Consilience

I think this is actually in alignment with the Buddha’s idea of emptiness. Pretty sure he taught an emptiness so radical that it rejected even the present moment. Really cool! Also yes spot on about the 2nd and 3rd person perspectives reality is capable of taking on. Ive had trips where Ive experienced living thousands of lives simultaneously and now that Im sober, I struggle to even remember what that was like other than at the time it was a direct experience of collective “selfing.”

OP is explaining that distance is a relative concept. It is not Absolutely True. Obviously. Nice insight! One technique you could use to deepen this understanding is during walking meditation, become aware of how you aren’t moving. You’re remaining completely stationary despite the augmentations of perception moment by moment that give rise to the feeling of moving through space.

Just my random 0.02, I believe psychedelics cannot replace the need for manual practice for the population. For example, I've found the only way to really integrate and embody the insights I've had on psychedelics is through rigorous manual practice. But on the other hand, psychedelics seem to provide rocket fuel for the rigorous practices that I fail to see in those who only do manual practices... It's a really interesting balancing act, and one I'm still trying to figure out.

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Well every time I meditate now I get “high.” Ive been having multiple sessions per week that are about as powerful as low doses of psychedelics but Im dead sober and Ive only been seriously meditating for just less than 3 years. I say this just to give a counter example to your idea that it’ll take more than 10 years to get serious results from practice. However Ive also explored a wide variety of techniques, read and listened to a lot of different teachers, have explored psychedelics and have heavily trusted my intuition. Actualized.org has been indispensable on my journey. I bet if Id blindly started following one teacher I wouldn’t have been able to make serious progress.

That’s awesome to hear! My biggest piece of advice would say be extremely vigilant about not grasping for stages. That’s TMI’s biggest flaw is that its practitioners can unconsciously start creating attachments to making progress which will actually stop progress from unfolding. It’s also really not in the spirit of meditation practice to be grasping for stages and states. If you find yourself having become attached or are getting burnt out, Id switch to something like Do Nothing or Shinzen’s See Hear Feel. I spent about 2 months where I took a complete hiatus from TMI and focused exclusively on the Do Nothing and S/H/F techniques. When I returned to TMI practice, Id actually established myself in a higher stage of practice than when I left, despite not practicing it at all. Once you’ve gotten to stage 6, Id also start looking into Jhana practices. “Right Concentration” by Leigh Brasington is a good complimentary book for Jhana practice. Taking the time to develop shamatha and the Jhanas will start to facilitate psychedelic like states during practice, states that make perception feel spacious, fluid, flow like, expansive and empty. These states will start to really peel back the veil between the subconscious and conscious mind; the mind starts to “unify” the whole system with itself. Note this isnt the same as Absolute Truth, however from a relative pov I find this unification of the mind to be incredibly valuable and powerful. Feel free to dm for specific questions.

This. Jhana states are much more powerful than meditating while high. You get the pleasure, heightened perception/awareness, but without the mental fog and lack of focus.

Samurai Champloo wont seem spiritual at first but if you really contemplate the characters I find it to be quite spiritual. The ending is especially spiritual... although again not in an obvious way. I also feel that Cowboy Beebop is spiritual as well... it shows the consequences of samsara imo. I doubt the creator had this in mind, but when you make it to the ending and piece together what the show’s been building towards, I find it to be incredibly spiritual.

How worried are you all that something very un-democratic will happen in AZ and Trump will steal the election? One thing we all still have to account for is the 2020 variable... AKA IT'S 2020 D:

Yes. Like full 8 hours of sitting with brief breaks, intentionally working with fatigue. I bet it would work best during a retreat while you have some meditation momentum

So did mine, but I don't know how machine voting works. As in, I don't know the mechanics of the machines counting.

Anyone have any insight into the whole sharpie thing? I'm seeing republicans on FB claiming AZ needs a recount because sharpies aren't picked up by voting machines??

How can anyone declare a victory after election night if mail in ballots are still being counted? Genuine question

Just found an intro to this book. Dude literally exactly the kind of book I've been looking for on my journey. Thank you for the recommendation even though it wasn't for me haha.

Yaza helped me. I did yaza during a meditation retreat and 1 month post retreat and my relationship with fatigue has radically shifted. Ive also stopped eating so much during the day. I'll do IF until around 11am-12pm, eat a small lunch, eat another snack in the afternoon, and then eat the majority of my calories at dinner. Sleeping 8 hours is non-negotiable for optimal energy. Exercise, eating fruits and vegetables, hydration, and yoga all are needed as well. The older I get, the more that if any of these items are off the more I'll feel my energy levels dip.

bingo

Yeah if your goal isn't enlightenment, then self inquiry is pretty useless. With Kriya, I felt like all of the various focusing techniques were just too complicated and unnecessary. What are we training with meditation? Fundamentally, we're training mindfulness which could also be called awareness. What is mindfulness? I like Shinzen Young's definition - Concentration power, Sensory Clarity, and Equanimity. These three skills are the skills that yield the results of meditation. These three skills are what purify the mind, heal the emotional body, build physical pliancy, and essentially raise one's level of consciousness in the long run. I'd also throw in attentional stability as an important subcomponent of the concentration power piece which is where The Mind Illuminated comes in which Shinzen doesn't really address in his system. Kriya felt like it was overcomplicating the whole process while also missing what the primary aim of meditation practice is all about. Mainly, training those three skills to apply in every day life. Even if I were to use Kriya meditation techniques, at the end of the day I'd still be training concentration, sensory clarity, and equanimity. Furthermore, I want a meditation technique I can use all day every day. Kriya is really not conducive for life practice, but something like anapanasati (mindful breathing) from TMI or even Shinzen Young's See Hear Feel technique I can easily do all day long. But Kriya definitely has its fans. Maybe I'm misunderstanding the aim of Kriya or what types of benefits are available. I'd be curious to hear other's take. I believe some of the breathing techniques could be helpful for purifying emotions, but as far as building mindfulness.. Eh?

I've never had great results with Kriya. The Mind Illuminated took my meditation to another level. I basically feel like I'm high dose microdosing every time "I" meditate now. Id also recommend contemplating with Self Inquiry. Self Inquiry + serious meditation + psychedelics = bruh

But in a sense yes enlightenment does. Because the truth of the matter is the mechanism that is creating suffering and depriving happiness is a mechanism built entirely out of delusion. When the truth is fully seen, suffering becomes an impossibility and the source of authentic happiness is found. How can one know authentic happiness without knowing what's really true?

This is precisely incorrect. Desire is the underlying energy for survival activity. Even if you identify as awareness, desire will remain regardless, as will survival activity. I guess in a sense "you" no longer desire, but it's not because desire no longer arises; desire to live is going to remain until death. Also, identifying as awareness is another attachment that needs to be let go of to know thyself. Can be a very sneaky last ditch effort of the ego to survive.

Taking psychedelics will put all your fantasies of loving Now to the test. When your reality is crumbling before your eyes, how grounded and enduring is your love for Now? I don't view them as a means to enlightenment, but I respect their capacity to keep me honest about how far Ive come. How can I claim to have reached enlightenment if I become terrified on acid or am suffering through insanity on mushrooms? A real master wouldn’t be phased at all. I agree though that you cannot escape the sober work though. Id recommend being more holistic with your thinking OP.

This statement is false.

Or maybe you can't do anything? How can anything be done if there is no one to do anything? Hmmm...

Awesome! Really happy the post was helpful Feel free to DM if you have any questions on the book, meditation, etc.