How Do You Know What Is True? (Culadasa's Lecture)

[Buba]

This concentration stuff reminds me my childhood. I was in a peaceful, blissful state. I was inclining my mind on positive and entering bliss. I had total trust in the existence. I was not comparing myself to anybody. Life was a miracle for me.

[Nak Khid]

12 hours ago, ardacigin said:

Also, let me add my own experiences with behavioral change. 

I'm not awake from a traditional Theravadan standpoint

 

why not?

[ardacigin]

33 minutes ago, Raptorsin7 said:

@Buba If you are using meditation as a way to cure your unhappiness then listen to this guy's post. I am like you. I used meditation to seek happiness and joy because I was unsatisfied with life. I am at a point where i'm seeking enlightenment but I don't even get joy and happiness from meditation. I would have been much wiser to do something like this from the star, but I didn't know you could systematically create happiness like this from meditation.

@ardacigin Should i do a long 3 or 4 hour single sit first and see if my state changes significantly before i buy The Mind Illuminated. and try to do the happiness practices there?

I'm slightly conflicted about this. In my personal experience, I've never EVER tried any jhanic practices. Joy and happiness were almost entirely absent in my practice. One day, I've decided to do 4 hour hardcore TMI sessions and happiness started to pervade my entire life. ı was around stage 6-7 at that time. Only after the fact have I realized how important joy and happiness are on the spiritual path. So if I were to advise myself 5 years ago before starting the path, I'd say: 'Smile every time you meditate and learn relaxation more deeply' 

But I didn't do that so all of my current gains are from TMI. Happiness and jhana practices Leigh Brasington teach also requires moderate levels of stable attention to access as well. So it is not easy to do jhana on the level I'm talking about. But once you get to stage 6-7 on TMI, that is the perfect time to do a lot of hardcore jhana practice.

Until then, I don't see any benefit in experiencing sadness, frustration and suffering in meditation. So starting from stage 1, all TMI meditators must bring more joy, happiness. You need to find what does bring that. For me, smile is huge. I've used to hate smiling pre-stage 8. Even when I was accessing effortless concentration in stage 7, I was like 'Where the hell are happiness and joy Culadasa talks about!!!'

But right in that transition point in that 4 hour session, things have shifted. 

I recommend doing a 4 hour session as I've described in my earlier posts. 3 posture rotation technique. Just remember that this was my own personal record for uninterrupted session and I was CRAZY motivated before starting. So you might need to watch a lot of solitary confinement and meditation videos before attempting this

It was painful but I've been living in a drug state ever since. I don't want to fetishize these stuff but this is legit awesome and my life satisfaction is increased by 100 times. I can't downplay something that reduces craving so radically.

Technique wise, I suggest doing TMI as your main practice. On the side doing, Leigh Brasington's jhanas. Always smile in meditation regardless of what meditation you are doing. In fact, forget about formal sessions. Get used to smiling slightly in daily life. This is the basis of jhana mastery. Teaching the nervous system to create positive emotional sensations and maintain them. That actually builds crazy levels of stable attention and awareness due to positive feedback loop.

Edited December 18, 2019 by ardacigin

[Raptorsin7]

@ardacigin Can you link some of the happiness jhana practice from Leigh Brasington

[ardacigin]

1 minute ago, Raptorsin7 said:

@ardacigin Can you link some of the happiness jhana practice from Leigh Brasington

Of course. First, watch Leigh's lecture here in its entirety. This is an amazing lecture. Just skip the first few mins of introduction.

He describes the 4 jhanas here somewhere in the middle. 4 jhanas corresponds to more or less stage 7-8-9-10 in TMI. But they are more powerful forms of jhana and can pervade your entire life due to unification of mind. So keep that in mind. TMI matters a lot if you want to bring this to daily life.

After watching it, read Leigh's book 'The Right Concentration'. Then if you have issues understanding certain things, feel free to ask me your questions

 

[ardacigin]

Just to clarify how important TMI is, I've heard that Leigh Brasington views the sort of radical baseline in happiness I'm talking about here to be very advanced even as a jhana meditator.

That is because jhana meditation Leigh teaches is different from Culadasa's TMI technique. Samatha factors as a whole are very powerful. In jhana meditation, unification of mind and samatha factors are not that well developed. You don't have to get to effortlessness of TMI stage 7. But due to this, the practice is not as powerful. So do jhana practice everyday with TMI. Both are really important if you want the sort of persistent happiness I'm talking about in these posts

[Raptorsin7]

@ardacigin Which book should i read first? Leigh's book or TMI?

[V-8]

17 hours ago, remember said:

also these, you would want to build a synthesis of these. bodhicitta without a clear view is self deception and often ends in suffering and self denial. meditation without bodhicitta is lightbody blindness.

On the contrary,...meditation does not uncover bodhicitta.   Meditation is a medication.   It's an opiate.     And yes,...I can understand that those who have invested many hours and even years sitting get very disturbed with how Masters view meditation.  

"A real Master is not a teacher: a real Master is an awakener."  One doesn't Awaken, nor realize Bodhicitta through meditation.

"After Buddha's passing away, monks and nuns only emphasized meditation; there was no interest in studying the teachings."  Anam Thubten

I totally laugh every time I see an image of Buddha meditating,...what reason would a Buddha have meditating?

Historically, Siddhartha Gautama was near dead from meditation when a young girl named Sujata (likely a dakini) offered him some food (perhaps rice cooked in milk). Some say a state of appreciation filled him from this meal, and others as he recovered his physical strength, through a state of appreciation,...non-meditation,...he realized the nature of Dependent Origination from which suffering arises.

Meditation is a fabulous tool for training the mind to interact with time in a different way.  Non-meditation uncovers that which is beyond time; the Present.    Heart-Mind,...to place yourself in unfabricated present awareness.  No practice can create the Present,...because all practices are in the past.

"Rest in the ease of non-meditation.”  Saraha

"We teach meditation, or quieting the mind, because it is really easier to teach you to have no thoughts, than to teach you to have pure, positive thought. We would rather you be in a state of appreciation, than in a state of meditation, because in appreciation you uncover Source."  Esther Hicks

"Meditation is a Long Path activity.  Devotee’s are concerned with learning how to concentrate their thoughts in the practice of meditation, and later even with meditation itself.   Short Path practitioners practice Non-Meditation" -  Paul Brunton

“Many people like meditation. But it is not very constructive or useful. It does not decrease our negative mindsets of anger, attachments, etc. It does not increase our qualities of kindness, truthfulness and wisdom. So, we might be able to sit still single-pointedly for four or five hours, but what’s the point? It’s like a pigeon!”    Khadro-la

"Meditation, yoga, or one of the many so-called spiritual activities has little to do with liberation from delusion, and everything do to with their desperation to escape busy, unhappy lives, and heartfelt longing for a healthy, stress-free, happy life"  Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

"In a state of non-meditation, you attain Mahamudra." Tilopa

 

[ardacigin]

15 minutes ago, Raptorsin7 said:

@ardacigin Which book should i read first? Leigh's book or TMI?

Leigh's book is shorter. Read that quickly but get started on TMI as well.