The0Self

I dare you to find one thing that isn't a miracle.

Try to find something, and fail.

What would push everything to become nothing. Same thing. Nothing becomes. Ever. Just is.

@Preety_India Oh, and how could I forget.. I also use the voice recorder function ("Voice Memos"), and THAT does take up quite a bit of storage.

4-9 hours... Almost nobody can optimally get by on less than 4 hours. Almost nobody needs more than 9 hours for optimal wellness. Yeah, it's very individual. Stress, amount of meditation, and genetics play a part. Many other factors as well. A good baseline seems to be 7-7.5 hours, but many people can do basically just as well on 4.5-6.5 hours. Some do need almost 9 -- they're rare.

From where I'm standing, if you haven't read The Mind Illuminated by Culadasa (or at least listened to the free audiobook part 1 and 2 available on YouTube), you may be wasting your time. Cultivate the readiness to seriously appreciate the "aha!" of noticing that you're not attending to the (breath) sensations. This is the first and most crucial foundation that can blossom into a beauty you cannot imagine. Well, I guess sitting every day itself is step zero. This is step one though.

I'm happy it worked out for you! I've never had depression -- or if I did, I never viewed it as negative. I'm also not a very anxious person in general, but I did have social anxiety to some degree. I was prescribed an SNRI called Cymbalta (duloxetine 60mg) for social anxiety about 6 years ago, and holy crap can I see that as having potential for treating depression! I literally could not even experience sadness. But I guess I'm eccentric because I love sadness, so I stopped taking it after about a year, which gave me some surprising withdrawals -- laughing and crying fits, insane dreams, ringing in the ears, etc. I experienced absolutely no sexual side effects though. Good luck on your journey! Keep it up, you're doing a great job.

Just know, at the end of the day: what you're truly looking for, above all else, is something you will never experience, because it's already here, and it's all there is.

@LfcCharlie4 Just a suggestion, but not an advisement: if you seek anything sensory, seek the Jhanas. They are out of this world blissful. They make MDMA seem like nothing in comparison. Of course, in the end, who cares?

It absolutely can change, but it seems it usually does not. I used to score as INTP 8 years ago, but after doing a shockingly huge amount of psychedelics and meditation, I now score solidly as INFP. And by a shockingly huge amount of psychedelics, I'm not even willing to admit just how much -- when I trip, I go to war.

@Ananta Me too

@Preety_India not at all. Text doesn’t really take up much space compared to music, images, and videos.

Sadness is the epitome of beauty. Is it any wonder why we cry during peak experiences? True happiness has no opposite.

Andy Cutler Onibasu

Almost feel like these are “guilty pleasures.“ Lmk if you find them as euphoria-inducing as I do.

Maybe melancholy is a better word? I’m a very happy person. Always have been. I’ve never been depressed. I see sadness as the opposite of joy (which I also love), not the opposite of happiness.

Yep, that’s what it feels like after awakening. For me anyway. It felt like god was pushing air into my lungs every time I breathed in. I felt like a marionette, walking around weightlessly.

Never understood this thing about wanting to feel better when sad. I fucking live for sadness. Even before awakening, sadness was my favorite emotion. It’s just absolutely magical.

I’ve noticed this very prominently in probably 80% of the girlfriends I’ve dated regularly. Maybe even 99% but it was inconclusive in 20%. Most of them were in their early-mid 30s though. I’m mid 20s and have a major thing for women quite a bit older than me. This is not unique to you, it’s the human condition.

@arlin Being really materialistic here, but... I can’t really get a good look at you, but I would say, based on your profile pic, you could easily be a 6/10 on the attractiveness scale. Especially with a lot of meditation and lifting. For both sexes, when they’re very attractive, a partner that qualifies as a “would always bang“ = 7+/10. You’re literally just below that threshold (as is almost everyone). Not being in the “would always bang” category is not the end of the world mate.

You know, I saw this thread like a couple days ago or something, and thought, “wth, there are people on THIS forum that can’t even forgive everyone?.” I’ve come to my senses. Forgiveness is a very beginner practice, BUT if you think of gears on a bike, forgiveness is gear 1, and gear 1 has a fuck ton of leverage. A hell of an opportunity! These “bad“ people are perfection, as is everything. Not to mention, they’re what is. What about them can you not forgive? Try to find it. It isn’t there, because nothing is there. There’s just what seems to be happening.

Damn, all I use is the Notes app on my iPhone. Hundreds upon hundreds of pages (actually probably thousands) that I’ll probably never read. If it’s important, you’ll remember it... I do anyway.

I got a lecture containing nonduality in one of my history elective classes in college. It involved the Mayans. Professor was woke as fuck though — actualized as all hell. He even talked to the fucking class about his cocaine and LSD experiences. I participated in that class a lot and almost regret not continuing my relationship with him, considering how much he seemed to like me as well. Value your relationships, folks — even with your professors.