ajasatya

@Gabriel Antonio very well done take your time to integrate the experience in your daily routine. it was needed 4 months for me after my first ayahuasca experience.

the teacher's point was proved here: you don't have enough maturity to mix spiritual paths on your own way yet. you're just feeding your monkey mind. instead, practice and master one technique for your own sake. this decision requires a sip of humility, which can be quite hard at the moment.

@Surrealist hello there! would you try to implement some of these?

@Annetta chew slowly contemplate your surroundings often rarely use your cellphone eat healthily exercise (i strongly recommend yoga) drop your relationships with toxic people do not watch tv make eye contact with people

@nahtanoj do not worry about it. you felt the peace of true humility. bowing is a beautiful act. as opposed to what some people have suggested here, i suggest that you surrender absolutely to their practices. why is that so? because i could feel in your words that it's what your heart is asking you to do. and that's what i did when i was where you are. it's easy to notice those who are still trapped in mental processes. they say be careful; study a lot; integrate knowledge. i say just go; surrender; be happy. listening to our heart is one of the hardest thing for us, human beings, to do. and being humble enough to obey is even harder. it's scary, i know. the ego makes up a bunch of excuses and puts up a lot of obstacles. but in the end you simply have to go there. go there every sunday. smile and laugh with them. listen to them with a relaxed body. when we bow to buddha, we don't bow to a god in the common sense. we bow to our true nature. we bow to the big mystery of this present moment.

@Wyatt check out what they're doing in butan.

@Edvard it doesn't matter who's right and who's wrong. if you're leaning towards it, go for it with all your heart. it's your responsibility.

@Mastral

no. it has nothing to do with enlightenment. if you want to acquire super powers, that's something else.

@Loreena just to explain a little better what @Leo Gura said... when we're thinking/speaking/acting from a low consciousness perspective, we will experience suffering that comes from regret loneliness anger impatience vanity attachment jealously materialism luxury so our big task here is to purify ourselves from those by letting our egos dry out until they become humble servants of Truth.

huh, i think @krazzer got this because he doesn't seem to be someone who suffers from attachment. i still go to ayahuasca ceremonies twice in a month even though i'm not searching for anything. i just enjoy life the way it is . i play within duality like an innocent child. i talk about spirits and reincarnation. i talk about zen and make people practice zazen with me. i dance like the wind. i play a role without identifying myself with it. it's all fine. no suffering at all.

@Max_V try to feel those emotions in your body. instead of using the mind to come up with an idea about fear, find the fear and feel the fear in your body. observe it for a long period of time. you don't even need to ask yourself what it is. just be with it. don't run away to your thoughts.

@Loreena no. there's no shortcut. you have to accept the entire universe just the way it is. have you ever been to a retreat?

@Joseph Maynor do you live stuck in the past? are you anxious for the next move? if your answers are no, then you've already attained the pragmatic healing that the meditation habit provides. you can move one step further and let go of gains from your meditation habit. just meditate for no reason. letting go of gains is a real method to make your ego actually dry out. it feels unpleasant. it feels like a waste of time. but that's how the real work feels.

@krazzer watch out for the desire to be acknowledged, congratulated, looked up. let us be servants of Truth, not the opposite peace, compassion and wisdom.

have you tried group meditation? why don't you join a sangha? yoga classes with interesting people? have you ever been to an event that promotes healthy eating habits? don't just throw yourself in places inhabited by toxic people. you deserve better.

how is your physical health? do you eat healthily? do you practice exercises?

@Jack_Clark hello there! i appreciate your decision. why don't you start a journal and show us your journey? let your story inspire others! https://www.actualized.org/forum/forum/16-self-actualization-journals/

why would you turn it off? monkey mind is a nightmare from hell. being able to spend the day in the meditative state is a blessing. instead of turning it off, why don't you let it sink deeper in you? get used to it. your life has gained an incredible boost.

are you resisting a lot of temptations? how was your life? subjecting yourself to such a hard meditative program when coming from a life immersed in bad habits and addictions can be harmful. and consistency is more important than diving too deep in a rhythm that hurts you. take your time. walk around. go to a park and contemplate it with a relaxed body. sitting meditation is not the only tool. use everything you can.

@Loreena hatha yoga

you still want teachings. you want better teachers. let me tell you a little secret. nobody will come to save you. you want something for your mind to chew. you want a mental comprehension of Reality. i have bad news for you. that ain't happening. there's no ultimate authority other than your own direct experience. you can read the entire bible. you can read all zen literature. you can listen to all spiritual speeches that have ever existed on this planet. nothing will happen. jesus himself could appear in front of you right now and tell you everything he knows. that wouldn't do shit. sit down and stop demanding. what are you? nobody needs your answers and your ignorance is nobody else's fault. where the hell have i dropped my keisaku?

to be honest, i saw it happening at the very moment i finished watching this video, which was the first video i watched from you. why'd i know that? because i could feel your unstoppable thirst. a real Hearth of God looking for the Fire. i know that you won't feel complete peace until you do it. there will always be this silent voice coming from your heart. if you really manage to perform this huge leap and quit the shit out of everything to get enlightened, and if you actually do get enlightened, that'd be the perfect situation. i've being thinking for quite a while that the best way to serve Truth after enlightenment is doing something like adyashanti does. he organizes retreats in which people have no option other than doing the real work. wish you the best.

no. you're on track. keep going. if you say that Reality just is and that separation is a concept, then what is it that says "my skandhas"? what is it that possesses skandhas? you don't have to verbalize an answer. you don't have to answer it here. just contemplate the question and go further. it is one of the biggies. but be careful not to think that you're done. if you notice true enlightened masters, you'll see that they completely embody Truth. they think, speak and act naturally accordingly to their insights. their moral behavior is straightforward, clean and compassionate. they move their bodies gracefully in calm and relaxed ways. the more i read and meditate, the more i appreciate the term self-mastery that @Leo Gura uses. for me, it feels like becoming a servant of Truth.

hello, @Michael119! my experiences come easier when i am alone, not necessarily sad or depressed. i had one peak experience when i was deeply sad/depressed/anxious. that peak experience felt like an ego breakdown. are you judging your solitude with negative labels? i wouldn't! solitude is a blessing. trash culture tells us that being alone is wrong and that we should feel bad about it. are you being caught by that trap?