Consilience

Strong determination sitting Rules: 1. Don't harm the physical body 2. Don't move unless to prevent harm from the physical body Facing pain and suffering head on is one of the fastest ways to understand deep compassion and love for all sentient beings. Impossible to bullshit yourself when you're basking in massive amounts of discomfort. You either have wide open equanimity (Love) or you don't.

Even in the darkness, there is only light. Even in silence, there is only sound. No need to go seek darkness or silence when darkness and silence are always present. If you think reality isn't real as what your post seems to suggest: You haven't gone all the way. But is that actually what you've experienced? That there is no such thing as reality?

This is not an experience, this an interpretation of experience. In Zen, just sitting is complete reality. This is not an experience, this is an interpretation of experience. This depends on your definition of real. Real is what is ACTUALLY going on, experientially, directly, as it IS. THIS. In this way, all experiences are equally real. By recognizing when the mind is interpreting reality vs. directly observing reality. Direct observation = truth/real. Their actuality is profoundly real. The way one interprets the experiences and builds metaphysical models is relative. Look into this concept from Janism, "Anekantavada"

And tbh this is a completely fair criticism. The number of psychedelic users who pursue enlightenment is a low percentage of the psychedelic community. The success rate of psychedelic users who pursue enlightenment (whether with psychedelics or not) is low. The number of enlightened masters who are interested in psychedelics is even lower. By the time one is enlightened, the need to chase states to experience God is non-existent.

I'd keep going with your contemplation. This is when the Zen master would hit you with a stick! For me personally, a vipassana retreat was what shattered my entire metaphysics and let me step into a direct experience of the nature of reality, given perception = actuality = being = reality. (Some hints: impermanence, not me not mine, unsatisfactory, boundless space, compassion, infinite interconnectivity, God, Love)

How can you trust your experiences within the sober as real? It seems like more than a bit of a leap to build a whole metaphysics around any state of mind. Why? Precisely because of the infinite range of possible mind states there are. So how are we gauging which ones are better, more accurate, more indicative of reality than others? The mistake of the mainstream science is to place so much authority on the sober state of mind, as though somehow the natural state we've all been given is 'the state' to make metaphysical conclusions about reality. Moreover, we then have to consider how much un-cognized mind state activities are influencing the ways we interpret and build stories around whatever perceptive experience is taking place, whether sober or tripping. This is why have a strong epistemological basis is critical for any kind of contemplative work, whether psychonautic or not. This is all to say, great that you're questioning, but make sure to apply that same skepticism to the sober mind. Point the questioning to the structure of mind itself, not one slice of content within all possible mind states, in my opinion.

Perhaps this is a description of enlightenment. What is reality?

Which specific playlist is this apart of?

^ Mindfulness Microdosing mushrooms would be fun too. They’d teach you how to dance while simultaneously allowing you to go way meta.

He passed away so online retreat is all we’ve got. Everything I learned about accessing all 8 main jhana’s came from his recorded lectures on Dharma Seed. Typing in “Rob Burbea Jhana retreat” and you’ll find the list of recordings. There’s probably a depth to jhana work impossible to emulate without going on a retreat, building the day by day momentum, and working with a teacher, but these recordings are the only resources Ive found that are clear and powerful. Everything Ive learned about jhanas has been in a home setting and Ive been able to access all 8. There are many layers, subtleties, and forms of each jhana… getting a first glimpse is the critical step though, the rest tends to naturally unfold with increasingly less effort… we learn how to surrender into them. Id treat the recordings like a meditation course, each is about as long as a Leo video, some a little shorter. Good luck dude ??

Have you read Christopher Bache‘s “LSD and the Mind of the Universe”? Dude was doing 500-700ug. Fucking insane.

One’s karma is whatever is actually happening in the present moment. Karma is real only insofar as this present moment is real.

Shinzen Young’s See Hear Feel technique is really unique when it comes to how he presents concentration. Long story short, concentration =\= attention stability, however attention stability can be a feature of concentration. The beauty of noting meditation is one can get into a state of shamatha without stabilizing attention on a single object. Instead, momentary concentration doesn't disrupt the natural rhythms and flow of attention, or activity of mind but still facilitates the benefits of mindfulness. We learn to ride the wave of this field of flux rather manipulating it. Id also highly highly highly recommend Rob Burbea’s jhana retreat. There are certainly benefits to attention stability such as deep jhana work.

This is huge. ??

Amazing list.

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That’s a very difficult question. “World of form” = perception + awareness of perception + time + space + awareness of time & space. All of this is subject to impermanence as you mentioned. Absolute truth is not impermanent though, otherwise it would not be absolute and so therefore cannot be any of these forms. Yet by virtue of the actuality of form, forms are “true.” Actuality = what is true. All of this is the epitome of paradox and the quicker your mind can rest into this paradox comfortably, the better. There is a quality to existence though that is utterly unchanging, absolute. It is the true nature of self and reality and is inextricably unified with all forms. And so when one is grounded in the absolute, one is necessarily grounded in form but at a ‘meta’ level. Being at this meta level is not the same as seeking different flavors of form though, it is allowing the play to be exactly as it is. Equanimity. When you become conscious of this absolute, happiness and unhappiness collapse into Happiness. “Happiness” is beyond time, space, mind, self, other, and reality. Beyond all duality. Impossible to think about or describe, really. Best input I could give is to keep meditating and self inquiring until this ‘makes sense.’

Truth is eternal. The world of form is impermanent. Happiness based in truth is not impermanent.

Enlightenment is the only solution to true happiness. True happiness can only be achieved from a foundation of truth. All other forms of happiness are distortions of the ego mind. True happiness is not found in the many manifestations of form, nor is it found by abiding in the formless (yet abiding in formlessness is actually much more pleasurable than form, once the taste is acquired). True happiness is found in the simultaneous expansion and contraction of form and formlessness, birth and death, arising and passing, in breath and out breath. True happiness is neither perception, nor non perception, neither being nor non-being, neither everything nor nothing. True happiness is that great equilibrium that unifies all, that is one. Don’t mistake this for neutrality though. It is only by stepping into this emptiness can one be truly happy. So overall what is the point of this work? To become conscious of what you really are. Overall, what is the point of becoming conscious of what you really are? Lasting happiness. Overall, what is the point of lasting happiness? All beings naturally, and spontaneously move towards this type of satisfaction, yet from a place of ignorance hence why they are never satisfied. Even if you pretended happiness wasn’t what you were seeking, your actions say otherwise. We’re all always moving in an attempt to cope with our existential circumstance ie moving to find happiness in this world. We’re all already doing it, effortlessly, but failing spectacularly. We could never not chase happiness either. Even depression, self destructive behaviors, and suicide are forms of seeking happiness, it’s just much more obvious how these strategies are failing than if one is say, running a successful business and ‘happy’ with their work. Both examples are still suffering due to a fundamental ignorance. Samsara is not where ultimate happiness resides. Only you are.

?? ? Yes, my god. Combining 4 of these books is gold. Very interesting resource as well!

I think this is a really balanced way to approach her content.

Because it's seen that hard work and effort are too, part of the effortless flow of life. As the ol zen saying goes, "Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water."

If one is doing the work "correctly" the seeking and "work" will be coming from a place of emptiness, an automatic happening. Consciousness begins to unknot itself through complete spontaneity, awakening to infinite degrees on autopilot, and one step further would be that each moment is recognized as being complete, an opportunity for the infinite to be expressed as well as experienced directly. The idea that there was ever someone working, or that there was ever an exertion of egoic will is too seen to be empty. When all of the hard work and effort is transcended, when all of the hard work and effort is seen as it actually is, this is not the end of all of the hard work and effort. Instead, a radical re-contextualization takes place and everything is as it was. At this point, consciousness will either keep "practicing" and the mind structure will continue to purify, transform, and embody principles aligned with absolute truth, or it won't. All is in perfect equilibrium.

Many hours of meditation and contemplation. Id pick up Peter Ralston’s “The Book of Not Knowing” and Dr. John Yate’s “The Mind Illuminated” as books to dive into. Combing the material with these two books through hardcore spiritual practice before you take psychedelics would provide enormous benefit, as well as make your entry into psychedelics enormously more powerful.

Ive not heard Papaji, Mooji, and certainly not Ramana Maharshi (so Id be surprised if his followers say this) say this at all. Specifically, Ive heard Mooji in many videos give instructions to stay with the question “Who am I?” Over and over and over. Which is the opposite of saying you’re already enlightened. In the Anna Brown thread you mentioned a whole list of teachers who, as far as Ive observed, fall much more into the group of “there’s nothing do to you’re already awake.”