Esoteric

That's great. Hope everyone sees this so they can get instantly enlightened. That's what happened to Spira, right? Or no, he spent 20+ years doing mantra/concentration meditation. I like Spira, but it's easy to say "just be aware". His prior concentration practice for sure had a part in why he could benefit so quickly from his advaita practice. And advaita is great but sometimes it takes work to be stable and interested in being aware, and this is where psychedelics CAN help to speed up this process.

@corndjorn Yes, people that don't get benifits from using psychs anymore shouldn't use them, I agree.

@corndjorn Sorry was skimming through the thread pretty quickly. But yeah, I think we are pretty much in agreement. When psychs have done their job or act as a crutch I will obviously stop using them. But I don't know if they can be worked on deeper levels for me, and neither do you. For some people it may work great. People are unique and have different needs and tools to suite their psychology and physiology. How they work with emotions etc One persons pile of shit is anothers persons treasure.

Like some said, it's relative and depends on so many factors like your intention, maturity etc. For me ayahuasca and rapé have been tremendous tools for my spiritual progress. And actually not so much for dissolving your ego, but that is useful too, but what I have found out even more is to work with resistance. You will purge when the experience gets too much, and when you are being open and strive to be open in the body the medicine does wonders. Both the aya and rapé works like this. So you can work on this without psychs, of course. But damn they speed up the process if you are genuine in your seeking. If you get caught up in concepts and past experiences on psychs they will slow down your progress. So it's not that simple as to say they do good or bad. Its about how you work with them.

5-meo-dmt is the big one I haven't gotten around to yet. Just regular DMT (ayahuasca). So can't give a comparison. I only took DPT in the nose. Orally you need a much larger dose and even then you really dont know how much you take up so that's not recommended. Plugging is supposedly great as well.

DPT is the psychedelic I have the most experience with, and I have a lot of experience with various psychs. DPT is the most mystical and weird of them all, and the most occult. Very easy to "ego-die". It has a very seductive feel to it and, imo, even "satanic" at times or sinister. Not in a hellish way but in a seductive way. Hard to describe with words. I've heard its been described as an absurd twin to DMT and I feel this is fairly accurate. Music is heavenly. Do yourself a favor and listen to Bach on this, if you are going to listen to music that is. You will understand what genius truly means. Bach clicked for me on such a deep level with this substance that nowadays 90% of what I listen to is Bach.

It's a great asset and tool for evolving as a human and getting different perspectives. The problem arises when people use it to elevate themselves and put others down which I see frequently on this forum. Bragging on a message board how they are transitioning to coral and other silly stuff.

I'd say Russell Brand is a fine example of green. If you watch his interview with Sam Harris there is still a bit of passive aggressiveness and attacks on his part.

Impossible to answer. Depends on a variety of factors. Dedication, time put in, how spritually gifted you are naturally etc. But stick with it, it's worth it.

Sounds like an awesome and healthy relationship.

@Ninie If you stop identifying with the person you will simply be. But the person has to go completely. I have only had glimpses of this but I can tell you that is beyond anything your mind can imagine or make concepts about. Just don't complicate things is my tip. Just relax more and more and sink into it. Keep it simple.

I mean when you keep getting caught up in stories and identifying with your thoughts it's not gonna stop attacking. That you get a lot of ego backlash is a good sign, that is true. But it is not gonna stop if you keep identifying with your thoughts. You are gonna have to be brave and weather the storm the best you can. I have found Shinzen's "Hear in, feel in, see in" technique to be really good for this. I use it continously throughout the day. Also whenever i catch myself wanting to elevate myself or having thoughts about how people are gonna be impressed with how spiritual I am I use the label "spiritual ego" then go back to resting as awareness. It can't be stressed enough how important it is to wash the spiritual ego away. It can take A LOT of years from your progress. And hey, I have used weed in the past to get rest and I still struggle with the urge to smoke when it gets rough so I hear you. You just gotta hang in there and be patient. Best of luck.

Go on a retreat. When you have to meditate for many hours for several days you can get motivation to keep a good routine going.

Not necessarily. Depends on how you deal with it and how much you let go. If you continously get caught up in it, it will never let go. Its not gonna stop unless you stop putting energy into it. I feel like putting anti-depressants into your system is just a quick relief. My two cents.

So I've withheld from sexual activity in the past for about 4-5 months. Though in retrospect it only led to frustration. So anyone know good literature on how to work with sexual energy so you can use it for purification? Note that I am not interested in literature on how to have better spiritual sex or whatever. Just how to work with sexual energy that you do not release. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

@NoSelfSelf Thanks, this book looks interesting. Heard of Mantak Chia before. Will check it out.

You contract the area between your anus and balls(if you are male), then you suck your stomach up towards solar plexus and lastly you put your chin down towards your chest. Yes hold it the whole duration. Will get easier the more you do it

Indeed. Everything that arises in your life is a way and opportunity for you to become more aware and closer to liberation. Now this can be extremely hard to do, but it is amazing that it is like that. You can see for yourself that you get rewarded by seeing a teacher in everything.

I'd recommend Ennio Nimis book on Kriya Yoga. Its free at kriyayogainfo.net Has a lot of useful information

I am struggling with cannabis addiction myself (currently off it). And yeah weed is real tricky.. For me it makes me connected as well. And actually lately the results from monthly daily use has made the results stick when I am sober as well. So it gets me a rest from my neurotisism plus it makes me more connected. So yeah thats the tricky part.. In the end Id rather be without it. It has cost me alot so I will probably seek professional help soon. Because it always sneaks back into my life and its starting to get tiresome, this cycle. I had a friend who was addicted to amphetamines. He was in NA meetings for years. He said at least 90% were there for cannabis addiction. This whole weed culture is really a big denial. "Cant get addicted maaan". So yeah. I hope you can recognize how the ego might be tricking you (dont really know your situation fully, maybe its a great tool that you can use responsibly) Peace

Maybe. But I don't think a specific teaching is gonna magically solve your problem. Concentration is not easy to build (for most of us) so the best is to keep concentrating on whatever method you find most enjoyable. But yeah Kriya is excellent for concentration, if you stick with it. I'm going to my 4th Vipassana retreat in November, started this journey 2 years ago and I am struggling with concentration as well. It takes time.

Mooji isn't "sattvic", he eats meat, to give you one example. So either you are saying Mooji isn't self realized or your statement is proven false?

You should take a break. It goes without saying that It can do more harm than good. Yoga is one of those things that's very easy to do wrong.

@John Iverson What type of Kriya Pranayama do you do? The one from SantataGamana's book? I do the one from Gamana and I think it is important to take the advice to not force the breathing but start naturally and eventually it will be put into place. Ennio's book is tremendous I think. If you liked Gamana there is a further and more detailed explanation in the third part of his book (Gamana's Kriya Pranayama is Sri Mukherjee's btw) about this specific type of Pranayama. It says not to force your breathing because by doing that, while having energy blocks, it can create problems in the body. So my advice would be to heal (you shouldn't do Kriya if you are not feeling well, period) and just follow Gamana's version letter by letter.

I eat meat, vegetables, fruits and nuts and olive oil. Been keeping this diet for 1,5 months now and I like it. Works good for me. If I want a treat I buy a pineapple and honey melon, that's my "candy".