Consilience

Same insight from mama mushroom lol. It actually takes less work than you’d think. If you’re interested in accessing these kinds of deep, blissful absorption states during meditation, there’s a phenomenal talk on Dharma Seed by Rob Burbea about the Jhanas. Combine this with the stages 1-6 practices from The Mind Illuminated (which are all more or less the same technique, just slightly different focus ranges) and you’ll be accessing drug like states from meditation with ease.

"The great way isn't difficult for those who are unattached to their preferences. Let go of longing and aversion, and everything will be perfectly clear. When you cling to a hairbreadth of distinction, heaven and earth are set apart. If you want to realize the truth, don't be for or against. The struggle between good and evil is the primal disease of the mind. Not grasping the deeper meaning, you just trouble your minds serenity. As vast as infinite space, it is perfect and lacks nothing. But because you select and reject, you can't perceive its true nature. Don't get entangled in the world; don't lose yourself in emptiness. Be at peace in the oneness of things, and all errors will disappear by themselves. If you don't live the Tao, you fall into assertion or denial. Asserting that the world is real, you are blind to its deeper reality; denying that the world is real, you are blind to the selflessness of all things. The more you think about these matters, the farther you are from the truth. Step aside from all thinking, and there is nowhere you can't go. Returning to the root, you find the meaning; chasing appearances, you lose there source. At the moment of profound insight, you transcend both appearance and emptiness. Don't keep searching for the truth; just let go of your opinions. For the mind in harmony with the Tao, all selfishness disappears. With not even a trace of self-doubt, you can trust the universe completely. All at once you are free, with nothing left to hold on to. All is empty, brilliant, perfect in its own being. In the world of things as they are, there is no self, no non self. If you want to describe its essence, the best you can say is "Not-two." In this "Not-two" nothing is separate, and nothing in the world is excluded. The enlightened of all times and places have entered into this truth. In it there is no gain or loss; one instant is ten thousand years. There is no here, no there; infinity is right before your eyes. The tiny is as large as the vast when objective boundaries have vanished; the vast is as small as the tiny when you don't have external limits. Being is an aspect of non-being; non-being is no different from being. Until you understand this truth, you won't see anything clearly. One is all; all are one. When you realize this, what reason for holiness or wisdom? The mind of absolute trust is beyond all thought, all striving, is perfectly at peace, for in it there is no yesterday, no today, no tomorrow." - The Mind of Absolute Trust, Seng-ts'an

By intelligence I think we could define it as an infinite number of parts and wholes, an infinite field of distinctions, all seamlessly working together. Flawlessly working together. Both positions, labeling it as intelligent, or indescribable, are both "valid." Notice though, that the intelligence we typically attribute to the human mind is happening at a meta level with the structure of reality. Reality is enormously "intelligent" in that in every extendable direction, there are parts and wholes all inextricably interconnected, seamlessly functioning together without error, mistake, or imperfection. It is literally impossible to describe one facet of reality without considering the whole of reality. To describe any part at the highest level, we must consider the "that which it is not." The "that which it is not," however, is inextricably linked to that which we are describing, yet does not break or negate the distinction, nor the inextricability. Further, the "that which it is not" is not only inextricable from the point of view of the whole, but is in co-creation with the part we are considering similar to how the a computer screen necessarily creates communication exchange over the internet despite being NOT the communication. Notice the infinite chain of holism here though; the computer screen and communication is just the beginning of this infinite web of causality. Yes there is no reference for even considering the possibility that reality is "dumb." There is no reference point for something other than infinite intelligence which is why it is completely valid to just not say anything about it. Yet, when the ego mind is removed, and we are contemplating reality within a state of "non-dual awareness," so to speak, we will inevitably see the inseparability of all facets of reality, that "not-two" is precisely infinite intelligence. If intelligence where indeed infinite, there could only be what is as it is right now. What is, is right now what it is, precisely because if the source of it where anything other than infinitely intelligent, it would not be what it is in this moment. Therefore, because this moment is exactly as it is, it MUST be an expression of infinite intelligence. The "logic" here to explain infinite intelligence is entirely self referential, a strange-loop, and cannot be expressed using linear language. At some point, the mind must fully grasp the strange loop as itself, fully, and wholly. At some point, the mind will 'understand' that at every level, scale, position, distinction, there resides the echo of infinity, of every other part of reality. Yet seeing this is impossible with the ego mind, and further, it is impossible to gain from a meditative state of deep absorption, samadhi, cessation, satori. This understanding requires that the mind be functional, but functional in a way which transcends the limited programing modern society has drilled into our minds through our eduction system, social systems, government systems, and the larger contexts we collectively agree upon as "reality." Make no mistake though, with each breath we draw, we find the intelligence of life, reality, God, pulsing through the body and beyond. You will not find this stuff without a radically opened mind. You will not find this stuff without a radically curious mind. Even becoming conscious of yourself as God, or transcending suffering as an Arhat, does not guarantee one grasps this level of seeing. Infinite intelligence is a structural understanding of reality, not reality itself, yet it could be none other than reality itself. Tricky tricky.

Explain red to someone who's color blind. If you can't, you don't understand it well enough. In general this does apply, but not for everything. Perhaps not for the deepest truths. Perhaps this has less do to with one's understanding and more to do with the inherent limitations of language. In general though yes. Concision and simplicity about complex topics can be a sign of powerful understanding.

Frank calling consciousness impermanent is the Buddhist notion of consciousness. Awareness is impermanent, and awareness can replace Yang's definition of consciousness here if he's going by traditional Buddhist definitions. The consciousness that Leo is talking about, in Buddhist terms, is Nirvana. Peter Ralston also makes this same distinction between awareness and consciousness, although I only learned that from a workshop I attended awhile back. At the time, I had no idea how there could be a distinction between awareness and consciousness. In Buddhism, there's the Jhana of infinite consciousness, this is NOT Consciousness with a capital C. It is a (mis)translation pointing really to an absorption state of infinite awareness, awareness becoming infinitely aware of itself. This, however beautiful, is not God, or Consciousness. Awareness is impermanent. Every time you go to sleep you lose awareness. Pure, formless consciousness, or God, remains.

This. The “trying” to dissolve it is itself more I. The I will only dissolve if and only if it is seen that both a state of I and non-I are both equivalent. When the preference for one state over another fades away, when the underlying (un)reality of both are seen, then “one” knows “progress” is being made, precisely because the attempts at progress are seen through. Precisely because progress is itself seen through. Yet damn bro, try try try. You have absolutely no choice in the matter.

TMRL ?

And yet both of you talking about it on here is none other than complete enlightenment

This is such a useful response, read this carefully OP. Spend 4 hours just sitting and asking “Who am I?” And study the immense suffering “you” start to experience as a result of the lack of stimulation and then re-asses how easy of a practice is it. Any feelings of suffering, separation, boredom, agitation, anger, stress, or even varying degrees of bliss/happiness are not it. Keep digging. Keep watching as the mind psychically projects its bullshit over and over and over. And then return to the question. This would be the hardest 4 hours of your life. Ive often found combing self inquiry with Shinzen Young’s See Hear Feel technique quite powerful. “Who sees?” Focus on what/who is observing the visual space. Repeat for the auditory and somatic spaces. “Who hears?” “Who feels?” This helps deconstruct the sense of self into its perceptual aggregates and see how strictly speaking, there’s nothing holding the sense together except thoughts (mental imagery, mental talk, and emotional body sensations all knot together forming a sense of I and identification with the body). This then makes returning to the question more broadly “Who am I?” pack a deeper punch.

I'm honestly not sure if this is the right forum section for this post so if it's not I apologize. I'm also not even sure if this is an appropriate forum post and if it's not... Well I apologize for that as well. I've recently felt a calling to experiment with guided meditations and start posting them on YouTube. I currently have a YouTube channel where I communicate about meditation primarily, and honestly I find a lot of joy in it. However, something isn't *quite* in alignment when I take a step back and consider what is actually my purpose here? While I do find great joy with talking about meditation, I feel like it would be more appropriate to actually guide others in the practice. And because of my growing experience with the practice, I feel like I could make really powerful guided meditations that are geared more towards awakening, cultivating insight and purification. Not just the "10 minutes from 0 to Zen! Guided Meditation to Feel Your Best!" Bullshit that liters YouTube. In a sense, my current channel feels like it is serving a purpose... And it is in alignment with my purpose. But the actual way it's actualizing on my purpose feels off. My intuition has been pulling me more and more towards the idea of actually guided others rather than talking at them. Besides which, there are literally thousands of talking heads on YouTube. Yet there are very, very few channels focused on guided meditations from someone who's a genuinely experienced, serious practitioner. This feels more like a niche, and a niche not only am I primed to fill, but a niche that I would find a deep joy in. In terms packing a deeper punch with a video format, I would be thrilled if I had the knowledge and skill to create these videos similar to the ones in the guided meditations from Awaken The World Films: 99.9% of the time I do not use any sort of guidance for my personal sitting, but even with such an extreme preference for silence, I personally find these graphics to be really powerful. It's almost like somehow the energy of the voice + the breathing sacred geometry help open the mind up and sink deeper into the practice. From this deepening of my state, not only does meditation become easier, but contemplating deep questions also does. So anyways... I would LOVE to make these types of guided meditations and start posting them on YouTube. Here's the problem though. I literally have 0 clue where to start. Fucking 0. What kind of software this would even take. How many hours of practice it would take to even make something of this caliber. I've considered reaching out to the couple who make these films, but it feels like the chances of them responding would be next to 0 so I'm starting here. Are there any experienced graphic designers that could point me in the right direction to start learning about this stuff considering I am a complete beginner? Any feedback, advice, pointers, input, would be extremely appreciated. Thank you.

@Peter-Andre So Daniel ended up responding to my email within a couple of hours... lol. He is using a software called Apophysis 7x but recommended JWildfire as an alternative, as well as After Effects for additional editing, and coloring.

Thank you! Good point. I reached out lol. Hopefully they respond. I appreciate the response and input, thank you.

Considering language is a function of time, in other words language requires the existence of time to operate, technically no. However, some writers are very skilled and can do a great job of pointing to what the is-ness of the present moment.

It did the opposite for me. My meditation practice was invigorated and propelled by my aggressive psychedelic useage. Lately I've been tripping significantly less and having an enormous growth with manual practice.

@Leo Gura Never underestimate the value in planting seeds. The first time I saw one of your videos I was completely turned off, utterly disgusted, no offense. But somehow what you were talking about just felt too radical not to keep digging into... And I am eternally grateful for YOU that I did. I would not be where I am had I not stumbled into your content. These types of interviews even if not proving very fruitful at the surface, can very well be planting these seeds in others at the depths. Even if they don't look into your teachings more, they may stumble into another spiritual teacher because of what they heard you talking about. I would encourage you to keep going with these every so often. You may find you get better at nailing down effective ways at communicating with those at a lower level.

Such a high quality post! Thank you so much man.

Not sure where you’re getting this information from. Vajrayana has some of the most overly complex meditation methods out there. Practitioners spend time visualizing elaborate deities, remolding their identity through these images to see the fluidity and emptiness of the personal identity. Im not a Buddhist scholar, but I wouldn’t classify this tradition as the “highest” Buddhism if we’re going off of what the Buddha actually taught, based off of the Pali Canon. Meditation and Buddhism are inextricably linked based on this text. Overall, I would say one needs to explore this for themselves. Meditation is very likely to help its practitioners suffer less, be happier, understand themselves more deeply, love more openly, appreciate the world, and find a spirit of giving within themselves. Never mind the fact that there are countless reports of meditation being an effective method for full blown enlightenment. Someone who’s truly awake will see the wisdom in honoring each individual’s path. Whether that path includes meditation or not is for the individual to decide, but the likelihood of someone reaching enlightenment without spending significant periods of time in some kind of silent, reflective environment is low. Practically this means, try meditation or dont. If we do, we can trust gut with whether it resonates. The intelligence beyond our identity will guide us with whether to pivot or go deeper if we have the wisdom to listen. On an aside, the ego will do everything in its power to justify NOT sitting down in silence doing nothing.

I think so. I think psychedelics + having a really solid epistemological framework from Leo’s videos has definitely increased the effectiveness. Psychedelics are so powerful at blasting through the mind’s blind spots... combine that with intense practice and man you’ve got the mother of all combos. It’s unfortunate so many people on the forum dismiss the effectiveness of practice. Doubt is one of the big hinderances Buddhism talks about, and for good reasons. It took me about 1000 hours of meditation in around 3 years before things started to really take off, but wow once it starts taking off there’s no going back. I think everyone’s requirements will be different but psychedelics and deep philosophical inquiry via Actualized.org videos helps speed things up, a lot actually. EDIT: And using a technique or techniques that resonate with you.

One thing Id like to add about this manual practice path, the build up is really fucking slow, but after a certain point you’ll start to experience exponential take off with the states your capable of reaching while sober. Lookup “Shinzen Young’s hockey stick metaphor” on youtube for details on this dynamic.

Be careful with this attitude. They are the most direct route but also extremely fleeting and not great for accessing deep states 24/7. @machiavelli You’ll need a very rigorous formal practice like self inquiry or meditation, think 2+ hours per day, going on yearly retreats or more, and will need to either practice mindfulness 24/7 or as @The0Self mentioned, 24/7 self inquiry. Psychedelics are fantastic, and you should definitely find a way of incorporating them into your “spiritual work” but to integrate these profound states into daily life, you’ll need manual practice. But make no mistake, you can profoundly increase your baseline, sober state of conscious. Cannot emphasize this enough.

Spend a few years devoted to mmm... 1-4 hours per day in silent reflection whether through seated meditation or contemplation and you’ll have your answer. For myself, yes. I have seen astronomical shifts in consciousness from having a serious formal meditation practice. I have experienced radical states and experiences through practice. It’s abnormal for meditation to not feel like Im on a low dose of psychedelics these days. By formal Im meaning seated, in silence, and in stillness, without distraction. Yet, very easily someone could start arguing with me about why silent reflection isn't a big deal and is certainly incapable facilitating deep transformations or elevations of one’s consciousness. There are countless anecdotes on the internet proving it has some measurable effect. The only way you’ll know for sure is by testing it on yourself.

This is very sad to hear. I remember finding Jeff Foster awhile back and being profoundly touched by his talks on YouTube, he really helped ground these lofty spiritual ideas into the reality of human experience. To read this is... humbling and heart breaking. This is why I will always practice meditation and why I take practice so seriously. This is why the neo advaita philosophy is so shallow as far as Im concerned. When the conditions of life shift in an instant, how ready are we really? How awakened are we really? How deeply do we see, understand, and accept reality? In many ways, the degree to which we suffer is inversely proportional to the degree to which we are awake. We will all face aging, illness, and death, most of us will face aging, illness, and death before we are ready. It can all be taken away in an instant. It will all be taken away in an instant. May we all have the clarity and openness to acknowledge and accept this loving experience of life, independent of the conditions and qualities it presents. May we see the deeper reality residing beneath. May we all be free from suffering. May we all be truly happy. Sending him love and light.

It feels like my relationship with all animals has vastly improved since I stopped eating them. I'd be interested in hearing your rational for this as well.

Looks like it IS amateur hour! Honestly Im not sure I believe that 51% of the collective psyche is in 4th density. The only way that would be feasible is if single individuals contributed more to the density than others... maybe. I just don’t see it.

Earth is very much a 3rd density planet transitioning to 4th based on the Ra material. Amateur hour... Have these recovered memories helped you be happier and or suffer less?