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@MiracleMan spiritual liberation REQUIRES discipline and mental training. improved ability to focus is the true transformation here. the rest is just a big dance of beliefs. get REAL. find a sangha where you live and practice with them religiously. by "religiously" i mean assiduously. practice with your heart for MONTHS. stop fucking around.

I've mulled over this one recently. Do you know people who get stuck on it despite doing it consciously? Ofc, you can't verify if they are being conscious, but from what I've seen, I haven't really encountered addicts who seem/ claim apply awareness to their addictions consistently. This seems like a key distinction in my own experience, as well. Before I was really able to make progress on my addictions, it was all done compulsively, and I wasn't really able to observe the unsatisfactoriness and just how underwhelming the feeling was in the present moment. The story in my head and the associated thoughts and feelings were being reinforced rather than observed and deconstructed. Also, there's the component of using addictions as a numbing agent or outlet from emotional labor. It's almost universal among addicts I've encountered. Whenever I've tried to help a friend of mine break out of an addiction by turning inward, they relapse almost as soon as the work gets too deep for their comfort. Also, not having experienced non-duality earlier on had a pretty big role as well, as I had no alternative to really challenge addicting activities as the greatest pleasures in life. Prior to residing in no-self for an extended period of time, the notion that anything could rival, much less surpass, romantic love or personal achievement in terms of producing happiness, was laughable. That ties into another big distinction. At the risk of oversimplifying the matter, I've seen a choice in two different mindsets that will make or break you in transcending a behavior: 1) This feels good, but it's not ultimately fulfilling. Hmmm.... I JUST NEED MORE! (More extreme experiences of same/ quantity, etc.) Example: Having sex with that hot girl was fun, but I'm still not truly happy. If only I could do that all the time. Let me chase more girls/ hotter girls/ more extreme situations! Example: Damn, making one million dollars didn't solve my problems. I guess I just to go out and make even more money. Remarks: It's clear to see that this approach is practically inexhaustible and keeps one stuck like a hamster on a wheel. 2) This feels good, but it's not ultimately fulfilling. This isn't going to work. Maybe I should try a different approach to fulfillment. Example: You've noticed that experiences are inherently unsatisfactory and impermanent. Now you start looking at what lies beyond experience, if lucky enough, you encounter non-duality. This isn't to say that non-duality is a panacea for addictions, but I think it makes a big difference in personal transformation.

@Charlotte It's different depending on which stage if the journey you are in. For me, right now, there is a bodily transformation which is resurfacing alot of emotional energy that has been stored in the body over the years.

the phenomenom thought is part of Reality just like sound and light. they have no origin because Reality is a field of continuous impermanence so everything you name is actually a beginless/endless process of transformation rather than a "thing". ego is another "thing".

@Jacobsen To be unconscious of your actions, your thoughts, your feelings creates your dark night of the soul. The definition of mysticism is the transformation of the dark night of the soul into a light night of the soul.

@Joseph Maynor Born is just a phase of transformation, like death. We are not instantly born neither do we die in one go. It's all a gradual process, meaning parts of us die. If we die piece by piece then are we really who we think we are? In short, we are not a single entity, all our cells die and refresh every 7 years. Death is an illusion, we are already being reborn and dying every moment.

@zenjen There is a similarity between psychosis and spiritual awakening symptoms. Traditional psychotherapy and psychiatry has no theoretical framework to understand and diagnose properly any condition connected with spiritual awakening. They can diagnose as psychotic a patient that is experiencing a powerful and important transformation as a consequence of awakening. The only field of Western psychology that deals with this field and can fully understand it is transpersonal psychology. Don't seek support from conventional psychiatrists ! Their view of the human psyche is very limited . The phases of powerful transformation that come after sudden opening to spiritual experiences are called spiritual emergency or spiritual crisis in transpersonal psychology. I am currently in this phase. What I did at the time was that I combined a Vipassana retreat with Holotropic breathwork and two radical honesty workshops right afterwards. My level of consciousness grew incredibly in a very short time and i had a few mystical experiences. Since then I have been releasing tons of stuck emotions and have had a lot of symptoms that by conventional psychology would have been diagnosed as psychotic. It is really a very powerful healing process that has to be supported . You can find support here http://spiritualemergence.info . If you want to read in depth about this there is a whole chapter in the book " integral psychology" by Brant Cortright.

@Joseph Maynor Sure. The truth is about what already is, what is already so. So it doesn't change anything for you, because its already true whether we are conscious of it or not. So nothing has to change in your experience for the truth to already be the case. To put it another way the truth doesn't provide you with anything you don't already have. On the other hand transformation is a proccess that occurs over time. Changing your experience, changing your self experience, your mind, the context in which reality is held and so on. All this stuff has to be changed deliberately. That is to say the truth can provide the consciousness in which to change these things but one has to do that for themselves. For example if you have a enlightenment experience, some things might fall away, some assumptions & beliefs for example, but chances are, after that is over you will go back into the exact same self experience and way of experiencing life you did before the enlightenment. And also the knowing and memory of what you found out during that enlightenment. It may change the way you hold yourself now, and your view of reality but generally speaking your life will be pretty much the same. But the more & more conscious you become, with ever deepening enlightenments the more your ability to completely transform your way of experiencing life becomes. That is to say someone who has had their first enlightenment or two is not gona experience a completely transformed way of life like the Buddha, that takes time with a ever deepening consciousness of experience & self ect. So you can see from this that if you want a completely transformed way of life, with complete freedom, no suffering, to be able to transcend self survival, transform your emotions, the way you relate to others, the wisdom you have, your ability to see the non dual nature of life and so on. Will take a deliberate effort on your part, deep investigation, into your own experience, to be able to change the form of your experience. Enlightenment is the realisation of The nature of your experience, the isness of experience, but does not change the experience. Isness & change are two different things. That's not to say though that your experience won't change in some way after very deep enlightenments.

What is the YOLO mindset about ? To my knowledge, YOLO is an acronym that represents "You only live once". This attitude towards living life would usually pertain to reckless and mindless behaviour done based on the assumption that you have 'one life to live'. However, there are fundamentally two sides to everything and YOLO can be seen from two perspectives; 1. Destructive(Foolish) 2. Constructive(Wise) The destructive perspective, of course, concerns the foolish and reckless endangerment of oneself and other persons. Activities including raving, orgies, mind masturbation etc. This YOLO perspective feels great in the short term with devastating effects in the long term. Fundamentally, this perspective is extremely insidious to health of the individual in all aspects. On the other, the constructive YOLO concerns fundamentally self-development. Activities of course, include creative work, self transformation etc. Long term fulfillment is the major benefit of this perspective on life, in the short term you will feel the most emotional obstacles but if you make the effort to push past them ... fulfillment is always awaiting.

@zazed Kundalini does lead to spiritual enlightenment. Also, from what I read, it isn't Kundalini itself that makes a person feel unpleasant. It is our unconscious thoughts and ideas that we have been carrying in us. Kundalini forces you to work through these issues and I can imagine it is scary for anyone who doesn't know what Kundalini is and it happening to them. Also it seems some people have an initial Kundalini awakening or self realization and then followed by Kundalini syndrome. In my case, I have had no self realization but am working with Kundalini syndrome which I didn't fully admit to myself that was happening for a while because it just seems so surreal. Also, I had the why would it happen to me thought. As we all assume or know, there is no me. Here are some examples from Tara Springett's book Enlightenment through the Path of Kundalini regarding your quality of life question. Benefits of Kundalini include bliss, ecstacy and rapture, easiest way to imagine bliss is to think of ecstatic sensation of an orgasm. Bliss in head feels like heavenly pleasure. Bliss in throat feels more joyful, Bliss in heart like deep love, Bliss in solar plexus fills us with a sensation of deepest peace, Bliss at the naval feels like the overflowing joy you would feel if your dreams were suddenly fulfilled. Creativity forces are strongly stimulated. Kundalini can be used for spiritual healing and enhanced resistance to disease. These are gifts that usually need to be developed. She says it makes you more beautiful and sexually attractive. You will have more energy and a more youthful appearance. Deeper insight and intuition and intelligence. Liberation from ego. Freedom from our personal past. Freedom from the need to protect our ego. Freedom to be whatever and whoever you want to be. Power and supernatural power. Transformation of ordinary reality into paradise. Enlightenment. My personal story: It is impacting everything right now. This past year was and is really hard for my husband and me. That part doesn't feel great at the moment but I get confused if I am judging or blaming or basically if its just all my ego. I do feel love and bliss in my head. It literally does feel like an orgasm in my head. And I feel it is my heart and throat and now I am trying to open my solar plexis chakra. It is just recently changing the way I act in a more positive direction. I feel like I just want to go up to everyone who I shut out and say I am so sorry, do you need help with anything? I am becoming more conscious of how I listen to people, how much my life can affect someone else. I always thought I felt compassion for other people, but this compassion that is still developing for others is a little different. Kundalini forces you to do the self actualization part of enlightenment because it is part of enlightenment. I have quit drinking entirely. I used to smoke weed weekly but I don't do that anymore. I was pretty depressed before starting this path and now even though I have some days where I feel sad and maybe depressed, I have days where I am happy the WHOLE day. I haven't had that since teenage years. I'm 32. I didn't like myself AT ALL and now I am learning how to be my best friend. I don't know how to gauge the personality change yet. I feel like it will probably change but I still feel like myself. So far, no real benefit from the third eye in my daily life. Just interesting. Kundalini is different for different people. I think I am having a pretty good experience with it. We will see though. I am seeing a therapist and reading and trying to keep up with it. Just started yoga. Meditation and knowing when not to do a meditation. You have to eat healthy. If you don't you feel it. I do not know what is to come. Keep on asking and that is totally okay if you are skeptical. I was an atheist before this and I sometimes just cannot believe what is going on.

@Hardkill I don't know but I feel my crown chakra going mental when I watch it or a super sayan transformation

@Joseph Maynor The "heightened Awareness" or flame of attention gives one the freedom to see in real time what is really occurring in ones life. The "auto correct" as you say, is a result of clarity and intelligence. If something is seen as inappropriate or unnecessary then naturally we will stop doing it. If we become conscious that we are creating the anger that we feel when someone cuts us off, or the anxiety that we feel in a social setting, then we have the freedom to stop creating these unnecessary limitations in our experience. awareness is distracted a lot for someone who has no interest in these things, for the one who has the fire of discovery & inquiry in there heart then there consciousness will increase, its inevitable. Direct consciousness will not change anything in experience, but gives one the Freedom to change anything in experience. Don't confuse consciousness with transformation. The relationship between "awareness & dream" is that they are not 2 things. Consciousness and objective existence are the same thing & share the same place. So you can see how one effects the other.

Alright. I just came home from a trip retreat, the transformation I went through is beyond words. I've done magic truffles a year ago, that was my introduction with psychedelics, it was a low dose with 2 friends. Just fun, nothing spiritual, nothing beyond human. This time I went for the Bufo Alvarius together with Ayahuasca, it a retreat out in the middle of the grasslands in Holland in a small farmers home. Beautiful and calm environment. The weekend started early on Friday with doing kambo, not that bad but not fun at all. In the afternoon we did a Bufo Alvarius (5-MeO-DMT) ceremony. They gave everyone a full dose first time. All Bufo was smoked. I passed out quite directly after inhaling, when I regained consciousness everything was quite beautiful and I was very aware. Apparently I was away for about 15 minutes and did all sort of shit without having any memory of it. Anyway.. afterward I felt a bit disappointed because I knew I missed the big '5meo experience'. Next day in the morning we did another round of Bufo. This time I got 1/3 of the dose of the day before, just enough to keep ego intact. I became COSMIC POWER!!!!!!! Energy sprayed out of my fingers, yet at the same time my entire body was gone and was the universe. All I did was being more open more open more open, GOD radiated through me. I was lying outside in the grass and all I felt doing was making snow angels and let IT completely eat me up. They laid me down on a mattress in the sun to let me enjoy and to come down, after half an hour I could do things again. What happened was impossible. No doubt. I cried a little. For the evening we had an ayahuasca ceremony planned. But before there was plenty of time for me to walk around on my own in nature and set things straight for as far that was possible. A little worry came up because of the ayahuasca, but I figured that if I just surrender and be open then ALL IS WELL. I felt really good and present like never before. At around 8pm we started with the Ayahuasca ceremony. I can make this long and detailed but I don't really feel like doing that. The ayahuasca experience was beautiful and 'trippy', it went really personal and a lot of life lessons were learned. However 'I' was always there.. just witnessing. And since I learned to be ok with everything it was just easy going. It wasn't that I was in control of what was going on but I just accepted everything and it wasn't really tough that way. After a few hours of that it came off a bit. I puked. I laughed. And laid back down in bed. Then it started. Quite quickly the 5-Meo 'experience' came back and hit me like a motherfucker. I was still in 'all open and accepting'-mode and I immediately realised that it just only begun. Maybe I can describe my first experience with the Bufo I had that morning as GOD giving me a hug. The firmest and most intimate hug ever. What happened now was that GOD got downloaded into me through my head and my heart. It was just endless energy, most of the time I was laying with hands and feet stretched out like a starfish just swimming in endless energy. I received life lesson after life lesson, no end, and I received it all with open arms and a smile. After some time it got a theme were I would experience something, then its opposite, and after that a realisation came that they were the same. Most of these things I learned in books or from youtube or something, but now I BECAME IT. Things like fear=love, I got crucified like Jesus (totally fine with it) and got covered in liquid love (best I can describe this is when you have warm water that's not too hot and when you put your finger in the water it has that temperature that you can't feel it, this blasted out of inside me and all over me, and I was totally endless). In between the 'lessons' I was vibrating spastically with my arms and legs just to get a little bit of a break. Another very profound lesson was that free will and no free will are the same. Every time I got presented a choice I choose surrender and every time I did this with ABSOLUTE conviction, no doubt was there. Oh man, so powerful... and much much more.. I write these down now very clumsily but remember I was all these things. What this was was literally IMPOSSIBLE!! I honestly have no idea how to integrate all this at the moment. I'm left quite horrified. Yet it switches with feeling absolutely complete and wonderful... I'm probably scared because I know that I have to face this even more deeply in the future. I will receive everything with complete openness because honestly, there is nothing else. But still.. I will probably update and put to words the actual insights I received clearly in more detail. Right know I feel like going out for a walk. When I read what I just wrote it looks all totally silly, I have no idea how to describe all this. Though I realise that only now I have had just a small little taste of what Leo talks about in his enlightenment videos and what all other spiritual teachers talk about as well. Please comment, especially if you have some tips for putting it all together after you had your first 5-MeO experience. Thank you thank you

@Sukhpaal It took me 6 months to feel this sudden transformation, so maybe I'm lucky compared to you? I don't know. I think it's more or less a phase that we would have to go through sooner or later. I do agree with you that this isn't the end of the road yet, and I still have plenty of other areas to work on, but at least I went through the very first bottleneck.

@hinawashi I know exactly how you feel. I've been meditating for 14 months and I haven't missed a single day but recently I've had somewhat of a mini "transformation" I suppose. A month ago I just woke up one day and I felt really different, in a good way of course. To answer your question, I think it varies on the person. Everyone is different, not everyone is going to "transform" at similar times. For me personally it took a bit over a year but for someone else it could take less time or more. Just be careful, just because you've had that "transformation" does not mean that is all that there is. You can develop even more and you can still become depressed, angry, etc just have realistic expectations.

@cetus56 I myself have no idea if it is kundalini or not. but here are some honest observations: 1) I woke up at 5:30 am today and now its 11:10 am in Bangladesh. In between this 6 hours, I felt this energy at least 10 times. While morning walk, it hit me 3-4 time consecutively. 2) This is NOT directly related to my sex drive. My penis is not erected while these energy bursts. It feels like an electric shock lasting 1-2 seconds. There maybe some subtle sensations spreading through the body after every hit. 3) I've been feeling them as far as I can remember. Maybe more than 10 years. But never really paid any attention to them. I talked with my friends about it. They said I'm just excited/horny. But my experience tells otherwise. I feel this current when I'm relaxed, conscious/mindful or get intimate with 'that' which is alive and feel it without putting any label on it. 4) I've been very confused and frustrated especially for the last 4-5 years. During this time, I made the biggest mistake which is escaping and suppressing all the uncomfortable facts and feelings of my life with bunch of addictions. I used to desensitize myself for days (lets say upto a week) with food, entertainment, porn etc the list goes on. During these unconscious but exciting periods I never got the energy hits. Not even once a day. But once I recommitted to start a clean life from scratch, the energy hits would start again. And finally if you wanna learn and apply the genuine path of kundalini I recommend the book "Kundalini Tantra" by Satyananda Saraswati. This book contains all sorts of information and their implications. Lots of Kundalini yoga starting from cleansing and strengthening all the chakras and nadis of the body. A very well written guide from a legitimate master who observed tons of lay students in ashrams over decades. The author claims that full kundalini awakening awakens the human brain to its completion. A brain having 10 parts each chakra, nadi and the type of awakening opens up certain part of the brain. He claims that full kundalini awakening changes the dna structures, the scent, skin etc of the body. A transformation literally made from inside out. He says kundalini awakening is the evolution of consciousness through human body and taking kundalini to the perfect state is basically the ultimate life purpose of coming into existence with a human body.

Please allow me to play the devil's advocate here: Is it not possible that the experiences you are describing are just hallucinatory states, and you just experience the projections of your own inner content (however fantastic they might appear) ? Whenever Buddha was asked about Enlightenment or Nirvana, silence would be his reply (if I'm not mistaken). This is quite significant. Also the saying: those that know, do not speak, and those that speak, they do not know. Of course, beyond arguments and counter-arguments, the real test of fire will be if those experiences produce real and permanent transformations in your life. My intuition still says these shortcut paths to enlightenment will not end up well. (I really hope I'm mistaken) People stay years stuck in meditative practises because they lack complete knowledge of what is required for permanent transformation. An interesting hint is given by Sadhguru in this video:

@Preetom sounds like kundalini indeed. Dont be mistaken active kundalini doesnt mean instant enlightenment. What kundalini does is that it deconstructs one's stuck nervous system, that creates an egoic perception of reality. This can take years (and will). Treat it with respect and love, be kind to yourself, I recommend Matt Kahn, all of his stuff is brilliant for a person with awakened kundalini. Some breathwork is useful at times, but only at certain phases. You must go with what resonates. Be ready to take a bunch of naps, go on eating streaks and insomnia. All of your cellular memory that stores trauma will surface eventually. This is no joke, it is hell! It is the dark night of the soul. And I cannot emohasize this more. Be kind to yourself my dearest friend. I wish you courage on your journey of transformation. And know that any kind of discomfort is only here to remind you how strong you are, by showing you what youre capable of surviving. Feel free to educate yourself on kundalini, beware of a lot of nonsense. Apply only relevant stuff that works well with your direct experience. Much love, and welcome on your journey home :). May you be blessed with good fortune.

@Elton wow, sounds like you got a nice couple of insights there. that's how we have to see trauma events; as an opportunity to learn something (--> change something in our lives) yes, the ego cares about its survival, that gets really clear once it gets threatened. it then come right back full force. it gets very present. letting go is difficult, I think it's a longterm process. baby steps every day and with time the transformation will be huge.

@Ryan_047 No money for therapy? I had a similar lack of access to therapy when I was depressed. Check out 7 Cups of Tea. A site with free volunteer listeners. They're trained by the 7 cups site with courses on different problems such as — relationship problems, social anxiety, depression, etc. They are not as good as actual therapists — but many of them have went through similar problems with their mental health themselves and many have good advice on dealing with that. They're also very warm — I distrusted everybody when I was depressed. I had this belief if everyone knew the real me — they'd abandon me. Think of me as weak. I was constantly fearing what they would think of me. But I was able to trust them. There are free sites online with different instructions for treatments. I've tried muscle progression relaxation, hypnosis, cognitive behavioral therapy exercises, mindfulness and meditation, physical exercise (research say they boost mood), going outside in nature more (research also says this boosts mood), gratitude exercises, awe walks, research on positive psychology, Enneagram (A study of the types of fears, anger and shame we have in life and how to deal with them in a healthy manner. ), VIA Strengths test (Knowing and using strengths in daily life boost confidence and sense of control) or happiness psychology on free sites like Coursera and so on. Its best done with a therapist sure — but the internet is full of vast information to help you. Even if you have a therapist — you often only meet him or her once a week. Most of the time spent through the days is done without one and you'd have to learn how to survive without one. There are many experienced practioners like actual therapists and psychologists who give out their advice online — so there's still room for help even without paying for one. I recommend you this site to start with. Good luck. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/ Also VIA Strengths seem especially useful for confidence. https://www.viacharacter.org/www/ Enneagram also seems very useful for dealing with the trauma @Mad Max mentions. Here are the descriptions of the types. https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/ As well as a free email subscription with short reflections, lessons and practices for everyday for enneagram. https://subscriptions.enneagraminstitute.com/subscribers/create Scott Jeffrey's article series on Alchemical Transformation seems useful for treatment. His Shadow Work article is the best one I've found. https://scottjeffrey.com/guides/

@Marinus With man, the natural, automatic process of evolution ends. Man is the last product of unconscious evolution. With man, conscious evolution begins. Many things are to be taken into account. First, unconscious evolution is mechanical and natural. It happens by itself. Through this type of evolution, consciousness evolves. But the moment consciousness comes into being, unconscious evolution stops because its purpose has been fulfilled. Unconscious evolution is needed only up to the point where the conscious comes into being. Man has become conscious. In a way, he has transcended nature. Now nature cannot do anything; the last product that was possible through natural evolution has come into being. Now man becomes free to decide whether to evolve or not to evolve. Secondly, unconscious evolution is collective, but the moment evolution becomes conscious it becomes individual. No collective, automatic evolution proceeds further than mankind. From now on, evolution becomes an individual process. Consciousness creates individuality. Before consciousness evolves, there is no individuality. Only species exist, not individuality. When evolution is still unconscious, it is an automatic process; there is no uncertainty about it. Things happen through the law of cause and effect. Existence is mechanical and certain. But with man, with consciousness, uncertainty comes into existence. Now, nothing is certain. Evolution may take place or it may not. The potential is there, but the choice will rest entirely with each individual. That is why anxiety is a human phenomenon. Below man there is no anxiety because there is no choice. Everything happens as it must. There is no choice so there is no chooser, and in the absence of the chooser, anxiety is impossible. Who is to be anxious? Who is to be tense? With the possibility of choice, anxiety follows like a shadow. Everything has to be chosen now; everything is a conscious effort. You alone are responsible. If you fail, you fail. It is your responsibility. If you succeed, you succeed. It is again your responsibility. And every choice is ultimate in a sense. You cannot undo it, you cannot forget it, you cannot go back on it. Your choice becomes your destiny. It will remain with you and be a part of you; you cannot deny it. But your choice is always a gamble. Every choice is made in darkness because nothing is certain. That is why man suffers from anxiety. He is anxious to his very roots. What torments him, to begin with, is: to be or not to be? to do or not to do? to do this or to do that? “No choice” is not possible. If you do not choose, then you are choosing not to choose; it is a choice. So you are forced to choose; you are not free not to choose. Not choosing will have as much effect as any other choice. The dignity, the beauty and the glory of man is this consciousness. But it is a burden also. The glory and the burden come simultaneously the minute you become conscious. Every step is a movement between the two. With man, choice and conscious individuality come into existence. You can evolve, but your evolution will be an individual endeavor. You may evolve to become a buddha or you may not. The choice is yours. So there are two types of evolution: collective evolution and individual, conscious evolution. `Evolution’ implies unconscious, collective progress, so it would be better to use the word `revolution’ in talking about man. With man, revolution becomes possible. Revolution, as I am using the word here, means a conscious, individual effort toward evolution. It is bringing individual responsibility to a peak. Only you are responsible for your own evolution. Ordinarily, man tries to escape from his responsibility for his own evolution, from the responsibility of freedom of choice. There is a great fear of freedom. When you are a slave the responsibility for your life is never yours; someone else is responsible. So in a way, slavery is a very comfortable thing. There is no burden. In this respect, slavery is a freedom: freedom from conscious choice. The moment you become completely free, you have to make your own choices. No one forces you to do anything; all alternatives are open to you. Then the struggle with the mind begins. So one becomes afraid of freedom. Part of the appeal of ideologies such as communism and fascism is that they provide an escape from individual freedom and a shirking of individual responsibility. The burden of responsibility is taken away from the individual; the society becomes responsible. When something goes wrong, you can always point to the state, the organization. Man becomes just a part of the collective structure. But in denying individual freedom, fascism and communism also deny the possibility of human evolution. It is a falling back from the great possibility that revolution offers: the total transformation of human beings. When this happens, you destroy the possibility of achieving the ultimate. You fall back; you again become like animals. To me, further evolution is possible only with individual responsibility. You alone are responsible! This responsibility is a great blessing in disguise. With this individual responsibility comes the struggle that ultimately leads to choiceless awareness. – OSHO [The Psychology of the Esoteric – 1]

The act of forgiving yourself out loud, speaking has a physical effect on the body. It actually alters your DNA. When you notice a reaction coming to the surface, forgive yourself out loud like mentioned above. Also Put everything into writing. This is how you do proper self-forgiveness. @MiracleMan You can learn how to do self-forgiveness properly with this free course http://lite.desteniiprocess.com/ They also have forums, blogs and other advanced courses to go deeper. Valentin Rozman studied personal development and spirituality for 20 years and he told in one of his videos that those tools triggered the biggest transformation in his self. http://desteniradio.blogspot.si/2016/11/desteni-radio-3-what-is-self-forgiveness.html http://desteni.org/ http://desteniiprocess.com/ https://eqafe.com/ http://destonians.com/ @ajasatya When you get in touch with the emotional pain it's too late. This emotional pain already had a physical effect on your body. Yes, when you get in touch with it, You can stop it for the time being but it Will resurface in the future if you don't change the program from which you are operating.

@Leo Gura @The White Belt I think trying to put one as a priority over the other is a trap. The work should create change in both yourself and others around you simultaneously, as a system. Trying to save yourself and forgetting the suffering of others or save the world and not working on yourself are two false choices that limit the potential transformation to both the person and the sorrounding community. So basically its both, not either/or, not prioritizing one over the other.

The best Self-inquiry is to do do-nothing meditation for 1 hour per day and just look. The heavily contemplative self-Inquiry stuff is important too, it's not an either/or it's a both. But Just meditate and look. Inquire by looking. This is huge. Just meditate and be aware. At the right time, just naturally inquire -- What is the mind? Where are these thoughts coming from? Why is the mind flapping around? What is causing that effect? Etc. Dont be too neurotic about Self-Inquiry. This would be like looking at yourself in the mirror with your nose pressed-up against it for hours. Take a more leisurely, harmonious approach. You are looking and seeing what you are. Don't rush this. It's a lifelong process. Enlightenment is a gradual transformation.

Enlightenment is about realizing that all beliefs are existentially false by being the result of that not merely conceiving the result of that. Don't worry about experiences. Work with the root. This is why Self-Inquiry is so important. Experiences are the result of doing this work, not what enlightenment is. Enlightenment is not a far-out state. Enlightenment is being reality all the time. See -- our realities are augmented by our thought-stories which introduce a lot of fantasy into our "reality". Enlightenment is being reality, but also seeing through the added-on fantasies very acutely, like the magician sees through the illusion of all his magic-tricks. You don't need drugs for enlightened being. People do drugs to explore the shit out of being, to *research being* by *being it*. Enlightenment research is done by BE-ing. But all you need is sober being to be enlightened. Everything else is just higher *research*. Just like you really only need a JD or Juris Doctor degree to practice law but if you had a deeper interest in law you could get the LLM degree with is the Master of Laws degree. But that degree is optional. All you really need to practice law is the JD. Same distinction can be made in enlightenment. All I want is the JD for now. Others on here are pursuing the LLM Degree. Some people on here are still in Undergrad, ya know! It's a mix. You gotta understand that Leo is *researching* the shit out of enlightenment at the Ph.D. level. You need to get to the Bachelor's Degree first. Don't think Enlightenment is a single thing or state or destination. It's an evolution, a life-long transformation. You just need to get on the path in the best way from where you are right now.