ajasatya

@Martin123 good, but not so fast. don't be afraid. what do you want for your life then?

want to be your own pillar for motivation? remember that you (as a person) are going to die. don't deceive yourself. then carry your own death with you 24/7. what can you do about it?

@NutellaTC why are you doing all this? are you trying to escape from your social anxiety? your body is pointing to your lies. actually it's not just pointing. it's SCREAMING. you have to heal yourself before trying to transcend your ego. i'd say you're lacking forgiveness/humility. stop running away asap.

@Shin i love you too! this is true liberation. not some purely intellectual trash. knowing what our true nature is? it means almost nothing! it's only worth it when we can actually live it

yes. you have to practice without goals. that's the best advice. just practice for the sake of it. practice for practice itself. this book is perfect for this topic. if you want to deepen your meditation practice, it's the best modern source of knowledge i know.

@Peace and Love i feel like i can help you with some clarifications so you may find your middle path. unfortunately i can only talk about going from the single-with-no-child state to the married-with-children state because that's my own path. which is also good, because you can make use of my words. i had to go through a celibacy training stage to reach the comprehension i have right now. i lived as a zen monk until i could free myself from the needs of sexual satisfaction. then i met my girlfriend on a kundalini yoga event. we started to talk and quickly we found out that both of us had Truth as the primary value to live by. we do not feel as if there were some obligation for us to live together. we simply enjoy the calmness of each other's presence and it floods into our sexual intimacy like nectar dropping from a flower. yes, love is freedom. we love everyone. but there's intimate love, which grows DEEPER and DEEPER as we practice presence and synchronicity. and it can go infinitely deep as we mature together with sincerity and non-attachment. my advice is: heal yourself completely. clean your past as soon as possible so you can start living your own truth. enjoy a healthy life from now on and wish happiness for everyone around you.

@Joel3102 nice! you've gone into it! here are some precise meditation instructions given by sidhartha gautama himself. pay attention to the seven factors for awakening and try to map your practice with what he says so you know how to go deeper and deeper.

@Authenticity there is ONE spirit. that's why jesus, who was a very concise embodiment of the Truth, talked about this thing called The Holy Spirit all the time. ask yourself what you are until you know it.

DID I STUTTER?

@MHarris i agree with what @Leo Gura said because once i was on the same place that you are right now. if you allow me, my suggestion is that you understand the four noble truths with depth, find a zen sangha and start practicing zazen, which is the all-in-one practice of the eight fold path.

@Esoteric all spiritual practices are built to dismantle your ego. do nothing? body scan? no. the unhealthily conditioned mind wants something to chew. it longs for its old masturbation. the frustration you feel is a sign that you're doing it properly. if you need to take a break, do it. but in the end it doesn't matter much which technique. just pick one you can maintain. also, start considering turning your entire day into a meditation practice. 24/7 present.

@quantum hello. your sincerity deserves contemplation. you're doing the real work. the work that "spiritual" people usually avoid. watch closely. can you connect with the suffering your father was going through when he did those things to you? the experience you're having is a call to break that cycle. love and forgiveness is the only way. cry as much as you need. grind it out. grind it all out.

@jjer94 your text is orgasmic.

@Andrew do it. you're going to die eventually so what'd be the point to live the kind of life that you don't even enjoy fully? my advice is: find a spiritual practice you can maintain naturally. i'd recommend zen with a sangha that practices zazen. also yoga and healthy nutrition. maybe it's not about life purpose. maybe it's about finally stopping everything and living what you really are. the life purpose should come out of it as a consequence among many others.

@John meditate with semi-closed eyes on a not-so-dark and not-so-bright environment. here you go.

and somehow both of you look alike hahahaha!

@Donald it's when you observe a thought without judging it. without creating more thoughts about thoughts. your mind remains focused, your mouth remains silent, your body remains still. this is zazen.

@Donald yes, "still" as in "stillness", "quietude" or "silence"

@sgn if you try to sell meditation with makyo, you're doing a tremendous harm. give them the challenges they need to overcome instead. during the practice of meditation, the person needs to sit still even though he's watching the thoughts that he's been running from his entire life. meditation is a tool to disorient the ego with artificially generated crisis.

@Mr Lenny the purpose of self-inquiry is to let your ignorance flow into your heart. surrender completely. this ego vulnerability, if done properly, is a breach through which Reality will flood your sense of being with Love. as maharshi himself said, it's not about getting an answer, it's about dissolving the questioner.

@Frogfucius @Martin123 it's about unconditional love and compassion. it's always about valuing the human being over words or points of views. and @Shane Roberts , it's also about growing up out of the dependence of external approval and sexual satisfaction. for god's sake, this freestyle spirituality requires maturity and a huge sense of knowing why we're here. if we cannot access that just yet, we're better of committing to a single method. i'd recommend zen practice. ALL of it. the noble eightfold path, the five precepts etc. this is a forum for consciousness expansion and we're having a hard time trying to help a human being who's having a hard time on his path because we're stumbling on our own intellectual penis. where is our practice?

this is why the buddhas emphasize the third jewel: the sangha. the first jewel is the buddha, which means your very own potential for complete enlightenment. the second jewel is the dharma, which is another word for the truth about what you really are. then, the third jewel is the sangha, which is the community of practitioners, so you don't fall back into the old patterns ruled by ignorance. you need to learn how to get along truth seekers in real life. this forum is just a tool. do whatever it takes and be serious about your own life and true happiness.

what is it that wants to know? what is it that is curious? if you can't feel these questions yet, dedicate more time to meditation.

if you want to know the truth to be a better person or to run away from your personal problems, you'll be crushed. i recommend a meditation routine and some advaita study first. after a few years, MAYBE you'll be ready for it.

you'll be ready for a relationship when you realize that you don't need one.