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Anyone who says , there is direct and simple method which is suitable for everyone is deceiving you. J. Krishnamurti was insisting his whole life that there is no technique for meditation. And the total result was not that millions of people attained to meditation; the total result was that millions of people became convinced that no technique is needed for meditation. But they forgot all about what they were going to do with the obstructions, the hindrances. So they remained intellectually convinced that no technique is needed. It is easy to meditate if you don’t want to be blissful — it is very easy to meditate. Many people have tried to meditate without bliss because it is simple, less complex. You have to take only one work upon yourself: that you have to still your mind. And you can force your mind to be stilled, but you will become sad, you will have a long face. They have avoided the complexity of spiritual transformation. They have chosen meditation, they have forced their mind to be still. It is a negative state; their minds are only empty, not silent — forcibly made still. But it is not a natural growth of silence, it is not the flowering of silence. Their silence is like the cemetery, it is not the silence of a garden. You can meditate, force yourself to be silent. the whole truth is: bliss PLUS meditation. It is difficult of course, arduous, to manage both.
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Guest replied to Leo Gura's topic in Spirituality, Consciousness, Awakening, Mysticism, Meditation, God
@Leo Gura I see, thank you. As for being hardcore, it's a long-term goal, but I'm not shy to admit that I need to do a lot more prep before handling that level of work. I've minimalized my life to just consciousness work and life purpose, but I still sort of have to tip-toe around the intense work since I was overwhelmed by going full blast without much prep, so now I spend a lot of my time reading up on the theory while being more mild with the practice since I'm a rookie. Are you referring to the post-enlightenment work you and others talk about, such as embodying Truth and working on the unhealthy ego structures? I'm a bit confused about that as well (I'm going to be hitting up Peter Ralston's series pretty soon and I know he discusses that). Ingram talked about training in morality as an important part of development on the path, and I know a lot of teachers emphasize things like love and compassion, but I don't get if I'm supposed to intuitively grasp right action as a result of my practice or if that is an endeavor of it's own. You speak about this sort of stuff here: Is this stuff part of pursuing Enlightenment, or is it transformation advice that isn't necessarily about pursuing Truth, or both? -
All our problems are very small, but our ego magnifies them, makes them as big as it can. The ego cannot do otherwise; its anger has also to be great. When you are angry with someone and you throw your anger on him, you are creating a chain reaction. Now he too will be angry. There is no need to throw anger on anybody. You can go to your bathroom, you can go on a long walk – it means that something is inside that needs fast activity so that it is released. Just do a little jogging and you will feel it is released, or take a pillow and beat the pillow, fight with the pillow, and bite the pillow until your hands and teeth are relaxed. Within a five-minute catharsis you will feel unburdened, and once you know this you will never throw it on anybody, because that is absolutely foolish. The first thing in transformation then is to express anger, but not on anybody, because if you express it on somebody you cannot express it totally. You may like to kill, but it is not possible; you may like to bite, but it is not possible. But that can be done to a pillow. A pillow means ‘already enlightened’; the pillow is enlightened, a buddha. The pillow will not react, and the pillow will not go to any court, and the pillow will not bring any enmity against you, and the pillow will not do anything. The pillow will be happy, and the pillow will laugh at you.
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Prabhaker replied to faith's topic in Spirituality, Consciousness, Awakening, Mysticism, Meditation, God
@faith When meditating, working on yourself, if you wonder whether you are making any progress or not, know well that you are not making any progress – because when progress is made you know it. Why? It is just as when you are ill and you are taking medicine. Won’t you be able to feel whether you are getting healthy or not? If you do not feel it and the question arises of whether you are getting well or not, know well that you are not getting well. Well-being is such a clear feeling that when you have it you know it. But why does this question arise? This question arises for so many reasons. One, you are not really working. You are just deceiving yourself. You are playing tricks with yourself. You are less concerned with what you are doing and more concerned with what is happening. If you are really doing it, you can leave the result to existence. But our minds are such that we are less concerned with the cause and more concerned with the effect – because of greed. Greed wants to have everything without doing anything. So the greedy mind goes on moving ahead. Then the greedy mind asks, 'What is happening? Is something happening or not?' Be really concerned with what you are doing, and when something happens you will know it. It is going to happen to you. You need not ask anyone. There is no fixed road. Everyone is on a different road; we are not on one road. Even if you are following one technique of meditation, you are not on the same road as someone else who is doing the same technique; you cannot be. There is no public path. Every path is individual and personal. So no one’s experiences on the path will be helpful to you; rather, they may be damaging. Someone may be seeing something on his path. If he says to you that this is the sign of progress, you may not meet the same sign on your path. The same trees may not be on your path; the same stones may not be on your path. So do not be a victim of all this nonsense. Only certain inner feelings are relevant. For example, if you are progressing, then certain things will begin to happen spontaneously. One, you will feel more and more contentment. Really, when meditation is completely fulfilled, one becomes so contented that he forgets to meditate – because meditation is an effort, a discontent. If one day you forget to meditate and you do not feel any addiction, you do not feel any gap, you are as filled as ever, then know it is a good sign. Do not make meditation a habit. Let it be alive! Then discontent will disappear by and by; you will feel contentment, and not only while you are meditating. If something happens only while you are meditating, it is false, it is hypnotic. It does some good but it is not going to be very deep. It is good only in comparison. If there is nothing happening, no meditation, no blissful moment, do not worry about it. If something is happening, do not cling to it. If meditation is going rightly, deep, you will feel transformed throughout the whole day. A subtle contentment will be present every moment. With whatsoever you are doing, you will feel a cool center inside…contentment. Of course there will be results. Anger will be less and less possible. It will go on disappearing. Why? – because anger shows a non-meditative mind, a mind that is not at ease with itself. With meditation you will be more and more happy with yourself – remember, with yourself. These will be signs, the general signs. So do not think you are achieving much if you are beginning to see light or if you go on seeing beautiful colors. They are good but do not feel satisfied unless real psychological changes are there: less anger, more love; less cruelty, more compassion. Unless this happens, your seeing lights and colors and hearing sounds are child’s play. They are beautiful, very beautiful; it is good to play with them – but that is not the aim of meditation. They happen on the road, they are just by-products, but do not be concerned. In a relationship, observe what is happening. How are you behaving toward your wife now? Observe it. Is there any change? That change is meaningful. How are you behaving with your servant? Is there any change? That change is significant. Meditation for me is not a child’s play. It is a deep transformation. How to know this transformation? First you will feel your inner transformation in your outer relationships, and then you will go deep. Then only will you begin to feel something inner. So probe into, penetrate your relationships, and look there to see whether your meditation is progressing or not. If you feel a growing love, unconditional love, if you feel a compassion without cause, if you feel a deep concern for everyone’s welfare, well-being, your meditation is growing. Then forget all other things. With this observation you will also observe many things in yourself. You will be more silent; you will have less noise within. When there is a need you will talk, when there is no need you will be silent. You will feel more at ease, relaxed. Whatsoever you are doing, it will be a relaxed effort; there will be no strain. You will become less and less ambitious. Ultimately, there will be no ambition. Even the ambition to reach moksha will not be there. Even the desire for liberation is a bondage. Even the desire to be desireless is a bondage. One thing more: whatsoever you are doing, do not think that results will be coming in the future. If you are doing something real, results are here and now. In inner work, if you have meditated today, results are not going to be tomorrow. If you have meditated today. the perfume of it, howsoever little, will be there. If you are sensitive you can feel it. Whenever something real is done, it affects you here and now. So meditation is not just a certain thing which you do for one hour and forget. Really, the whole of life has to be meditative. Only then will you begin to feel things. And when I say that the whole life is to be meditative, I do not mean to go and close your eyes for twenty-four hours and sit and meditate – no! Wherever you are you can be sensitive and that sensitivity will pay. Then there will be no need to ask, 'Am I progressing or not?' Only with this capacity of being aware of all things happening around you will you develop the capacity to feel what is happening within. Osho, The Ultimate Alchemy, Vol 2, Talk #18 -
Yes , Spirituality is very contagious but real transformation happens in presence of an enlightened master, if you are open and receptive. In the East, we have developed a science: if you cannot find a soul mate, you can create one. And that science is Tantra.
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Contemplation time! There is no SELF! There is no YOU! There is no I! Self is an illusion Self is a dream, wake up Transformation is possible because there is no fixed self Self is created but it is not true and therefore self creates suffering, just like believing you are the president of the USA is not true. It's a false belief and results in problems and suffering. Self is a habit Think back to a conversation you had yesterday. There was no separate identity, just life talking to life. Life playing a game with itself. What are the illusions you live based on the belief that there is a self? There is no self! There is no YOU! YOU = 0 YOU + sensations = sensations YOU + emotions = emotions YOU + thoughts = thoughts Banana-milkshake, potato Relax, you don't exist As yourself a question. E.g. "Who am I?". Who is answering? No one. Thoughts arise. Where do they arise from? Who do they talk to? Where do they disappear into? Knock knock - Who is there? - No one Say your name to yourself in your thoughts. Realise that this process of reading, remembering a name, thinking is just a conditioning! No-self involved here. ThEr iS nO YoU! YOU, Stop! Say your name to yourself in your thoughts. Bring up some childhood memories. Bring up what you did yesterday. Think about what you hate. Think about who you love. Say your name over and over and over. Do it! DO IT! ..... THERE IS NO YOU! It's a misconception. False programming. Fiction. No-Self is hard business. Ego feeds not only to the bad stuff like fear but also on the good, like your dreams or the idea that there is special someone out there who will make you happy for the rest of your life. It's okay to grief those ideas. But hey, cheer up, it's nothing but the TRUTH. Think about some kittens. They are cute, right? Okay back to business. Thinking there is no self over and over is kind of stupid. 'Cause there is no self! No one is there. "Ding Dong", oh, no one is home Don't think about a pink zebra. You did right? It's a reflex. There is no you Remember when you tried to form a habit or brake one and you couldn't. No-self comes with no free will. Who is there to have one? Look, each part of your body has it's role, interacts, influences and is influenced by other parts of your body. But not part has totalitarian dictatorship over the others. It's an interplay. there is no self at the top of the hierarchy. EVERY TIME you think don't accept what is, because you think there is a YOU who has a say in whatever, you are fooling yourself. STOP FOOLING YOURSELF! There is no SELF! There is no YOU! There is no I! Self is an illusion Self is a dream, wake up ZZZzzZZzzzzzZzzzz How else could it be put in words?
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Shanmugam replied to The White Belt's topic in Spirituality, Consciousness, Awakening, Mysticism, Meditation, God
@The White Belt I was trying to be mindful when I was doing my everyday stuff, like walking, eating etc... I had to remind myself to be mindful when I started to practice it.. But in six months time, it became a habit... I was doing in almost all the waking hours.. But I did take breaks from reading spiritual books or thinking about anything that has to do with spirituality.. The longest break was about two years, I think.. But being mindful of my thoughts and emotions continued as a habit... At one point in 2014, when I started listening to spiritual talks and reading books again after a break, I began to practice it even more intensely and it led to a transformation. I have written more about it here: https://nellaishanmugam.wordpress.com/2017/05/10/the-journey-of-a-seeker-my-story/ But after this transformation, things have become weird... I don't have any motivation to intensely practice mindfulness because my search and desire for enlightenment disappeared. The transformation also took away the psychological boundaries between 'me' and 'others'.. Also, when I was practicing mindfulness earlier, there was a gap between the 'observer' and the 'observed' (my thoughts, feelings etc)... But the transformation also resulted in merging the observer and the observed together.. I am mindful without any effort at all.. But when I am involved in deep thinking (like trying to figure out certain things or thinking about what I should write in my blog etc), I don't pay any attention to the surroundings at all. I give my whole attention and mental energy on the stuff I am thinking about... This will not fit into how mindfulness is generally understood these days, because clinical mindfulness scale will rate you low on mindfulness if you are not paying attention to your sense perceptions.... But when I am not doing this thinking, my mind is very calm and still.. I am still trying to make sense of the transformation that happened and things are getting settled down for me now... -
Prabhaker replied to Stoica Doru's topic in Spirituality, Consciousness, Awakening, Mysticism, Meditation, God
If she is awakened then her past can't influence her present behavior, if she is awakened then her past can't disturb her now. Don't expect that she will behave like normal victim of abuse, even after spiritual progress. Spirituality is inner transformation. -
pluto replied to Peace and Love's topic in Spirituality, Consciousness, Awakening, Mysticism, Meditation, God
Solfeggio frequencies make up the ancient 6-tone scale thought to have been used in sacred music, including the beautiful and well known Gregorian Chants. The chants and their special tones were believed to impart spiritual blessings when sung in harmony. Each Solfeggio tone is comprised of a frequency required to balance your energy and keep your body, mind and spirit in perfect harmony. Overtime 3 more have been found which all also resonate with each chakra. 00:00 - 174Hz Frequency is natural anaesthetic. It relieves pain and gives your organs a sense of safety, love and security and encourages them to do their best. 05:00 - 285Hz Solfeggio Frequency - Heals and Regenerates Tissues , Restructures damaged organs by sending message to Tissues, Bringing them to original form. 10:00 - 396Hz Solfeggio Frequency gives Power to Your Goals. It eradicates feeling of guilt, even the guilt residing deep in subconscious mind 15:00 - 417Hz Solfeggio Frequency Removes Negative Energy from the Body, Home and Office 20:00 - 528Hz Solfeggio Frequency Music returns human DNA to its original, perfect state. It brings transformation and miracles into your life. 25:00 - 639 Hz frequency enables creation of harmonious interpersonal relationships. This tone can be used for dealing with relationships problems – those in family, between partners, friends. 30:00 - 741Hz Frequency Cleans the Cells and Detoxifies the cells and organs 35:00 - 852Hz Solfeggio Frequency Awakens Inner Strength and Raises Cell Energy 40:00 - 963Hz Frequency helps in Pineal Gland Activation and is associated with awakening intuition. http://naturalchakrahealing.com/chakra-solfeggio-frequency.html https://attunedvibrations.com/solfeggio/ -
Watch Leo's video on ”The Power of Self-Acceptance”. You must at first love all your flaws to death before a powerful transformation can happen. Leo has videos on how to create a vision too.
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Gailan replied to Gailan's topic in Spirituality, Consciousness, Awakening, Mysticism, Meditation, God
Thank you i was a muslim from the begining , after a while i became an athiest, nihilist, then found about meditation. i didn't read a lot of books about it. i did breathing meditation for 9 months, then quit meditation. after about 10 months, I have started again with same breathing technique, and did it for about 3 months, then i was tired of it again. that's when i found Leo and started self inquiry. i have been self inquiring for about 4 months, and first month was an hour per day. in the 3rd month, it means last month, i had added another 30 minutes in the evening, 30 minutes of 'do nothing' technique, and also Focus exercise before each of those three for 5 minutes. Thanks for sharing that with us When the shift occurred, i was shocked for less than a second and let go, that was real transformation. the emerge i experienced was not as i imagined and so i thought that maybe awakening didn't occurred, but then i let go. so you say what i have experienced was Samadhi? -
Shanmugam replied to charlie cho's topic in Spirituality, Consciousness, Awakening, Mysticism, Meditation, God
Ha ha.. please stop getting preachy and just parroting Osho for everything.... I am familiar with almost everything that Osho said and I made it very clear that I also went through a transformation... Now I can kind of predict all the replies you would ever give me because you are just going to repeat Osho's words.. And I know what Osho would usually respond with for many questions... When I said Osho fabricated the story, i didn't mean to say that he was doing something wrong. I already made it very clear in my post.. In fact, Osho fabricated things by adding more spice and color and also making those stories in such a way which will enable him to convey what he intended to say.. That was his way... He himself said that many times.. You are asking me what difference it would make if it is fabricated or true... Nothing! I don't do things just because it is going to make a difference.. I do things if I enjoy doing it, period... I enjoy this discussion and hence I am sharing my views... It is not that I have a problem with it and trying to solve it. And you seem to be doing something that Osho would never approve of.. You are simply parroting Osho. Osho was against any kind of parroting.. Do you remember something that Osho always used to say?.. "“It is said that if you meet the Buddha on the Way, kill him".. He said that to make sure that we don't make concepts out of Osho's words... Osho's guidance helped me to get rid of my preconceived notions and see the reality the way it is but I actually ended up getting stuck with Osho's words at one point. Then I had to make a huge effort to get rid of them.. In other words, I 'killed' Osho... (said in the context of the quote 'if you meet the Buddha on the Way, kill him' ).. You will have to eventually do it at some point.. Because you seem to have got stuck with the words of Osho and literally trying to imitate him... You are asking me '"you think he was interested in stuffing you with great knowledge?....".. What made you to think that is what I thought? I know very well that he was not interested in feeding people with knowledge and make them into scholars.. I am familiar with all his contradictions.. So, I would appreciate if you stop preaching..I don't derive my identity from knowledge and I don't depend on the knowledge or anything else to define me... I don't even have to rely on an identity for fulfillment. I have crossed the boundaries of things which kept me in imprisonment.. -
Shanmugam replied to charlie cho's topic in Spirituality, Consciousness, Awakening, Mysticism, Meditation, God
@Prabhaker Thanks for all the examples.. This discussion is getting interesting.. I am familiar with most of them and I once had the exact same view that you have now... However, After my transformation (I am reluctant to call it enlightenment though), I started seeing things in a different way. It is very clear that most of these people criticized each other. I also remember U.G.Krishnamurti criticizing Ramana as egoistic. But the question is, is this type of criticism really a devise or just a fundamental attribution error? You seem to have completely accepted it when Osho said that criticism is really a devise.. Even I did the same thing years ago.. But now i don't think that is the case.. Criticism can be used as a devise in stopping people from jumping to different paths and some of the criticisms might have been devices.. But not all of them and not always.. I think most of these criticisms are just an attribution error that human beings are prone to, even after enlightenment... I will give you an example of this attribution error made by Osho.. Here is an excerpt from his book 'Theologia Mystica': "Somebody in Vishnu Devananda's own organization has been deceiving him for years.... It is good that Vishnu Devananda has confessed that somebody in his own organization was deceiving him, but what does it show? It shows one thing: that Vishnu Devananda is a fool. If somebody in his own organization, his own disciple can deceive him, then what integrity has he got and what consciousness? He should drop being a Master, he should stop initiating people. He has lost all right to." But if you are familiar with happenings in Rajneeshpuram, Osho talked about Sheela deceiving him all those days without his knowledge. His own personal secretary was deceiving him.. Sheela left Rajneeshpuram on 14 Sep 1985, in the whole new series that Osho started called 'From Bondage to Freedom', Osho talked mostly about how Sheela had been deceiving her all the time. This is an obvious example of a fallacy that all human beings have, whether enlightened or not... Here are some more examples of Osho's cognitively biased criticisms (Note: I always have respect on Osho and the work he has done.. I am familiar with both his extraordinary talent, charisma and his imperfections.. So, this is not to put him in a bad light.. But to show you the reality of enlightenment and point out some of the misconceptions that people have developed overtime) 1. In the initial years, Osho regarded Nostradamus as simply a crazy man. This is what he said about his predictions: “Nostradamus can be interpreted in any way you want. The sentences are not clear, the grammar is not correct. The words are such that you can fit them into any context you want”. But just read what he said about the same man later, when it seemed like Nostrademus predictions about a great future teacher fit with Osho: “Just a few days ago, I was seeing one of the most significant books to be published in this century, ‘Millenium’. It is a deep research into Nostradamus and his predictions. Eighty thousand copies were published – which is very rare – and they were sold within weeks. Now a second publication, a second edition, is happening in America, another is happening in England, and the book is being translated into many other languages – Dutch, German…. Nostradamus was a great mystic with an insight into the future. And you will be surprised to know that in his predictions, I am included. Describing the teacher of the last days of the twentieth century, he gives eight indications. Krishnamurti fulfills five, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi fulfills three, Da Free John fulfills four – and I was amazed that I fulfill all eight. In this book ‘Millenium’, they have made a chart of the teacher about whom Nostradamus is predicting – that his people will wear red clothes, that he will come from the East, that he will be arrested, that his commune will be destroyed, that flying birds will be his symbol, that his name will mean moon…. Three hundred years ago that man was seeing something that fits perfectly with me – my name means “the moon.” And in their chart they have declared me the teacher of the last part of the twentieth century.” Obviously, when Osho found this as boosting his superiority, he regarded the same man as mystic. 2. Initially Osho didn’t criticize S.N Goenka and even asked his disciples to attend a Vipassana retreat by Goenka. But once Osho heard that Goenka in an interview had said that Osho was his student before, Osho started criticizing S.N Goenka so harshly. 3. Osho always considered J.Krishnamurti as enlightened. When he heard that J.K had criticized him recently, Osho immediately reacted to it in his next discourse. He said that J.K was just in the border of enlightenment and is not enlightened yet. He also made the same statement in his last book Zen Manifesto. Also, from the link you sent me regarding Ramakrishna (http://www.bengalcuisine.in/ram-krishna), it is obvious that the incident that Osho quotes is fabricated (I don't think it is wrong... But I wanted to show how Sadhguru used Osho's examples but didn't endorse him or talk about him at all).. 1. Ramakrishna fasted for 8 days before dying.. So, it is obvious that Ramakrishna did not stop eating just three days before, as it is narrated by Sadhguru and Osho. 2. Ramakrishna did not die in spite of not being able to eat when he had cancer... So it is not true that he has to rely on the food or desire for the food to keep his body alive.. -
Prabhaker replied to charlie cho's topic in Spirituality, Consciousness, Awakening, Mysticism, Meditation, God
I always post teaching of Osho on this forum. A master is not interested in teaching us true historical facts. What good it will do if we learn correct history or science? Earth is round or flat ? Life originated on earth 6000 years ago or billions of years ago ? For him our transformation is important. I am providing you excerpts from department of tourism, government of West Bengal , website. The Master smoked tobacco a few times a day [as was the custom in those days], using a hubble-bubble that he kept in the southwest corner of his room. Whenever Ramakrishna went to Calcutta his attendant always carried his towel and spice bag, which contained fennel seeds, cloves, cubeb, caraway, and cardamom. Sri Ramkrishna Paramahansa was very fond of Sandesh and Jilipi. Ramakrishna loved all foods, not just sweets. Perhaps he experienced the divine through his sense of taste. Not strange. As food went past his taste buds and entered his stomach a sense of joy radiated and filled his entire body. Sometimes he would walk out of a gathering of disciples, run to the kitchen, smell or taste what was ready and dart back. His wife, Ma Sarada, at times felt embarrassed wondering what people would think. But Ramakrishna was oblivious, for he knew that some mysterious power was in control and he was doing its bidding. He never talked about his weakness for food because he said he did not wish to attract a following of gluttons. Ramakrishna enjoyed food all his life, experienced great joy, and kept quiet about it. His followers reverently ignored his weakness. http://www.bengalcuisine.in/ram-krishna -
No formal technique is necessary. Through intention alone you can cultivate all kinds of states - from the mundane to the exalted. Easier said than done though. Sometimes techniques and formal practices only work more easily because they bypass our held beliefs about what we can and can't do. We think we can't just simply relax and be happy for no reason other than because we want to, so we meditate because we believe that will do it for us, and then we reap some of the results. Bashar would call these 'permission slips'. It is possible to create a state inwardly and hold that identity or state firmly, and eventually that identity or reality will be reflected in your emotions, thoughts, physicality, and the rest of your experience allowing for a total transformation. One of the powers behind psychedelics is that they temporarily strip away lots of held limiting beliefs and so it's easier to access states of higher clarity, intuition or bliss - but this dynamic can reinforce the idea we need to do something (take something, do a certain kind of meditation, etc) to reach certain states of being. It is possible to, for example, work yourself into states of really high bliss comparable to MDMA, or to effortlessly receive answers to your questions. This can be done by consciously generating the reality of your desire inwardly. If you continue to look towards your external experience to determine how you aught to feel, think and behave, then you will continue to generate that same reality which is governed by unconscious patterns. If you can consciously hold your inward reality and choose to frame your entire experience as confirmation of the reality that you're now choosing to align with, then it's only a matter of time before it is reflected externally . The art comes in aligning in fulfillment of your chosen reality now. If you are expecting, waiting or hoping for a change in the external reality, then that change won't come because you're still associating with the old experience. If you know you can have anything you want right now by freely and consciously choosing to have it and so you rest in that fulfillment now, then reality will start to quickly align with that experience and generate it in your external experience, feeling, thoughts, synchronicities and whatever perceptions it takes to fulfill your desired state perfectly. It's a bit of an art and there are many different techniques, teachings and approaches on the subject. A lot of it is just removing the barriers and beliefs that say you can't generate your states from within - or that external reality governs in the internal. Experience says that the opposite is true - that the inward reality generates your entire experience. Discovery of this takes some dedication, openness, but most importantly the willingness to find out for yourself.
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Russell Parr replied to Russell Parr's topic in Spirituality, Consciousness, Awakening, Mysticism, Meditation, God
You don't think it.. "it" being what exactly? That there are incorrect thoughts? Ok, good so far. Enlightenment is the awakening of consciousness from delusional thoughts and perspectives. It is the transformation from one way of thinking to another. You don't just give up thought due to enlightenment. But yes, thoughts and emotions aren't enlightenment in the sense that they are different things than enlightenment. Awareness is not enough. If one does not accumulate the adequate wisdom required for enlightenment or doesn't do enough to fully assimilate such wisdom, enlightenment cannot be had or sustained. -
Prabhaker replied to Ry4n's topic in Spirituality, Consciousness, Awakening, Mysticism, Meditation, God
Psychedelics can give you a glimpse of reality at the most. That glimpse is just a far-away echo of real thing. It is very cheap. Meditation techniques can't give you even a glimpse, they prepare ground for meditation. Meditation happens, you can't do it. Journey towards meditation is long and arduous. It is your complete transformation. It is a mutation. Meditation is a knack. Once you know how to enter into meditation, how to become available for meditation, then your real spiritual journey starts. Now you have to live a meditative life, now you can really sit silently doing nothing, then Samadhi (self-realization) happens. Samadhi gives you experiences far richer than psychedelics, after Samadhi you will attain many psychic powers, great wisdom, paradise on earth. -
Prabhaker replied to carlos flores's topic in Spirituality, Consciousness, Awakening, Mysticism, Meditation, God
One very foundational thing will have to be understood, and that is that the people you call bad are never so bad as the people you call good. The bad people are bad, but they have no excuse about being bad. They know they are bad, and they have nowhere to hide themselves. But the people who are thought to be good - respectable, honored, respected, religious - they are the real dangerous people because their badness can hide in their goodness. They can murder and will not feel that they are murderous. They can kill and can go on feeling that they are doing that killing for the good of those who are being killed. The ordinarily bad, the criminal, is exposed. He knows that he is not good And that is the possibility of transformation: he can understand and can come out of it. But the so-called good hides under his personality. He may not be able to understand what he is doing, for what reasons he is doing it. He can always manage to rationalize. That's how it happened. And not only in the case of Jesus; it has been happening always. The priests w ho were murderous never thought that they were doing anything bad. They thought that they were saving their religion; they thought that they were saving the morality. They thought: "This man is dangerous. He is corrupting the youth." That was the charge against Jesus - that he was corrupting people, he was destroying the old morality, he was creating a chaos. And that was the charge against Socrates, and that is the charge against me. It has always been so. The priests: whether they are Hindus or Greeks or Jews, it makes no difference. The priests are the protectors of the old. The temple is of the past; they are the protectors, the guardians of tradition. Of course Jesus looked dangerous to them. He could destroy the whole structure. It is not that they were deceiving themselves. They may have thought, without a single suspicion, that they were perfectly right. "This man is dangerous. To destroy this man is to save the society." And of course whenever there is such an alternative - that you can save the whole society by killing one man - the murder is worth it. The priests killed him because of their goodness, because of their virtue, because of their morality. They killed him in the name of God; they killed him very innocently. This situation has been arising again and again in history. There seems to be no possibility to change it. The only possibility is that Jesus should be so moderate that he doesn't hurt anybody. But then he is useless. He could have managed, he could have been very moderate and liberal. He could have talked like a politician who talks much but never says anything, who says many things but is always vague. He never clearly asserts anything; you can never pinpoint what he has said. If Jesus had been tactful, he could have saved himself, But then there would have been no Christ also. And that would have been a greater murder. -
You can view 'subtitles/closed captions' in the video by clicking on "CC" button on the video. Transcript: SOMETIMES AS I WATCH PEOPLE PLAYING THE SAME OLD GAMES OVER AND OVER, MY EYES FEEL ANCIENT AND JADED AND MY HEART WEARY AND CYNICAL. I GUESS IT'S BECAUSE I'M SEEING MORE AND MORE MY OWN GAMES AND TRICKS AND I HEAR YOUR MADDENING VOICE BETWEEN MY EARS SAYING, 'THAT'S OKAY - JUST YOU HAVE TO ACCEPT AND LOVE YOURSELF; AND THERE IS NO PROBLEM.' JUST???! I THINK IF YOU SAY THIS WORD AGAIN I WILL SCREAM. WASN'T I HAPPIER WHEN I THOUGHT THERE WAS A GOAL? THE QUESTION IS FROM MA DEVA ANANDO. It is significant. The question can be that of almost everybody who is present. Listen to it. It simply shows a situation that every seeker has to pass. First, Anando says, "Sometimes as I watch people playing the same old games over and over, my eyes feel ancient and jaded and my heart weary and cynical." Please don't try to watch others - that is none of your business. If they have decided to play the old games, if they want to play the old games, if they are happy in playing their old games, who are you to interfere? Who are you even to judge? This constant hankering to judge others has to be dropped. It does not help others. It harms you, it only harms you. Why should you be bothered? That has nothing to do with you. It is others' joy if they want to remain the old and they want to move in the same rut, in the same routine. Good! It is their life and they have every right to live it their own way. Somehow we cannot allow others to have their own way. In some way or other we go on judging. Sometimes we say they are sinners, sometimes we say they are bound to go to hell, sometimes we say they are this and that - criminals. If all that has changed, now a new evaluation that they are playing old games and'I am tired'. Why should you be tired of their games? Let them be tired of their games if they want; or if they don't want, that too is their choice. Please don't watch others. Your whole energy has to be focussed on yourself. Maybe you are condemning others for their old games just as a trick because you don't want to condemn yourself. It always happens; it is a psychological trick: we project on others. A thief thinks everybody is a thief - that is very natural for him; that is a way to protect his ego. If he feels the whole world is bad, he feels good in comparison. A murderer thinks the whole world consists of murderers - that makes him feel good and at ease. It is convenient to think the whole world consists of murderers; then he can murder and there is no need to have any guilt feeling, there is no need to have any prick of conscience. So we go on projecting on others whatsoever we don't want to see in ourselves. Please stop that! If you are really tired of old games. then this is the old game - the OLDEST. For many lives you have been playing it: projecting YOUR defects onto others and then feeling good. And of course you have to exaggerate, you have to magnify. If you are a thief, you have to magnify others' images, that they are greater thieves than you. Then you feel good; in comparison, you are a far better person. That's why people go on reading the newspapers. Newspapers help you very much. Early in the morning, before you have even taken your tea. you are ready for the newspaper. And the newspaper brings nothing like news, because there is nothing new. It is the same old rotten thing. But you feel good: somewhere, somebody has been murdered, somewhere there has been a Watergate, and somewhere something else, and somewhere somebody has stolen, and somebody's wife has escaped with somebody else... and so on and so forth. Watching all that, you relax; you feel, "So, I am not so bad - the whole world is going to the dogs. I am a far better person. I have not yet escaped with the wife of the neighbor. I have not killed anybody yet - although I think of it, but thinking is not a crime where people are actually doing things." You feel good. And the moment you feel good, you remain the same. Please don't watch others. It is not going to help you. You use your energy, your observation, on yourself. And there is something tremendously transforming in observation. If you observe yourself, things will start changing. If you start observing your anger, one day you will suddenly find the anger has no more energy the way it used to have; it is no more so fiery. Something has gone dead in it. If you start watching yourself, you will see, by and by, the negative is dying and the positive is becoming more and more alive; that misery is disappearing and bliss is entering into your life; that you smile more, sometimes even for no reason; that a sense of humor is arising in you - if you start watching - that old depressed, long face is disappearing. A sense of humor is born. You start taking life more playfully, if you watch; seriousness becomes more and more irrelevant. More and more you become innocent, trusting, less and less doubtful. I am not saying that your trust will always be respected. No, that is not the point. You may be deceived more, because when you are trusting you can be deceived more. But even when you are deceived, your trust will not be destroyed by it - in fact, it may even be enhanced. You may start thinking that even if you are deceived - somebody has taken a little money and deceived you - you will be able to see that you have saved the far more valuable thing, that is trust; and something almost valueless, the money, is gone. You could have saved the money and the trust would have gone - that would have been a far greater loss, because nobody has ever been found to be happy just because of money. But because of trust, people have lived like gods on earth. Because of trust, people have enjoyed life so totally that they could feel grateful to God. Trust is a benediction. Money, at the most, can give you a little comfort, but no celebration. Trust may not give you much comfort, but will give you great celebration. Now, to choose comfort against celebration is simply stupid - because that comfortable life will be nothing but a comfortable death. Conveniently you can live and conveniently you can die, but the real taste of life is possible only when you are celebrating at the optimum, at the maximum, when your torch is burning from both ends together. Maybe only for a single moment... but the intensity of it, but the totality of it, but the wholeness of it! And this happens only through observation. Observation is one of the greatest forces of transformation. You start observing yourself. Don't waste your energy for observation on others - that is a sheer wastage! And nobody will ever thank you for it; it is a thankless job. And whomsoever you observe will feel offended - because NOBODY likes to be observed; everybody wants to have a private life. Good or bad, stupid or wise, but everybody wants to have his own private life. And who are you to interfere? So don't be a peeping tom, don't go to people's keyholes, and don't watch. It is THEIR life. If they want and if they love to play the old game, let them play! So the first thing: please stop watching other people; turn the whole energy on yourself. Second thing you say: "I guess it's because I'm seeing more and more my own games and tricks and I hear your maddening voice between my ears saying,'That's okay - just you have to accept and love yourself, and there is no problem.' " I have to repeat it: There is no problem. I have never come across a real problem - not up to now. And I must have listened to thousands of people and their thousands of problems. I have not come across a real problem yet. And I don't think that it is ever going to happen - because the real problem exists not.'Problem' is a created thing. Situations are there: problems are not there. Problems are your interpretations of situations. The same situation may not be a problem to one person and may be a problem to somebody else. So it depends on you whether you create a problem or you don't create a problem but problems are not there. Problems are not in existence: they are in the psychology of man. Just look next time you are having some trip and riding a problem just watch. Just stand aside and look at the problem. Is it really there? or have you created it? Look deeply into it, and you will suddenly see it is not increasing, it is decreasing; it is becoming smaller and smaller. The more you put your energy into observation, the smaller it becomes. And a moment comes when suddenly it is not there... and you will have a good laugh. Whenever you are having a problem, just look at it. Problems are fictitious, they don't exist. Just go around the problem, look from every angle - how can it be? It is a ghost! You wanted it, that's why it is there. You asked for it, that's why it is there. You invited it, that's why it is there. But people don't like it if you say their problem is not a problem - they don't like it. They feel very bad. If you listen to their problems they feel very good. And if you say, "Yes, this is a great problem," they are very happy. That's why psychoanalysis has become one of the most important things of this century. The psychoanalyst helps nobody - maybe he helps himself, but he helps nobody else. He cannot. But still people go and pay. They enjoy - he accepts their problems; whatsoever absurd problem you bring to the psychoanalyst, he listens to it very sincerely and seriously, as if it is there. He takes it for granted that you are suffering greatly, and he starts working on it and analyzing it. And it takes years! Even after years of psychoanalysis the problem is not solved-because in the first place the problem has never been there, so how can anybody solve it? But after years of psychoanalysis, you get tired; and you get finished with the old problem, you want some new problem now. So one day you suddenly say, "Yes, it is no more there, it is gone," and you thank the psychoanalyst. But it is simply time that has helped, that has healed. It is not psychoanalysis. But there are people who would not like simply to wait and watch. When you bring a mad person to a Zen monastery, they simply put him in a corner, in a small hut, far away from the monastery; they give him food and they tell him, "Just be there, quiet." Nobody goes to talk to him; food is supplied, his comforts are looked after, but nobody bothers about him. And what psychoanalysis does in three years, they do in three weeks. Within three weeks the person simply comes out and he says, "Yes, the problem is finished." For three weeks you are left with your problem - how can you avoid seeing it? And no analysis is given, so there is no diversion; you are not distracted. The psychoanalyst distracts you! The problem may have died on its own within three weeks, but it will not die now because with the support of the psychoanalyst it will live for three years, or even more. It depends how rich you are. If you are rich enough, the problem can continue for your whole life. That means it depends how much you can afford. Poor people don't suffer from many problems. Rich people suffer they can afford to. They can enjoy the game of having great problems. The poor person cannot afford and cannot enjoy that game. Next time you are having a problem, look into it, look HARD into it. No need for any analysis; don't analyze it, because analysis is a way of diversion. When you start analyzing, you don't look at the problem. You start asking why? from where? how did it come? - in your childhood, your mother's relationship with you, your father's relationship with you. You have gone astray. Now you are not looking into the problem itself. Freudian psychoanalysis is really a mind-game. and played with great expertise. Don't go into the causes! There is no need because there is no cause. Don't go into the past there is no need because that will be going away from the present problem. LOOK into it as a herenow thing, just enter into it. And don't think about causes, reasons. Just watch the problem as it is. And you will be surprised that looking hard into it, it starts dispersing. Go on looking into it and you will find it has gone. PROBLEMS ARE NOT THERE. We create them - because we cannot live without problems. That is the only reason why we create them. To have a problem is to have an occupation. One feels good; something is there to do. When there is no problem you are left alone, empty - what to do next? All problems finished. Just think: one day comes God and says, "No problems any more - finished! All problems gone." What will you do? Just think of that day. People will be stuck; people will start getting very angry about God. They will say, "This is not a blessing! Now what are we supposed to do? No problems?" Then suddenly the energy is not moving anywhere; then you will feel stagnant. The problem is a way for you to move, to go on, to carry on, to hope, to desire, to dream. The problem gives so many possibilities to remain occupied. And to be unoccupied, or to be capable of unoccupation, is what I call meditation: an unoccupied mind who enjoys a moment of unoccupation is a meditative mind. Start enjoying some unoccupied moments. Even if the problem is there - you feel it is there, I say it is not, but you feel it is there - put the problem aside and tell the problem, "Wait! Life is there, the whole life is there. I will solve you, but right now let me have a little space unoccupied by any problem." Start having a few moments unoccupied, and once you have enjoyed them you will see the fact that problems are created by you because you were not capable of enjoying the unoccupied moments. So problems fill the gap. Have you not watched yourself? Sitting in a room, if you have nothing to do you start feeling fidgety, you start feeling uncomfortable, you start feeling restless - you will turn the radio on, or you will, turn the TV on, or you will start reading the same newspaper you have read three times since the morning. Or, if there is only one way, you will fall asleep so that you can create dreams and again remain occupied. Or you will start smoking. Have you watched it? Whenever you are not having anything to do, it becomes very difficult to be, just to be. I will say again: There is no problem, Anando. Look into the fact of it that there is NO problem in life. If you want to have it, it is your pleasure - you enjoy with all my blessings But the truth is that there is no problem. Life is not a problem at all - it is a mystery to be lived and enjoyed. Problems are created by you because you are afraid to enjoy life and you are afraid to live life. Problems give you a protection - AGAINST life, against joy, against love. You can say to yourself, "HOW can I enjoy? - I am having so many problems. How can I enjoy? I am having so many problems, how can I love a man or a woman? I am having so many problems, how can I dance and sing? - impossible!" You can find some reasons not to sing, not to dance. Your problems give you a great opportunity to avoid. Look into the problems and you will find they are fictitious. And even if you are having a problem and you feel it is real, I say it is okay. Why do I say it is okay? Because the moment you start feeling it is okay, it will disappear. The moment you say to a problem that it is okay, you have stopped giving energy to it. You have accepted it! The moment you accept a problem, it is no more a problem. A problem can be a problem only when you go on rejecting it, when you say it should NOT be so... and it is. Then the problem is strengthened. That's why I say it. People come to me with their big problems and I say, "It is okay, it is very good, you accept it." And I say, "Just you have to accept and love yourself." And I understand, Anando says, "It is very maddening, your voice continuously saying, "That's okay... and there is no problem."' "JUST???!" And Anando says, "I think if you say this word again I will scream." You have been screaming your whole life - whether you scream or not is not the point - you have been screaming your whole life. You have not done anything else up to now. Sometimes loudly, sometimes silently, but you have been screaming. That's how I see people - screaming people, their heart is screaming, their being is screaming. But that will not help. You can scream but that will not help. Try to understand rather than screaming. Try to see what I am telling you. And what I am telling you is not a theory - it is a fact. And I am saying it because I have known it that way. If it can happen to me that there is no problem, why cannot it happen to you? Take the challenge of it! I am just as ordinary a man as you are; I don't claim any extraordinary miraculous powers. I am very ordinary, just as you are. The only difference between me and you is you don't say okay to yourself and I have said an absolute okay to myself - that is the only difference. You are continuously trying to improve yourself and I am not trying to improve myself. I have said: Incompletion is the way life is. You are trying to become perfect and I have accepted my imperfections. That is the only difference. So I don't have any problems. When you accept your imperfection, from where can the problem come? When whatsoever happens you say "It is okay," then from WHERE can the problem come? When you accept limitations, then from where can the problem come? The problem arises out of your non-acceptance. You cannot accept the way you are, hence the problem. And you will never accept the way you are, so the problem will always be there. Can you imagine yourself some day accepting, totally accepting the way you are? If you can imagine, then why don't you do it right now? Why wait? For whom? For what? I have accepted the way I am, and that very moment all problems disappeared. That very moment all worries disappeared. Not that I became perfect, but I started enjoying my imperfections. Nobody ever becomes perfect - because to become perfect means to become absolutely dead. Perfection is not possible because life is eternal. Perfection is not possible because life goes on and on and on - there is no end to it. So the ONLY way to get out of these so-called problems is to accept your life as you find it right this moment, and live it, enjoy, delight in it. The next moment will be of more joy because it will come out of this moment; and the next to that will be of even more joy because, by and by, you will become more and more joyous. Not that you will become joyous through improvement, but by living the moment. But you will remain imperfect. You will always have limitations, and you will always have situations where, if you want to crate problems, you can immediately create. If you don't want to create problems, there is no need to create. You can scream but that won't help. That's what you have been doing - that has not helped. Even primal therapy has not proved of much help. It allows people to scream - yes, it feels a little good, it is a tantrum therapy. It allows you to vomit. It feels a little good because you feel a little unloaded, unburdened, but then within a few days that euphoria disappears; again you are the same, again accumulating. Again go to the primal therapy - you will feel good for a few days... again the same. Unless you understand that one has to STOP creating problems, you will go on creating problems. You can go into an encounter group, you can do primal therapy, you can do thousands of other groups, and after each group you will feel tremendously beautiful, because you dropped something that was on your head - BUT YOU HAVE NOT DROPPED THE MECHANISM THAT CREATES IT. You have dropped something which you were having, but you have not dropped the very factory that goes on creating it. Again you will create. It will not be of much use. It will give you a respite, a rest. But if you REALLY understand the thing. the thing is that you have to stop creating problems - otherwise you can go from one group to another group, from one psychoanalyst to another psychoanalyst, from one psychiatrist to another psychiatrist, from one therapy to another therapy... and everybody will give you a little respite, a little rest, and again you are doing the same thing. My whole effort here is to cut the problem from the very roots. Please don't create problems - they are not, they exist not. And the last thing Anando says, "Wasn't I happier when I thought there was a goal?" Yes, you were happier and you were more miserable too - because your happiness was in the hope; it was not a true happiness. So I say you were happier and more miserable too. Miserable you were here in the present, and happy you were in the future - but how can you be in the future? The goal is in the future. Unhappy you were here; happy you were there.'There' exists not - it is all here. It is ALWAYS here. Everywhere it is here!'There' exists only in the dictionary. So it is with'then'. It is always now.'Then' exists not. Yes, you were happier in your dreams of thinking of a goal, of thinking of a beautiful future. But why does a person think about a beautiful future? - because he is miserable in the present. I don't think about a beautiful future. I cannot conceive how it can be more beautiful! How can it be more beautiful than it is right now this moment? How is existence going to be more happy and joyous than it is this moment? Have a look - how can it be more happy, more joyful? But that's a trick, again a trick of the mind: to avoid the present we go on thinking about the future so that we need not see the present. And the present is all there is. So you are right - you were happier, happier in your dreams. Now I have shattered all your dreams. Happier in your hopes - now I am trying in every way to create the state of hopelessness, so there is no hope left. I AM TRYING TO BRING YOU TO THE PRESENT. You have been wandering in the future; I am pulling you back to herenow. It is hard work. And to take goals away one feels very angry. You ARE sometimes very angry with me. I have taken your hope, your dreams, or I am trying you are clinging to them; you are so addicted to your hope that you even start hoping through me. You start hoping through me: "Osho will do this." This man is not going to do anything. You start hoping that "Now I am with Osho so there is no need to be afraid. Sooner or later I am going to become Enlightened." Forget all about it! ENLIGHTENMENT IS NOT A HOPE! It is not a desire and it is not in the future. If you start living right this moment, you are Enlightened. I am trying to make you Enlightened every day, and you say, "Tomorrow." Then as you will... but tomorrow it will never happen. Either it is now or never! Become Enlightened right now! And you can become because you are... simply deluded, simply thinking that you are not. So don't ask how. The moment you ask the how, you start hoping. So DON'T ask the how, and don't say, "Yes, we will become." I am not saying that. I am saying you are. Somendra!... the goose IS out. The goose has never been in. One just has to be alert in the moment. Just a single moment of alertness, a shock, and you are free. Every day I am trying to make you Enlightened, because I know you ARE Enlightened. But if you want to go on playing the game of Samsara, you can go on playing. Happier, certainly, you were - and miserable too. I have taken your happiness because you cannot hope any more. If you allow me a little more, I will take your misery too. But first the happiness has to go, because misery exists as a shadow to the hope of happiness. So first the hope of happiness has to go, only then will the shadow go. So you can scream if you want to scream, but I will repeat a thousand and one times: Anando, there is no problem. Just you have to accept and love yourself - yes, JUST.
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@WaterfallMachine No, I have too much to discover there to have anymore questions yet...my ignorance & the sheer scope of this, has left me feeling like there is so much more to learn before I could even conceive of something more to ask...thanks so much for everything! I especially love the list of ways to find large paradigms! Awesome! I feel like I mostly had theories before....and it's like you've given me the whole formula, and a how to road-map, thanks...an over-simplification is like: worldviews + beliefs + values + biases + assumptions + motivations + fears + aspirations/ admirations + attractions + spiritual orientation + envies + dislikes + culture + actions + stereotypes + etc... = large bubbles So, if I actually get to the point where I can complete that equation personally....I hope I can actually distill it down into the all encompassing singularity...to the point where I can recognize it as a total unification, possibly name it, and begin it's transformation....thanks! Yes, it's likely when liberated folk must put on their ego suits, they put on a mask or two as well....but consciously....
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Prabhaker replied to Russell Parr's topic in Spirituality, Consciousness, Awakening, Mysticism, Meditation, God
If understanding means you are trying intellectually – through logic, reason, concepts – and that’s the sure way to miss realization. The intellect is utilitarian. It helps while you are moving outside of your being. It is helpful as a guide in the world of the without. The moment you turn inwards it becomes useless; it is no more a guide. Then it misguides. There is a limit to the intellect... and realization can be felt only, not understood. Intellect is superficial – so if you are trying to understand realization, you will go on missing. The first thing to be understood is that understanding is not the right direction. I am saying that if you want, you can experience realization but you cannot understand. But the mind is cunning; it goes on thinking about realization. Thinking is a very secure situation. You never go out of yourself. You go on playing with words. Understanding transforms, but understanding comes from living life consciously. Logic can't help you, you are there to interpret it, interpretation will always be yours. A Buddha, one who is enlightened, helps you to grow. If he talks, he talks only to help you to drop all talking. If he uses words, he uses them only to help you to become wordless. If he talks, he talks only to indicate towards silence. So always remember, when a Buddha says anything, the container is not important at all, but the content. The word is the container and the meaning is the content. But that meaning can come to you only when you grow. Unless you taste something of buddhahood, you will not understand. So it is not a question of knowledge; it is a question of understanding. Knowledge you can go on gathering; you need not grow. You can go on stuffing yourself with knowledge and deep down inside you will remain the same – no growth happens, no transformation happens. If you understand, then meditation is not something to be done; it is a consequence of understanding. But if you don’t understand, then meditation has to be done, because only through meditation, by and by you will be cleansed and understanding will become possible. Understanding never comes through logic, through logic you will gather more and more information but your capacity to understand will remain same. Either you understand – then meditation follows; or you don’t understand – then you have to meditate and understanding follows. They are interdependent. But don’t deceive yourself, because deception is very easy. You can think, ’Yes, I understand.’ You can think that you understand, because it is very ego-enhancing to think that you understand – and so what need is there to meditate? But if understanding really happens, then all problems disappear immediately. If problems still linger on, then you must have deceived. If anger continues to be there, if hatred continues to be there, if jealousy continues to be there, if fear continues to be there, then you have deceived yourself. Then please, start meditating. Then much cleansing has to be done. Understanding is – a clear mirror of consciousness. Meditation is just cleaning the mirror. Understanding is the clean mirror, the cleaned mirror. -
"Once it happened…Four men were walking in the forest. The first was a gnana yogi, the second was a bhakti yogi, the third was a karma yogi, and the fourth was a kriya yogi. Usually, these four people can never be together. The gnana yogi has total disdain for every other type of yoga. His is the yoga of the intellect, and typically, an intellectual has complete disdain for everybody else, particularly these devotional types who look upward and chant God’s name all the time. They look like a bunch of idiots to him. But a bhakti yogi, a devotee, thinks all this gnana, karma, and kriya yoga is a waste of time. He pities the others who don’t see that all you need to do is know that God exists, hold his hand, and walk in trust. All this mind-splitting philosophy, this bone-bending yoga is absurd to him. Then there is the karma yogi, the man of action. He thinks all the other types are just plain lazy. Their lives are pure self-indulgence. But the kriya yogi is the most disdainful of all. He laughs at everyone. Don’t they know that existence is just energy? If you don’t transform your energy, whether you long for God or for anything else, nothing is going to happen! There can be no transformation. These four people customarily cannot get along. But today they happened to be walking together in the forest. Suddenly, a storm broke out. It grew fierce. The rain started pouring down relentlessly. Drenched to the skin, the four yogis started running, looking desperately for shelter. The bhakti yogi, the devotion man, said, “There’s an ancient temple in this direction. Let’s go there.” (As a devotee, he was particularly familiar with the geography of temples.) They ran in that direction. They came to an ancient temple; all the walls had crumbled long ago; just the roof and four columns remained. They rushed into the temple—not out of any love for God, but just to escape the rain. they moved closer and closer. Finally, there was no alternative. They just sat down and embraced the idol. The moment these four people hugged the idol, suddenly God appeared. In all their minds the same question arose: why now ? They wondered, “We expounded so many subtle and arcane philosophies, worshipped at every possible sacred shrine, great and small, selflessly served so many people, did so much body-breaking penance, but you never showed up. Now when we’re just escaping the rain, you turn up. Why?” God said, “At last you four idiots got together.”" This is a quote from the book of "Inner Engineering" by Sadhguru. This story might be irrelevant but what I wanted to say is that, he is talking about 4 ways of attaining enlightenment and reaching the ultimate. I don't know, it might be true that there are only two ways: through mind or heart. Either way it is interesting that there is no 'only path' everyone has his/her own unique journey. By the way if you are interested in the bhati yoga I would definitelly reccomend reading a book "Miracle of Love" by Rom Dass. Great stories about amazing saint Maharaji, give it a try.
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If you are following Leo's videos on a weekly basis and hold him as a form of authority there might be some traps you fall into due to his style of teaching and way of approaching the Truth. Most of what I will point out probably comes from my own projections but becoming aware of those is the point. This article comes from a place of love, I have deep respect for Leo and his work and I am grateful to have the possibility to watch his videos every week. Nonetheless here we go. Read every point slowly and see if it can help you move beyond your current perspective. Make a pause after every point and just sit with it for a while. Watch out for any emotional or thought responds you might have while reading. Leo's teachings are really head heavy. Hour-long videos and subtle differences described with more and more complex word systems. I don't say that this approach can't guide you towards liberation. I am convinced that Leo sees words as pointers and that he would drop them all like a hot potato if he would find a way to just make us aware of what he wishes us to be aware of. Just remind yourself every now and then that, "Words, WORDS they are just words Woerdz wurdts potato". There are paths and practices that work with very little words like, well actually any form of meditation (which Leo of course recommends). I feel like Leo doesn't put enough emphasis on emotions. A trap spiritual people fall into is, what is sometimes referred to as, the "spiritual bypass". It goes something like this, "I am above and beyond emotions I surpassed them" Bullshit! Emotions are one of the major keys to spiritual transformation. You meditated for 40 years and get angry at a bird pooping onto your chocolate ice-cream? Good, allow it, feel it fully, accept it, love yourself and your anger. You don't become enlightened by ignoring your emotions thinking you are so spiritual. You transcend your emotions by going through them and loving them for what they are and that means acknowledging them. A gem on this topic I recently discovered is "Radical Forgiveness". It might also help to follow some female teachers, they tend to be in touch with the emotional side of it more naturally. Watch out for what words Leo uses frequently: "subtle differences", "nitty-gritty". They tell you what the sub-communication revolves around. What else does he love to say? On the scale of "you can work your way to enlightenment to there is nothing you can do" I project Leo more strongly towards the former. While persistent work is, from my perspective, definitely a crucial part of it there are times where you just have to put the hands of the wheel and admit to yourself, "I have no fucking say in this". Then life takes over and gives you exactly what you need for your next step. Sometimes it's good to sit at home all day and do one of Leo's worksheet after another, reflect and contemplate. Sometimes, it is the right thing to let go, say yes to your current life-situation and just see what comes up next. I project onto Leo, that he advocates a sense of rejection towards all forms culture, and "normal" society. In his recent video he stated something like, "I realise over and over how toxic society is". In order to get your ass out of the grip of societal programming this form of approach can be effective. Just stay aware to the idea that this approach has a strong judgemental tone. At a given point on your path when you freed yourself enough from the shackles of society you can start to drop those judgements again and embrace society to whatever extend you like. From the absolute perspective society is not wrong! At a given point Leo said something along the lines of, "you have to meditate for at least X years to reach Y" or "make the commitment to meditate daily for the rest of your life". For many people, hearing this might be exactly the right thing for others it can be dangerous. The same holds true for certain stages of your development. Okey, here is the danger I see in this. Hearing that you have to meditate for at least X amount of years and work really really hard is perfect tinder for your ego. You can reach enlightenment without any form of formal meditation. Jed McKenna's approach is an example. Though from my experience at later stages you are so free from attachments (no matter how you got there) that less and less thoughts arise and you enter a meditative state without even trying. Don't get me wrong meditation is a powerful tool. I meditate everyday and I love it but forcing your practice is not always the right approach. Here is an example from my journey: Through the help of Leo's videos I finally managed to build up a daily meditation routine. After a couple of months I realised that I approached it in the same way that I approached chasing money, chasing success and chasing personal development before. I became attached to it. I then stepped of the gas and stopped for a couple of days. I slowly started again but in a more natural way from a place of love and curiosity rather than goal oriented. I don't beat myself up when I don't manage to sit for an hour all the time. I am gentle to myself when I miss a day or two. You have to be careful again though. Recognise where you are at. Do you need the head through the wall approach because you can't get your ass up? Or do you need to chill the fuck out and let it come naturally because you are a self-help junkie? I think that is it from my side from now. Again, this comes from a place of gratitude towards Leo's work. He helped me streamline my development, embrace spirituality more and guided me towards a level of understanding and living that was unimaginable a couple of years ago. Thank you for that Leo! I invite you to join in, in a none-judgemental way with the goal of helping yourself and others. You can check whether your statements are judgemental by sensing if you feel superior, inferior, angry, frustrated, proud, apathetic or sad while formulating them. If you feel neutral (don't confuse with a state of not being in touch with your emotion) or better compassionate, love or goodwill towards Leo, people of this forum and yourself than you surpassed judgment. If you find yourself judging, use it as fuel for your practice, but don't judge yourself on being judgmental! Start by accepting that you are and loving yourself anyway. Love, Dario
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Ramu replied to Brivido's topic in Spirituality, Consciousness, Awakening, Mysticism, Meditation, God
@Brivido you should watch ALL of Leo's enlightenment series. Also one of his videos in the series describes the Hindu Neti Neti method. One thing you will discover hopefully is that you are not your body or mind. The first step is where you make the transformation from identifying with body and mind.....then in the next higher state of consciousness you become the witness of body and mind. There are more stages culminating in God Consciousness. -
I often see comments from people who say how Leo's channel has completely transformed their life and their inner wellbeing, and that they've been able to do deep self-healing on themselves or resolve long-standing inner problems. I watch Leo's videos, I read, I meditate, I eat cleanly, I'm working on my life purpose. But I haven't really seen any earth shattering transformation like many people talk about having. I'm a little more present/aware and have a little more direction in life. But overall, I still feel like the same neurotic person with the same insecurities and fears. Oftentimes I feel even more neurotic than before. Am I missing something? If you have truly healed yourself and transformed yourself on a deep level, what was the magic key(s) for you? What practices, concepts, teachings or whatever else actually created the most profound results for you? What specific things have actually created the biggest, most tangible transformation in your life and in your wellbeing and happiness?