Consilience

To directly address the title’s question - It has helped, immensely. I was diagnosed with a pretty vicious autoimmune disease about 6 months after I learned about enlightenment and sort of held that I could, in fact, become enlightened myself. The disease routinely causes physical and mental pain, but through a very dedicated meditation practice and all the other activities (psychedelics, contemplation, reading, youtube, some yoga, etc) Ive completely transformed my relationship with it and hold it as a gift. Moreover, spirituality has made life so much more beautiful and fulfilling. Ive also really busted my ass with meditation though to a degree I rarely see others attempt. I believe this has played a critical role. Is life perfect? No. Am I always emotionally experiencing happiness? No. But these conditions are not the true fruits of the path anyways. A radical recontextualization is what we’re after. I like Shinzen's explanation of how mindfulness increases happiness in the long term: F - Fulfillment of the senses. When we have a ‘complete’ experience of pleasure and pain, both befome fulfilling. In this sense, mindfulness is the practice of having a complete experience of whatever is arising in experience. I - Insight into the nature of self. As we continue to practice, we come to experientially understand what we are at deeper and deeper levels. We also come to see the perfection of this moment as it is. There is a place for cultivated improvement (slowly increase mindfulness, or “consciousness state increases”) while also recognizing the primordial perfection of reality. Holding both truths as complimentary rather than contradictory is the true spiritual path. R - Relief from suffering. Turns out, when we apply mindfulness to our apparent suffering, the suffering dissolves or is seen to have never actually existed. We untangle perception until we see the truth of perception. if pain x resistance = suffering then (pain x resistance)/mindfulness = relief M - Mastery. When we apply the skills we’re building through meditation towards our lives, we begin to approach life more masterfully. This applies both broadly, and specifically for skills we’re attempting to buikd such as programming, public speaking, making music, writing, etc. S - A spirit of service. We learn that when we work on ourselves, we work on the word. When we help the world, we help ourselves. Experiencing this actuality rather than a fluffy philosophy are radically distinct.

I never said otherwise and even highlighted the importance of recognizing alternative motivations such as excitement, curiosity, desire, etc. Craving is the real beast. If you think I’m advocating the inability to enjoy altered states, please re-read what I wrote. I don’t feel I’m projecting anything, just sharing my perspective as someone with a lot of experience with casual psychedelic drug use and altered states.

Chronically or no, the potential for using a casual approach as a means of escape seems high. You’re your own best authority so it’s your call, of course. These matters of the underlying mechanisms behind behavior are incredibly subtle, delicate, and often difficult to discern. Perhaps casual use is driven by a pure excitement and curiosity, perhaps it’s from an underlying dissatisfaction with sobriety, or maybe both? No matter what, rock on man. I wish you fulfilling and sacred travels. ??

That doesn’t change anything about what I wrote. There is a distinction to be made with craving after an experience that is not currently present and having the equanimity to be with such craving. When craving is directly experienced (equanimity), it no longer drives behavior. When craving is resisted, which is only possible via the belief in a separate self, craving no longer drives behavior. When one is casually using drugs, even consciousness expanding drugs like psychedelics, its fundamental, psychological root is in the belief of a separate self, dissatisfied with its current experience and seeking to change it. When the actuality of craving is penetrated wholly and completely, there is no room left for dissatisfaction. The entire mechanism driving the need for a state change unravels. Of course, at the highest there is no separate self, just a movement of reality. But if this movement was seriously recognized, there would be no need to casually jump states. The actuality of what is already so is just as profound and mystical as any altered state. After all, there is no difference between the psychedelic and “sober” state. - Please note there are crucial distinctions between craving and other such mental states like desire, curiosity, excitement. Not all mental states lend themselves well if the pursuit is Awakening.

If you’re casually using a drug, it’s most likely a crutch to escape from some quality of your sober, grounded experience. Therefore, ultimately a distraction.

Oddly enough, solipsism has never really activated agitation in the mind. It’s been strange observing how many threads and how much resistance on the forum there is about solipsism. I just have no problems with it. In my experience, realizing solipsism has an incredibly palpable heart element. Recognizing absolute solipsism feels heart wrenching, it’s like tapping into infinite interconnectivity and taking on the weight of reality’s pain, joy, sorrow, ecstasy, bliss, suffering, peace, love… it’s all just one. And that oneness is overwhelmingly beautiful and I suppose could be horrifying to the unprepared mind. Perhaps an acquired taste. Yet there is a very grounded element to solipsism, an intrinsic freedom and equilibrium it necessitates. Yes it’s on some level horrifying, but on the other-hand, it is utterly unifying. Every moment, a perfect union with all other moments and beings. I don’t know how to describe why such an actuality is so supportive, but it is, truly, supportive.

I find often the abandonment creates what feels like a psychic vacuum. The thoughts and feelings of "right action" are pressurized into manifestation. If I try to act on what feels right, "right action," there always feels like an underlying wrong action, like the roots were more "what is wrong for you." But when abandoning right action, again, right action is the only actuality. Behavior starts to get quite paradoxical at this point.

I dont think the rate needs to be that quick but lets face it. Humanity is severely lacking wisdom and compassion. If we don’t collectively get our shit together, we will destroy ourselves. There’s no better way to develop wisdom and compassion than these contemplative practices like meditation. Unfortunately, they don’t work quickly enough to meet the exponentially growing challenges that we face such as climate change, rapidly advancing technology, massive wealth inequality, etc. Id also say don’t become attached to the image of the long hero’s journey. Just as there’s nothing wrong with the current speed (other than its lack of scaleability) there’s equally nothing wrong with speeding it up. No reason to assume its impossible and guaranteed to have something wrong.

It makes sense to me. I agree. I do think with technological advancements and perhaps a merging of psychedelics, neuroscience, and meditation, we could discover a new technology that speeds up the development of the brain regions associated with spiritual development such as concentration, mindfulness, etc.

I think Ive seen Leo make a distinction between understanding vs embodiment. To him, these are very distinct facets of the spiritual path and Actualized.org focuses more on the understanding component. I think there is wisdom there, but I also see a deep wisdom in unifying the concepts of embodiment and understanding in the sense that true understanding is embodiment. But… you know… #relativity

@Mosess Not sure if that's a reply, a question, or something else.

I'm speaking for others, not myself. What I observe is most people do not want max consciousness, they aren't interested in reaching some permanent exalted state, they're merely interested in living a good, meaningful, fulfilling life. This can be achieved without max consciousness. Meditation is perhaps the single most effective technique towards actualizing this aim. And since you're bringing up clear seeing, let's be clear - an exalted, fleeting, impermanent, sacred, empty, God-Realized state that shares the same fundamental essence as taking a morning shit is not intrinsically more clear than any other state when Clarity with a capital C is realized. There is something deeply fundamental missing in your metaphysical model. Obviously you'll disagree with this and I don't even disagree with striving after these states both with psychedelics and meditation both, but clinging to them is just another form of bondage and existential ignorance. But again, most people just want authentic happiness. Meditation is an amazing practice towards moving along this axis, even if the pinnacle is never reached. A good, meaningful, fulfilling life is achievable without psychedelics. To preach otherwise is not only wildly disempowering to your audience, but comes from a place of ignorance, delusion, and falsehood.

Your senses are biased. It depends on what you mean by effective. If living the good life is one’s aim, meditation and even some Buddhism are extremely powerful technologies. If the aim is God, in isolation these are probably not enough. The thing is, “most people” are looking to live the good life. Therefore, meditation and Buddhism are wildly effective.

Ironically, noting not self IS what opens consciousness to the Self.

No that's not vipassana, though looking at body sensations can be a form of vipassana practice. Vipassana is about studying the actuality of one's perceptive experience. Traditionally taught via noticing three fundamental qualities to experience, impermanence, dissatisfaction, and not-self which can lead into other insights such as interconnection, unity, the spacious quality of all phenomena, the dreamlike & empty quality of all phenomena, etc. If there's experience, vipassana is possible. You just turn mindfulness onto whatever is being experienced and notice its actuality. Vipassana while tripping is quite powerful. If there's no body, notice the sensations of no body, the sights, sounds, or other mental phenomena. If there's no form or infinity, notice those too with mindfulness.

?‍♂️

Mu ?

That would actually be a lack of acceptance. You’d be denying the part of your self that feels inspired to change.

Thank you @Inliytened1 and @Adamq8 and for the feedback. In all honesty yes I get triggered so that’s certainly a mirror for attachments, attachments to meditation, non-duality, an attachment to a different view regarding psychedelics. But It also comes from a place of compassion, seeing how lost people can get endlessly chasing paychedelics and never getting to the root of reality, of the self. If you frame awakening, the “deepest” awakening, as only being possible in a particular state, you’re lost. End of story. And to see this with crystal clarity while watching an influential teacher walk thousands off a cliff is stirs a sense of suffering on behalf of others inside. Overall I also recognize it’s all games, mind, projection, ego. And selfishly, it’s a great opportunity for further inquiry and introspection. There is no Leo, teachings, Actualized, self, or other. Agreed. Doesn’t change my view though.

Everytime he gets on this forum or video speaking about Awakenings he’s coming from a place of ego. That’s the whole trap. His mind is paradigm locked in conceptualization and this never ending grasping towards deeper Awakenings. True but if you don’t see the arrogance, you’re stuck in hero worship. 1) It is crystal clear Leo is not coming from a place of selflessness. This should be overtly obvious and if it is not, there’s a shitload of work left to do. 2) Yeah, Leo BELIEVES in his teaching. He’s lost in mind, lost in grasping, lost in samsara and duality, essentially. ? The real work begins finding God right now, not in an altered state. Go and do the work.

vv Yeah not a waste at all. Enormously powerful image. It’s actually on my vision board it strikes me so deeply. Most likely yes. My guess is he was in an extreme samadhi state while burning, had been training intensive retreat level prior to the burning, and was deeply conscious in general. He knew what pain was. He knew he was not a body or mind.

Hai ?

For as many books as you've read on the topic and you still think meditation is about stilling the mind? How could you even begin to imagine what thousands upon thousands of hours of meditation does to the mind? Do you not see how deeply self-deceptive you're being here? What happened to direct experience is king? Edit: The quote feature quoted the user @Hello from Russia, but the original quote is from @Leo Gura

Well said.

That’s the thing, fear of pain is one of the crucial dualities preventing infinity from breaking through while being sober. If you look at higher jhanas (jhana of infinite consciousness for example), it requires absurdly high levels of equanimity.