ajasatya

i was in the same situation as you are right now. finding a zen center and starting yoga classes was my salvation.

you can think like that. you can also think that the city is where human beings need help. why don't you start a meditation group or something like that? a zen sangha, maybe? if you want to do so, i can help you with that.

2016, oct 10th healthy meals actualized.org contributions compassive listening happiness sharing yogasanas meditation ashram duties my girlfriend gave me a fright while i was creating subtitles to leo's video. i was so focused! haha we talked about her mystical experiences from yesterday (sunday). she said that she was filled with love and i could see it in her eyes. she also said that she feels ready to experience complete celibate (no sex, no porn, no masturbation). as someone who's experienced it myself, i was very happy for her. it's a life changing experience! she could practice yoga with me, which made even happier. she's recovering from a lesion in her knee, and being able to practice yoga again is really something! after that, i went to the daissen ji sangha to practice zazen. i was happy that my friend from yesterday was there. he was able to sit for the whole session. i think he'll be able to keep going once a week! back at home, i cleaned the meditation hall and then started to write today's journal.

you may also try kinhin.

hello, @spicy_pickles i can see your struggle. there's nothing that you can grasp and say "this is me. i'm being myself" unless you're experiencing reality fully conscious, aka experiencing enlightenment. but about being someone or something, you have to stop trying to fool yourself and be aware that you're playing a role as a human being. ego is needed unless there could be no interaction. from my direct experience, i can recommend some practices for you to build an ego that won't cause trouble and will also increase your experience with any kind of relationship. become a listener. the dharma is so rare and almost everyone suffers deeply. learn about their sufferings by knowing what they have to say. develop a compassionate mind that is able to wish happiness for everyone around you. smile and look deeply into their eyes. this practice evokes sincerity. be gentle and stop demanding people's attention. this is a world of hungry ghosts. get out of that hole.

@Prabhaker nailed it. his first response says everything.

@Elzhi thank you. i really need your guidance. i shall include you in my list of spiritual teachers so you can be the only one there. peace, brother. it's easier to see when we're calm, but you feel special because you want to shake things up. how can we be special if we aim for separation and do not value listening properly?

hello, @Elzhi . i'm sorry for whatever you're going through in your life. and i'm sorry for everything you've been through. we can't go very far only with intellectual pride and preciosity. where is your heart?

@Orange don't believe in anybody. test and you'll find out. sincerity is about wanting to experience. there's no other way for spiritual growth or maturity.

hi, i found this book which is going to be the next one i'll read. our sexual energy is extremely powerful. how can we use it to increase the quality of our life experience?

even though there's no "i" that meditates, there's meditation, which is the practice of enlightenment. so one can experience his enlightened nature until he's convinced that he IS.

@Azrael i agree with the fact that the observer is a bunch of very close connected thoughts, memories, emotions and perceptions because the thoughts that arise come in specific patterns. but when i empty my mind with an exhalation and put myself as someone who wants to witness the beginning of thoughts, they don't come. if i empty my mind with an exhalation and just relax, after a while i'll just catch myself already inside a thought, missing its beginning. i certainly am open-minded to the possibility of being able to witness the beginning of a thought. i'll work with that thought gatekeeper technique. even if i never ever see the exact moment of the beginning of a thought, i can feel it's a very awareness sharpening tool.

i see love as the best reasonable choice after seeing that there's no fundamental reason for the existence to exist. but it is just a conscious choice.

2016, oct 9th healthy meals happiness sharing bike rides meditation self-inquiry & dharma contemplation deep talks compassive listening actualized.org contributions today i gave a free yoga class to a woman. she's on her 50's and we've been doing this for a while. she has 3 herniated discs but she feels MUCH better now. her flexibility and muscle strength are increasing and she's becoming younger. her eyes shine! after the yoga class i also taught her the practice of zazen. we practiced together. she said that it was hard but she also acknowledged the fact that zazen is what she needs. then i headed to meet a friend of mine. we ate açaí while he was talking about some bad stuff that was happening to him and his parents. i just listened to him. there's nothing much to do in these kinds of situation. i just listened with all my body. in the end he said that he wanted to practice meditation and i invited him to the daissen-ji sangha, which meet on mondays. then i came back home and invited the ashram residents to a free-style meditation in the darkness. there's no form to grasp. just sit and observe whatever happens. i could feel from bliss to agony. pretty interesting! i watched leo's new video and i was amazed by his extensive accuracy. incredible video! then we went to a free choro concert near by. it was AMAZING! the musicians were so good. my perception of reality went kinda crazy but it felt good. i love the impersonal and meaningless taste of reality. i continued the actualized.org subtitle work. it's going to be a long run!

2016, oct 7th and 8th meditation happiness sharing bike rides actualized.org contributions self-inquiry & dharma contemplation healthy meals deep talks after working quite a lot on leo's vid subtitles, i spent these days with my girlfriend. she's simply amazing and i'm so grateful for having such a person walking by my side.

you hesitate to give yourself a meaningless name and start introducing yourself with that for a long period of time (1+ year). where does that feeling come from? would you face this leap of identity detachment for real? i mean, can you do it TODAY? why wouldn't you?

you can just pick a simple name right now and start visiting meditation centers around with it. it's fun!

yes. i've been in the present moment for almost 1 year. it's the end of suffering.

i can only talk for myself. the way i solved this was leaving home and learning how to enjoy my life. as i kept going further, i found more people that enjoyed their lives. those who are actually nice to be with are those who enjoy their lives. and people like that value being surrounded by people who enjoy their lives. so the best i can do is enjoy my life. everything else just flows easily. we're not special because of the knowledge we have. we're special because we're alive and we can appreciate it.

i feel exactly like that because i follow an academic career in the computer science field. everything flows so softly. my rhythm is so slow and i have time to live well. in 2014 i was selfish and ambitious and it hurt me a lot.

2016, oct 7th healthy meals self-inquiry & dharma contemplation insights university career investment yogasanas meditation happiness sharing on the bus to the university i had an insight about the function of a spiritual name. my birth name is arthur and my spiritual name is iago. most people, after receiving a spiritual name either start to develop an aversion for the birth name or continue attached to it. i introduce myself as iago but some people still call me arthur. some people ask me which one i prefer and i tell them to pick one of them. as a result, i found out that having a spiritual name and not developing attachment nor aversion to it can be a strong vehicle to dismantle ego-identities master class was pretty good. we're learning some ninja tricks about the gaussian. its funny because the professor is italian, the class is spoken in english and we're brazilian. on my way back home i had an insight about the pathless path. after a certain point, we have to quit following masters. when we finally understand the importance of the direct experience, it becomes the only thing that matters and we have to learn our way to induce our own direct experience. i paid the zen retreat fee! i'm in! it's going to be fun the yoga class was wonderful. the teacher conduced us through asanas that are perfect for me. it hurts but the changes in my body are visible. i can feel the healing process and it motivates me. after the yoga class, a guy started to ask me about zen and enlightenment. he has so many beliefs and it's very confusing for him. i taught zazen to him then i tried to give him an idea of what enlightenment really is. he was very grateful but he's still lost in confusion. it didn't feel like it was really his moment for a sincere ego seeking trip. after that, i started to play with paper airplanes and soap bubbles with two persons who live here in the ashram. we had an amazing time hahaha! being part of the actualized.org community makes me even happier!

@jse nah, that's not the proper way to use a spiritual name as a tool for enlightenment. you should not attribute meanings to it otherwise you're just creating another self-image. if you adopt a name that means nothing special, it's the best one. and having people that call you by your birth name and by your spiritual name is the best context. your identity will dissolve quicker.

yes, but it's not enough. it's also necessary a radical shift on your life to a extremely simple and minimalist way of living. you need to eliminate worries. a spiritual name can be useful too. i'm making a post about it on my journal today.

@Canadian i cannot tell you. it cannot be told. you have to experience it and learn from your direct experience. you are your own knower. if someone comes by with a broken heart, it's possible to get help in this forum. but if you're asking us how to live your life, we're going to tell you to live it fully.

@Canadian i observe 6 situations the guy totally objectifies the girl and the experience is quite superficial. he does not become attached to her the guy respects the girl and the experience is a little bit deeper. because he's pretty mature, he does not become attached the guy respects the girl and the experience is a little bit deeper. he does become attached but he is not aware of it yet the guy respects the girl and has a true admiration for her. he does become attached and it's easy to see it the guy respects the girl and has a true admiration for her. because he's VERY mature, he does not become attached to her the guy idolizes the girl. he will be attached for sure basically, the more we (men) actually admire the girl and the less mature we are, the more attached we will be.