Toby

Problem is: most people here never or seldom sat with "gurus" or true teachers and will not be able to tell anything about it. From my own experience: yes it is better to "stick" with one, because it is energetically way easier and it is easier to go deeper. But if that doesn't really happen, it happens in a different way. There is no right or wrong way I guess. Depends on the "individual".

Yes and no. Some are full of sh*t and are not "testing" students. One example is a german zen priest (I don't know if he was acting as a teacher though, but he was practising since 1977) that just got sent to prison for 7 years for sexual abuse of children. And unfortunately there are many many cases like that where "teachers" exploit their position for their own gratification.

Maybe it's just ones perception that someone is arrogant. Maybe it's also that this someone isn't enlightened or not that enlightened as one thought. If for example someone abuses their students sexually it's pretty much clear that there are areas in their lives that are not "enlightened".

Reminds me of that

Yeah, read here and there through his book "Timeless Secrets of Health and Rejuvenation". Have no opinion about it right now though.

You want practical tips? Man you are from London. Register for the Adyashanti retreat. Visit a Jan Esmann intensive. Go to Rupert Spira. Read Nisargadatta, Ramana. Apply their approach. Meditate and inquire. That is as practical as it is gonna get.

@How to be wise Well, if I remember correctly Ramana said that the state where there can be thoughts (with no attachment of course) is even "higher" than "no thoughts".

I can recommend this https://www.soundstrue.com/store/healing-the-core-wound-of-unworthiness.html to see that unworthiness in whatever forms it manifests is nothing personal.

Never heard of anyone who managed to live without thoughts.

Love him. Read like ten of "his" books multiple times.

No, "spirit" is that in and as which consciousness and it's states "waking", "dreaming", "dreamless sleep" appear and disappear.

If you are from Australia, check out Sailor Bob Adamson and Isaac Shapiro. The other ones were austrian dudes.

Never met or studied Mooji either, so I can't say. For my taste he wasn't really that much into "emodiment" when I watched some videos of his, unlike other disciples of Papaji (Isaac Shapiro, Gangaji...), so he never had that much of an attraction to me. I don't know, weren't you from Austria or something? Have you heard about "OWK Edgar Hofer" or "HO Gerhard Strauß"? Both are very good examples who "combine" "Energy-work" with Advaita.

Never heard of him. Anyone else of "Advaita teachers" that you spend time with that I might know or have spend time with myself?

out of curiosity: what guru was it?

This is a complete misunderstanding of "Advaita Vedanta" or "Neo Advaita". Yes, it is true, that some emphasize more the "Jnana"-part. But most do not and have a strong emphasis on "bhakti" or "love" as well. I really love what I guess Papaji said when stating something like "the bird of truth/freedom has two wings: wisdom/jnana and love/bhakti/devotion". It's not an either this or that.

@Markus did you do an intensive or did you really order the 100$ thing? I didn't study his stuff that much but didn't he clearly discriminate between "kundalini activation" and "kundalini awakening" and is saying that "activation" doesn't mean that much?

mental, emotional, behavioural patterns that are not brought to peace and are running unconsciously in someone. doesn't matter how exactly you call it.

@How to be wise because of patterns aka "vasanas" that are unresolved in them. Prime examples are teachers (e.g. Muktananda, Adi Da) that are "enlightened" but are/were abusing their "students" sexually, physically or emotionally.

@Markus I don't really have an opinion on it and would have to reread it. First time I read it I thought that within his map it did make sense. But he didn't even speak about "dark nights" that can come long before any awakening. In St John of the Cross' terminology "dark night of the senses" for example come way before any "nondual" breakthrough: http://www.acfip.org/wpaths.html .

@Markus sounds like you read a Jan Esmann book. @haai14 it is hard to tell if it is something like depression, depersonalisation or some symptoms of schizophrenia. Or if it is a dark night. But it is surely possible to have dark nights without awakenings or without noticing awakenings because they don't go all the way through.

@ajasatya are you aware during deep dreamless sleep?

I experienced something similar and my interpretation was that there is an overproduction of certain chemicals in the brain and when the trip wears off like 36h after taking it there might be some unusual depression because all chemicals are used up which shouldn't last that long. But I'm not an expert and it was just my interpretation. Happened only once of 3 trips. So I don't really know the reason.