Haumea2018

If it makes you feel better, 99.999999% of humanity is doing that along with you (and the other tiny number still does it, but immediately realizes it.) There's nothing to be embarrassed about, it's being human.

@Gneh Onebar It's kind of an individualized thing as to what mantras would be most helpful at this time.

The common pitfalls seekers fall into can pretty much be boiled down to one thing: fear, in its various shapes, forms and disguises. If something is psychologically threatening to you, it's good to examine it, because it is showing you where the ego contraction is taking place and where there is an opportunity to let go -- surrender -- instead. I'm not saying this blithely, I have complete compassion for how hard this is as I went through it for a long time. Nevertheless, at every step on the journey this is the fundamental choice in play: clinging, defensiveness, contraction or surrender, relinquishment, letting go. I know that RASA is a fantastic tool for enlightenment, probably the best there is, but I also know that it is part of the paradox of enlightenment, which is like the "when the student is ready, the teacher will appear" saying. In essence, when the seeker is ready, the means will appear. Either something is on your radar as a possibility or it isn't. So I'm fairly equanimous as far as RASA is concerned -- all those who are ready will find a way to it. Everything happens as it must. It's all beautiful.

@V-8, I'm afraid such a categorical statement is self-refuting, since if a sentient being cannot grasp reality in any way, he cannot draw conclusions such as "A Sentient Being cannot grasp reality in any way."

Full enlightenment is a paradoxical state, so of course one label doesn't do it justice, but the point is not to have an accurate map but to embody the state. You can have a "more" accurate label of "nonduality with duality" or as Ramaji says "transcendental duality" (i.e. attempting to capture the paradox) but it's still just a label, a map. Until you experience the state, it means little. So of course, non-duality is a relative label, i.e. compared to the empirical ego, "body-bounded-me vs. the rest of creation" mundane duality, it is an experience of non-duality. All labels are dualistic by nature, since you can append a minus/not symbol to any label. So you can put a "not" in front of whatever map tries to capture the paradox. You know you've arrived at full enlightenment when you begin to experience what can best be described as a "paradoxical, total-let-go state." So, take labels for what they are: they are not transcendental and universal absolutes, but rather useful tools for certain contexts. Yes - ALL labels, including critiques of labels with attempts at "better" labels.

SD is a map that in practice represents endless seeking. Enlightenment is about finding, not endless seeking. Endless seeking represents the unwillingness to surrender egoic attachment to "improvement" or "transformation." Enlightenment is not about "improvement" or "transformation" but surrendering to the perfection of being.

Hey Charlie, Yes -- Ram Dass has a great graphic in his book "Be Here Now" that explains it pretty well.

@LfcCharlie4 That's correct, the basic problem is that the I-thought creates projections, which overrides any supposed evolutionary benefits from a more evolved perception of social order. I mean, the 20th century showed this amply; we were more advanced than cavemen, but we could also do a hell of a lot more damage than cavemen as well, and this problem doesn't suddenly go away because we're "green" or "yellow." We just have more novel, advanced ways to create evil and suffering, always in the name of good. Without self-realization, it's not going to deliver on its supposed evolutionary benefits.

Hey Charlie, I think the cases where SD is MOST beneficial would be for certain personality types for whom systematizing/conceptualizing is not a strength, like MBTI ESFJ e.g. In other words, traditional conformist types. Alas, most people on this forum are already strong intuitive/conceptual types, so they need it least. It's the bane of seeking to focus on what you're already naturally good at.

Cosmic consciousness is partial enlightenment. It's not the end of seeking. You still have an I-thought which is now ripe for all types of inflation as you identify with all of creation. The label is really something that sounds much more impressive than what it is pointing to. If you're stuck in cosmic consciousness...well, Wilber illustrates the problem: instead of dropping remnants of the subtle ego you cling to models of development that guarantee endless seeking. In other words, you're too afraid to become self-realized; it becomes about the seeking, not the finding. If you never knew a thing about SD you would be no worse off and very likely much better off as far as surrendering your ego attachments, as Bill W described above, especially if you're a typical thinking/conceptualizing personality, because "more of the same" keeps you stuck. The people who are intensely into SD are the people who need it LEAST. They'd get closer to enlightenment by playing a sport or going out to a club to socialize. It's easy to do stuff that's already in your comfort zone, but it gets you nowhere.

And that's the irony of spiritual seeking. Clinging to spiritual beliefs doesn't make one more enlightened. It's preventing oneself from being enlightened. Spiritual beliefs are a parachute, but enlightenment means jumping out of the plane without one. It's addition by subtraction, not piling on more knowledge, more experiences, more beliefs. Wanting "more" spirituality is just fine with the ego, it's all about the idea of "more." Try telling your ego that you don't need ANY beliefs, see if it agrees lol.

SD is just a theory promulgated by people such as Ken Wilber who are stuck in the Cosmic Consciousness stage, where they embrace these grand theories of development which are not about realizing the self, but rather are about endless seeking. These are the type of people who refuse to give up their ego identity as "knowers" so they cling to these systems of knowledge.

The LOC measurements correspond to how open the crown chakra is, so at 1000 it's fully open, at a lower LOC it's progressively less open. The measurements correspond to stages of enlightment described in every spiritual tradition (e.g. in Buddhism stream-enterer first stage, arhat last stage, etc.) A lot of teachers in the 600s and 700s have not behaved ethically, because they were not fully integrated and had issues, while some people in the 300s are exemplary due to being ethically blessed. Zen Devils are typically in that range (more so in the 600s.) The defining trait of LOC is how "the self" is seen, and each stage has its commonality, and I don't mean a conceptual idea of what the self is, but rather enduring, stable experience, a reference frame from which perceptions form. Up until 640 there is still a reference frame of an empirical self, a "self" center which forms a boundary between "you" and the rest of creation. At 640 this "pops" - the center is permanently gone, and up until 1000 there's an expansion of this emptiness from finite to infinite, until the I-thought disappears entirely. The numbers just represent well-known and well-described stages of the process (but are obviously continuous rather than discrete, such as color frequencies), going back thousands of years.

Yes, over 2 years ago.

That's pretty good advice. The reason I felt a real connection to Ramaji is because I read his book "1000." My sense was that he was a real spirituality nerd, and too nerdy to be lying or making anything up, so I trusted him, which paid off. AD is more of a firecracker who cuts through bullshit, which can be appealing in a different way.

It works to get you to 1000 (i.e. Unity Consciousness, no I-thought arising) but that's only the beginning of several years of integration. Ramaji doesn't claim otherwise. This is why some people are like "this is it?" because all kinds of expectations have been built up over the course of seeking. Until you get there all you have are fantasies of what it's like. This was certainly the case with me, and apparently I'm not alone in this. Let me put it this way: without RASA, the chances of you getting to 1000 are maybe 100 to 1 in this lifetime. OK, let me be generous, let's say you're especially blessed, then it's 10:1. You are not going to like your odds. With it, it's highly likely within a year and a half (given you're at hardcore seeker level.) The real work of integration can then proceed. While there's an I-thought arising, which identifies with certain aspects of you, that's going to be very very limited. Without the I-thought it is easier to embrace the shadow and make life changes reflecting this, which is what produces the kind of abiding background sense of peace that everyone references as a central feature of enlightenment. Let's be honest here: most people say they want "enlightenment", the "truth", etc., but what they really want are benefits, an improvement over their current psychological state -- better lives. "Enlightenment" doesn't automatically bestow that, but it does clear the way to do the work to make it happen. A lot of people who reach enlightenment are disappointed because they are not honest with themselves. They want their lives to be magically transformed, and hope some method or remedy will do all the work for them. In order for that to happen, though, one must consistently confront one's deepest fears, step out of one's comfort zone, and minimize self-deception. This is hard because we're human. This is the red pill, the realization of harsh truth: you are 100% responsible for the outcomes in your life -- blaming society, upbringing, etc. may make you feel better temporarily but won't get you anything else. If you want better, face your deepest fears - over and over.

It taint enlightenment without the root chakra.

Aion.

Simply put, the source of reincarnating souls is not limited to earthling humans. You've got beings from other planets, beings from higher realms (e.g. Jesus), your higher animals graduating to human, etc.

Without a doubt, iboga. * * (health screening required.)

In the 1990s there was a trip-hop artist Forest for the Trees whose album was entirely about spiritual seeking, meditation and non-duality. Blatantly so. Probably the most "spiritual" musical act since Yes.

Just to forestall any myths on this subject -- no, not all energy transmission providers are overweight - I know some relatively thin ones (and they do a lot of transmissions.) Enlightened or not, it still primarily has to do with age, genetics and/or diet. When you hit a certain age, you likely need a fairly restrictive diet to stay thin (such as e.g. no gluten grains or added sugars.) Most people don't bother with that.

Actually, it's without health risks if you're healthy; if you have certain issues, like with the heart, liver or lungs it may be inadvisable to take it. It is very much suitable for healthy self-actualizers. Anyway, the people who run the centers screen for these conditions so there's nothing to worry about. It's an extremely powerful tool for spiritual growth under the right shamanic provider.