How Do You Succeed In Facing The Void

[StarfoxEpiphany]

And how should I prepare?  I've faced the void during nicotine withdrawal many times.  Usually, a major 'demon' will come up and I know the solution to that demon, and then I go to work on that demon. The longer I sit, the bigger the 'demons' that arise. I haven't made it longer than 9 hours so far.  When do I know I'm done? Is the void always there?  Do I just have to get comfortable with it?

[Arman]

I'm not sure specifically what you mean by The Void since I've heard the terminology used in different ways. Sounds a bit like you're referring to deep emotional charges that come up during growth. There's no single answer that will relieve the experience. Emotional charges dissolve by releasing attachment to them and allowing them to be as they are. 

The conventional wisdom is to choose courage, look forward and keep walking. These things pass. They always do. You can go into semantics of whether or not any experience within us truly 'goes away', but there certainly does come a point where you personally stop aligning with the experience. You're never 'done' with the Work as a whole. You'll always be growing and integrating. When it comes to deep emotional experiences and how long to sit with them (meaning sometimes it's like "fuck, how long am I actually going to be willing to sit with this pain? hours? days?") just do it for as long as you have the ability to. It is very, very rare that the entire experience will remain with you to be healed and integrated in one long stream. Naturally life gives you breaks and the experience will kind of return to the backgroud, so to speak, to allow you to heal/integrate in controlled doses so you don't go crazy. 

Prepare by focusing your will and deciding that when the experience arises, you will simply do your best. 

 

btw nice avatar, the red alert series was great 

 

Edited December 6, 2016 by Arman

[Leo Gura]

@StarfoxEpiphany Nicotine is very physiologically addictive, so you're definitely in for an uphill battle if you're trying to just wait it out. It will probably take more than just a few days.

For something like that, it might be helpful to plan like a week-long retreat to a cabin in the woods, where you have no possible access to cigarettes and nothing to do.

It's gonna be hard to quit a physiologically addictive substance while in the midst of your everyday routine. Your routine is part of the problem.

The good thing about a week-long retreat is that you could pair it up with meditation. So it's like a serious, week-long meditation and self-improvement week. Then you'll REALLY run into the void. And you'll get more growth in that one week than you would during a normal year. It won't just be nicotine, you'll slay a lot of inner demons, so it would be a win-win.

Alternatively, you could try doing a 10-day Vipasanna retreat. They don't allow smoking there.

[StarfoxEpiphany]

@Leo Gura

Thanks for the extra push.  I've been making plans to move to an isolated organic farm with a yoga master/massage therapy master/organic healing master that I personally know.  Which also aligns perfectly with my domain of mastery 'physique art'.  This really helps.

Also, I appreciate a previous push you gave me about a month ago which led me to swallow the red pill of pua.

I really like where you're going with the sage thing too.  Ive been trying to be that (in socioeconomics) since I opted out of training for the Olympics 12 years ago.

Sometime next year, I'll be organizing my own retreats. Life is going well, your life purpose course really works and is very powerful.

Edited December 7, 2016 by StarfoxEpiphany

[StarfoxEpiphany]

@Arman

Thanks for the response! I'm glad someone could help me get the ball rolling faster.

What I mean by 'demons' are the emotional spikes you were talking about.  What I mean by the void, is how in touch I get with my inner self, along with boredom and emptiness of sitting in a room for hour after hour doing nothing