Natasha Tori Maru

Is there a masculine version of this? Or perhaps it is inherent to the feminine polarity as the masculine is typically seen as the 'structure', or that which holds space for the feminine. Nice analogy btw - speaks right to the awakened construction manager within meeeeeeeeee

You've glitched him out. Program is looping

Good advice IMO. A lot of the users there (and hardcore nondualists) get so hung up on the words 'I' and 'you' they miss the point attempting to be conveyed. Thus it turns into a stupid shitfight. It just so happens it is bloody hard to express oneself properly while avoiding those terms.

Yep agree - would you also use the term surrender or does this mean something else for you?

For sure - I just have a narrower definition for what I term meditation. Anything involving desire/aversion is going to pull away from the equanimity that is natural to inducing a possibility of realizing the nature of the self - especially in meditation. But that is just me speaking from my own experience

I would argue that is not meditation.

No but I recently (on this forum and in real life) had conversations using the spaghetti metaphor Maybe Leo can toss cooked spaghetti at actualizers in his retreat if psychedelics don't work! For science!

@mr_engineer I will look soon - but is there a distinction made by the author between feminist ideology and toxic manifestations of it? Because toxic feminism appears to reduce and suppress the masculine. Which is wrong to me. One massive way it does this is to invalidate male anger - the claim that 'all emotions are valid' is all good until we get to male anger. Because my gosh, men are fucken' denigrated for expressing this! And it is VERY wrong. Anger is a natural and normal expression. Just because some women feel unsafe around anger does not mean it warrants suppressing this in men. It leads to depression. Societies job there is to make us safe, not make us FEEL safe.

Yes. And it appears to be nothing can guarantee 'enlightenment' but various experiences can prompt a 'realization' into our true nature. It appears some 'things' (process, actions) within the matrix have more of a chance than others. But no 'thing' appears to be outside the ability to prompt the realization. IE I could throw spaghetti at a wall and become enlightened. Might be a slim chance but... may be

I would like to hear @James123's answer to this. Lots of pushback regarding psychedelics (which I suspect he used according to his own statements) but no one raises the effects of meditation (my main tool). For example - the state I enter that I raised above. What is going on there? Single pointed eternal blissful focus state I slip into when I sequentially sit, close my eyes and breath. That is all I do in a routine, daily way. I do that within the 'matrix'. But there is no time in the state I get into.

Do you think AI sleeps?

I have nothing to contrast this to so I don't have an answer to 'What states' - just A state. The closest I can describe it is a total single pointed focus. But it isn't that - because focus implies a object to be fixated on by a subject. And that is NOT what is happening in the reality sense of it. IE me staring at my hand, or picturing an elephant in my mind. The focus feels in that state, but not like lucid focus. I hope that makes sense. There is no thinking involved. No perceptions. Zero sense of time. The state just 'happens', like falling asleep after we lay down, and it feels in the body like when you are at the very top of on orgasm. When you have an orgasm it is a state of non-thinking. Single pointed focus but no thinking and no object to fixate on. That is what it feels like. I try to recall what I am thinking in the orgasm state of total oneness and focus - and it is remarkably like that. Sorry for the x-rated comparison. It is the closest I can come to verbally describing it. It is not that at all - I definitely went through stages like that when I begun. But the ability to get into that meditative state I described above easily is a cumulative process. As soon as I stop my regular practice it is hard to get back to. It requires discipline - so no doubt can exist. Just practice. I don't actually know. All I can tell you is physical proximity to me has a nice effect on others. I can alter their emotions. But I have always had the ability. Meditation just made me WAY more conscious of my inner workings and revealed many new things inside. I do not think there is anything extraordinary about my ability to change peoples emotions and feelings. I perceive siddhis as having such a deep understanding of reality our ability to manipulate it manifests.

This is what I am most interested in. Maybe I have skill in this area but the states I enter in meditation I cannot even put to words. I know James has used a lot of psychedelics - so this post is making me suspect some things.

I return to this as the heart of it. I come to - I think some things have a higher probability. But it seems very unique to the complex of the individual. Nothing guarantees it. And I won't get anywhere near it by thinking or concepts. I have this intuition the only way - higher probability of reaching realization - is through the body sensations and feedback of some sort.

@zurew Yes I agree with the urgency to clarify that distinction to be able to proceed. I think a lot of the back and forth could be avoided if language and terms were better defined. I know, for example, that Leo has some definitions for terms I have not come across in general use. And when prompting him in the past - he has slight nuances in his application of his worldview that can change the entire meaning of a statement without even considering context. I have the strong impression Leo isn't even aware he has made these distinctions until he is prompted to explain. OR - he does know, but has not had reason to clarify until the discrepancy is revealed. In no way is this a criticism to him, but there is no point in playing checkers if we all have a different ruleset. And I think due to the experiential and subjective nature of what we are discussing... we are trying to understand one domain through the context of another. Concepts to thoughts to language attempting to explain awareness, being. And when the discussion gets to the above - one hits a ceiling. Because all concepts thoughts and the language we use has to be dropped to get anywhere near enlightenment. Sort of makes all of this totally moot But hey! It's not going to stop any of us trying. And those nuances and distinctions are there to steer the arrow just a bit better.

Do you think the answer lies in the reconciliation between realities nature and the realisation of that nature? Domain crossover - unless I am misunderstanding you.

I get you. I have the view that there are things that can assist in breaking through - mental constructs? - that reveal. I think there is no guarantee anything works. How to tell a fish it is in water sort of shit. Maybe 'Whatever penetrates the illusion of being something, can result in enlightenment. Whatever that may be'. I go back and forth a lot. Not really firm in my view at all.

But there is the attempt to instruct. Ego

I don't think something can effect enlightenment. Nothing guarantees it. It is not a thing that happens to you. It is more a realization in the direct sense of what one actually is. Independent of perception, thought, experience.

EXACTLY - and yep I am familiar with James's view. He is similar over on Nahm's forum. He likes to duplicate his threads there over here also Nothing guarantees enlightenment or nothing has the effect? In your view

But you are performing - which is the point

I am glad I am no longer a huge 4chan seasoned troll... here

Yes. You see that in you? I hope so.

@James123 Nondual language lacks clarity for ordinary folk. It makes total sense to you - no doubt But think about this for a moment - you are attempting to communicate, or teach. You might need to alter the language to point in a better way for students to receive, ay? Otherwise I see you banging your head against the wall... What the f is the point of typing anything at all if it cannot be understood by those that need it? And those that do not, typically understand. Spaghetti loops being thrown at the wall hoping for something to stick.

Yes the above bolded - my brother worked on untangling some large unconscious beliefs and is working to gain experience to prove these thoughts about himself are not true. The meds got him stable enough to sit with the horrible feelings of emptiness and numbness he had, and now he feels he wants to engage in life sober to asses the cognitive change. While I do not know about your particular circumstance - he had really deep trauma from years ago. Sounds like a similar path to you (but you may not have trauma, just an issue that needed some assistance via meds)