Mondsee

Traps in spirituality: Feeling superior than others / being arrogant because you are following a certain practice. Related: believing that a spiritual practice will make you "special" - no, it won't make you anything... if you're lucky it will end you. Being convinced that you're following "the right practice", and looking at other paths as inferiors (judging others). Underestimating the amount of work and level of seriousness required to be a sincere seeker. Turning spirituality into your identity, ie. picking only the superficial "cliché" type of behaviours (changing diets, outfits, ways of speaking - but no serious practice) Related: Going into spirituality to belong to a social group. Taking on a serious spiritual practice when you're too emotionally unstable, or don't have your basic needs in life figured out. Failing to question even your favourite teachers and gurus. Related: failing to seriously consider the advice you receive from teachers and gurus. Believing that a small progress on your path is the end of it. Imagining progress. Getting derailed in entertaining occult practices. Failing to recognise ego backlash for what it is. The devil is sneaky, and it will often convince you that you need a break from your practice. Related: overdoing things, brute-forcing whatever practice to the point that is damaging in whatever way. Half-assing any practice: being convinced that by reading a tiny bit on it or watching a YouTube video you totally know what to do.

SWAG

This is what you are fantasizing about looks like in reality. Is this what you really want? Be realistic about it.

@fridjonk nice! thanks

Thank you for your tips @fridjonk! Did you set an active intention for your trip before taking them? Or did it happen naturally for you?

Hello everyone! I am going to try mushrooms for the first time this weekend together with an experienced friend. I am re-watching @Leo Gura video on mushrooms (The Amazing Power of Psychedelics - Leo Does Magic Psilocybbin Mushrooms!) for guidance, but he uploaded it in 2016, ie. four years ago. Since then maybe there is updated information, or other than the info there, what tips do you think are missing for a total newbie! I am all ears and hope this thread will also help other newbie psychonauts!

@Michael569 I'm not asking for myself, but for someone I know... It seems to be a condition in the entire family

Please share here natural remedies you've found for asthmatic cough. Share only if: - It is a natural remedy ie. herbs, teas, routines, specific diet modifications, etc. (no drugs or medications) - You are very certain of its effectivity because it either helped you personally or you witnessed someones improvement and are sure it was because of that - The effectivity is significantly noticeable, it's not a simple makes-you-feel-better-temporarily type of remedy Thanks in advance!

My point here is that a certain spiral stage alone won't necessarily keep you away from God. Let's not confuse the spiral dynamics with other types of development (such as Maslow' Hierarchy of Needs) and simple open-mindedness and honesty levels, which IMO explain a much bigger part of this phenomenon.

A reminder that the higher you are on the Spiral Dynamics stages is not proportional to the closer you are to grasping the Truth. Enlightenment can happen at any stage. I've recently been reading St. Teresa of Avila's Book of Life. That's a blue stage Enlightenment right there. Veeeery blue, and very enlightened. The kid praying may be closer to God than the rational materialist... just to God in the form of Jesus Christ in heaven, but still God, nonetheless.

Hello? I'm askin'!

I sometimes doubt this. I have had quite deep conversations with a muslim friend who is incredibly trapped into Islamic dogma, and have had him grasp much better how a piece of garbage in the woods is God (we were literally walking out in nature, and I used that as an example) than other hyper-scientific and "progressive thinking" friends understand that different religions are all referring to the very same thing, in the same ways that different languages all serve the same purpose of communication. "Oh no no no..." they'll say... "some religions are way worst than others, and by no means are they about the same!!! the only thing that they have in common are the stupid people who follow them"... well, haha there may also be a little bit of truth in that, but we never get passed an evasive response like that because they're literally allergic to anything that gets remotely away from their materialistic rationality. Their minds are just as paradigm locked for the rest of their lives, never to find God. Edit: the fact alone that I have this muslim friend (and other super religious friends) is something I attribute to the fact that I can understand them. My "scientific" friends are absolutely incapable of this, and thus they will "tolerate" religious people, but they are unable to have an actual close friendship with them, as I can.

Welp, what I see is all of my very best friends from college being deeply deeply locked in the scientific rational paradigm, having no understanding or tolerance whatsoever for anything that comes slightly close to religion. They weren't brainwashed into religion as children, but that didn't end up any better... I am able to fully empathize with both worlds, and that's because I've experienced both of them fully, and transcended them.

Don't judge so quickly. I was born and raised in an extreme Catholic society, I also used to do catholic prayers before lunch since kindergarten. Didn't attend a religious school later, but I would have catechism every Saturday for years as a kid to prepare for the first communion. My parents would remind me to pray before going to sleep, my grandma still does that to the day . We would also often pray before meals at home. Now I'm thankful for those experiences. They allow me to understand much better how religion works, empathize, and have a healthy sense of compassion for those who weren't able to see beyond, and did get trapped in the dogma. Also, I find it very funny how decades after learning lame religion songs for children, those stupid songs actually give me chills because I grasp the Truth that they were trying to convey. One of them goes (translated): God is here, yes He is here, as true as the air I breathe, as true as the sunrise in the morning, as true as when I speak to you, you listen to me. Another one: Start by looking for Gods kingdom, and its divine justice, and everything else will come on its own Aleluya

What was the trigger of your awakening? What exactly was the straw that broke the camel's back?