abundance

JP just doesn't appeal to me. I find him a little corny

First off, thank you very much for the detailed response. I definitely find that certain facets of non-dualistic teachings resonate with me more since the experience. Prior to the experience my understanding of nondualism and enlightenment was ALL intellectual. This in itself was a distraction for me and often led me into neglecting daily practice. The descriptions you provided are spot on, especially the one about not having any doubts, inhibition, and fears. The idea of having any one of these traits at the time of my experience would have been ludicrous. All of my fears and all notions I had about myself were shattered

Last November I had a rather odd experience while driving that I can only catergorize as a brief 'awakening' experience. Last year was a very trying time for me in my personal life (working two jobs to save up for my wedding, sleep loss, demanding work at my primary job). Despite my circumstances I maintained a daily practice of meditation. There were some days I would awake extra early to do 2 hours of meditation. I believe maintaining a consistent practice is what 'opened' me up to have this experience. One day on a particularly stressful day I was driving (more like racing) to my second job after work in heavy traffic. I became very frustrated and angry with circumstances of my life. I began to mentally curse out the slow driver in front of me. My mind became a cesspool of all these negative and self defeating thoughts. I felt myself going over the edge. And in that moment the mental dialogue had abruptly ceased and I took a long look at every other driver around me. It then occured to me that most of the drivers were in the exact same sort of misery I was (beeping their horns, risking their own safety and others to get ahead of each other etc). It all looked so vividly ridiculous that I began to laugh hysterically. Any onlookers probably thought I had went insane. We were all racing to get 'somewhere'. The epihpany I had at that moment was that this 'somewhere' didnt exist. All that was, was just the present. I went deeper and began to question more. There was no 'I' that existed. 'I' was a complete and utter fabrication. The 'I' that 'I' identified myself as was a complete sham and so were all of the things 'I' stressed out about so much. Every concept. Every notion. All of it was a complete sham. 'I' felt like an actor in a lifelong movie who forgot he was a just an actor on a set For the rest of the evening I was in total bliss. I appreciated every moment in heavy traffic and complete the task at my 2nd job with joyfullness. The following days afterwards I had very intense meditations. During these sessions I would feel an unconditional sense of love and compassion for everything that made me weep tears of joy. Whenever I saw my wife, dog , or anything for that matter it was as if I was seeing them for the very first time. The world felt mystical and mysterious again. It wasn't too long before I found myself getting more and more enveloped in the world around me. I had what you may call a major ego backlash. I was exhibiting the same unconscious behaviors as I had before....but with slightly more consciousness. I have been struggling to feel that sense of union I had those days last November and often find myself confused about where I go in my practice from here. For one I am not sure if this was an elightenment or awakening experience to begin with. I know I must go further inward but present circumstances in life make the possibility to do so very limited. Has anyone ever been in the same boat? Have you ever had an awakening experience only to go unconscious shortly after? Thank you for reading all of this. Your advice is greatly appreciated.

I seen things....terrible things on the dark web and have been struggling to regain my faith in humanity. There are some truly disturbed members of our race. It only solidifies the reasoning why spiritual development and self actualization is so vital for humanity.

Menace II Society Blue reaction to Red in excess

The Japanese Empire in 1945 is an example of blue in excess

Awesome!! I am going to try next time this happens. Thank you!

Does anyone else get insights of wisdom upon dozing off. I often get insights when I am dozing off before taking a nap or going to sleep at night. Unfortunately the insights are so subtle and rapid, I am often unable to communicate or articulate them. Afterwards I am unable to even remember the insight but will feel a profound sense of calmness. Is there a name for this? Is this a common phenomena?

If you go deep enough and ask yourself why you are so resistent to these ideals (Political correctedness and social justice) then you will find a way forward. Personally I do not consider myself politcally correct or label myself an sjw but I can certainly understand why someone would be.

OP you do realize that Africa is a continent and not a single country, right? Self Actualization would be just as much (probably more so) of a challenge as it would with any other part of the world. Africa has too many different ethnic groups, cultures, languages, etc to be trivialized. There are many countries in Africa that would perhaps have an easier time integrating this into their culture simply based on their standard of living in comparsion to other African countries. Most African countries are poor and have extremely oppressive governments. Therefore, most people I would assume are more concerned with survival and having their basic needs met. Despite this Africa is home to some of the most fastest growing economies and slowly but surely overcoming its own obstacles. I think we'll see more Africans in a position to accept self development once a firm and strong middle class arises. Sadly it is the middle and upper classes of most societies who have the luxery to concern themselves with self development work. Self development/actualization work in Africa could be a booming but very challenging market. And there is a whole different sort of dynamics one would have to consider when marketing it. Unfortunately many African countries and societies are just now recovering from the psychogical trauma of brutal wars, colonialism, abject poverty etc. This places a significant burden on a people which more often than not leads to a cycle of self destruction. I'd say that self actualization in Africa is not only possible but desperately needed. But it would have to be done in a place of patience, compassion, and understanding.

I was thinking along the same lines. My intuition tells me I need to proceed with caution due to the power of this practice. Agreed. Consistency is key.

Being of African American decent I think a lot of it has to do with culture. Outside of weed, most African Americans are very close minded when it comes to psychedelics. There is a very negative stigma with illegal mind altering substances that unfortunately stems from the chaos induced during the crack era just my 2 cents

Maintaining a consistent routine has been a challenge for me. I took a week off due to unrelated issues in my persoal life. And this was right before starting the lesson on Kriya Pranayama. Rather than coming back to the lesson (Kriya Pranayama) I decided to start all over with the lesson on Nadi Shodhana and have been slowly working my way back. Do you guys believe this a wise decision? Is it wise to pick back up where you left off if you take a hiatus from practice? What has been your experiences? Oddly enough I find that my concentration routine and my routine overall is a lot more effective after skipping a day. I do not want to make this a habit however and want to strive to be consistent in my practice.

Thank you for taking time to reply to this. Do you feel that these 7 good qualities of entrepreneurship will be enhanced with spirituality? Also, MJ often denounces following your passion as it does not often reciprocate to what is needed in the market. What is your take on this?

Where does entrepreneurship play into the spiritual path? I ultimately want to obtain financial freedom and seem to constantly struggling to come up with new ideas. I recently read a book entitled, Unscripted by MJ Demarco and it totally shifted my view of entrepreneurship. I realize that my views and past business ventures were all based on selfishness and not providing real value for people. I am grateful to have come to this realization but I struggle to come up with new ideas for my next business venture and hence it produces great suffering within me and I often grow frustrated. Part of me feels that this suffering is ultimately based on a discontentment and having attachments. My meditation practice has caused me to be acutely aware of my feelings. Of course the ultimate goal is become detached but wouldn't this inhibit my desire of being an entrepreneur? Or will sticking on the spiritual path allow me to become a better entrepreneur? Any insight is much appreciated.