The0Self

Is reality just a dualistic mask that hides itself (nothing) so that something can appear to happen?

Yes. Awakening is about unknowing, and realizing emptiness, and also somewhat about letting go. But there is definitely a talent aspect involved in cultivating beautiful states such as Metta, The Witness, Jhana's, etc. Training probably trumps talent, to the extent that it even matters. Realizing emptiness/love (awakening) seems to be somewhat disconnected with experiencing progressively higher states of consciousness, though. In my experience, the best way to cultivate and assess your so-called "level" of consciousness is to view everything through the lens of everything being a miracle -- gratitude and self love.

Sounds about right. What keeps you moving forward is consistently knowing what's happening right now. If you are doing something, know what you're doing, and why you're doing it. There is no right or wrong to this stuff. It sounds like you're on a highly conscious path. Keep on meditating, and perhaps do a bit of research into what you could be doing with it. One of my favorite guides for this is Rob Burbea.

I don't see how anyone's apparent personality would reveal whether they lead toward solipsism or nonduality. To believe that it could would be to misunderstand nonduality, solipsism, or both, in my view. Your conclusion that "he seems quite confident in walking a fine line that leans more towards solipsism than non-duality" simply does not logically follow from anything else you said. Whether you have a large social circle or not has no relation to whether or not you understand that everything, which isn't anything, is all there is, and that it's boundless and groundless. And that it's Unconditional Love, which is God, and you are that; we are that. Everyone is you, yet there isn't anyone; alone-ness and connection is just another illusory interdependent and empty duality that doesn't actually arise.

Usually it's smooth, but sometimes I can get to 4th jhana and skip the previous ones.

Interesting. I was able to access J1 and J2 after only practicing for a few weeks, but it took years for anything else to happen. Trouble accessing J1-3 resonates with me -- J4 came before J3. Noting eventually puts me in 4th jhana. Yeah this field of exploration is huge and I consider myself as just getting started.

With that I agree. But even people who meditate can often just relax to the point where they're kind of spacing out and not really funneling their full conscious power into being aware of what's happening. Do-Nothing as per Shinzen still has an intention (intention=effort) -- the intention to notice intentions that you currently have, so that you can release them. Yes, eventually even that intention can be let go of. But really, what can be glimpsed is that if you're experiencing anything at all, there is some subtle fabrication in play; some very fine layer of self, which is inseparable from intention/effort. There is only truly no-effort is there is no-one.

Currently, 1-4. I've only experienced 5, 6, and 7 when meditating at least 5 hours a day. Never been to 8. I meditate for 65 minutes on most days now and usually get to the 2nd jhana, but not always. And yes there is degrees for how embedded they can be. Hard jhanas can feel like a very strange but blissful solid brick of solidified experiential pleasure. But usually it's kind of like a switch -- you're either in jhana or not, and it's extremely obvious.

There's quite a bit of info out there on the jhanas. My favorite is the entire body of work of Rob Burbea. Jhana's are a collection of high concertation absorption states that many people who get obsessed with meditation will eventually stumble into. They are progressive experiences that reveal the mind to be structured in layers of increasing subtlety. 1st jhana: exhilarating pleasure and happiness 2: happiness overpowers the exhilarating pleasure 3: exhilaration subsides completely; unimaginably profound peace 4: happiness is no longer the focus; utter equanimous stillness 5: boundless space 6: boundless consciousness; energetic witness 7: no-thing 8: neither perception nor non perception 9: cessation of time/self/thing (noticed after the fact in one of a few different ways, one of which is as a hard jump forward in time) There are more levels, and combinations/cocktails of each. And 5 addtional jhanas called the Pure Land Jhanas have been discovered

This has been true in my experience as well. It used to take me 700-1000ug LSD to experience the godhead. Eventually it only took 110ug. I've since experienced that state without the use of drugs, a handful of times.

Vulnerability + confidence = win

@modmyth Yeah I would imagine she'd probably somehow be offended by that painting, seeing as how she covered this one up with construction paper because it was just too horrifying to look at:

My hope is that this is already obvious to many of us here. There is no sober consciousness. There's just what seems to happen. The apparent reality can be guided and altered to out-of-this-world blissful states. One way that is available to basically everyone is practicing the Jhanas -- a method I highly encourage spiritual aspirants to get excited about, because once you get a taste of it, it's all over.

There is spiritual talent. Just like there's athletic talent. Surprise, surprise... But untrained vs trained can be so much greater than relatively untalented vs talented. There are absolutely no limits to what you as God can do. In the end you always get exactly what you as God want. But you as God is selfless -- and also limitless.

Funny thing about levels of consciousness. Once you’ve experienced quite a lot of them, you kind of just progressively ease on back into utter ordinariness. And yet even the ordinariness is absolutely breathtaking, because now you’re at a truly ascended state of consciousness — the state where absolutely nothing is recognized as anything other than the absolute miracle that it is.

Suffer less by noticing it more.

There is no body and no movement. Or, there is only body, which is only movement, which is stillness. Body, trees, air are just empty phenomena; the same; everything/God/Love; not anything. There are no rules for what can seem to happen during an experience of realizing God, or being in a highly conscious state. If rain is falling, it isn't raining -- there is no "it" that could be raining; only rain. Etc. No self means no center in anything -- no it; no I.

@Potato People King Yeah. My girlfriend's reaction was just to roll her eyes. I, on the other hand, had a proper laughing fit over it. Her roommate eventually moved out because she suspected my girlfriend of not loving Jesus enough, simply because she didn't talk about him all the time.

Completely agree. Totally drop the notion of not wanting to appear overly nice/kind. Hell, you can even try going overboard with it, IF it feels good to you. Having a style of overt, easily recognizable relentless kindness can certainly work, as long as it's done for its own sake; isn't being used in a shallow attempt to get what you want from people, or cover up insecurities, etc.

lol I had a gf once who had a super Christian roommate. One day, I went to her place and every Dalí painting in the house was covered with taped construction paper. The roommate taped up every Dalí painting because she thought they looked demonic! Lol, what a delusional psycho.

Happy -> crying -> joyful -> awake -> love.

Existence doesn’t exist. Existence is existence. Maybe listen to “just a kiss” by lady antebellum. It was life changing for me. Probably not for you though. (I never cried so hard in my life.)

Fish oil is hilarious; it’s the ultimate crapshoot. Search for its benefits and you’ll be overjoyed. Search for its dangers and you’ll be overjoyed. What a substance; probably super safe! ?

Meditation troubles, I can understand. I can give a whole lot of advice on that — more than practically anyone can imagine, actually. Sexual troubles, though? Foreign. I was incompetent sexually, then I slowly became competent, after awakening. After that it was just second-nature I guess. Nothing that can be taught. Everything after true awakening is just dream stuff. I am a fairly good looking guy though, so results may differ. In fact, regrettably, I am a really good looking guy (8-9+/10), confirmed by many dear girls and many dear gay friends. Even so, that should tell you something. Even good looks don’t matter. Not one bit. Maybe none of you suspect this, but very good looking guys get rejected if they’re overly neurotic, overly sensitive, or overly thoughtful. It happened to me. I can’t even explain to you the existential anxiety I experienced freshman year of college. Holy crap if I wasn’t as experienced with psychedelics, I might have killed myself. When you awaken, though... it’s all over.

This is the best vid from Leo so far imo simply because he entertained the idea of watching the practical vid on psychedelics. The first time I realized I was God I ended up in a mental institution. I couldn’t contextualize the experience because I had no spiritual chops at the time, so I assumed reality was a simulation and I was the computer ? That was about 5 years ago.