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@Identity Almost definitely Kundalini related. You should go get shaktipat from Jan Essman.

@Flix This is something I struggled with for a long time too, because you're right, surely there is no 'who', or atleast who I am is just conceptual. Also, other teachers use WHO and WHAT interchangeably and in different ways which adds to the confusion. But clearly you can actually get WHO you are, and there is a distinct difference between getting WHO you are vs WHAT you are. I don't know WHO i am but this video actually created a big shift in my understanding of the question, particularly when Ralston says "do you think it's going to turn out to be anything but you". If you're thinking it's going to be something you've never experienced before or a new idea or something, then you're on the wrong track. WHO you are isn't anything other than you. Are you getting this? So in that sense it can't be a thought, or a memory, or anything imagined. WHO you are can't be found anywhere 'outside' of you, because IT IS you. youtube.com/watch?v=0Pc41z6gzcQ When Ralston says you can 'get' who you are, he's talking about having an insight. It's a recognition of what's true. No one can really describe what it feels like or 'how to unlock it'. It doesn't work that way. It has to be you getting it. Here's a response I got from Ralston a while back regarding the WHO question, which you might find helpful: Alex, I sympathize with your challenges. The main thing is to have the intention to grasp the truth —no matter what it is. And remember, it IS you! Put your attention on what is most honestly you in your experience in this moment and set out to get you directly, without confusing you with anything you perceive, or think, or are attached to, etc. Yet also don't look elsewhere and don't overlook the obvious. As you contemplate, ask who is contemplating, or who is sitting or walking or thinking or feeling? No matter what you experience ask: who is experiencing it? This always puts you on track to grasp the source of whatever is experienced, which has to be you. As you intend to grasp you directly, be open. Don't expect or imagine what is true, be open to grasping it instead. And don't overlook YOU! It's that simple. I suggest you re-read the chapter on contemplation in NK, perhaps you will see something in a new light. Take each point and work with it, don't make it into a fantasy or aligned with your beliefs, but instead try to see clearly what is being said and turn that into an experience in your contemplations. Good luck with that. Peter

You can spend weeks or even months doing the prepping exercises. Seems like a waste of time to me. Just get to the main techniques laid out in the other books on Leo's booklist. Don't rely just on Kriya Secrets Revealed. I used multiple books and picked the best/most effective out all of them.

I don't do nostril breathing, and I don't see it as a necessary part of the yoga routine, nor does Leo as far as I understand. It's a nice little technique to help you calm down and relax before a meditation or before your yoga if you want, but don't spend ages on it. If you can't stop yawning during it then don't bother with it. About ocean breathing, I wouldn't get too caught up with it in the beginning. It's a slightly more advanced technique which takes some practise. To be honest, I could never really do it either. I don't see it as that important, but i'm sure there will be some people who would disagree. Just focus on bringing the prana/energy up the spine using mahamudra, pranayama and maybe breath of fire if you can manage it. Make sure to do all the body locks of course. Just work on improving your visualisation of the prana/energy going up the spine. And do lots of it. I successfully brought prana up to the head without doing either of the things you mentioned. Also, being able to feel the spine is not a prerequisite for successful yoga.

@lmfao There's a reason Leo's booklist is behind a paywall... @Spiral Wizard I'm not gonna list out all of the preliminary techniques, because there's too many and they have weird names. You need to go through the Kriya Mega-thread and find Leo's recommendations. Just go through each page and look for Leo's comments, shouldn't take you too long. If all you get is the book mentioned above you won't have a clue where to start or what to do.

Leo has a number of books on his booklist about Kriya Yoga techniques. Don't bother with all of the preliminary techniques, just get straight to spinal breathing.

Keep your eyes peeled tomorrow on the UK news. Big election that will shape the country quite radically over the next 4/5 years. Two two main parties that have a chance of winning are the Conservatives led by Boris Johnson (very right wing) and Labour led by Jeremy Corbin (very left wing). I have a feeling the Conservatives will win a majority, but it's still quite uncertain. I will be voting of course, and I hope all you Brits on here are too!

The Conservatives win with a majority, meaning they essentially have full power now for the next 5 years. If Trump wins next year, the next half decade will be a sorry state of affairs to say the least. Whilst I didn't want Johnson in power, I didn't particularly like Corbyn either. He didn't have a strong enough vision and isn't a powerful leader imo. And of course his Brexit plan was too vague and wishy washy. If he had just laid out a simple clear plan for Brexit, he may have had a chance of winning.

This is the way.

@electroBeam The blue being was an experience that Jan had which allowed him to give Shaktipat. Apparently its a manifestation of Shiva and only a handful of people in existence today have had it. Amma is apparently permanently merged with the blue being/Shiva Consciousness, according to Jan. Jan's and Leo's experiences seem different on the surface, but as Leo said, they're just different perspectives of different facets, using different words and terminology. Underneath it all, its all the same. But Jan is an interesting case. I talked to him about his past lives and he said he has been a spiritual seeker for many many lifetimes.

Is it only absolute horror from your egoic self-survival perspective. In actuality it is not.

Surely this conversation should be had in a new thread, rather than this one?

Be carefull, start with a very low dose (i'm assuming you know the appropriate dosages for these substance) and work your way up incrementally over the next few months. It will not be like anything you have experienced, unless you have done psyches before. Also, with the 5-MeO, measure your substance very very carefully, and be sure to test the substance before taking it. I'm assuming you have watched all of Leo's videos on psychedelics, as well as his blog video about rectal administration? If not, make sure you do that. And lastly, be sure to go into psychedelics with a good foundation of theoretical knowledge. If you have just come across Leo's videos, I would advise you to spend a few months studying his work more deeply before doing any psychedelics. Take is slow and easy, and goodluck.

@Schahin You can't just remain silent or observe the silence and hope that eventually something will happen. You can do this for thousands of hours and not get anywhere. There certainly are periods where you end up sitting in silence, but that is generally a by-product of prior contemplation and questioning. You need to just be brutally honest with yourself and then question the answers that you come up with. When you ask Who Am I?, what is your honest to god answer? Probably your name, your personality, life story, memories etc. Question these beliefs. If you are working to get Who you are, you must first have an absolutely honest and genuine intent to get to the truth of the matter. You must think, whatever the truth is, I don't care, but I seriously want to know - not for my own self agenda, but for Truth's sake. When you sit down to contemplate, let go of all beliefs you have about enlightenment and particularly about what you've heard from others. Anything about you being nothing, or being everything, or being infinite, or you not existing, or anything you've heard from others, just let it all go. It will not serve you in any way. This is so important. Don't expect or imagine what you think the answer is. Because that isn't YOU! Focus on what is actually true for you right now, right in your direct experience. The trick though, is that what you think is direct experience, is actually imagination. So be careful and mindful. When you're work on getting Who you are, you are setting out to get YOU! Not as a belief or idea or thought, but ACTUALLY you. It's not going to be anything but YOU - can you get this? Don't confuse yourself with anything you perceive, think or anything you are attached to (like your life story). Is your life story actually who you are, or are you imagining it? Let all this (above) go. They are just beliefs and ideas, and are not useful for contemplation. Focus on what is actually true for you right now. Don't overcomplicate it.

@Derrida I like your skepticism, but be careful not to dismiss the things Leo mentions just because they seem 'far-fetched'. This stuff gets really fucking weird and radical. Always remain open minded. But you are in a good starting point. Better to be skeptical about this work in the beginning, rather than just blindly believing everything and turning it into an ideology.

@Raze Nice share, thats awesome!

@Psyche_92 If you've done it before, you can do it again.

How can someone working a 9-5 use the time outside of the job most effectively? How can you begin to breakdown the barrier between spirituality/consciousness work and every day work life? Or, how can you bring spirituality more into your normal daily routine. What are the best habits to cultivate in your 20s? What is the essence of creating a great vision for your life? Or, what is the essence of a powerful vision? What kind of mindset should one have in their 20s? How should a 25 year old be framing and thinking about their life? How do you work through/deal with psychological addictions to food, i.e. eating less healthy food when stressed/ feeling depressed. What are some of the best things to spend your money on, and also some of the worst?

They also produce the best tech products in the world, like all the iPhones, Macs, PCs, all the latest smartphones, electric cars, and basically every other tech product you have in your home and have ever used. And who owns these manufacturing plants? American and western companies. Who buys these goods? America and western countries. What you're describing is straight up capitalism.

The vast majority of relationships end pretty quickly at some point and rarely last until one or both people die, particularly these days. If you consider all of the relationships ever throughout history, most don't last long. This isn't a bad thing. Leo is really telling the truth about how most relationships are formed out of selfishness. In fact all relationships are, because everything is done for self-survival. Most, if not all relationships, even the cute elderly couple who have been married for 60 years, are all done out of raw self-survival. Falling in love, in the conventional sense, however deep and authentic it may be, is still self-survival. Why do you fall in love with only a very specific type of person? Self-survival! Saying that, you can of course still have deep loving, long lasting relationship. Don't assume Leo has had shallow relationship experiences simply because he is stating the truth. If anything, recognising the actual self-survival mechanisms behind relationships is more conducive to a significantly more intimate and deep bond with your partner.

@JonasVE12 Atleast what you're eating is low in processed sugar, which is the really the number one thing when it comes to good diet. If you really want to optimise your diet, take out the white bread and pasta or atleast swap them for wholegrain versions. I would not be surprised if you were deficient in a lot of essential nutrients if you have been eating just those foods for a long time. Get a blood test to check. A variety of foods is essential for healthy living. If you eat the same thing all the time you're more likely to develop intolerances (particularly with things like peanut butter) I would say you need to get in a wider variety of foods, particularly vegetables. There are literally so many vegetables you can eat, and just with a little seasoning the majority of them are delicious. You need to develop a palette for vegetables. So just slowly incorporate them into your diet. It literally takes 5 minutes to cut and steam some broccoli, or 10 minutes to boil some potatoes. Bad gut bacteria thrive of junk food and crappy foods, particularly sugars of all kind (white sugar and as refined carbs). Occasional treats are allowed of course, but anything over the top and your asking for gut problems. Vitamins can help but should never be a substitute for real whole foods. Just eat your vegetables and fruits.

She's speaking for ALL young people. Someone has to speak up and be the face of the youth, and it just so happens to be her. Rising sea levels are not going to be the biggest problem from climate change. Drought, massive migration, food shortages etc are all things that will impact everyone around the world.

@ethanb121 just buy a drug test kit online.

A few ideas: Set specific chunks of time to study and put away ALL distractions. Do this either by being disciplined about it (e.g. put phones and computers away, or close windows/tabs on computer etc) or by forcing it (e.g. studying in a cafe, giving your phone/computer to someone else, putting app blocking software on your devices). With these chunks of time, usually atleast 1 hour, set a timer and do not stop working until the timer goes off. Tell yourself that when you finish the session you can have a break and relax for a bit. Then do another chunk of work, and repeat. Write a 'Done list', rather than a 'To Do list'. Every time you do a chunk of work or whatever you need to do, write it on the list. This keeps you motivated and often makes you want to do more so you can write more on the Done list. Much better than having a long list of stuff To Do, although To Do lists can be excellent as well. Leading on from this, you can write a clear plan or list of everything you need to do. Make it absolutely crystal clear what needs to be done. Having just a bunch of work to do but not knowing exactly what that will be makes you procrastinate. It's kinda like a fear of the unknown. Having a good schedule and routine is also helpful. Aim to do a certain amount of work each night and give yourself fully to the work, knowing that when you've finished working hard you can relax and watch Youtube etc. Last piece of advice is JUST DO IT. There is no cure for laziness other than just sitting down and doing the work. Stop expecting it to be easy and pain free. Stop avoiding the suffering. Successfull people learn to work and get stuff done particularly during those times when you don't want to do it.

Awakening isn't simply a black and white thing. It's multi-faceted and one can experience many degrees of awakening into each facet. Each person's realization and embodiment of Truth is quite different. You need to be more specific in your question e.g. What is stream entry like? Or, what does No-self feel like? Furthermore, awakening at the deepest levels simply cannot be put into words because it requires a shift in consciousness. It's not like describing a dream or a drug high.