Spiritual practices. Share your Tier-List.

[koops]

I see one big problem with the spiritual path. Is so abstract and so overwhelming especially y in the beginning, you probably don't even know what to focus on or what to do.

For example, my first contact with spirituality was reading 'The Power of Now' 10 years ago. I started meditating and read a few more books on the topic. Got great insights and good results from my new understandings and from the practice of daily meditation... but until last year I never even occur to me the idea of doing a 10 day solo retreat. Until last year, I didn't know about most practices listed below like Kriya Yoga or Self-Inquiry (ofc my main focus wasn't spirituality this last decade, I just focused on it for some stretches of weeks-months, just reading theory and doing meditation).

 

Most newbies don't know what practices to do.

The low hanging fruits are a few minutes of meditation, conventional yoga and reading theory.
For sure that can have some benefits, even big ones, but most people are not going to get deep enough.

And a lot of time can get be wasted not knowing alternative/more powerful methods.

Most probably are going to quit because of it (is like trying to get jacked, and spend years just doing pushups and bodyweight squats, without even knowing what a bench press or a barbell squat is)

 

So I made a compilation of spiritual practices:

-Meditation

-Contemplation

-Neti-neti

-Self inquiry

-Solo retreat

-Vipassana retreat

-Psychedelics

-Kriya yoga

-Conventional yoga

-Spiritual autolysis

-Connecting with nature

-Gratitude

-Theory (reading, videos, live gurus/mentors)

-Breathwork

-Shadow work

 

I know there is a debate on the forum about meditation vs psychedelics.

Everyone is different, and the path can vary from one person to another. Thats fine. And thats the point. To have different perspectives.

 

So the idea of this post is twofold:

-Have a ranked list of spiritual practices in one place that can be tried and tested, especially for newbies.

-You can share your personal tier list of your practice (so people can have a sense of what are the most useful overall)

 

Here is the tier list link: https://tiermaker.com/create/list-of-spiritual-practices-15731211

Feel free to add some practices.

 

[Forza-Spirito]

Some techniques I have practiced over the years:

Vipassana

Dzogchen

Kundalini yoga

Pranayama to feel bliss

Wim hof breathing method

Holotropic breathwork

Contemplating spiritual books and videos

Contemplating leo's videos on God-realization

The power of now

Feeling love or gratitude

surrender

Mantra meditation

Lucid dreaming/dream yoga

Choose again the 6 steps process for healing trauma.

[Moksha]

@Squeekytoy You're correct that the current state has to become unbearable before the misidentified absolute is ready to awaken in most people. I'm not referring to sneak previews, but the main event.

Still, there is value in spiritual practices. Before awakening, they can prepare you for the silent shock. After awakening, they can help you remain silent.

[The0Self]

Self inquiry or surrender, which in the end is a pointer and not a practice. Collapse the distance between you and thought completely, then collapse the distance between you and reality, then collapse the (all) distance between you and Truth.

Edited April 17, 2023 by The0Self

[Ninja_pig]

This is my personal experience

This work is about understanding. Contemplation is really a synonym for meditation; The difference is you ask questions during it. The only way to make sure you keep making progress is to keep asking questions.

[Moksha]

@Squeekytoy The site of silence 

[Breakingthewall]

the base is the desire to escape from the prison that limits you. If the desire is enough, it will lead you to break the prison applying the means that are necessary

[koops]

18 hours ago, Squeekytoy said:

Thing is, waking up is not a practice.

You wake up by opening your eyes. So you first have to grok that they are closed. Which means you need to understand what your actual situation is and why. And more importantly, you have to be profoundly unhappy with it.

None of that is something you can practice or even plan for. Just look at the average meditator or psychedelics user. Ask yourself what's wrong with them, that might give you some insight. Do what conscious beings do, use your eyes and your intelligence.

Sure, I get that, but how many people woke up without any previous practice?

How are you even going to realize that your eyes are closed without ever reading a spiritual book, or attending a spiritual talk, or without trying meditation or psychedelics?

And then, if you realize that your eyes are closed, how are you going to open them?

-

Yes, you can't plan or 'schedule' an awakening the same way you can't know which water drop is going to finally break the rock, but drops have to keep dropping until it happen.

Ofc 99% of meditators or pshycedelics users are not going to awaken, but 99'9999% of people that dont have any practice are neither going to awaken.

 

 

[OldManCorcoran]

They're all shit tier.

Toad, heavy doses of DMT, or dying are pretty legit. Anything which actually physically causes complete ego death is pretty legit.

[Moksha]

57 minutes ago, OldManCorcoran said:

They're all shit tier.

Toad, heavy doses of DMT, or dying are pretty legit. Anything which actually physically causes complete ego death is pretty legit.

I read an abstract yesterday from a study on perpetual psychedelics. Classic Matrix.

You can chain your arm to a needle and live in apparent nirvana your entire life, but how is that freedom? Why not surrender to experiencing the cosmos unconditionally? You get lucidity with the freedom to fully enjoy the dream.

[koops]

3 hours ago, Squeekytoy said:

@koops you could end up like this guy...

 

 

What do you mean?

Im pretty new on the forum and dont know the members

[koops]

I read a few posts of him talking about 20 day solo and yoga retreats and loto of practice.

Why is that wrong from your POV?

Which alternative do you recomend in order to raise ones level of consciousness and/or awaken?

[Yimpa]

5 hours ago, koops said:

I read a few posts of him talking about 20 day solo and yoga retreats and loto of practice.

Why is that wrong from your POV?

Which alternative do you recomend in order to raise ones level of consciousness and/or awaken?

You’ve ultimately got to listen to yourself.

It’s a trap if you take someone’s advice (especially someone you admire) and immediately make an assumption that it will help you. Then you spend all your energy wondering why it’s not working and then think something is wrong with you.

[Breakingthewall]

On 18/4/2023 at 7:19 PM, Moksha said:

I read an abstract yesterday from a study on perpetual psychedelics. Classic Matrix.

You can chain your arm to a needle and live in apparent nirvana your entire life, but how is that freedom? Why not surrender to experiencing the cosmos unconditionally? You get lucidity with the freedom to fully enjoy the dream.

ultimately psychedelics are imaginary, only the absolute is real. whether it manifests after suffering, or psychedelics or going to a cave is completely irrelevant. Putting one of them qualitatively above is prejudice. quantitatively it is reality: the psychedelic is quantitatively superior

[puporing]

and... lots...of...divine...BADASS...God-tier music.

Edited April 20, 2023 by puporing

[Holymoly]

Vipassana and psychedelics is a good start

[koops]

10 hours ago, Yimpa said:

You’ve ultimately got to listen to yourself.

It’s a trap if you take someone’s advice (especially someone you admire) and immediately make an assumption that it will help you. Then you spend all your energy wondering why it’s not working and then think something is wrong with you.

I get that. You are the judge, but my point is: if you know nothing you need good references to start with.

For example, I respect Leo, and he advised meditation, contemplation, self inquiry and kriya yoga. Now he says that the real deal are psychedelics.

Cool, thats great info, and a valid perspective from a person that tested those practices, and now we can have nice reference points.

For me is not about copying someone, nor going 100% by yourself. But to reference and test what other successful people in this area have done and implement/discard based on how you are wired/life situation...

 

[Yimpa]

8 hours ago, Breakingthewall said:

ultimately psychedelics are imaginary, only the absolute is real. 

Be careful not to rigidly equate imaginary with real or unreal. 

Reality is beautifully tricky.

[Moksha]

18 hours ago, Breakingthewall said:

ultimately psychedelics are imaginary, only the absolute is real. whether it manifests after suffering, or psychedelics or going to a cave is completely irrelevant. Putting one of them qualitatively above is prejudice. quantitatively it is reality: the psychedelic is quantitatively superior

How you get here doesn't matter, just stay here if you can.

An entire lifetime of profound insights won't keep the gate to the Absolute open until you are truly ready to pay the price of ego death. Few are willing to let go of their desires and fears to that depth.

[Breakingthewall]

5 hours ago, Moksha said:

Few are willing to let go of their desires and fears to that depth.

You could keep you desires in some extent and go very deep. It is not a matter of abandoning your desires but of understanding what they are and what is their place. to go very deep you need desire to go very deep