Nahm

@Rilles Give locally; churches, shelters, half way homes, etc. There’s no shortage of people who could use a hand getting back on their feet.

@gilded_honour Scroll down a bit on this thread for some traditional meditations. There’s also a link to some lessor known meditations too. Enjoy!

@gilded_honour Sit w back straight, head tilted slightly forward, and achieve complete relaxation of every single muscle, to the point that surrender is a more accurate word. You want the body to be as relaxed as it is in deep sleep, with your energy at full intensity - as if you were waiting for a burglar to round the corner to pounce on him. Every cell should be awake and ready. If posture is poor, or you aren’t meditating first thing in the morning, you’ll dose off, or lean / fall over, or you’ll not be physically balanced and therefore tensing certain muscles to counter balance / stay straight (not lean / fall) without noticing you’re tensing because you are used to tension in the body, and therefore don’t notice it. The very thing (tension) that you’re unaware of is the point here, and awareness itself is the ‘cure’. Carry this into each day and sustain it - awareness of any tension in any muscle, and relax it, awareness of the culmination of all senses with intensity, mindful of every sense individually, without identification / reaction. This is not habitual, but nonengagement, full of awareness, and complete detachment through awareness of all habits / conditioning (aware of them, wether they are happening or not doesn’t matter, awareness is curative and worthy of trust.) When you notice reaction, wether muscular or mental, relax, and return to fully aware, and nonreactionary. Even as reactions occur, wether physical or verbal, be aware of, not involved in. Back out / relax out of it, and stay aware. Notice the sound of a voice, is not the sound of your voice. Be that unattached, and that aware. ‘that’ voice is no longer your voice. Notice thoughts are not your thoughts, be aware thoughts are things, like trees are trees; there is no mechanism or justification of “yours” to be found, that is just another thought; awareness is unconditional and omnipresent, and never appears in pieces, as it has never not appeared. If you experience some ego freak out, a “mantra” can be useful, and I’d consider: “Only awareness is aware of awareness” (said as a prayer would be, as if you’re telling someone “It’s ok, everything’s ok”.) Don’t “mantra” unless it feels needed. Allow any emotions to arise, and play out, be aware and that is enough. After some practice a couple new things arise... When you have ‘returned home’ so to speak, in nonreaction, the finite ceo / “decision maker”/ over thinker/over thinking - naturally recedes, and the intelligence will manipulate the body (it actually is “the body”) , aligning things, stretching things, cracking things, etc, just allow this. It’s difficult not to mentally react to this at first because it’s new, just relax again, it is curative, trust it. With enough surrender, deep relaxation, the brain & body & thought will start to disappear, and only breathing exists. The breathe will minimize on it’s own (don’t “attempt” or “do” this) until there is literally no breathing. In “witnessing” the falsity or illusionary nature of the breathe, awareness is aware of awareness. This is a euphoric experience. Don’t go telling people. They will not believe you, and you’ll sound crazy, cause, of course we have to breathe, otherwise we would not be “alive”.

@Aquarius I like it. Just saying, you know, those people. ?

@Strikr Try to notice during breath awareness meditation that each thought arises on it’s own accord, in a linear fashion. Though it appears so, in actuality, one thought has absolutely nothing to do with the very next thought. The understanding is of infinite consciousness (you), not a product of some series of thoughts. (that - is yet another completely stand alone thought). It can be helpful to label each thought, a,b,c... or 1,2,3,... - using your voice, out loud, for the purpose of awareness of the space inbetween each thought / the silence in between the words. That space is consciousness (you), the space thoughts are transpiring in - emptiness, the same as a voice transpires, or arises in, the silence (you). From there, less falsity, or ignorance in identification is needed for thinking to continue to cease. This is the same as more awareness, consciousness, in terms of identification. Consider, given that all there is, is consciousness, many thoughts arise simply in maintaining a complete cover up, or preserving the beliefs supporting a separate entity. It’s a lot of work. That, requires effort, it is effort; contraction - tension - over thinking...unconsciousness. (Doesn’t feel like effort after many years of it - we don’t notice) Relaxing the body relaxes the mind,directly lessening overthinking. Relaxed body = consciousness. (Feels wonderful after many years of efforting) It is also helpful to add the opposite thought to each arising thought. This reveals or points right at the dualistic nature of thinking (or the onesidedness used to forge the “separate identity”), and also brings awareness to the space in which both thoughts of opposite perspective are arising. Ex: Feel how both are “true”, as they are equal, level, merely arising and not to be believed or identified with. This will lessen the amount of thoughts, as well as lingering questions which contribute to over thinking. Also, you could look into; double negatives, unnessessary complexity, purposeless abstraction, circular logic, and problem creating, in terms of awareness of reactionary conditioned thoughts. Incrementally, there’s what appears to be an overall diminishment of thinking (in occurrence & severity), as well as the “arising of awareness” (It was all that was really there). Hopefully some of that is helpful. Don’t ask how this is known though.

@MM1988 Sounds like overall you’re doing pretty well. That “hole”, is it from patterns of negative thoughts about yourself? Have you tried therapy / counseling?

@Jack River Would you say enlightenment is the same as the realization that there is no separate self?

@Strikr meh.

@Jack River What if that’s a smoke screen, so to speak? What if enlightenment is not a “notion”, or an “idea” at all? What if everything else is an idea? What if it’s not a “destination” at all? What if it’s a way in, and not a “way out”? What if enlightenment is so far beyond “psychological safety”, that thought deludes us by categorizing seeking there, so that we don’t seek, - thus falsely experiencing the very “psychological safety” via nullification? What if that it is any of those things is the smokescreen? Could thinking be so sneaky, as to convince us not to even begin? But then, if we didn’t find out for ourselves, in our own direct experience - wouldn’t we just be believing someone else, or be believing our own thoughts? What if “seeking what we have learned about enlightenment”, is not what seeking actually is? What if the suffering is actually from missing what is in actuality, a smokescreen, and the absence of suffering is in actuality the result of denying one’s own desire? Could a delusion of this magnitude itself be a way of not living life to the fullest, but veiled by a false wisdom of not taking the first step? How could someone know these things with absolute certainty without seeking, given that they currently, honestly, don’t know?

I think this is what’s at the core of the ‘issue’. It is subtle, but like splitting a nucleus in comparison to an atom, more power is found in the more subtle. What is the difference between: How do I know if I’m good enough to start offering my Digital Paiting and Drawing services? and How do I know if my Digital Painting and Drawing services are good enough to offer?

@Jack River I do. When you reference “attainment of enlightenment”, what are you talking about?

@Shakazulu Right! So that ain’t it. It’s UNIMAGINABLE. Try to imagine it again?

@brugluiz Stop equating the quality of your work, with yourself. You are good enough, times infinity. Awareness of conditioned thinking which leads you to equate your work, the output, to who or what you are, “if you’re good enough”, is paradoxically reducing the quality of your work. (This is attachment to a thing - your work - )

@tashawoodfall You’ll never be able to enjoy it. So that motive won’t work. That’s why there is nothing to give.

@Emerald You can do this tomorrow morning. Get a good night’s sleep, wake up and meditate, returning your focus to stomach breathing, over and over. You know that is the work to be done. Wether you entertain 1 more thought, or 1 million more thoughts, before doing this work, that’s up to you. When I was there I had a family & I was the only income producer (wife at home with 2 babies). I had to be at work at 9am. So I got up at 4am, for many months, instead of 7am. Eventually you will not have thoughts. Consider how in holding a problem, inherent;y, the solution will seem foreign. Thought will discredit everything to perpetuate more thinking. Effort & desire, and human will are much stronger than thought, especially when you consider what you’re up against is one thought, not all of them, just the one. If you can’t pinpoint why it is you don’t care for me, this could be it.

@SuchIsLife Notice a thought in the direction of what you want, and notice a self defeating thought, which pulls you towards unwanted. Apply aware you’re doing this. Awareness alone is curative. Consider, “why would I think about myself, and my forthcoming life, in a way that doesn’t feel good - to me?” It is a ridiculous thing to do, no?

@MM1988 When you’ve had enough of your self imposed suffering, you’ll start to make changes. The littlest change, changes the entire trajectory. But no one can suffer enough for you. By self imposed, I mean; sleep, diet, exercise, meditation, yoga, how you think & talk to yourself & others. Soon, it will just click, that you are choosing to do the things which make you suffer. Then you’ll start making different choices.

How did you do that? What did you find, ultimately?

@Shakazulu Could you imagine something which looks like things on earth?

@non_nothing @Jack RiverWhat would you say enlightenment is? (This thing you advise against seeking).

“Ox” represents something which is unimaginable. You could read a thousand books about it, but when you see it, It’s as if you never heard about it once.

@Genghis Khan Really happy for you. Sounds like you lost things most would be happy to lose. What do you mean by the responsibility, what about that is giving you trouble?

What do you really want? What’s the ‘right direction’ look like to you?

@Gligorije Honest & whole / complete clarity in distinction between belief / thought & the actuality of your own, ordinary, experience. That’s it. Aka enlightenment, or at the least, a very close precursor.

@Serotoninluv That’s the sweetest thing I’ve heard in a while man. ????❤️ God bless the teachers, seriously.