Anyone here had an enlightenment experience?

[Ayla]

2 hours ago, HGGabrielF said:

@Emerald @ The Diamond Net Be carefull,if someone would have and Enlightened experience,he/she wont be here because here are people who are asking about it.

[Guivs]

hello.

I have had interesting insights while in deep meditation, doing self enquiry, or during sleep. But it never lasted and we should not grasp to them. They are just pointers that indicate you are on the right track As far as I am concerned, one of the interesting experiences I have had is being fully conscious while all my senses temporarily stopped functioning. I could not see hear, taste anything, just a dark luminous void where no identifications occurred. While returning to my senses, I did not believe I was anything in particular and was deeply moved, but eventually the feeling went away. For the next months, I was grasping at this past experience as it was so blissful buy I now know for sure that we shall neither reject not grasp to those experiences.

keep practicing

[Emerald]

17 hours ago, Heart of Space said:

I wish I could say I've had a true enlightenment experience, but I can't.  I have experienced some pretty profound states of mind, albeit on drugs.  The last one I had was pretty recent.  I experienced it after going lying down balls deep in pot cookie realm.  I was really tired, I started to slip into a state between sleep and being awake   Eventually, I was in sleep paralysis, my body unable to move at all.  I've grown very comfortable with sleep paralysis as I get it often.  For some reason I started thinking about religion and wanted to pray to god.  Which is weird because I'm very much an atheist.  I was religious when I was young until about 11 or 12 when I discarded my religion.  I remember when I realized that Christianity was BS it was incredibly depressing to me as a child.  It sucked the magic out of the world.  Well, I started praying to God, just like I would the christian God when I was younger.  At this point I could still see my room, my eyes were slightly cracked open.  Then the weirdest thing happened.  I started to become more aware and I had a realization that I was looking for God the wrong way.  It's as if I had previously been stuck focusing on a concept.  It's hard to explain further than that.  As soon as I had that realization I became very self-aware and my body disappeared and I had the sensation of space.  My room fractaled into a kaleidoscopic pattern and I was starting to lose my sense of self.  I stayed calm as the experience got more and more intense as my awareness grew.   It got to a point where I became scared of permanently losing myself and I quickly woke up out of that state.  Experience over lol. 

When I had my first experience, I realized foremost that I was experiencing the phenomena referred to as God. I realized it wasn't a deity up in the clouds but a unifying force that I was inextricable from, as was the rest of existence. Heaven was on Earth for people who have the eyes to see it. Prior to that experience, I was Agnostic with strong leaning toward Atheism. But I realized that I was hung up on a 'god-image' and not the reality of the force which is incomprehensible from the average level of consciousness, as it can't be understood logically. Also, I have had a lot of sleep paralysis experiences. I made a video about sleep paralysis recently. Would you be interested in watching it? If so, I can direct message it to you.  

Edited February 10, 2016 by Emerald @ The Diamond Net

[Emerald]

16 hours ago, HGGabrielF said:

@Emerald @ The Diamond Net Be carefull,if someone would have and Enlightened experience,he/she wont be here because here are people who are asking about it.

I thought about that before I posted, but I've gotten tons of helpful responses. Plus an enlightenment experience doesn't always entail full-blown, permanent enlightenment.

[Emerald]

13 hours ago, Guivs said:

hello.

I have had interesting insights while in deep meditation, doing self enquiry, or during sleep. But it never lasted and we should not grasp to them. They are just pointers that indicate you are on the right track As far as I am concerned, one of the interesting experiences I have had is being fully conscious while all my senses temporarily stopped functioning. I could not see hear, taste anything, just a dark luminous void where no identifications occurred. While returning to my senses, I did not believe I was anything in particular and was deeply moved, but eventually the feeling went away. For the next months, I was grasping at this past experience as it was so blissful buy I now know for sure that we shall neither reject not grasp to those experiences.

keep practicing

Thank you. I've experienced void states during sleep paralysis, where it feels like I'm just floating consciousness in blackness. It's happened a few times. But I've never had it in waking life or as a result of meditation.

[theinevitableandi]

I find it fascinating how much scientific belief/theory  is Considered to be the TRUTH or FACTS because "its the closest scientific explanation we have right now" . But its treated like the Truth even if it is just Theories.  I've had so many Scientific Minded people say that its been proven by scientists , or studies blah blah ... They talk about  how much they know but everything they "know" is conceptual information. They have no first hand experience . How is that scientific at all? They read an article or book about how the World works and then they claim it to be factual because its scientific and has "Reliable Sources" ... So many people stuck on science .. They don't get how all these formulas / concepts and numbers are just a form of language and that they are not the territory just a map. They believe beliefs based on books based on other books based on other beliefs...Also they get very emotionally involved . I can see how threatened they feel when i call their theories beliefs... They get annoyed and very angrryyy!! Rawr! haha I Tell them There is No difference between your scientific beliefs and the other religious people and their beliefs...I Tell them "Both of you are doing the same thing. You are claiming scientific beliefs to be facts. Their beliefs are just as phony as yours!  

 

Anyone else experienced angry / annoyed scientific people? 

[Heart of Space]

2 hours ago, Emerald @ The Diamond Net said:

When I had my first experience, I realized foremost that I was experiencing the phenomena referred to as God. I realized it wasn't a deity up in the clouds but a unifying force that I was inextricable from, as was the rest of existence. Heaven was on Earth for people who have the eyes to see it. Prior to that experience, I was Agnostic with strong leaning toward Atheism. But I realized that I was hung up on a 'god-image' and not the reality of the force which is incomprehensible from the average level of consciousness, as it can't be understood logically. Also, I have had a lot of sleep paralysis experiences. I made a video about sleep paralysis recently. Would you be interested in watching it? If so, I can direct message it to you.  

Yea, that sounds similar.  I would be interested in watching that, go ahead and shoot. 

[Emerald]

1 hour ago, pete said:

I find it fascinating how much scientific belief/theory  is Considered to be the TRUTH or FACTS because "its the closest scientific explanation we have right now" . But its treated like the Truth even if it is just Theories.  I've had so many Scientific Minded people say that its been proven by scientists , or studies blah blah ... They talk about  how much they know but everything they "know" is conceptual information. They have no first hand experience . How is that scientific at all? They read an article or book about how the World works and then they claim it to be factual because its scientific and has "Reliable Sources" ... So many people stuck on science .. They don't get how all these formulas / concepts and numbers are just a form of language and that they are not the territory just a map. They believe beliefs based on books based on other books based on other beliefs...Also they get very emotionally involved . I can see how threatened they feel when i call their theories beliefs... They get annoyed and very angrryyy!! Rawr! haha I Tell them There is No difference between your scientific beliefs and the other religious people and their beliefs...I Tell them "Both of you are doing the same thing. You are claiming scientific beliefs to be facts. Their beliefs are just as phony as yours!  

 

Anyone else experienced angry / annoyed scientific people? 

I get a bit annoyed too, but I understand because I've been one of these people and I'm still working through my blockages in this way. But this comes mostly from people being indoctrinated into the notion that it is good to always "know" and be "rational" and to avoid seeming gullable/crazy at all costs. These are the same people who are quick to whip out the word "crazy" and stand proudly and self-righteously on the ground of science, rationality, pragmatism, and sanity. What many of them don't realize is that their reasons for clinging dogmatically to rational/scientific beliefs aren't rational at all but are extremely emotionally motivated. They are worried that they will be judged as crazy if they begin thinking outside of the rational paradigm. They fear losing credibility, so they shut their eyes to systems of thought that SEEM antithetical to science. They paint themselves into a corner in their own mind because they are afraid that they will be judged in the same manner that they judge others. 

[theinevitableandi]

1 minute ago, Emerald @ The Diamond Net said:

I get a bit annoyed too, but I understand because I've been one of these people and I'm still working through my blockages in this way. But this comes mostly from people being indoctrinated into the notion that it is good to always "know" and be "rational" and to avoid seeming gullable/crazy at all costs. These are the same people who are quick to whip out the word "crazy" and stand proudly and self-righteously on the ground of science, rationality, pragmatism, and sanity. What many of them don't realize is that their reasons for clinging dogmatically to rational/scientific beliefs aren't rational at all but are extremely emotionally motivated. They are worried that they will be judged as crazy if they begin thinking outside of the rational paradigm. They fear losing credibility, so they shut their eyes to systems of thought that SEEM antithetical to science. They paint themselves into a corner in their own mind because they are afraid that they will be judged in the same manner that they judge others. 

Its a war based pure beliefs. There is nothing to prove or win . That's what they don't get , always trying to prove a point and trying to convince me. If you try to have a conversation they get upset or annoyed because I don't have scientific background or resources only empirical experience. And when you tell them that you are not trying to argue they think I'm trying to be evasive. Yeah it is seen as negative to not know. Not knowing enables us to have space to know but they like to reject it because being seen like someone who is not knowledgeable is not acceptable / damaging to their self-image.  

[Emerald]

7 minutes ago, pete said:

Its a war based pure beliefs. There is nothing to prove or win . That's what they don't get , always trying to prove a point and trying to convince me. If you try to have a conversation they get upset or annoyed because I don't have scientific background or resources only empirical experience. And when you tell them that you are not trying to argue they think I'm trying to be evasive. Yeah it is seen as negative to not know. Not knowing enables us to have space to know but they like to reject it because being seen like someone who is not knowledgeable is not acceptable / damaging to their self-image.  

This is a trap that I see most people fall into because they don't understand the idea of paradoxes. They think that there is one perspective that is most true and that they have it because they've probably worked hard to learn the things that they have learned. But what they don't realize is that all perspectives are valid and that beliefs by their very nature, hold no empirical truth to them (even if they allude to truth). So, there is no need to argue or stand firm on conjectures and beliefs. I find in most instances that is most valuable just to explore a variety of perspectives. But from their standpoint, they have to defend their beliefs because on a deep unconscious level they know that they are only imaginary. 

[Carlita]

@Emerald @ The Diamond Net yes i have a few times, the first time, i couldn't stop crying! it was more like a joy cry, but i could feel everything, like every single thing. things within me, but also everything else.

it was an over whelming experience and afterwards i just held onto my friend crying. It lasted for about 10 minutes.

[Dawson]

Hi everyone,

If this feels too far off the beaten track, please let me know. The last thing I want to do here is piss people off but would greatly benefit from reaching out to some like-minded individuals. Last night, I had an 'experience' as a result of taking magic mushrooms. I know, very stupid. Not a smart choice, hence my apprehensiveness in making this post at all. 

That being said, I can safely say that it was the most terrifying night of my life. The absurdity and pointlessness of everything became painfully apparent. I no longer identified with my body or mind in any way, shape or form. It was an irrelevance. Like we're just along for the ride and could be anywhere or anything. 

One of the most palpable qualities the experience had was that time no longer existed. The past and future are just concepts. Only the present is what you can be sure of. As a result, everything just....is. It felt like I had woken up from a very, very long sleep and received a cosmic kick up the ass telling me that I must LET GO.

[Emerald]

2 hours ago, Dawson said:

Hi everyone,

If this feels too far off the beaten track, please let me know. The last thing I want to do here is piss people off but would greatly benefit from reaching out to some like-minded individuals. Last night, I had an 'experience' as a result of taking magic mushrooms. I know, very stupid. Not a smart choice, hence my apprehensiveness in making this post at all. 

That being said, I can safely say that it was the most terrifying night of my life. The absurdity and pointlessness of everything became painfully apparent. I no longer identified with my body or mind in any way, shape or form. It was an irrelevance. Like we're just along for the ride and could be anywhere or anything. 

One of the most palpable qualities the experience had was that time no longer existed. The past and future are just concepts. Only the present is what you can be sure of. As a result, everything just....is. It felt like I had woken up from a very, very long sleep and received a cosmic kick up the ass telling me that I must LET GO.

I think that the main issue with the experience is that you experienced depersonalization, but it wasn't accompanied by feelings of connection and oneness that accompany enlightenment experiences. You were still attached to the "me" but you glimpsed the emptiness in it. The problem is that you attached a negative meaning to it, sort of like nihilism. You may want to look into the topic of depersonalization/derealization disorder which can come up from trauma, psychedelics, and occasionally even meditation (though this is rare). Take heart in knowing that the reason for the negative, nihilistic feelings that you experienced on the mushrooms aren't indicative of truth. When you truly experience the truth of no self, it is optimum happiness and a feeling of significance beyond what you know of yourself.

[Emerald]

3 hours ago, Carlita said:

@Emerald @ The Diamond Net yes i have a few times, the first time, i couldn't stop crying! it was more like a joy cry, but i could feel everything, like every single thing. things within me, but also everything else.

it was an over whelming experience and afterwards i just held onto my friend crying. It lasted for about 10 minutes.

Sounds like an amazing experience. Mine were like a deep, familiar feeling of finally 'being home.'

[Huz]

On 2/8/2016 at 1:14 AM, Emerald Wilkins said:

I had two, which both lasted several hours. I had many insights including:

- I am very self-deceptive                 - I'm lying to myself about being straight

- There is no need to fear death     - I don't know myself  

-I'm constantly striving for a sense of significance in a futile attempt to outrun the reaper

- I'm experiencing the phenomena al religions have referred to as God

- All wisdom resides within me already

- I was with my partner at the time out of fear and not love

- Everything is beautiful and in divine order 

- Inside me is a struggle between life-giving and destructive thoughts

- I had no self to protect so, I was able to allow all repressed parts of myself to rise

- My parents love me but are misguided by their own life issues

- I'm an incredibly unhappy person (only realized through contrast with these experiences)

- I'm constantly struggling     - All things are one and I'm part of that oneness

- I'm not important because of what I do, but because of my existence as part of the eternal force of oneness

- I'm repressing my femininity because I value masculinity more

- Many others

How long have you been on this spiritual journey until you had these experiences?

[Emerald]

5 hours ago, Huz88 said:

How long have you been on this spiritual journey until you had these experiences?

The irony with my experiences is that I wasn't seeking at all. I guess that I've always been an insight seeker and spent a lot of time in contemplation, but I never thought anything of spirituality or enlightenment before my experiences. I was a college student seeking a recreational experience and nothing more. So, I tried a tea used for vision quests in shamanic rituals with some friends. None of them experienced what I did. Their experience was only visual. For me, it dissolved my ego for a couple hours, which was enough for me to glimpse enlightenment. I did it again five months later but instead of recreation, I used it for escapism from harsh life circumstances. Both times it was like the contents of my unconscious mind were made conscious as all fear of my own mortality left me. Having said all this, I don't recommend trying any "shortcuts" to enlightenment. They are not permanent. For me, the most valuable thing that came out of these experiences was that it showed me that there was a dimension of existence that I was completely blind to. So, it's easy for me to make the journey because I know that the road leads to an amazing place.

[Azrael]

I had several spiritual experiences through meditation and other means. The first one was 2-3 weeks after I started the practice and resulted in an out of body experience for I guess 2-3 minutes. I was able to recreate a similar experience a week later that lasted I'd guess 30 seconds. I would just shoot out of my head and be completely dissolved in streams of colors. 

Though it was nice to experience and freaked the shit out of me, it wouldn't teach me much or last. A few months later I had several experiences of oneness in meditation in which I would completely merge with what is and had no questions / ambitions / nothing to seek any more. The sense of going in some direction to achieve something just went. I just was with what is and that was fine.

It was also okay then to go back to the normal ego state - in which I'd sometimes laugh or cry because I had just felt the pureness of coming home. Through other routes of administration I could stay longer in this oneness or undertake near-death experiences that basically brought me to the realization that dying or "forgetting of the self" is okay and needs to be done and is completely natural. 

This always made me feel completely peaceful.

[Dhana Choko]

I have had multiple enlightenment experiences and I have experiences of being connected to that state actually daily. It is hard to explain. It is like the darkness that is around me is just moving a way little by little and the feeling is just there, all the time, more and more and then I get glimpses of some light every day. It is a very nice process. I have had moments of huge insights more than I can count. It is quite exhausting to even think about them, what I have understood etc. - It is just too much. I do not have words for all of it. 

[Guest]

What is being labelled as an 'enlightenment' experience is for certain an experience.   The experience may point in a direction that is totally foreign to rational thought.   Experiences are not permanent.   They last for a particular duration and then morph into something else or end.  Every moment of life is an experience if one looks at it closely.   To experience literally means to go through.  We go through the events of childhood at different stages - those are all experiences.  We study and learn new things ... those are experiences.   We have a cup of coffee ... that is an experience ... The next cup of coffee is another and possibly very different experience.

Valid questions to ponder would be "Do we learn from an experience?" ,  "What did we learn?",  "How is my journey in life changed by the experience?".   It is sad to note that in terms of humanity as a whole - which has gone through countless experiences, does not seem to learn much from the experiences.   For example: World War I - was supposed to be the war to end all wars ... then,  WWII, then Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc... 

What is the value of experience if one does not awaken to what it is pointing to.   We have all had thousands of experiences, and maybe what we consider to be those super special ones, we call them "enlightenment".   Well they may be enlightening for sure, especially if we abide with the revelations presented to our awareness.  I do not say "act" upon because somewhere along the line one might realize that there is really no 'separate' you to perform any action.   The "doer" is part of the illusion of one's dream world.   However, there is no harm in thinking of acting upon the insight or changing one's attitudes of thought and/or behaviour because of seemingly very meaningful insights.

Honour enlightening experiences for what they are.   They are NOT enlightenment in the sense of some fantastic ideas.

Yes, I have had several - but when I sense that it is basic curiosity asking then I hesitate to talk about it.

joy

 

Edited February 11, 2016 by walt

[Emerald]

6 hours ago, Arik said:

I had several spiritual experiences through meditation and other means. The first one was 2-3 weeks after I started the practice and resulted in an out of body experience for I guess 2-3 minutes. I was able to recreate a similar experience a week later that lasted I'd guess 30 seconds. I would just shoot out of my head and be completely dissolved in streams of colors. 

Though it was nice to experience and freaked the shit out of me, it wouldn't teach me much or last. A few months later I had several experiences of oneness in meditation in which I would completely merge with what is and had no questions / ambitions / nothing to seek any more. The sense of going in some direction to achieve something just went. I just was with what is and that was fine.

It was also okay then to go back to the normal ego state - in which I'd sometimes laugh or cry because I had just felt the pureness of coming home. Through other routes of administration I could stay longer in this oneness or undertake near-death experiences that basically brought me to the realization that dying or "forgetting of the self" is okay and needs to be done and is completely natural. 

This always made me feel completely peaceful.

I've had many OBEs myself, mostly through Sleep Paralysis. Although they are interesting, they are a lot different from the type of experiences that I'm talking about. But the latter experiences sound similar to mine. Which practice were you using when you had these experiences?