Esoteric

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  1. Posted

    @David Hammond Sure it CAN raise consciousness. For me it definitely has, it can make you go very very deep. And the results carries along when you are sober (for me it does anyway)

    The problem is that it's addictive. I am an addict, and use it in cycles. Currently smoking now. It works great since I have learnt to use it is a part of my spiritual routine. When I get home from work I do my rapé, walk and I do my Kriya Yoga. Then I smoke the rest of the evening and go deep. Another problem though, is that there is a longing for the weed. And the thought if not doing it after my yoga makes me picture the rest of the evening a bit dull. And that's not good. But it definitely can be a valuable tool.

  5. Posted · Edited by Esoteric

    @rorghee

    From Shinzen's system:

     

    5. Do Nothing
    Do Nothing is an approach to rest that involves little or no effort. You don’t even have to intentionally 
    note restful states. It is totally passive and easy going.
    This approach has been discovered and re-discovered many times and in many places, so it is known by 
    many different historical names. Here are a few:
    • Choiceless Awareness (term used by Krishnamurti and others);
    • Open Presence (term used by neuroscientists);
    • Just Sitting (according to some definitions of that phrase);
    • Dzogchen/Mahamudra (in Tibet);
    • Passive Contemplation (in Christianity); and
    • Non-dual Awareness (according to some definitions of that phrase).
    Do Nothing could also be called “The Technique of No Technique.” Because this sounds a bit self-
    contradictory, you might suspect that there are a few subtle points involved in the instructions. Indeed, 
    that is so.
    Let’s start with the basic instructions (which are quite short). Then we can clarify the subtleties. 
    Basic Instructions 
    1. Let whatever happens, happen.
    2. Whenever you’re aware of an intention to control your attention, drop that intention.
    Now for the subtle points. There are two sides to understanding those subtleties. First, you need to
    understand what the instruction requires. (Yes, there is a very small amount of doing in Do Nothing. )
    Second, you need to understand what the instruction does not require (but what you might think it 
    requires and thus make something that’s easy into something that’s hard).
    Let’s start with the phrase “intention to control your attention.”

    Sometimes your attention may be drawn to an experience spontaneously without control. The 
    experience just happens. At other times, you may find yourself intentionally controlling the direction or 
    content of your experience, trying to keep it on a certain thing or pull it away from some other thing. 
    This is true of all sensory experience including thoughts (recall: in Basic Mindfulness, thought is defined 
    as mental image, mental talk, or both simultaneously). Sometimes a thought just arises on its own. At 
    other times, you may find yourself intentionally thinking about a topic, intentionally pulling away from 
    a topic, or actively directing a thought after it has arisen spontaneously.
    During a period of Do Nothing practice, if you notice that you’re intentionally directing your awareness, 
    you drop the intention to do so. You do this whether that intentional direction involves an objective 
    arising (such as sights, sounds, physical body sensations), a subjective arising (such as mental images, 
    mental talk, or emotional body sensations), a restful state, or a flow state.
    Notice that what you’ve been asked to drop is the intention to direct awareness. You’re not being 
    asked to drop the thing that you happen to be aware of. So if a thought comes up spontaneously, you 
    don’t have to drop that thought. But when you find yourself controlling that thought, drop that 
    intention to control. Do Nothing never asks you to drop experiences. It only asks you to drop 
    intentionally directing how your attention moves within experiences. And you only have to drop an 
    intention when you happen to notice the presence of an intention, which may or may not be very 
    often. So, when you Do Nothing, you may have a lot of sensory activity and you may go unconscious 
    and get caught up in things quite a bit. That’s okay! Whenever you notice an intention to do anything 
    about all of that, drop that intention.
    But what exactly does it mean to “drop” an intention? It means to let go of that intention in that 
    moment. So, dropping is not the same as getting rid of. The intention might immediately reappear over 
    and over. That’s perfectly fine.
    But what if you cannot drop it for even a moment? Then you don’t have to! Here’s why. We’re going to 
    define intention within this context to mean something that is totally voluntary. If you cannot drop it 
    for even a moment, then, by our definition, it is not really part of your free will. It’s happening to you 
    and you don’t need to drop it. 
    Notice also that the instructions do not ask you to continuously check for whether you’re 
    intentionally controlling your awareness or not. To continuously check for the presence or absence of 
    such intention would itself create a continuous intention! When you Do Nothing you may notice 
    intention to control your awareness frequently, occasionally, or hardly ever. Any of these possibilities is 
    fine. 
    As you can see, anyone can do the Do Nothing technique “perfectly” because its goals are extremely 
    modest. Of course, doing the technique perfectly does not mean that your experience of it will be 
    pleasant, restful, or productive. That’s quite a different issue. A “perfect” period of Do Nothing practice 
    may be essentially indistinguishable from a perfect storm of Monkey Mind.

    So, what to do when Do Nothing does nothing for you? Do something else! Basic Mindfulness gives you 
    almost two dozen other focus options. 
    A general principle is: 
    • If Do Nothing makes you too spacey, try Noting for a while.
    • If Noting makes you too racy, try Do Nothing for a while.
    Now you can appreciate the initial phrase in the instructions: “Let whatever happens happen.” With 
    this technique, there is no attempt to achieve any particular effect. If the Do Nothing approach 
    happens to work for you at a given time, pursue it; if it doesn’t, don’t.

    Here are some guidelines and encouragements I give when I lead people in Do Nothing practice.
    • If you have an intention to get focused or settled, drop that intention.
    • If you have an intention to get centered or meditate, drop that intention.
    • If you have an intention to stay with a good state or fix a bad one, drop that intention.
    • If you have the intention to be clear or concentrated or in equanimity, drop that intention.
    • If you drop into equanimity, good. If you notice you’re trying to find or maintain equanimity, 
    drop that intention.
    • If you drop into clarity, good. If you notice you’re trying to find or maintain clarity, drop that 
    intention.
    • If you drop into concentrated space, good. If you notice you’re trying to find or maintain 
    concentration, drop that intention.
    • If for a while you have no intentions to control attention, good, just hang out for as long or 
    short as that may last.
    • If you get dissociated or confused, let go of any intention to do something about that.
    • If an intention to make sense of things arises, drop that intention.
    • Remember, if you cannot drop an intention, it’s not really voluntary by our definition so you 
    don’t need to drop it. 
    • Remember, by definition, dropping does not require any struggle. If you have to struggle to 
    drop it, you don't need to drop it.
    • If you find this centering, good, that’s a sign you’re doing it right.
    • If you find this decentering, good, that’s a sign you’re doing it right.

    At first the Do Nothing approach might be a bit confusing and uncomfortable, but after a while, you 
    may begin to get a sense that although you are not directing yourself towards something, you are 
    being directed towards something. Or, more accurately, you’re being directed towards Nothing—
    Nothing par excellence, The Source. The Groundless Ground. This has some similarities to Just Note 
    Gone (See Chapter 8). Just Note Gone directs you to the Source. Do Nothing directs the Source to you. 
    In Do Nothing, you stop trying to get to IT and give IT a chance to get to you. That’s why some people 
    refer to the Do Nothing approach as “Call Off the Search.” On the one hand, the Buddha put a lot of 
    emphasis on pursuing “The Noble Quest.” Which is the right point of view: Pursuing The Noble Quest 
    or Calling Off the Search? Both, not neither! In an attempt to be balanced, the Basic Mindfulness 
    System provides you with ways to explore both.

  6. Posted

    On 4/28/2019 at 10:12 AM, Leo Gura said:

    Well obviously. That's not even the future, that's already today.

    Life in the real future will be so different it will be impossible to understand it for today's humans. There will be things far beyond humans or even living creatures. Stuff in totally new dimensions as yet unimaginable.

    I forsee a future where beings can materialize physical objects using their will and imagination through no physical mechanism. Imagine building a jumbo jet using your mind and it appears before you. With enough intelligence that should be possible. That is how God does it.

    @Leo Gura So this is gonna be a lot of theorizing and speculating.. I remember reading Bhakti Yoga by Swami Vivekekananda. He makes an argument that when you self-realize you do become aware that you are God but it does not grant you the power of creation, that is still kept from you. Which makes sense to me.

    So it seems to me that Jesus, the Buddha and Babaji are not your typical non-dual types. And allegedly they could/can materialize things into existence. In Yogananda's biography he tells about Yukteswar coming back to see him from the causal plane. He (Yukteswar) then tells a story that Jesus was done completely with his debt to nature and perhaps he was and therefore even could materialize stuff. Same goes for Babaji. Of course there is no validity in this. Other than trust in their words. And his biography seems fantastical, but the more I venture into this work, the more plausible it seems.

    So it could be that RARE beings can do this already. 

  11. Posted

    @Salvijus She shared an experience that was very positive for her. She shared her art, which for a lot of peeps is a very vulnerable thing to do. From what I gathered she never said the divine feminine was about the female form only, just an aspect. Are you here to tell her that her view of the feminine is wrong and your views on it are correct? That is you projecting your insecurities in this thread. The female body obviously makes you uncomfortable, and looking at our culture that is perfectly understandable, but you would do well to investigate where all this comes from.

  22. Posted

    34 minutes ago, Theta said:

    A few questions came up for me these last couple of days:

     

    Firstly, what exactly is Parvastha? I have read about it a couple of times now, but without a proper explanation. Its supposed to be the "After Kriya State" but what does that mean?

     

    Secondly, why should you do Yoni Mudra only once a day? Is it too intense?

     

    Thirdly, when can you move your point of concentration in Kriya Pranayama or Yoni Mudra up from Ajna to Sahasrara? Santata Gamana suggests Saharsara. But this sounds a bit dangerous for a beginner.

    Parvastha is when you reach a non-dual state (if I understood correctly). So you use Kriya to reach that state (eventually) and then you just stay there. Then continue doing it over and over again.

  23. Posted

    1 hour ago, moon777light said:

    @kerk thanks kerk, 

    i just finished todays routine and tried just looking straight with no success. My eyelids kept fluttering like crazy. And today i saw the face of an old man. Or a demon-man dude. It was drawn in a very aztec-y way, with purple pink outlines. At first i was scared and thought what have i gotten myself into, but a part of me wasn't. Then after a while i saw more eyes, another old man, but more benevolent, then a big cat's face. My eyes kept fluttering like crazy. I don't think im doing this right. I'll continue for a trial period but if its not working i might switch to santatagamana's method. I mean maybe it worked? since i saw faces? but i dont know if thats good or bad. 

     

    @anyone, do you guys see things while doing kriya?

    This is just distractions. What they call makyos in Zen. Don't get involved in them or think they are telling you something. Focus on the techniques.

  24. Posted

    @Arnold666 Lol. As someone who used to instruct Muay Thai, I get your point, and I was really close to making a thread like this a couple of years ago myself. I mean he obviously got obsessed with martial arts and from what I understand he did win a big tournament. And the more I get deeper into this stuff the more open I am to the possibility.. But I am still very torn when I watch those videos of his. I just don't know what to make of it.