How many of you are better now?

[Forza21]

Please share you experience as follow:

1) How long are you into spiritual path?
2) How many trips on psychedelics have you experienced?  And what psychedelics?
3) How often do you meditate? 
4) Has your life gotten better or worse? How?
5) What are your main insides, what advice could you give to others?

I'll start. 

1) About 2 years.
2) About 6; lsd, schrooms, dmt
3) Yes, mostly daily for 15-25 minutes.
4)I think better, I'm less stressed and anxious. But it's far from my expectation of "ego" I feel like i'm spinning wheels in the same place, sometimes.
5) I don't regret doing any of that stuff, so i'd recommend to at least give it a try. But 2 years into the path is not a big time to give advices to other anyway.  it hasn't changed a lot, but yeah, it's better.

Edited January 6, 2022 by Forza21

[Terell Kirby]

1. ~ 2 years
2. None; only THC (if considered a psychedelic)
3. 1 hour daily
4. Better; understanding of reality is everything. (Can make things confusing at times, but it's all worth it).
5. Make sure you have a relatively healthy mental, physical and emotional state before pursuing spirituality. 

[BipolarGrowth]

 

1) How long are you into spiritual path? 8 years
2) How many trips on psychedelics have you experienced? Hundreds. And what psychedelics? Probably 15-20 trips on serotonergic psychedelics (specifically LSD, mushrooms, and ayahuasca) with maybe 60% of them being in the “heroic dose” range. Two trips on salvia at a high concentration (80x and higher). The rest were on various forms of THC like delta-8 THC, delta-9 THC, delta-10 THC, THC-O, and to a lesser degree actual flower/bud. I’d say at least 50 of the THC experiences were at least as intense as the heroic dose serotonergic psychedelic trips with some of them being much stronger. I only clarify this because people who haven’t tried THC at high baseline consciousness are going to come in here saying THC isn’t a psychedelic potentially. 
3) How often do you meditate? Daily with a few to several hours of Ānāpānasati/breath meditation throughout the day and roughly 45 mins - 1 hr of sitting meditation which is usually fire kasina. 
4) Has your life gotten better or worse? How? Both. I experienced a lot of fallout with my mental health up until now which caused me to lose some money and old friends, but my life has substantially less suffering than it used to. I also have a lot more mental stability  and happiness than before. 
5) What are your main insides, want advice could you give to others? Each sensation neither exists nor does not exist. The entire field of sensations (awareness, consciousness, etc.) neither exists nor does not exist. If you prefer psychedelics, meditate more. If you prefer meditation, do more psychedelics. Explore many different types of spiritual practices beyond just meditation and psychedelics (ex. Bhakti yoga, light language, transmissions, etc.)

[TheSunKing]

1) How long are you into spiritual path? 2.5 years
2) How many trips on psychedelics have you experienced?  And what psychedelics? LSD and mushrooms, probly 10 times overall
3) How often do you meditate? once a day. 15-20 min
4) Has your life gotten better or worse? How? I am in a state of Peace, Joy, and Love alot more frequently. Depression still occurs but much less.
5) What are your main insides, want advice could you give to others? organs

[The0Self]

1) How long are you into spiritual path?

7-8 years, but the path didn’t really start until the last ~2 — that’s an important distinction. In my estimation, once the path to truth-at-all-costs begins, it ain’t taking more than a few years at the most... ? it would be unbearable... unless detouring massively. Once the path starts, a hallmark I can illuminate is: embarrassment of your own naivety 3 days ago, on a constant running basis — it’s that swift — i.e. it ain’t taking 20 fucking years.

2) How many trips on psychedelics have you experienced?  And what psychedelics?

Hundreds. Lots of psychedelics (practically all of them aside from obscure research chems, though I’ve tried some of those too) and some dissociatives. Favorites include: LSD-25, 5-MeO-DMT, RS-ketamine, N,N-DMT.

3) How often do you meditate?

Automatically (without any intention or effort) nearly all the time, but an occasional 10 minute sit every now and then. Used to sit up to 5 hours a day — Jhana access, witnessing, noting, etc. Learned primarily from Culadasa’s TMI, and also STF and TWIM and many others like Kenneth Folk and Daniel Ingram, Buddha/Sutras, etc. Ramana style inquiry; Witnessing; etc. Adyashanti... etc etc...

 
4) Has your life gotten better or worse? How?

Literally a different order of being. Incomparable to what I was before. Nothing that makes sense on either side makes sense on (or relates to) the other. But before the path resolved so completely, I followed a book called Seeing That Frees by Rob Burbea as an adjunct to my meditation practice, and I would say I was about 10x happier than I was before getting skilled at meditation.

I did a Metta practice during daily activities — this seemed to be associated with my relationships seeming to magically fall perfectly into place in easy flow. Highly recommend Metta, though I don’t really practice these days. Anything that uncovers the underlying natural flow of the dream-world-universe = good.

Don’t underestimate how powerful meditation can be. If you are unaware that some of the states access-able in meditation are more intensely blissful than the cleanest drugs in existence, well now you know — believe it or not. There’s more to life than meditation, but having access to clean and as-overwhelming-as-you-want bliss at any given time? Or even some modicum of that? It can change you in a really nice way, and allows you to move onto other things. That had nothing to do with enlightenment, though at the time I was quite sure it did. Buddhist paths to enlightenment hardly make sense to me anymore...

To wake up, you simply must want to wake up to truth at all costs, and that’s literally all there is to it! ? Keep on going until the end of knowledge and seeking is reached — nothing further to know, literally. And not even that, really. And it actually does not make sense — that may well be the strangest part about this.

5) What are your main insides, want advice could you give to others?

This is the entire whole. Alone. Already. It’s funny how many times I heard that yet didn’t (couldn’t) even hear it.

There is only God’s plan — play. Plan is rather misleading as it suggests time — there is only timeless infinite creation; play. If you’ll excuse the word God — it’s not important.

Your whole problem as a seeker is that: You actually are not seeing what cannot be simpler! Right now... It’s like there’s the pretense of not getting a joke.

You aren’t “the void and not the play.” You light up both and are everything but not anything in particular. There’s no fixed you witnessing what’s appearing. There’s just what appears, it’s everything, there’s no separate person, and what appears isn’t actually something that appears. There’s no it.

If you think you’ve been seeking truth, and you think you’ve been doing it for more than 3 years, then your next step is to realize you’ve really been doing something other than seeking truth.

The only truth is that there is truth — I am THAT I am. To want enlightenment is to misunderstand it. Any claim to knowledge is a confession of ignorance.

Edited January 6, 2022 by The0Self

[Javfly33]

 

1) 5 years on and off

2) 6-7 Proper trips (LSD, 5-MeO-DMT & Ketamine). + Lots of fucking around with small doses tho of different psychedelics

3) Not that much. I had had routines of meditating each day but I end up quitting it.

4) I wouldn't say worse but I also wouldn't say better. It probably has made it to have less fear of death.

5) Do it if you have curiosity about it not to expect something out of it.

[Mason Riggle]

1) How long are you into spiritual path? Always on it. 

2) How many trips on psychedelics have you experienced? No idea.. hundreds probably (it's been 20+ years since I have taken a psychedelic). And what psychedelics? Whatever came my way. 

3) How often do you meditate? almost never.. I meditated once, then I woke up. 

4) Has your life gotten better or worse? Both/Neither..  How? I let go of 'better/worse'.. 'my life' became 'life'. 

5) What are your main [insights], what advice could you give to others?  There is nothing to do which you are not already doing.  

Edited January 6, 2022 by Mason Riggle

[AdamR95]

1) about 5 years

2) 5x shrooms 1x LSD

3) for about 6 years on and off mostly for 20min, but i kind of spontaneously meditate while in nature or while driving a car, it works for me when my mediations are not scheduled and i let the meditation just happen, so i dont track that kind of meditation i do

4) Its hard to say when i think of my past i cant really know how i felt back then, though i have a feeling that it gets better and better as a time goes but that is probably ilusion

4) the biggest thing for me was discovery of god, my advise would be: enjoy life, be kind to yourself, love as much as you can

[Salvijus]

1) How long are you into spiritual path? 7years going to be soon.

2) How many trips on psychedelics have you experienced?  And what psychedelics? None. Don't like them. They don't make any sense to me neither.

3) How often do you meditate? daily, can't remember a day when I missed an opportunity to meditate. There was a time when I tried to forcefully stop myself from meditating but I couldn't ? it was the worst feeling ever. I believe if a person understood the point and value of meditation, no power in the universe could stop him from doing that ? but few are able to see that imo.

4) Has your life gotten better or worse? How? Better in every way. For starters, I can't remember what depression feels like. That itself is a huge thing for most people. But by far the most single valuable thing that ever happened to me is the shift into permenant presence awareness. Which is the cause of all the other benefits and a solution to every problem I face really. I wouldn't exchange that for anything in the universe. Grace is another single most valuable thing in my life. Don't know which one is better even. 

5) What are your main insights, what advice could you give to others? Without grace, there is no spiritual process. And benefits are rather meek. Seek a high quality material to study from. Be aware of self-deception and arrogance because they go together. And there're 1000ways for mind to trip a seeker over. And arrogance is like a first class invitation for self-deception to happen.

Rule of thumb to remember: "if you think you're great, you're a fool"

?

 

 

Edited January 6, 2022 by Salvijus

[RMQualtrough]

Around 2 years, tripped a ridic amount. I'm not better or worse. I won't use these drugs again.

[WelcometoReality]

On 2022-01-05 at 10:12 PM, Forza21 said:

1) How long are you into spiritual path?

It's been around 5-6 years before I learned about spirituality but the seeking if truth started earlier.

On 2022-01-05 at 10:12 PM, Forza21 said:

2) How many trips on psychedelics have you

Zero

On 2022-01-05 at 10:12 PM, Forza21 said:

3) How often do you meditate? 

No meditation in the classical way but meditation happens on the bus to work or in the sofa at home or whenever the time for it occurs.

On 2022-01-05 at 10:12 PM, Forza21 said:

4) Has your life gotten better or worse? How?

It's not better or worse than before the journey started but it's wonderful.

On 2022-01-05 at 10:12 PM, Forza21 said:

5) What are your main insides, what advice could you give to others?

Start with investigating what you are experiencing right now and continue your investigation until..

[Mosess]

On 2022-01-05 at 11:12 PM, Forza21 said:

Please share you experience as follow:

1) How long are you into spiritual path?
2) How many trips on psychedelics have you experienced?  And what psychedelics?
3) How often do you meditate? 
4) Has your life gotten better or worse? How?
5) What are your main insides, what advice could you give to others?

I'll start. 

1) About 2 years.
2) About 6; lsd, schrooms, dmt
3) Yes, mostly daily for 15-25 minutes.
4)I think better, I'm less stressed and anxious. But it's far from my expectation of "ego" I feel like i'm spinning wheels in the same place, sometimes.
5) I don't regret doing any of that stuff, so i'd recommend to at least give it a try. But 2 years into the path is not a big time to give advices to other anyway.  it hasn't changed a lot, but yeah, it's better.

1) 2 years

2) 0

3) Daily- 5+ hours

4) There is no relativity at this point, heck, there is no point. "Better" or "worse", is a product of time, i am not

5) Do what you will before what you will is no longer an option for you

[Consilience]

On 1/5/2022 at 1:12 PM, Forza21 said:

1) How long are you into spiritual path?
2) How many trips on psychedelics have you experienced?  And what psychedelics?
3) How often do you meditate? 
4) Has your life gotten better or worse? How?
5) What are your main insides, what advice could you give to others?

1) 4 years

2) maybe 40-50. Meditation has become much more powerful/productive than frequent tripping. Will most likely still use, but in a much more sacred, reverent, medicinal context. 

3) Daily. Used to be 1 hour per day. Now 2 hours per day usually. Also have been going to lots of meditation retreats. 4 in the last 14 months, about to attend another 8 day retreat. 

4) Dramatically, indescribably better. But also a work in progress.

5) Wherever you are on the path is an expression of absolute perfection. It‘s difficult to describe if one feels they’re still a beginner or before one has really seen the nature of self. But if I could go back, Id want to travel with more compassion, patience, and relaxation, knowing exactly where I am is an equal expression of the divine as where Im going as a result of this work.
 

Second insight - Eventually the work happens on its own, purely spontaneously. If you quit, or ramp up intensity, both are derived from Truth.

However, I would recommend keep going, keep going, keep going. Full buddhahood… the world is in desperate need of “buddhas” and though everything is perfect, the compassion it takes to see our own perfection may also be applied towards all sentient beings. If for no other reason than to alleviate the suffering of others and this planet while we’re in the dream, keep going. This work has a harmonizing effect not only on yourself, but towards all lives you interact with. It is precisely because there is no one at all and our infinite interconnectivity that the work is able to radiate out externally. (By work I really mean meditation.)

[cervid]

Thanks for creating this topic. This is highly inspiring and motivating to see the journey of others ?

 

1) How long are you into spiritual path?

I am interested in spirituality since I was 16. But didn't know what to look for exactly and it was more of a curiosity. Time passed and 10 yrs later I found out, that I achieved almost all of my worldly desires but there was no real happiness. In the time I tried many different forms of meditation, reality creation, yoga, qigong, psychedelics, etc. but only last year when I stumbled upon the teachings of ramana maharshi everything makes perfectly sense to me. Thats when the real journey started and the intense desire for realizing the true self arose. So serious seeking only since 1 year.

2) How many trips on psychedelics have you experienced?  And what psychedelics?

A lot of low/mid level trips with almost every psychedelics (LSD,DMT,Psilocybin,2CB,Ketamin,5-Meo-DMT,Salvia,...). I nevery experienced complete ego death, because I have very high respect of those molecules and was never able to push me this far. But there were a lot of profound experiences which lead me to where I am right now.

3) How often do you meditate? 

30-60min every day since last year.

4) Has your life gotten better or worse? How?

Neither. My mental state did not really change that much. I am neither more happy nor more depressed. But my desire for liberation increased dramatically. When I meditate more, I reach places of intense bliss and peace and my live becomes more joyful. But when the ego deception cicks back in I can potentially waste a lot of time only playing video games or what ever my ego desires at that time. I recognize those patterns more and more and in the long run, I am sure that everything will become better, because meditation gets easier over time and the desire for real peace and practise will be stronger than the desire to experience temporary pleasures.

5) What are your main insides, what advice could you give to others?

There are so many labels on spirituality and many of them are only deceiving. You can potentially do "spiritual practise" for years but in the end realize, that all of it was just a ego satisfaction strategy. I know when I was about 23 yrs old when I watched a video from leo about self inquiry and thought "hmm that sounds boring, I would rather like to manifest my dream girl or job or whatever". Not saying that something like reality creation is not valuable, but if you TRULY desire liberation, this is not a direct way and can hinder you to see what is really important. The biggest game changer was the teachings of Maharshi, Maharaj and the quotes on https://albigen.com/uarelove/
Only then I realized that almost everything I did before were only detours.

[Zeroguy]

I am happy now.