Nahm

@Mikael89 Meditation is helpful to slow the reactions, so you can have a look at the mechanism of thought-reaction, instead of proceeding into the reaction - then feeling tense, without realizing how you were triggered. What you discover are deep fears you aren’t even aware of otherwise.

@Andreas No one on the forum is recommending thinking about it. Awareness & practice.

The suspense between the neurology model and the thought/fear/self model is exciting.

@zunnyman Yep.

@MarkusSweden Just because you’ve assumed there is a thing called “physical”, doesn’t mean there is.

@Torkys Yeah? How come?

@Hamilcar When you wake up in the morning and recall remnants of a dream, you don’t start thinking “how was that dream made, what was the actual process???” You just make the assumption - “I’m awake now, that was a dream” and you forget the dream. Same thing in play right now, but you are still asleep, cuddling the warm blanket of believing you are awake. Were it not for this, you would no more question this dream, than that dream, as they are the same, but you are the (apparent) difference. No you, no difference - all a dream, all your dream - not ‘you’ are ‘in’ a dream. Can you see how when ‘waking life’ is realized a dream, there is no longer a ‘you’ which would have dreams in ‘sleep’? Can you see how you are living a pragmatic safe (conditioned) life, and there is an ‘itch you can’t seem to scratch’? Upon awareness this is a dream, in which you, an apparatus for dream adventure, could write down some dream contents to experience, some adventures, some journeys, etc....well...... ”This” dream, is of a “you”, and of a “real”. ”This place is a dream. Only a sleeper considers it real. Death comes like dawn, and you wake up laughing at what you thought was your grief”. -Rumi

@Torkys Not sure you really read his post. ??

@Ingit Nice!

@Socrates Consider taking a solo retreat, be alone, do practices & creative things for a day or two, or more, and then trip, having a day or two of the solo retreat remaining. Tripping in your parents house, with plans that same day, is likely to result in a discouraging experience. You need room, space, to be you, free, alone, away from the trappings of life.

@Vladimir Bit of a different ‘angle’ but consider making a stop / start list, for changes in life.

@zunnyman Possibly, but not certainly...if you have little foundation, such as financial self sufficiency, emotionally self sustained, ‘time on the cushion’, nondual theory & understanding, etc, then truth might be experienced with a ‘depersonalization’ lens or only “loss”. With a foundation, solo retreats alone in nature with practices and a trip...truth is not a “gain” at all, but the “loss” factor might not be an issue at all.

The opening of the third eye is not trivial or missable / questionable. The difference is in seeing what was unseen, knowing what was unknown. Relatively speaking, you become very aware you were seeing only a physical self and world prior to opening. Consider working from the root chakra upwards. In the sense, ‘first make a life worth waking up to’, the root, sacral, solar plexus, heart & throat chakras are foundational for the third eye and then crown. The Joy is the journey, enjoy. Psychadelics are helpful to get a glimpse ‘ahead of schedule’, so to speak.

@Jonty ❤️

@Arkandeus This impossible little storyline where infinite meets finite.

@Azrael I’ll be out of town then, but I’m up for it in the future. Enjoy the US.

@Thanatos13 Hold an object in your hand, and ask me what you’re holding.

@GodMonkey Ya. Much deeper. But to transcend it, you have to first directly experience it, and surrender the preferences of the a priori self to it.

@Ingit First I’d look for an ample circadian sleep schedule. Then I’d look at food. Those ime are 95% of “ups and downs.” Then there is falsity and the repetition of it, in the mind, to shine awareness on. This should feel like a joyous journey, and adventure. If it feels like “work”, double check your sleeping & eating habits. If those things aren’t already the case, the mind is in ‘fast forward’ thriving on repetition from conditioning. Slow it down with meditation every morning and again in the afternoon. Make a tiny change everyday in the direction of well being. You’ll feel great just knowing you are following the direction you are choosing, vs the bummer knowing what you want to change and not changing it. Exercise every morning speeds up the changes because you’ll get the feel good chemical cocktail every morning, so you’ll be feeling better, and a cheeseburger & fries, for example, is not nearly as relatively enticing when you’re already feeling good, as it can be when perceived as a “pick me up” relative to feeling low. A neat little practice on the food issue, is to use a calendar, and each day write “Food” (as in how you ate yesterday in terms of nutrition & quality) and give it a number, 1 - 10. Then write “vibration” (as in how you feel today) and give it a number 1 - 10. Over weeks, you can visually see the relationship between food and your energy level. This makes it clear cut and easy to see / understand, as it takes the always changing mood & perspective out of the mix. The difference between experiencing the world through a typical diet, and a healthy nutritious one, is impossible to communicate. It must be experienced.

@Jonty Yes. Not like it would seem from the current perspective though. Byron Katies app “The Work” (99 cents I think) takes outward circumstance and flips it to an understanding of the suffering on your behalf. It might shed light on things for you. It’s not going to ‘fix’, but rather offer a perspective of acceptance that nothing is ‘broken’. It accomplishes this in as little as 15 minutes. I am not suggesting it will change anything circumstantially, only that it will offer you a perspective in a unique and intimate way, which might help you in your situation. I have 3 kids. I would take all of their pain and or suffering right on the chin, in a heartbeat, if that were possible, and I know you would too, but that is just not the nature of pain & suffering. I wish it were sometimes, it might be easier. I feel for you and your family, and I hope there is more and more peace, love & understanding ahead for all of you. I’m gonna assume you’ve read up on this extensively, and sought outside help, and tried many things in terms of structuring/scheduling/rewarding, trying to identify the motivations / causations, etc, I hope you can keep finding some relief for yourself where and when you can, and that that gives you more and more wisdom & energy to be there for him. I can only imagine the difficulties you face. I also can only imagine how hard it would be for him, if he didn’t have you.

When you don’t have the question anymore.

@Shadowraix You can trust that the mind creates the duality (“constantly morphs data and hallucinations”) but trust is only required for the job of getting you to be radically open minded, and to inquire into yourself - then trust is no longer needed, as awareness can observe the mind directly, just like being aware of a tree. Awareness is the only “thing” that ever “observes” the “mind” or “thought” or “tree”. The overall is not looking for a needle in a haystack, it’s looking for hay in a haystack. It’s the biggest picture, the whole enchilada, it’s the obviousness & the entirety that is the “proof”, there is no thing which is not the proof. So a total flip of perspective is what’s needed. Something arising in your mind, is not needed, as that (thoughts), is more maya. Don’t “trust” information, data, etc - anything you “observe”, don’t “trust” that, it’s maya. Everything in “reality” can always be linguistically convincing & proven, and so can it’s opposite - because it simply boils down - to you. You already have the Truth. You are already it. Every thing, everyone, every object, every thought, every emotion, every reaction - each of these happen in the same place, at the same time, in You in Now. In YOUR awareness, right now. “My” writing is not taking place in your awareness, is it? What you are actually aware of, are pixels in front of you on a screen, which you are assigning whatever meaning, value and sense to. In appearance, it’s a message from someone else, in actuality, it’s you. Because the inherent nature of all that you experience, is Duality (One appearing as Two) ....each meets The Truth, or, You (Two is only an appearance, appearing in reality - One - You.) When each ‘thing’ in duality meets up with The Truth (You), relativity is experienced, by You, because you are not finite duality (appearance/illusion), you are infinite (reality). (Relativity): If it doesn’t feel good (a perspective you’re holding in the Now) - that is because it (the understanding / perspective) isn’t true. It’s falsity. Most of these are bad feeling thoughts which try to apply a finite tag to your Self; “I am this, I am that.” “I am this kind of person” “I don’t know how to do X” “I always struggle with X” “I will never have X” If it does feel good (a perspective you’re holding in the Now) - that is because it (the understanding / perspective) Is True. Even if your honest “What I am” is - “I have no freakin idea what I am” - The fact that it is true, that you are being honest, that understanding / perspective, is true for You (The Truth), so naturally, it feels good. Much much better than finite thoughts & words about/against the self (which is infinite in actuality) Falsity is Maya and it does not feel good. Feels worse the more we pursue it, ignoring our own relativity, our own emotional sensory system, if you will. Truth is the ‘What Is-ness’ of Now, because wherever you are, the Truth already Is. The term Nonduality points at not two. It is a pointer, like neti-neti, not that, not this, not two. It is limited to being a statement of what you are not, by the nature of someone else is saying it to you, because only you can realize what you are, and your being-ness is always Truth, which perspectives are always being ‘bounced off’ of, resulting in the experience of relativity.

@Juan Cruz Giusto Brilliant thread, much appreciated, thank you??