Guivs

Another way to see that situation is the following How lucky are we to have been on a path that recognizes our unconsciousness and the limitations of the ego? Not many humans have encountered this path. Everyone wants happiness and to be free from suffering. This is a valid goal. Because we are all equal and the number of "others" greatly exceed my lone self, resolve to do whatever you do in order to bring benefit for others When you see that others arr clouded by ignorance, you might not be able to help them directly spiritually speaking as they will not be able to understand yet for some. But the very fact to reflect on the fact that they ought to be happy and free from suffering as much as you will open up great compassion for them. You will then help them according to their level of understanding. It might just be making a material gift, a smile, and that is enough at that point If you base all your actions for the well being of others I guarantee you that the lonely feeling will not exist

I think the good thing about buddhism is that you are supposed to challenge, critique and make an idea for yourself of what is being taught A respectable buddhist teacher shall not make you adopt his views, I see more buddhism as "training of mind" at its core, like the yogic traditions

@Markus Practice as a whole, a few years As far as dream practice is concerned, I've only been into it since a few months, which is not much by any means. At first, I thought it was something way out of my reach, but with diligent practice, you have your first lucid dream in no time. Oh, and yes, here is a method taught by Alan Wallace that helps in increasing the chances of having a lucid dream Once in a while (if you are one of those people that fall asleep easily :)), set your alarm clock a couple of hours before your normal waking time. Then, wake up and read something about lucid dreaming for 30 minutes or so, and go back to sleep right after. This will enhance the probabilities of having lucid dreams right then. The most important thing is to develop those random state checks during the day, and to activate the prospective thought ("I will check for anomalies and I will be lucid in the dream" ) Of course, like I said before, I am a beginner with regards to this. And maybe someone more experienced will develop this fascinating topic further

Seeds get planted and cared for with enough water. Then all of a sudden, they blossom, with no apparent reason:) Keep at it, and do not get too attached to being blissful either, this is transient too Have a good day!

@Marcus And as far as dreamless sleep is concerned, it has happened twice. It is similar to some really deep states of meditation when the environment disappears and the senses stop functioning.:) Actually, it is like having access to the most basic level of the mind.

@Markus Hi Markus, yes I have experienced lucid dreaming before, it is quite funny.:) For instance, once, I was pursued by strangers in a small shop. Then, I realized this made no sense, I must be dreaming. As soon as it was clear, I remember thinking "Well, now, if I want to escape, why not go through the walls? which I did:)" The next step of practice in lucid dreaming for me would be : "if I am pursued by strangers and realize it's a dream, then I should not even try to escape them because it's a dream,and I should let them kill or beat me without any fear." But I have yet to do that Here is what has helped me develop this ability, even though I am not yet advanced in the matter : °During the day 1.Perform a lot of random checks during the day : a)"Am I dreaming?" Look around, check if objects are subject to gravity, if you are at a place that is familiar etc.. This might sound ridiculous, but it teaches your subconscious to do it also during sleep b) Everytime you receive something from someone, do something special, like touching your head for instance. If you receive something in a dream, you will do it also, and it might not feel the same and will give you doubt about the reality of what's happening. c) Practice mindfulness of breathing throughout the day helps, it makes you more relaxed, and dreams will be clearer, less foggy d) Practice shamatha (taking the mind as the object) : you can start by saying a sentence in your mind like "This is the mind". Then, you will know where to look e) Have this strong thought in mind quite a few times during the day: "Tonight, I will have a dream, and I will know it is a dream" °Before you sleep a) Have this intention / prospective thought : "When I'll wake up, I will not move AT ALL, not open my eyes, and not grasp anything". This is not directly related to lucid dreaming, but you might experience the basic level of the mind this way ( great meditation shortcut, if I can say) b) Mindfulness of breathing : Relax all body parts before you sleep ! At worst, it will enhance the quality of your sleep c) Say to yourself : " I will check for anomalies, (if gravity still works, you have 5 fingers...)" d) Look around and say "If I am in this room and should not be in another place. If I am in such another place, it will be strange, too strange." e) Just before you sleep, release awareness from everything, eyes closed. Be aware of being aware, not doing anything. This can lead to falling asleep lucidly (BUT it takes practice ). The thing is, in a regular dream, no matter what happens in it, you got it wrong at then end. Why ? Because you did not know it was a dream! Also, once you are lucid in a dream, possibilities are endless. You are not bound to your body and could meditate easily, just sit down in your dream and start Also, it will give you insights into the dream-like nature of the waking state also,and that the sense of an Independent self is a dream also. After a dream you can say : " None of the dreams I had last night remained in the waking state. Likewise none of the daytime things remained into the dream state. They are just as non objective as dream appearances. Both states are illusions. " Be careful thought not to become nihilistic, it is not because things are empty of inherent existence that it does not matter what you do. Because things are empty of inherent existence, they are impermanent and the law of causality applies. There is both a conventional truth (cause-effect) and absolute truth (emptiness) Hope that helps

First of all, I'd like to congratulate you for having stuck to practicing meditation even though you did not feel its benefits any longer:) The thing is, feelings of ups and downs, sensations, are all dependent arisings from conditions and what you need to realize is that there is no need to get attached to them because they are impermanent and no independent entities. Please continue to meditate, but with no goals in mind of becoming blissful and feeling joy. Just sit and experience your whole body sitting without clinging nor rejecting sensations and emotions arising. Do not care about them, just experience your body sitting, not even parts of your body, but the totality of it. At the beginning, you will feel that the sitting experience might be just a sense of discomfort, but has you do not give any importance to it, you will see that those discomforts will fluctuate in intensity and are transient. In any case, the role of meditation is not to get in an eternal blissful state, but rather to realize that we do not need to attach to those states of mind As an analogy, imagine you are sitting and your body is itching. At the moment your body is itching, you think "I want to scratch", this is the attachement that you need to get rid of:) But if you say "I hitch, but I will not move", it's already too late, because you have already attached to it. It is really subtle, and I'm far from being accomplished in any way or form, but I hope that helps Have a great day !

+1 If you are interested in this topic, I suggest that you check out the podcasts from upaya.org from about lucid dreaming and dream yoga. This is a podcast made of 13 parts that are around 45 min long each and that gives you a practical guide in how to develop lucid dreaming. Stick to it and apply the principles taught dilligently, then great are the chances that you will be having small experiences of lucid dreaming within one or two weeks. After a while you might even be able to develop lucidity in dreamless sleep, it will give you plenty of insights as well:) If you are interested and do not find the links of those podcasts, feel free to contact me and I'll send them to you. Have a good day!

Hi I would like to share a chan method which was taught by Sheng Yen and which can be used all the way up to liberation. This technique is called the method of no method. If you want you can check out this link which explains it : http://www.lionsroar.com/you-are-already-enlightened/ Ps : if we are not allowed to post links on the forum, i will delete the post Hopefully, it can be helpful to you all

One of the great masters of our times. Thanks for sharing ?

Indeed, this is a fantastic book. I've read it a few times along the path and I understand in more depth each time. This book is so profound, it has to be a go-to book for seekers out there totally agree with you

Hi everyone This is my first thread on the forum. I hope you all are enjoying this platform as much as I do! Let me suggest you a few documentaries that I have come across on Youtube and that are really interesting/inspiring. So, here we go : - Amongst White Clouds - Yogis of Tibet - Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi - The Sage of Arunachula Feel free to comment, and add some suggestions as well

What I would advise is to meditate first thing in the morning, when the mind is not yet attached to all external things going on around you. A great habit to develop is,when you wake up, do not open your eyes, do not move at all and enter directly in meditation. This can bring you in deep states of awareness. To induce this, you need to tell yourself before sleeping "when I will wake up, I will not move, not open my eyes, and meditate" it is easier to develop this habit than we think:) hope that helps

Just an opinion, but what I don't like nowadays is that enlightenment appears to be a business of its own accord. This is a double-edge sword, as people can now have easier access to instructions and insights, but some "teachers" have been discovered to not be so enlightened after all. I am also not comfortable for teachers seeking for "a lot" of money for "special teachings". Therefore, teachers I am comfortable with are only the ones that are/were not seeking anything from you. In my "subjective" opinion, those that I found so far are : -Ramana Maharshi -Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche -Thich Nhat Hanh Feel free to discuss

Hi Here are some great books worth checking out. Tao te ching - Lao-Tzu Origin of spiritual instructions - Ramana Maharshi How to see yourself as you really are - Dalai Lama I consider the last two books to be great books for practice while the first one is so deep and subtle. Those three books are truly gems.

hello. I have had interesting insights while in deep meditation, doing self enquiry, or during sleep. But it never lasted and we should not grasp to them. They are just pointers that indicate you are on the right track As far as I am concerned, one of the interesting experiences I have had is being fully conscious while all my senses temporarily stopped functioning. I could not see hear, taste anything, just a dark luminous void where no identifications occurred. While returning to my senses, I did not believe I was anything in particular and was deeply moved, but eventually the feeling went away. For the next months, I was grasping at this past experience as it was so blissful buy I now know for sure that we shall neither reject not grasp to those experiences. keep practicing

hello Here is my opinion. I think that to get the necessary insights in order to attain enlightenment, you need to have a mind that is "somewhat stable" in the first place, so that you can focus more easily. Hence, having an ethical conduct helps you in being less prone to your mind pulling you all over the place. For example, let us say that you tell a lot of big lies to people. Then, it will be much harder for you to attain deeper stages in your mediation and wisdom as those lies might worry you ( afraid of being discovered and so on). I would say a solid ethical conduct is a great foundation for optimizing meditation and enlightenment work. hope that helps:)

My opinion/feeling is that they are less truly enlightened people than we think. I would say that Ramana Maharshi is one of the few persons I feel comfortable to call enlightened (in modern times). Also,a few high accomplished lamas or yogi masters such as drubwang konchok norbu rinpoche , for instance. I also think that people such has Eckhart Tolle have attained a certain degree of realization, but not the endgame. Then again, it is just an opinion and I am open for discussion.