about all the mystical stuff I have read about, but I know that I have the rest of my life to figure it out. I even know that everything in my life won't be bliss, but its hilarious that I thought this could be taken away from me without surrendering it.

@electroBeam Im sorry homie but you are confusing me hehe. Anywho thanks and bestbof luck to you. May you arrive at bliss in the most effortless way!

I've experienced this (and still do to a certain extent), so I also highly recommend the following: The effects of this quick yoga segment are immediate. Trust me, it will bring you back to the earth. Whenever you feel pretty panicked, do that, or use Pranic breathing (like Martin recommended in another post) Also, if you have a gym routine, don't drop it. (it will help a lot) As Martin said above, talk to people that are more grounded. Do not try to STOP resisting negative emotions; instead try to detach and look at them with curiosity remember, those just need to get out in order for you to grow and increase your stress threshold Watch comedies Interact with animals Walk on grass barefoot Try to not stay alone for long periods of time, at least in this transitional period Watch videos of spiritual masters (with simple talks, nothing too serious, maybe where they are interacting with the audience). Their presence and state of bliss will rub off on you and calm you down Repeat this in your mind often : ”Where there is disconfort, there is resistance” this will remind you to let go of control and not waste a lot of physical/mental energy it might seem easy, but it's harder than it seems Also, a question @Martin123. Does the ”inner child” constitute the first three chakras? Should I do healing yoga that is not only for the root chakra, but also for the two that are above the root chakra?

Wake is better that not. Enlightened is same as titles. I mean to be above all in gods eyes eternal bliss us for the few. I would like to be in that state yet im improved in wake up. It is still higher and feels good or slightly crazy. So imagine enlightened is tops of crazy. Non-stop smiling always high. Yup sounds like id be locked up or is it just free.?

@Emre The whole Holographic Universe thing is astounding. It explains a lot though. I find that getting to an understanding of the science often crystalizes a spiritual or non-dual idea that was eluding me or seemed contradictive. I can possibly offer a tip that may help you recognize the beauty and majesty of no-self. Experiential, not intellectual, in this case. As I've had more and more of the gentle, beautiful, loving, clear teachings of many modern masters go into me, I have often managed to just quit being all human and egoic and stressed and bothered and anxious for long enough for my ego to just take a hike for a minute or two. I have directly experienced the welling up of pure, powerful, undeniable joy and love, from nowhere, for no reason other than I got out of it's way. For that few moments it's like someone broke the cap off of the love fire hydrant and out it poured. It's accumulatively transformative as you manage this more and more often, I imagine. Now, it's happened a number of times recently and I've never felt anything that strong, and recognized what it was before, so it's sort of a lovely, overwhelming wall of joy-tears and heart-bursting REcognition of the luminous, loving, self-aware, non-dimensional creator that 'I AM'. If you manage to lighten off of the drama and contraction long enough, and just spark the flow of beauty and love that you are, the shining of Source is really an explosion of bliss. At just BEing. BUT! As I managed a little more attention to the tears of joy and the heart welling up and the explosion of love and all the good, pure, pristine stuff, I also noticed something of a mourning, breath-hitching sadness. Incredible! Amongst all that bursting of joy, my sense of self cried a little for it's massive and sudden diminishment. There is a bit of a lossy, lonely undertone to that love-bomb, and it seems just to be my ego saying 'Holy shit, I have been Kingggg for the longest time and now... WTF?" Keep the faith man, you ARE all of life. I don't know what or who else you may have been studying or following, but you can try this Rupert Spira video and see how it resonates...

This reality is long journey... Of choice, free will. Options. Its not difficult. Today my mother said i looked lost.. Retrospect yes i was. However the moment was pure bliss. 10-15 maybe 20 humingbirds spiraling around. For me it was epic. To my mother is was story conversation of nothing. She doesnt see the pure love/vibration/life. Only mind. Chaotic mindset. Ill stop ranting only leave with inner peace and yes i love you too.

Well good thing im fucked up to begin with. Isn't this all about thresholds and attachment to form/identity? I really really really dont get how enlightenment work can hurt anything real in any way, even though I've seen other warnings before too... And why would you care about anything unreal. Maybe worsening the situation is exactly what you need to see what you are identifying with is not you. If you are too comfortable being an Ego, when will you transcend it. Crappy life is a good thing for spiritual realisations. It might be my ego being in mode ignorance is bliss. Also idgaf. I mean, i am a type of person that thinks to himself from time to time: Man, i wish they bomb the planet on a Monday and not on a Friday or it will suck Maybe I'm not deep enough in this yet to know what you mean.

I really wish I did have a better counselor... But maybe you just need to spread the love you feel so strongly right now rather than chasing something that is too abstract for the moment. If you chase your bliss, you will start to align with experiences that make those abstract things more concrete. It's gonna take a lot of courage and/or dissociation to just out and out quit though.

Just use the ctrl+f command to check where it is on the webpage. Sikhism (Hinduism) Sikhism is a monistic religion and states that there is one supreme entity holding control of the entire universe. The essence of Sikh teaching is summated by Guru Nanak's words: "Realization of Truth is higher than all else. Higher still is truthful living". In Sikhism, the concept of "God" is Vāhigurū—is shapeless, timeless, and invisible (i.e., unable to be seen with the physical eye): niraṅkār, akaal, and alakh. It states that "God" is omnipresent and infinite with power over everything, and is signified by the term Ik Onkar. "There is but one all-pervading spirit, and truth is its name! It exists in all creation; it does not fear; it does not hate; it is timeless and universal and self-existent" According to Guru Nanak the supreme purpose of human life is to reconnect with Akal (The Timeless One), however, egotism is the biggest barrier in doing this.[...]Once truth starts to shine in a person's heart, the essence of current and past holy books of all religions is understood by the person. Jainism (Hinduism) Jain texts reject the idea of a creator or destroyer God and postulate an eternal universe. Jainism has been described as a transtheistic religion, as it does not teach the dependency on any supreme being for enlightenment. The tirthankara is a guide and teacher who points the way to enlightenment, but the struggle for enlightenment is one's own. Jain texts propound that the universe was never created, nor will it ever cease to exist. It is independent and self-sufficient, and does not require any superior power to govern it. According to Jain belief, souls, intrinsically pure, possess the qualities of infinite knowledge, infinite perception, infinite bliss, and infinite energy in their ideal state. In reality, however, these qualities are found to be obstructed due to the soul's association with karmic matter. The ultimate goal in Jainism is the realization of reality For Jains, non-absolutism means maintaining open-mindedness. This includes the recognition of all perspectives and a humble respect for differences in beliefs. Jainism encourages its adherents to consider the views and beliefs of their rivals and opposing parties, including other religions. Shaivism (Hinduism) Shaivism theology ranges from Shiva being the creator, preserver, destroyer to being the same as the Atman (self, soul) within oneself and every living being […] It is the Hindu tradition that most accepts ascetic life and emphasizes yoga, and like other Hindu traditions encourages an individual to discover and be one with Shiva within. God (Shiva) is within man, God is within every being, God is present everywhere in the world including all non-living beings, and there is no spiritual difference between life, matter, man and God. Theosis (Christian) Every being and reality itself is considered as composed of the immanent energy, or Energeia, of God. This synergeia or co-operation between God and Man does not lead to mankind being absorbed into the God as was taught in earlier pagan forms of deification like henosis. Rather it expresses unity, in the complementary nature between the created and the creator. Acquisition of the Holy Spirit is key as the acquisition of the spirit leads to self-realization. Kabbalah (Hebrew) Kabbalah is a set of esoteric teachings meant to explain the relationship between an unchanging, eternal, and mysterious Ein Sof (infinity) and the mortal and finite universe (God's creation). The nature of the divine prompted kabbalists to envision two aspects to God: (a) God in essence, absolutely transcendent, unknowable, limitless Divine simplicity, and (b) God in manifestation, the revealed persona of God through which he creates and sustains and relates to mankind. Kabbalists speak of the first as Ein/Ayn Sof (אין סוף "the infinite/endless", literally "that which has no limits"). God's existence is higher than anything that this world can express, yet he includes all things of this world within his Divine reality in perfect unity, so that the Creation effected no change in him at all. Compassionate actions are often impossible without faith (Emunah), meaning to trust that God always supports compassionate actions even when God seems hidden. Ultimately, it is necessary to show compassion toward oneself too in order to share compassion toward others. Dzogchen (Tibetan) Rigpa is a central concept in Dzogchen. It is "reflexively self-aware primordial wisdom,"which is self-reflexively aware of itself as unbounded wholeness. "In Gelug, the conscious experience is some level of blissful awareness of voidness." The Dzogchen meditation practices also include a series of exercises known as Semdzin (sems dzin), which literally means "to hold the mind" or "to fix mind." The practice of Trekchö […] In this practice one first identifies, and then sustains recognition of, one's own innately pure, empty awareness. Insight leads to nyamshag, "being present in the state of clarity and emptiness". Zoroastrianism (India/Iran) There is only one God, the singularly creative and sustaining force of the Universe. In Zoroastrianism, Ahura Mazda is the beginning and the end, the creator of everything that can and cannot be seen, the Eternal, the Pure and the only Truth. Zoroastrianism's divinity covers both being and mind as immanent entities, it is better described as a belief in an immanent self-creating universe with consciousness as its special attribute. In Zoroastrianism, the purpose in life is to "be among those who renew the world...to make the world progress towards perfection". Its basic maxims include: Humata, Hukhta, Huvarshta, which mean: Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds. There is only one path and that is the path of Truth. Do the right thing because it is the right thing to do, and then all beneficial rewards will come to you also. Plotinus (Greek philosopher) Plotinus taught that there is a supreme, totally transcendent "One", containing no division, multiplicity or distinction; beyond all categories of being and non-being. His "One" "cannot be any existing thing", nor is it merely the sum of all things [compare the Stoic doctrine of disbelief in non-material existence], but "is prior to all existents". "We ought not even to say that he will see, but he will be that which he sees, if indeed it is possible any longer to distinguish between seer and seen, and not boldly to affirm that the two are one." Heraclites (Greek Philosopher) "We both step and do not step in the same rivers. We are and are not." "To God all things are fair and good and just, but people hold some things wrong and some right." "Eternity is a child moving counters in a game; the kingly power is a child's." Transcendantalism (Early 19s – USA) Transcendentalists also believe that all people possess a piece of the "Over-soul" (God). Because the Over-soul is one, this unites all people as one being. New Age (Late 20s – Western countries) This intentional vagueness as to the nature of divinity also reflects the New Age idea that divinity cannot be comprehended by the human mind or language. There are nevertheless a number of traits that are repeatedly associated with divinity in New Age literature, the first of which is the idea that it is holistic, thus frequently being described with such terms as an "Ocean of Oneness", "Infinite Spirit", "Primal Stream", "One Essence", and "Universal Principle".A second common trait is the characterisation of divinity as "Mind", "Consciousness", and "Intelligence", while a third is the description of divinity as a form of "energy". A fourth trait is the characterisation of divinity as a "life force", the essence of which is creativity, while a fifth is the concept that divinity consists of love. The New Age worldview emphasises holism and the idea that everything in existence is intricately connected as part of a single whole, in doing so rejecting both the dualism of Judeo-Christian thought and the reductionism of Cartesian science. "Higher Self" which is a part of the human but which connects with the divine essence of the universe, and which can advise the human mind through intuition. This is by no mean a complete research, it would take way more than 5-10 hours to do that. I intentionally didn't mention Buddhism and Yoga. Concerning Sufism, I didn't find anything in the wikipage that clearly indicate non-duality teachings (probably missed it). Just read some Rumi quotes, obviously enlightened.

Playing video games makes you introvert. There seem to be only two ways: either be an extrovert -- but by being an extrovert you can never become a Buddha. Your focus is others, you are in a shadow. But how will your inner being grow this way? You will look more happy, you may look as if you are enjoying life more, but how are you going to grow? How will your inner being come to that point where it becomes light? If you are not concerned with it at all, it is not going to grow. To be an extrovert is good in the sense that you remain healthy -- you don't become a pervert. To be an introvert is dangerous because an introvert becomes ill, an introvert becomes in reality perverted. He thinks continuously about himself, he becomes enclosed. He remains with his frustrations, worries, anxieties, anguish, depressions, anger, jealousy, hate, this and that -- and he only worries. Think what type of anguish he lives in, continuously worried about things: Why am I angry? How should I become non-angry? Why do I hate? How should I transcend it? Why am I depressed? How to attain bliss? -- he is continuously worried, and through this worry he creates the very same things he is worried about. It becomes a vicious circle If you move wrongly, you will become a pervert and the wrong movement is that you become too concerned. Then what to do? Treat yourself as if you also are the other; don't be too concerned. When your body is ill it is as if somebody else's body is ill: do whatsoever is needed but don't be too concerned. If you have a fever go to the doctor, take the medicine, take care of the body, and that's all. Why be concerned too much? If you are on path of enlightenment, ready to accept everything life offers, good or bad, success or failure, health or illness, then only playing video games is OK. If you cannot follow this then it is better to be an extrovert, be unconcerned; you will not grow but at least you will not suffer so much as an introvert suffers.

I get it… you want your happiness to be independent of any external factor. Well then my advice would be… choose to be happy… everyday… every moment. I know easier said than done. You asked is enlightenment the answer, the answer is no. Enlightenment can’t be used as an escape. I understand the reasoning, “maybe I can transcend my ego and then I won’t feel this pain, this desire for happiness”. I’m sorry but as long as your underlying desire for enlightenment is escape then I believe transcendence will remain elusive. Also, becoming enlightened is a hell of a lot harder than just choosing to be happy I also think you have unrealistic expectations. You want to be in a state of bliss at all times. Not going happen. Even enlightenment won’t provide this type of everlasting bliss. What is realistic is to feel a consistent level of peace and contentment independent of external factors. This will be possible when you begin to exert control over your mind. Direct your mind towards positivity and happiness will follow. Once this baseline level of happiness has been achieved then love will only enhance it.

So I just had this incredible experience I've once had before but this time it was in longer duration (2 mins). I don't think it was a sleep paralysis because it was clear that I was able to move my body. It was also quite enjoyable. Upon falling into deep sleep I had an indescribable dream/sensations of vertigo, morphing inside out and back outside in continuously, like being blended alive. As soon as I woke up from this dream/sensation in the middle of the night first of all I noticed my mental state. It was undeniably sharp, awake, alive, and impossibly alert at such an hour as if I've just woke up from a month long nap, or on some high energy enhancement drug ..... all at the same time still feeling as if I'm in a dream. My body had an encompassing energy feel to it. Subtle vibrations surrounding my whole body. Feelings of lightness, coolness, and restfulness. I could feel the subtle coolness on my forehead, the warmth beneath the sheets. The little sensations I get after long sessions of meditation. It was a state of bliss, non-attachment, and non-knowing. Looking around the room was quite confusing with a hint of terror. Although my mind was sharp and alert, there was a shift in perspective. I looked at the ceiling fan and I said to myself "what in the world is that?," looked at my hand "what the heck is going on?" I was able to label such things as ceiling fan, hand, or blanket, however, there was a shift in perspective and I didn't know what any of these were for, for a minute, or why they were here or still yet why anything was here including myself. Just a state of utter confusion as if I've just been born at that exact moment. Please keep in mind, my mind was incredibly clear and awake, even more so than as I type this or as I've ever been in my last 20+ years.. Anyone else have similar experiences? Not talking about sleep paralysis here, I've had them too but different.

I am NOT the field of vision I am NOT the sense of hearing, feeling, or emotion I am NOT thought nor its creator What I used to believe was me was never in my direct experience at all! EVER! It was just never there! I was just never there! It's so obvious! But yet, I am everywhere in direct experience! Not just everywhere, but everywhere SIMULTANEOUSLY! How can that be? it's IMPOSSIBLE! Being everywhere simultaneously as opposed to being a single point in space. I am not my experience but simply am AWARENESS of it. When "I" have a thought, I am not its creator. Simply, thought arises and I am awareness of its existence before it inevitably vanishes back to nothing. Same goes with everything else. And this awareness is not anything, but it is PRESENT! It does exist! Because it is me! I AM empty I AM pure bliss I AM being I AM ------------- I AM not yet enlightened, though. Now I see the illusion of myself that I used to think was real just doesn't make any damn sense! Enlightenment makes sense to me now. But I still have tons more work to do. 'Til next time.

2-step meditation that'll blow your mind into eternal bliss when practiced consistently

@100rockets Ya. What did you do? Great to hear you're finding hope. I assume you're young, like 16-23. Don't write your life off. When I was 20, I was where you are. Total fucking hopelessness and suicidal tendencies. (I never thought about doing it, but I did feel that it would have been better) The thing is, you DON"T KNOW what your life is going to pan out to be. I found this tiny little crack of hope way back then, and it led to a wonderful life. Actual fulfillment and satisfaction. Hang in there. It WILL get better. There are equal opposites at play. To the extent you have dove down deep into the abyss, if you just hang on for a while, you will equally rise to the bliss. All is relative to your experiencing, it can be no other way.

@Martin123 DUDE! Shit is going crazy around me already and I am totally with you on the 5 years good shit is unfolding intuition. The wake up is real. All that shit on your list, pollution etc. It's always been going on. Now we have the internet and smart phones so awareness of it is a little intense right now, people are waking up, meditating, not staring at walls, etc. It's gonna get good. I'm callin it right here and now...3 years from now Leo does a video about bliss controlling and containment.