cetus

@Psychonaut This part reminded me of something I read in the Tao Te Ching "care about other peoples approval and you will be their prisoner"

@Elton Haha, if only that was true.

@student Think of this in a positive view. What has always been the truth is changeless and permeant. The only thing that can change is a personal (and often distorted) mental view of what reality is. If everything is seen as wagon wheel, at the center of the hub there would be what is changeless. As you get farther away from the center hub, the outer wheel is where existence and constant change/mind is happening. Stay connected to that changeless center hub at all times. Connect with that center and from there move out into everyday existence onto the wheel and find a direction to pursue what is in harmony with the natural flow of everything. The only thing to be scared is the mind having to finally except the fact that there may be something much bigger than it at the center of everything. I'm saying this because we do need a lot more people on this planet to persue careers that are in harmony with that center. How many people persue careers that are completely motivated by only knowing (and accepting) what is on the outer part of the wheel? They end up spending their whole life, not just their career constantly running on the outer wheel and never realizing that there is a stable hub at the center of everything that connects us all. This planet needs many more people with a heightened sense of awareness in all different aspects and walks of life. The mind making divisions when riding the outer wheel is the very reason this planet is having all the problems thus far. That if anything is scary.

@cle103 I have never done a lot of self inquiry as a practice so I don't know if this will be much help. I do start meditation with getting a good sense of self, than I shift that awareness on the breath only. A sense of self slowly diminishes and pure awareness slowly becomes the overwhelming presents with me being less relevant and only a "very" silent observer. I just came out of 25 mins. of meditation and it was really deep. All sense of self vanished and there was only pure awareness that was no longer localized at the body location. Pure awareness had entered a dimension of it's own that was beyond time and space (me). What I'm saying is. if I had been doing mostly self inquiry, maybe there would have been no experience like that because I feel it would have kept me grounded in mind. My practice is to transcend mind at all costs. If you find self inquiry to be useful, try this, do it until there is a strong sense of self (however long that takes), than purposly let go of that sense of self and head in the opposite direction toward no-self. I would think the contrast between the two extremes would open up some huge insights. **Take everything I say here with a grain of salt because I only know from my experience of what works for me. I hope you find some of this useful.

"We work with being. but non-being is what we use" (Tao Te Ching)

@Vlad Ropotica You probably got really close to experiencing pure being but your mind stopped that from happening.

@Vlad Ropotica Yes that tends to happen. Next time just rest in that moment. Totally surrender to it and allow it to consume you. Vanish into it.

@Vlad Ropotica You experienced the beauty of a totally still mind. Within still mind there is the state of pure being and yes it is humbling to experience. It is the liberation from the mind.

.@Nicolas Nothing at all changes on the outside. On the inside, everything has changed. An unfathomable presents exists at all times. Connect with that silent presents and your on your way to total unity.

@step1 I would say that is not quite the same. When ego death is experienced in a totally sober /meditative state, it is happening for no other reason than it "is" happening. No outside influences to shelter or tranquilize the ego mind.. It's raw naked truth of what is. As far as "getting close" and backing off, I did that too a couple times. Than one day it came over me so fast I didn't have a chance to back off. I was completely sober so it hit me like a ton of bricks. It felt as if I had one foot in each world and didn't know where to stand. My ego self was exposed as the illusion it is. The very foundation of what I "thought" I was. was bought into question.

An enlightened person is a chameleon of sorts. They are empty so they could take on any form without attachment.

@Huz88 I hear you. It's just that I have been really looking deeply into exactly what the mind is and how it influences perception into duality. At his moment I have mind pinned in a corner and relentlessly beating the shit out of it. It's a left blow, and now a devastating right hook! And the crowd goes wild as he pummels his opponent! hehe

@Huz88 All divisions exist within the mind. It's a game that mind loves to play with everything. All you can do is laugh when you see mind is mind.

@JustinS Think of it this way, If you were free floating in space, how relevant is time? Where are you located? Where are the points of reference that bring security to the mind? Would mind/ self lose it's relevance? All that would remain would be pure awareness of existence. Bring that same sense of being back to your everyday experience. Why can't we extend that free floating/ pure awareness view to this world we experience every day and not take the points of references around us so seriously. Pure awareness existing within it's surrounding field without all the reference points that mind introduces like the passing of time and a sense of a self location. Look from within and see things from a different perspective. Feel the awareness within you now free-floating within this existence. Allow pure awareness to be at one within it's field. This is the wave realizing it is the ocean.

@JustinS "K" " Transcendence of 'me' does not happen within time". What an enlightened view.

@JustinS Yea, there is lots of good tidbits in that. It really gets to the root of what's wrong with most of humanity as a whole. It's insane! We are one human race on one planet. Mind causes divisions and divisions inevitably cause destruction from the sense of separateness and insecurity. I listened to that a couple of times because there is a lot to take in. "Thought is movemet, movement is within time". " Time is hope"

http://www.newbrainnewworld.com/?Altered_States%26nbsp%3B:Meditation More info on brain wave mapping of meditators

@Huz88 "Mysteries and Manifestations arise from the same source".

I haven't consulted the I Ching for years. Yea , look into it to. Sometimes it will tell you exactly what you want to hear about a personal situation. Other times it can be brutally honest. I mean like in your face. It needs to be entered with total respect. It is the flow of the universe around you at any given moment in relation to the question asked.

@Huz88 My mum always told me in times like this "Everything happens for a reason". Do you ever consult the I Ch'ing?

Acquainting yourself with the path. See where it leads.

@Huz88 Sounds as if we have to attain enlightenment without their aid for now. When you look at this and see what has unfolded, there is great lesson here. Show me the self that wishes to attain enlightenment. If you can locate that, transcend it!

@JustinS You may find this interesting.

@ChimpBrain It's all relevant though. Good info. From my minds perspective it felt as if awareness suddenly came to a sharp point of focus. It kick into high gear and became hyper awareness. Something aligned perfectly. A level of awareness that was beyond "me" as a self. .

@ChimpBrain That was interesting, Thanks for sharing. I wonder exactly what is happening within the brain that causes a sudden change in perception. It can be likened to a "shift" or a feeling like the channel has changed and perceiving on a totally different level. That shift is usually most prominent when it is experienced for the first time. Does something suddenly "switch on" or is it that something in the brain "switches off" like removing a filter? Could it be that when we are in our "mind" that we are only open to a small part of what perception is capable of and when we transcend "mind" perception becomes wide open? Something suddenly changes and it's quite distinct. Thanks again.