Huz

@Arik Thanks a lot for your advice! Was very insightful and helpful. Very exciting to hear the mastery you have developed through this technique. At the end of the session? What's your procedure. Do you "analysis" the meditation to see what you got out of that sit? Or do you just carry on with the day?

I think first bring yourself to a stage of absolutely not knowing who the fuck your are using the aid of thought and rationality to create a genuine sense of wonder. After you get that conscious traction of not knowing - meditate on the questions above. Also, don't stop the inquiry outside your sit. Ask these questions and look for answers everywhere you go. Try to spend your day being as mindful as possible in the activities you do. I find when I just be mindful of certain sights, without thought, I get a "feeling" that I am not an entity located in the field of awareness and the sense of self dissolves very very momentary. So for example when you get in your car, don't just get in and drive. Before you open the door spend 30secs to a minute being mindful of the present moment. Keep doing this throughout the day. These videos by Shinzen Young are also very good for this as well! I advice you watch them https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHUajtPXPDw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SE5O9tjqMo

really? interesting, yeah will look into it. So your meditations became easier after abstance? did you feel more alive to say?

@Holdup Thanks so much for your help! Yeah been times when you feel very lonely. I Thank Leo so much for starting the forum because its allowed me to connect with people like you to help me out and put things into perspective. Actualized.org has saved my psychology What self help books do you recommend? @Kelley White I have given those forums a look and are great! By the way what does a Moderator status mean?

@Arik wow, that sounds awesome! I Got couple of questions for ya Were you doing any previous mediation techniques before or have you started using this one? What was your psychological state like before starting meditation? I was an emotional, panic/anxious prone depressant and have done about 6 months on mindfulness mediation and its created so much space in my and got me out of the depression But have you got any tips that i could use, like any specific spiritual techniques that could broaden my practice. I like this technique because i get small glimpses of experiencing what it is like not living from a mind-body

whats step two?

Could you explain that in depth I don't understand but sounds interesting

Thanks guys all your advice has been so helpful. I am now seeing a therapist and was reading the Nathaniel Brandon book but stopped because of my exams coming up. Raising of your awareness does help you alot Have you got any forums that you know off?

Hey I have been improving - the last incident I had was about a week ago and it was at a worse rate before. I have had urges when I eat. There is a problem though which is sometimes when I eat and I sit down I naturally throw up after a heavy meal without any intervention. It's happened a couple of times this week

This is an area I have been pondering on and some of your great advice people would be amazing Leo mentions that in order to transcend your ego you need to be aware of your dishonesty, to yourself and to others. However, once you transcend your ego and reach enlightenment teachers say that you can use any character to interface with the world. But isn't that in itself not true and a lie to others because you are using a falsity identity as an interface?

If there was no stream there would be no river for the world to see. So if there was no character there would be no being to for the world (humanity) to interact with

Is the willingness to accept that we are a machine and don't have free will (very hard for the ego to do) itself an act of free will?

So we are analogous to the flowing water and the stream characterise the water for the world to spectate. I really like that

Your right it's very liberating at times, but also for me very easily forgotten!!

Has anyone got a summery for how you lie?

@Leo Gura are there any times when you eat something that is not as healthy at the diet you eat. Like a unhealthy snack etc

Hey guys I am just wondering weather self-esteem would be transcended upon spiritual enlightenment. For a highly englightenment being is self esteem a concept and meaning he has neither high or low self-esteem Or is self-esteem an intrinsic part of our mechanism and nature. A sub-set of consciousness is you will. That increases when on the spiritual path?

High Self esteem isn't about comparing to others (that's low). It's about acceptance and to believe that you are worthy of happiness and life in general. It's also you ability to take charge of your life. No comparisons to others are needed

That makes so much sense logically now what does it feel like to experience no free will? Has it happened to you?

This insight, which helped me understand the reality of my experience, and to open my mind, was to think (and then experience) of the body as a converter of physical sensations and perceptions in the unified awareness. For example, in your awareness, you see food and then you put it into the mouth which converts the perception into another. Then maybe converts that into thought. Same as for touching something. What I am starting to see that the body can't be defined as you in this case because of its uniformity. It's a bridge and converter in your awareness (which is fixed) which is malluable. A tool in which awareness can become aware of it self. I just haven't realised it yet. Hope it helps, was an insight it got

Wow very interesting, so it's all masked under this illusion, good theme for contemplation exercises: could say "where in my existence if free will perceived to exist"

How to exploit people to grow So what's going to happen in personal development is that you are going to become more conscious and follow principles to help you grow. You and going to reach a stage where you see clearly how people are neurotic, hypocritical, bad, lose their temper, have panic attacks etc. You begin to see people sleeping through life. You will tell them why they are going wrong and they will get angry at you. This will trigger an emotional response where you think you are better then them. What you need to do when you you reached this stage is actually ask yourself "where am I behaving/ doing x in my life". Eg see someone get angry, ask "where/how am I getting angry in my life?" or see someone unconscious ask "where in my life do I become unconscious?". This is so valuable. The problem is you got all these people being unconscious and doing stupid shit. But if you think you are better then them you are going to go point fingers, judge them and act superior. This will disturb you as you point out their flaws, and try to instruct people from your wise position. The wise you is going to see this something is wrong with this approach. What that is, is that you aren't registering those same flaws. The fact is no matter how developed you are there are still always going to be ways where you are behaving in the exact same ways, is being unconscious, pessimistic, monkey mind, angry, negative, breaking good principles. You are doing this every day, but you are very good of becoming hyper aware of faults in other people but not your own. The next level for you is too come to accept that this is the world we live in, be at one with it. Then you can use all these situations to your benefit, you use these people at reminders of what you should not be doing. When you do this is you become thankful. When you see someone get angry in traffic this reminds you not to forgot your meditation. "How can you use that person as a mirror in my own behaviour" Eg guy is being cynical at work "ask how is that related to me? I am not cynical at work but am with my parents" This speaks incredible self-discipline because goes against the mechanism of your brain. Makes you wise as you take negatives and take it into positives. USE NEGATIVE PEOPLE TO FUEL YOU

Lol

Hey guys Do you recommend to read this book? Is it a practical book? I have heard it's great but there are also other spirituality books on my list.

anyones in the uk?