Jordan

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Posts posted by Jordan


  1. A meditation technique is something you do that gives you a chance to put you in a state of meditation. You could define meditation as a mental state. Like sleep is a state, you can not force yourself to sleep, just do things that increase the chances of slipping into that state. The meditate state can be entered in a similar way without effort but in an environment that increases the chances. The technique that you could choose is whatever takes you into that state the quickest.


  2. 13 hours ago, TheAlchemist said:

    Exactly. That's one aspect of how sects and cults form. And often questioning is even to an extent highly encouraged in those groups, BUT if the questioning is directed at the core ideas which unify the group then it is seen as a problem. And for good reason, a community always functions on some shared ideas and ideals which need to seen as unquestionable so that the group can continue to exist.

    Again and again new sects and cults will form, partly due to people like me who think they will be the one exception. But we need to realize that some of the problematic aspects of communities are core elements of community itself. Because of course, communities also have healthy forms and many real benefits for the participants so we shouldn't abandon them. Maybe the best we could do is have a community that has a strong shared belief system, but each member knows that fundamentally the belief is an illusion, but each member will pretend as if they believe in it fully. This way at least the questioning would not produce defensiveness, because it would not be seen as an attack on their identity, but just on an illusory idea/ideal/belief. They will of course pretend to defend it to keep the community alive.

    But then again maybe, eventually the line between acting like a believer and really being a believer will dissolve, the members identities will get attached to the belief/idea and ta-da we have a well-established cult yet again ready to take on the world :)

    It seems like a tricky problem. Power corrupts people so easily. Even if the leader of a community is perfect, the 2nd or 3rd in command will still take advantage of their power right? The problem is the power difference and people being able to abuse it. I remember even for me as a kid I was much more giving and helpful when I started collecting a couple Pokémon cards then as soon as I had many, I did not even want to give any to my close friends. I think to avoid being taken advantage of or being corrupted yourself it is important to have separation from your spiritual community. Be connected with a community for a small part of your week but be separate and question your beliefs as you go about the vast majority of the time and spiritual work.


  3. 3 hours ago, TheAlchemist said:

    The reason spiritual communities fail is not because of all these complex reasons, it's because the people who question things are not kicked out fast enough. My community will be the one exception ;)

    Isn't a big part of spirituality about questioning things? It sounds like a good way to start a cult by only allowing people that will follow your teachings without question.


  4. Sounds like you are having a rough time. Do you think it would help to find ways to release the emotions you have when you think those thoughts? You may have had trauma that has you worried about things like your girlfriend cheating on you. Things like journaling about what you are thinking/feeling or talking with a supportive friend or a therapist could help you take these thoughts and emotions out of your head and help you worry less.


  5. I have been falling behind in my meditation. I lost track of how many hours behind I am now. Maybe I should have made a spreadsheet or something. I have been a bit busy at work, working 1-3 hours extra most days. It is a bit hard to meditate as much with less time outside work. I found that I seem to find more benefit with concentration type meditation rather than do nothing type of meditation. I have been focusing on my heart beat and breath a lot. Once I did that meditation where you focus on a light then close your eyes and focus on the afterimage. I forget what that one is called. Occasionally mantra meditation but not that often. I did have a dream on Monday that one of my stocks dropped. The market was closed on Monday but on Tuesday it dropped. I knew I should have sold it right as it opened haha. I slept in instead though and lost $$$. 

    I miss my girlfriend a lot. It feels like my body is being ripped in two. It is pretty uncomfortable to say the least. It seems other people don't feel like this. I thought she would come back late this month but she will still be another 2 or 2.5  months.  I know some guys from work that haven't had a girlfriend in years. I think they are built different or something. That would be the only thing I would be interested in getting if I didn't have one. 


  6. Do you exercise at all? If not you should try some sort of regular exercise in a group ideally. Some people like group exercises classes or you could join a climbing gym and find people there to hang out with. Be as mindful of your thoughts and emotions as you do this. Also don't wait to be motivated to do it. Just do it when it is the last thing you want to do and it will create the motivation in time as it becomes part of your routine. 


  7. Teaching death is imaginary is dangerous, I agree but I think you are misunderstanding what Leo is trying to say.

    You say that the reality is that death will come right? Leo does not disagree with that. What Leo is saying is that death is not absolutely true. Leo talks a lot about what is absolutely true and not what is relatively true because absolute truth is what is missing in most people's understanding of reality.

    Absolute truth is what is within your consciousness right now. It is what exists without you projecting anything onto your perceptions. You may see someone die but the experience of it would be emotions, shapes, sounds and colors ext. that you are projecting life and death onto.

    Relative truth is using imagined stories to explain the perceptions you have, then comparing other stories to decide what is true. Death is true relative to the reality that those stories construct. Those stories are imagined so you are comparing imagination with imagination which can be relatively true but not absolutely true. I am pretty sure that is all he is saying. 

    Objective truths like gravity like you mentioned are imagined based off of patterns that are experienced. The Cause of the patterns has a story created to explain the pattern. They are relative truths and not the same type of truth that Leo is talking about when he is talking about what is absolutely true.

    Being blind is not absolutely true because you must imagine being blind and not being blind to conceptualize the difference between them and understand what is being said. The experience itself is all it is. If you want to understand blindness absolutely you must experience it now. If you want to understand it relatively then you can just imagine it but then the concept will just be relatively true.

    The point in giving examples of what is absolutely true and what is not, is to open people up to the possibility to being more than just relative objective truths. Most people do not realize this. Absolute truth is where you want to look to level up your relative understanding of reality, yourself, how your mind works, what is a good way to spend your limited time alive in this world ext. It is also where you want to look to improve your understanding of death and your relation to it. 

    I think Leo is not that interested in making videos of relative truths. That is what he started out doing. Other people can make videos about that. He sees value in introducing and exploring absolute truth with people. 


  8. It sometimes feels like I am in a dream with how realistic I can visualize things when meditating. I think just focusing on one thing like the breath helps you to focus on other things like internal images. I also do not like to just do concentration meditation. I alternate between that and mindfulness meditation allowing the focus of attention to shift fairly frequently to things like thoughts and emotions without trying to manipulate them. I have been doing over 2 hours of meditation per day average since the beginning of this year.


  9. I went to Victoria January 11-14th and on the last day we did a Nordic spa where you go in the sauna and then go into a cold plunge alternating for a couple hours. stayed in the cold for more than all my friends put together I am pretty sure 15 minutes in total over 2 hours. I have been doing cold showers on most days sometimes up to 3 per day starting out hot then finishing for 60-90 seconds on as cold as possible. I don't know if it is that or the meditation or both but my sex drive is up like 2x as much. I did add an hour to my meditation quota as I mentioned 2 posts ago after getting myself off. I have been averaging 1x per day but I don't feel drained at all, I could go for more so I guess it isn't the end of the world.

    Today at work I could feel my heart beating as I was working on the computer and it felt like it was orgasming with each beat. I sometimes feel this way during meditation so I guess this is a nice side effect. My meditation was a bit unfocused the last day or 2. Sometimes I get up to go to the bathroom or check something on my phone then go back into it. I will just keep an eye on this unfocused meditation. I think I don't need to make any changes right now. I should get better taking it more seriously over time. I have been keeping up 2 and usually 3 hours per day. Sometimes more on the weekends.


  10. I watched that guided exercise for realizing you are god video a few times this weekend. I was too tired on Sunday night to meditate so I did 2 hours this morning. It went well.

    I have just been spending around 15 minutes or so going over all the stories I have in the background such as being on the planet earth, being inside a house, there being other people, there being a tomorrow and yesterday, cells, blood flow, gravity, time etc. I just pretend I never heard about those stories and that they don't matter. Then I basically do the mindfulness technique with labeling. I label once or 2x every breath. Then when I get into it I only label when I change the object of my focus or stop labeling. When images and concepts come up I take a look at what they are then I forget about them, don't take any interest in them and continue.

    Time seems to go by really slowly and sometimes it feels really good just to feel my heart beating or breathing or staring at a light switch nice and relaxed.


  11. I was watching some clips of Krishnamurti speaking. He claims in those videos that mantra meditation and all systematic meditation is not really meditation because it becomes a mechanical process repeating the same thing over and over. He says your mind becomes dull. I guess he is talking about it becoming automatically done instead of done consciously. He says that it should be more about observing thoughts and other sensations without trying to influence them. He gave an example, and I am paraphrasing: If you are feeling envious you should be able to feel that without suffering from it or trying to suppress it or distract yourself from it. Your observation should not contain anything from the past and done as if the first time you have ever observed something.

    So this makes sense to me so I will switch to doing something like what is shown in Leo's video titled something like "a guided exercise for realizing you are god."

    I also kind of want to stop masturbating so much which has been more frequent since my girlfriend has been in china for the last 2 months. My plan is just to add an hour to my required meditation for the day every time I get myself off. I might just end up having to do 3 hours of meditation per day instead of 2 haha. At least I will do something somewhat productive to balance it out.  


  12. Hello, I started a new years resolution of meditating 2 hours every day. It is January 9th today and I have been sticking with it every day. I set the rules of getting an average of 2 hours per day so I could do more or less on some days and just keep track of how many hours I am up or down for the day. I typically do 1 hour starting at midnight then 1 hour in the morning after taking a shower.

    I started out doing the do nothing technique but recently have just been doing mantra meditation. I basically sit up straight, say "Baba nam kevalam" in my head over and over and focus on the sound my mind is making.

    So far I noticed I am in a better mood during the day. I have been remembering my dreams as I wake up a bit more but didn't write them down and forget most of them now.

    I will stick with this technique for a month or so then switch to mindfulness meditation with labeling probably. I will update this whenever I feel like it. 


  13. From what I heard it is mostly mantra meditation with some breathing techniques. You are supposed to pay $500 or something to learn the technique from a qualified person. I didn't want to pay and didn't find a good explanation for free so I became uninterested in learning it. I have had some good results with mantra meditation on "Baba Nam Kevalam." It seems much easier for me focus and keep on track with it than other meditations so I do it if I am having trouble and feel like quitting.  


  14. I recently watched an interview with Andrew Huberman and he seemed to think nightmares are like your body's way of giving you exposure therapy to your traumas. If you watch at around the 20 min mark for a few min he gives his view on nightmares. 

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKyyF9MQXn4&t=2444s

    I don't have much info on shadow work but I would start with doing contemplation and meditation on your fears to try to get to know how they work. 


  15. I plugged around 30mg of 5-MEO DMT today around 5 hours ago. My last trip was in January around 8 months ago. I have been meditating a bit on and off this year not being super serious in my spiritual practices. I would like to start a habit of 30-60 min meditation 2x per day. I would also like to start working out regularly again. I remember I got a small injury and stopped but didn't start up again.

    During my 5-MEO trip, I sat down cross-legged on a pillow on my bed most of the time. 30 min felt like 2 hours. I spend a similar amount of time eyes closed and open. I looked around the room. Most shapes and colors looked pretty normal but it was still a very different experience than normal waking consciousness. At one point I looked down at my feet and the shaped did seem to blend together and it felt like I was being absorbed into them. I felt pretty relaxed.  

    I realized that it would be a good idea to take more interest in understanding people better and allowing them to feel understood. I had a strong desire to really deeply know about different topics that came up in my mind like work and my relationships. There seems to be a lot of value I am missing by just knowing superficial things about everything and not understanding deeper. I noticed many areas in my life where I don't have all the information and I was just making assumptions but it would be easy to have a clearer picture by taking an interest and asking questions. I looked at my body and decided it is important to know as much about keeping good care of it as possible. I should be doing my own experiments to see what makes my body as healthy and strong as possible. 


  16. I was never interested in reincarnation because it seemed pointless to me. Is it really "you" that is reincarnating if you don't have your memories or anything to do with your personality carried through? I did watch most of the first Bashar video linked above and I think it would be interesting being able to get information from outside consciousnesses telepathically but I don't like reincarnation as a way of conceptualizing it.


  17. On 8/20/2023 at 11:16 PM, Osaid said:

    Just ask yourself:

    What is more intelligent? Love or hate?

    If you answered love, now ask:

    Am I willing to abandon all my logic and reasons about hating myself, just to love myself for no reason?

    If not, then how is it that you logically concluded that love is more intelligent, but now your logic and thoughts about yourself are saying the opposite? Where is the discrepancy?

    Perhaps self-hate is illogical? Maybe love can't be found in reason or logic? Maybe love is a higher intelligence than logic and reason?

    What happens if all your reasons about why you should hate yourself just vanished? Where does the hate go? What is left over?
     

    Now, have YOU ever existed inside of logic and reason? Are you made of reasons and judgments ABOUT yourself? Or perhaps there is a more fundamental existence to you, which has no problem accepting you and loving you as you are?

     

    Wow I almost started crying with joy/love reading the part about loving myself for no reason. I am at work though so I guess I should wait until I am in private to meditate on that. 


  18. Why do you think that awakening is the end of desire? I understand awakening as being extremely aware of the direct experience while accepting everything as it is. Even if desire or resistance is being experienced, it is completely accepted as pure goodness, love and truth. The concept of a separate self is seen as an illusion so the nature of desire will change but there will not be an end of all desire.


  19. I find it more compelling if you are actually disagreeing with something concrete that people have actually said and show the context. Who is saying that raping babies is fine? I think people would say there is no good or bad and saying that something like that is bad is not being truthful. Saying that it is fine is also not being truthful either. Trying to be kind and helpful to manipulate people into liking you is kind of not the most loving or skillful way to live either. There has to be more context otherwise you can prove anyone wrong.