When did you guys start meditating?

[Hellspeed]

3 years meditating, 2 hardcore. You can realize the infinite in 2 weeks as i did or a lifetime i don't know, is all about how much is one willing to let go of attachments/karma.

[moon777light]

On 4/14/2019 at 11:43 PM, Serotoninluv said:

Part of the problem was all the contextualization. In my own mind, yet also by teachers. Quite often, teachers would take these experiences and contextualize them. They would tell me what they mean and how it should be. I've learned that observing one's own direct experience is sooo important,. 

@MuddyBoots sounds awesome! i see you mentions and lots of other people talk about loving-kindness, is this an actual specific technique? or one where you just focus about love and kindness

@thesmileyone das allat

@Serotoninluv thanks for your story and your wonderful insights. i'll keep in mind the qoute above.  what do you mean exactly about contextualization? like the danger of giving all your experiences meaning? or just describing it with words. As for the seeker stuff, its crazy inspiring to see your journey of realizing its all in you rather than seeking outside. I keep reading books and watching videos about the importance of looking for the truth within not without (mainly due to suggestions from this forum and the youtube channel) but i still havent "got it". I think yeeah yeah its inside me, but i still obsess over which techniques will take me there, which school, which experience will give me this. Liek you mentioned with the retreats, i secretly am (with a guilty pleasure) think about how im sure the retreat will give me that something extra, that key to the lock. Then i start thinking about how many retreats i'll attend in my life vs other people and "ohh that will surely put me ahead". Its gonna take a while for me to deconstruct that. Like what tedens wrote:

On 4/14/2019 at 11:53 PM, tedens said:

Remember, it's not the quantity that counts but the quality of 'work'.

@Etherial Cat i think lots of people ignore the heart. How did the loving kindness help you?

@lmfaoi had maybe tiny tiny ones where i got an overwhelming feeling of love, but not sure if its a nondual glimpse. All i was doing was regular hatha yoga.

On 4/15/2019 at 0:37 AM, lmfao said:

It's a saying in zen or something that satori can take 3 seconds or it can take 3 decades.

true lol

[Dumb Enlightened]

On 14/04/2019 at 10:18 AM, moon777light said:

And how long did it take you to achieve a nondual glimpse? what type of meditation? Any people here who had multiple nondual glimpes without psychedelics?

What about people who meditated for years before trying psychedelic? How was it like trying it?

 

I actually had my first glimpse the very first time I meditate, I had found a mp3 about some LOA stuff and the first part of the audio was some breathing meditation, about 15 minutes long, I was doing that thing when suddenly the sense of self disappeared and I didn't feel the body was 'me' it was too strange and the mind got really scare I tried to ' calm down' and stayed that way for a couple of minutes, I remember commenting to my girlfriend that day " I felt I was everything " , but of course I Knew nothing about non duality and these things so being afraid of that I avoided meditation for 2 years, it was then that I read my first book about awakening and non duality

[MuddyBoots]

@moon777light yes loving-kindness is a technique, or rather there's a variety of techniques depending on the teacher. Loving-kindness (metta in the Pali language) belongs to a group of 4 meditations called Brahma Vihara (divine or sublime abodes), the other 3 are compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity.      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmavihara      I learned them from the Theravada Buddhists, but I have just read in the Wikipedia page above that they pre-date Buddhism and also occur in Hinduism. Brahma Vihara isn't my main practice, but I find it useful for a change, and to remind me that religion isn't just about me working on myself and forgetting about others, but I'm connected to everyone else. As regards techniques, I have read some guidelines and follow my own intuition. It's up to you really, if you prefer to be given exact instructions or just an outline and take it from there.

Nick.

_/|\_

[Adam M]

@moon777light I have been doing Vipassana meditation for about 2-3 years every day and have been on multiple grueling retreats...

The only way I'm going to have any nondual glimpes are with mushrooms (like I had today).

The meditation as a daily practice is super super super important and is the foundation but if u want to go really deep ur gonna need some type of psychedlic.

 

Be careful...there are many traps, most of which are adequately covered in Leo's videos. 

 

Furthermore, contemplation about the nature of duality and nonduality Sameness and difference has been instrumental in allowing my mind the necessary flexibility to achieve nondual states of conciousness.

In my opinion learning and studying nonduality is key...

 

 

Personally, I put most priority on daily meditation and listening to nondual teachings and contemplating. Then, every few weeks or so I drop shrooms and get fucked by God. Then try to reintegrate.   It's working so far because I had a super deep awakening earlier today.

 

 

Patience, faith, and consistency is key. Also learning and studying everything Leo talks about is also key.

 

Please forgive me for the sporadic nature of my response for I am typing on my phone and am still coming down from a trip... peace and love to you

[mandyjw]

Tomorrow.

[Forestluv]

8 hours ago, moon777light said:

 

@Serotoninluv what do you mean exactly about contextualization? like the danger of giving all your experiences meaning? or just describing it with words. 

Imagine trying to understand the concept of "nothingness" and not really getting it. I might have a glimpse in which it sorta felt like "nothing". I may start trying to give meaning to the experience.: Was there really "nothing"? Was there awareness? If I remember the experience, how can it nothing? I may read up on what "nothing" actually means. What was the essence of this nothingness? Was this nothing the same as emptiness? I may go and ask my teacher about it. I've found teachers can be very helpful.  The key is to be in touch with my intuition. When I am trying to make sense of direct experience or a teacher is trying to help me make sense of it - what does that intuition tell me? I never trusted that intuition. There is a deep sense of knowing. Teachers were super helpful because they could often see when I got into egoic traps and started trying to figure things out in my head. Yet I became dependent on teachers and wasn't learning from my own direct experience. There comes a time when direct experience is queen. The most powerful teacher. Yet other people and teachers are still very helpful.

8 hours ago, moon777light said:

I keep reading books and watching videos about the importance of looking for the truth within not without (mainly due to suggestions from this forum and the youtube channel) but i still havent "got it". I think yeeah yeah its inside me, but i still obsess over which techniques will take me there, which school, which experience will give me this. Liek you mentioned with the retreats, i secretly am (with a guilty pleasure) think about how im sure the retreat will give me that something extra, that key to the lock. Then i start thinking about how many retreats i'll attend in my life vs other people and "ohh that will surely put me ahead".

I've found retreats and meditation groups to be helpful. Very helpful. One thing to remember is that insights and awakenings always occur here and Now. They never occur in the timeline. Always Now. Whether you are at a retreat, home, traveling, driving etc. the insights that appear, appear Now. There will always be insights. The mind creates this idea that certain insights will happen in the future, yet they can only happen Now. If you have some deep insights at the retreat, they happen Now. . . This was one of the biggest mental blocks for me. You already "got it". You just noticed a psychological dynamic within you that your mind-body desires to find techniques that will allow you to have insights. That is an insight!! You also realized that you are experiencing an psychological dynamic in which you believe you have an internal "lock" and your mind-body desires a key to that lock! That is an insight!! How amazing. . . I also had that same desire. For me, I noticed a voice that said "You aren't listening". That was an insight. I then started getting curious about where that voice came from and what I'm not listening to. Perhaps that is similar to your internal "lock". That is a big realization to become aware of that "lock" and be aware of the desire to discover the key to unlock it. You sound curious and genuine. You mention you secretly think about this key (with guilty pleasure). I sense a genuine, innocent curiosity and a bit of playfulness. Might one say there is a bit of a fantasy about what that retreat may bring? Some anticipation? What are these feelings and experiences like? How do they move around the mind and body. These are all insights and they are all within you. . .  This is it, baby!! You can observe this occuring in your own direct experience right now. Nothing is needed. Just curiosity and observation. . . . Perhaps the key to that lock may arise and guess what?. . . New stuff will arise. Perhaps new locks and new keys. It never ends and everything always occurs in the Now. This is it. The journey is the destination

 

[moon777light]

19 hours ago, mandyjw said:

Tomorrow.

hehe

@Adam M thank you so much <3

@Serotoninluv its not letting me qoute you for some reason but yes, lots of fantasies about what the retreat will be like (albeit i signed up for vipassan the same hour it came out and im already on the wait list :(( maybe no retreat for me this year welp). they engross my mind. I think i need to sit down and just observe silently whats going on without any expectations like putting on the label that im meditating. i tend to go into either meditating mode or not meditating mode. THanks for your explanations, they helped me a lot <3