VioletFlame

Love the image you posted. Breathe like smooth jazz. Take every breath as if it were your very first and your very last.

@ivory You're very welcome! Well my dude, you do it for you, because it is simply a healthy challenge which could help you overcome this dilemma you are having among others. Soulitude is great and it's okay to not have interest in people but in the long run, when you put yourself out there and meet like-minded people, you will gain more authentic connections to others which is certainly worthwhile. The quality of your relationships over the quantity is super important. Choosing the people you surround yourself wisely and gently is best because of course, you don't want to fall into a crowd of low-consciousness energy vampires who carry selfish agendas, simply stay away from this kind. Just let your intuition guide you, you'll know what's best for you. ♥

Expect it to last a lifetime. ? And feel excited!

@caelanb Well it's certainly okay and understandable to want to chase fun recreational stuff and explore the outside world, but when it comes to these practices, if they truly interest you and are calling to you, then you must learn to simply keep it at or else you'll never truly know how deep it can take you so long as you're not committed to it or learning how to love it. Try seeing it as embarking on an adventure, except it is an internal one. But it is a fucking voyage and a new experience every time. And the more you practice, trust me the easier it will become, like second nature. It will be challenging in the beginning, but if you make it into a priority, even if it means simplifying the duration of the practice at first and gradually working your way up through time, you'll feel so much better and eventually have some of the most amazing life changing experiences you could ever imagine or have ever dreamed of, if you simply allow them to arise. The more you continue these practices, there will be tremendous results over time. I can't tell you when, but you must trust and believe that it will. Belief is an incredibly powerful tool. Also as long as you are breathing fluidly and comfortably each time and training yourself each time to focus on that very present experience and looking deep within, then you will take off and you will transition. In the beginning, there will be times where you will sit and it won't feel so bad. Other times you will sit and it may seem pointless or confusing..or aimless thoughts/feelings will appear, drift, come & go...you may sit and suddenly you begin to cry or you may have other particular reactions that may surprise you but which must be released, so let everything go that is yearning to be released....But then other times you will sit and you will feel the most inexplicable love and joy for every single aspect of life and gratitude for simply breathing. You may thank the experience and yourself for showing up as well.♥ There's so much psyche and soul journeying within these practices and so much to experience, and are so powerful, ultimately so worth it. Everyone has different reasons, but I got off anti-depressant medication five years ago (on them way too young) and discovered they were poison so I resorted to these practices and I was healed faster within 6 months of deep meditative practices and tripping on mushrooms than 3 years of talk therapy and manipulative medication ever tried to do, or could've done. Those things for me anyway, only added more fuel to the fire, it was suffering.

@ivory I hope this was somewhat helpful. ♥

@Joseph Maynor No way dude!!! I'm currently reading one of my all time favorite books for like the 3rd time. This is called the Tao of Jung and your book is mentioned more than once in here!! I would travel and walk around everywhere with that little book in my hand...it's absolutely beautiful, I find myself in the point of tears while reading it.

@ivory Alone = All one. ♥ Introversion & solitude are invaluable for spiritual growth and for the process of individuation. Personally, I've found that the more content you are within yourself when you're in solitude, the more content and comfortable you will feel within yourself wherever you may be, whether alone or shuffling through the cacophonous crowds as a microscopic creature in this big scary world. But of course anything that is being overused or too radical or extreme, is an imbalance. Excessive solitude can lead to unhealthy isolation and at worse, agoraphobia, which we'd rather not attain since there is too many magical possibilities in the outside world to miss, fear or ignore. Spirituality is about how we love & connect with ourselves but it's also about how we connect & interact with others in the world and how we can share and give our love to the world. Yes, through the use of communication and eye contact is important, but also through creative consciousness and passion (and compassion) and even silence. Through doing what you're passionate about, is being true and authentic to your heart and to the heart of the world, which is a true pursuit of spirituality. So within, so without. Some of my best conversations with people were the ones in complete silence, just taking in the present experience we'd be sharing. However, it's rare to encounter people who are comfortable enough in their nature to achieve this, similar to the rarity of how long a person can stand to gaze into someone's eyes without looking away. What I can say is that through total acceptance of everyone and of the way people irrevocably are and through practicing acceptance of myself helped me with my social skills and the social anxiety I experienced throughout my life. I know what you mean about not knowing what to say to people or how to speak. From my experience, I learned to deal with being alone at an early age simply because I had no other choice, which eventually led me to love it and rely on it. I grew up through a series of traumatic events which caused me to repress so much and feel extremely disturbed, uncomfortable and alienated around the human species for a long time, which also made me feel uncomfortable in my own skin. I felt like I never truly "belonged" anywhere in society and I felt separate yet at the same time, not to sound too solipsistic, but whenever I was alone as a child, away from perpetrators, when humans were not harassing or tormenting me, whether in nature, connecting with earth & the elements, or within the elemental realm of my imagination, or through deep emotional release (much needed for my soul at this time), I felt this intense, deep connection to the earth and to the Universe and to Divine. On an intuitive soul level, in soulitude, was where the magic was and I would assume everything I was experiencing must be God. Through simply sitting and listening and actively observing everything..the sounds, shapes & colors and the colors & the music of silence as well, directed me to the totality of God and I would feel okay again. Perhaps simply because it brought me peace as well. People around me were terribly invasive, abusive and dysfunctional so I grew up seeking as much space and privacy as possible, and resorting to multiple creative outlets and sources which would transcend me from the physical, help me surrender to pain, and get me through the battle and noise around me. Through many years of ups and downs and oscillation, ultimately, this would heal me and lead me to many personal awakenings that changed my life. My gratitude for this I cannot express through words. If I was alone, I was safe where no one could touch me. I wasn't disrupted or disturbed or harmed by external influences around me but instead I felt entirely free. And I could just be. I was also able to channel my trauma through creativity and as quiet as I was as a child, I eventually found my only "voice" through poetry and singing but it was the only way I could express myself for a long time. You can and will find your voice. ♥ As I got older, I was no longer afraid or avoidant of confronting the things around me, but rather intrigued. I wanted to get to know the darkness of my childhood and of the world and of myself. It was like a natural force that pulled me in and I wanted to greet it and face it and understand it and find the light within it, and now I can happily say I did. Perhaps years of solitude led me to this? ? Who knows. Thank you for your post, I empathize and it much resonated with me. Never force anything just let yourself be naturally. If you feel you must speak, speak. If you don't feel like it, just listen and don't speak at all. ♥ So much love to you. ♥ P.s. Your inner voice may just be telling you to say some stuff though ?

Well dreadlocks have been worn within various spiritual cultures for years. They are associated with the crown chakra and in India, students on the spiritual path were directed to grow dreadlocks to detach from vanity and maintain their spiritual conviction & sincerity & strength and all this jazz. ? My hair was locked for years and I must say experiments of twisting, pulling and gripping them had most definitely stimulated my crown from time to time. Also the transcendental use of head banging & dread flipping in my years, often times would feel like as though my head had somehow untethered itself from my body and landed amongst the stars, furthermore activating the crown. I guess it's safe to say the energy from my dreadlocks felt equivalent to that of a lions mane ...but prior to a habitat for birds of course.

Ted Talks has some incredible videos on Consciousness and Spirituality! Phil Borges' one on Spiritual Awakening was one of my favorites. I love what he has to say about the connection between Shamanism and "psychosis", in which I deeply advocate. Here is another great one:

Even the "Enlightened one" continues to have fresh insights, experiences & fresh epiphanies until their departure arrives. It's a never-ending adventure. Never stop exploring. ♥

@Serotoninluv ? ♥

I believe that even once one becomes "Enlightened" it would only be wise and only natural to continue these practices simply because we love doing them and because we do it out of passion and eternal self-exploration. Each time is always a new, refreshing & illuminating experience, no matter how "Enlightened" one gets... Perhaps it would even sustain your 98% results. Even the "Enlightened one" continues to have fresh insights & epiphanies until their departure arrives. There are countless forms of meditations to experiment with or to master as well. It's wonderful to consider meditation as a lifelong journey and endless learning expedition rather than something you no longer need once you reached a certain level. One is always learning and gaining more wisdom.

The world is a beautiful mess. To love, not to hate.

@kieranperez Oh my goodness, I've been in the exact same boat bro. ❤️ Thank you for this post. I currently am blessed to work in a couple of places in which allow me to pursue one of my deepest passions, which is a traditional spiritual/mystical method for personal development & spiritual healing. I am reluctant to even share what I do on this forum because as significant and respected as it is in the mystical community, there are still many people to this day who do not understand what it is or what it's used for. They only make wild assumptions as to what it is even though they've never actually tried it out for themselves. I discovered this past 2 years that what I'm doing is actually helping people and people are coming to me for spiritual and psychological guidance. This makes my soul shine so it has been inspiring me to continue doing it and perhaps make it into an actual career. But I am also in the same pickle of whether or not I should acquire a "certificate" or "badge" or degree in spiritual counseling/alternative therapy if it means validation of its legitimacy and avoidance of underestimation. What I do is totally common and ubiquitous in the spiritual community however to the masses it is still controversial and misunderstood. So I am wondering if acquiring a certificate or whatever would be of a good advantage or not if it means general respect and courtesy and generally being taken more seriously. I've been studying psychology, mostly Jungian, on my own since I was a kid just out of pure curiosity, but that doesn't necessarily mean everyone is going to listen to what I have to say about it or believe in my knowledge if I don't have it fucking written down or something with my signature on it. So I'm not even sure if one requires a basic psychology degree before being approved for spiritual therapy. But that would take an awfully long time and amount of money to study pretty much most things I've already studied on my own and hopefully not a waste of time when I am already on the path of healing others spiritually without a degree. So it is quite the dilemma indeed. I'm glad you created this post dude because it's been running through my mind a lot lately and honestly could use some advice myself!

@Leo Gura Have you read much on existentialism and Albert Camus? If so, what are your thoughts on this and also his philosophy of Absurdism? It almost seems quite related to the liberation of fear & anguish over death one ultimately acquires from a place of Enlightenment and awakening. The search for meaning as a cause of suffering and once becoming conscious of the absurdity of life and confronting that, avoiding ignorance, and eventually unchaining ourselves from a mental prison cell which ultimately unravels us into a sense of Nirvana & acceptance. When I read The Myth of Sisyphus for the first time as a teenager, it had a huge impact on me. Choosing philosophical suicide (or "leap of faith") over physical suicide healed me. I also thought the concept was strikingly similar to samsara. I find both existentialism and Buddhism, though both from different worlds, sort of come to some of the same conclusions. The act of mindfulness, embracing the inevitability of death, and seeing suffering as part of existence. It's not "bad" or negative because it implies to let go but never to give up either because suffering can indeed be overcome and provide the greatest meaning we search for by becoming a happier person and creating a happier life. The only way to seek "meaning" and find God is by embracing the Absurd which I think is the solution of facing the eventual reality of termination. “In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer." --Camus

@SFRL Your Nirvana collection there had me geeeeeking ?

What the hell why not, I'll wing it and give it a shot. For Beige I suppose the entire "glam rock" hairspray scene and poster boy bands. Perhaps Disney pop singers as well. Red- AC/DC-TNT That One Hit Wonder "Cherry Pie" by Warrant? Blue/Orange- "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" Many Boomer music and repetitive negative/shallow lyrical content in some Southern rock caucasian blues bands. Green- ^This one was a tricky one..after all, they are Living Colour "California Dreaming"-Mamas & Papas, "San Francisco"(Scott McKenzie), Going To California (Led Zeppelin) Green/Yellow- Yellow/Turquoise- Björk! ?

@lmfao Thank you! I'm so glad it was!

Through great inescapable suffering blooms the radical acceptance for anything that happens or anything that could happen to you. Having the willingness to recognize: "There is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in." Through this great opportunity of metamorphoses comes intense inner peace, balance and beautiful liberation from an internal cage. For me suffering has ultimately eliminated misery, grief, & all fear of suffering because once you suffer tremendously, you are awakened to deep levels of empathy, unconditional gratitude for all inherent aspects of life, (and not just temporary thrills) and the unpredictable change/possibilities that inevitably rise with it. Pain brings the recognition that something must be released & healed. Suffering has only brought me to a deeper understanding of myself and my life to the point of truly appreciating it for all the wonderful transformation, spiritual evolution and purification it has given me. "Those who have suffered understand suffering and thereby extend their hand." -- Patti Smith

All greatest evolutionary ideas & scientific discoveries stems from imagination and creative insight. ? From surprise and wonder and deep curiosity, which is only metaphysical, blooms evolution. "Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world." --Einstein I was convinced time was not real when I spent hours just staring at a ticking clock one night as a kid questioning the accuracy and validity of "time" and contemplating how a simple object could define and measure the vastness of "time." It seemed too mechanically simplified and synthetic to me. I would ask myself "Who's to say time was always flowing at the same steady pace? Couldn't it have slowed down or accelerated before?" Then I melted into expansive void/emptiness and into the gift of presence and time just dissolved... (Also I kept experiencing cases of "Stopped Clock Illusion" which ultimately stopped me from looking at clocks which was a wise decision.) Time was all just in my head. Now it is merely a fictional term.

Santa Clause is a fantastical devilish archetype, am I right? I've said it once and I'll say it once more. Santa ==> Obvious anagram==> Satan. The ego (Santa) proceeds to wear his hat like a cloak.

Hey now, can't we all just get along? ? I thought this forum was supposed to be about emotional support & inspirational guidance not an egosystem of eager monkey nitpicking & troll gratification. What's even the point of trolling anyway?

@Rilles Wow dude...feeling the frequencies of synchronicity like mad today.. I just got off the phone with a lovely mystic woman, studied religion/metaphysics and practiced spirituality for decades. She is a sincere friend of mine whom just mentioned 432 hz to me about 20 minutes ago!! We had a wonderful in depth conversation about this and about the divine energies of music and how it lives within us all..also about its relation to our chakras/emotional centers..why we get goosebumps and how powerful it is. Wonderful.

???

@CreamCat "Maybe Martians will do better than we've done."