Max_V

Mhh, as an aggressor you have this approach of 'hurting them before they can hurt me'. Which makes you think that the aggressor himself has been through very painful times in his life. Hurting someone before they can hurt you, or hurting first, is a way of trying to protect yourself from feeling pain. So one big characteristic of an aggressor is someone who has been hurt and tries to protect him/herself from it ever happening again.

I don't know, don't really think about it as something 'I have to accomplish '. I just do the exercises and read about it because it really interests me haha

No one is a capricorn

Thanks for sharing all this, very interesting! I'm want to get to your stage too at some point. Is self inquiry you would say very important? I've only been meditating and reading books untill now. I am doing exercises from 'The Book Of Not Knowing' and a lot of it points to contemplation and self inquiry so it must be something worth looking into

When I finish high school I want to get into Psychology. It doesn't have the spiritual and several other aspects in it that personal development offers but it is still a step into the direction of helping others. This makes me really happy. Helping people with poor self esteem, a chaotic mind, etc. If I know how to help them and see that it makes changes, for me almost nothing will be more fulfilling than helping people in that way.

Well I like about every type of music but uplifting metalcore is something that really makes me motivated and almost emotional. Some of the artists I listen too talk about spirituality, improving yourself and growing. Erra and Northlane are my favorite bands This is my favorite song

Well there are two fundamental things you can do on your own. Meditation and reading books/researching. Meditation is something really important in my opinion since it helps you grow in about every area of your life Reading books/researching the parts of personal development you are interested in, is something that you do on your own. It gives you information on how things work and exercises on how to improve.

Well, in my experience, the only thing you can do with those thoughts is not react, fight or attach yourself to them. "With your mind, all the three pedals are throttles; there are no brakes and no clutch. Have you noticed this? Whatever pedal you hit, the mind only accelerates its speed. But if you don’t pay any attention to it, thoughts will slowly subside, leaving you in a rich and vibrant silence" - Sadhguru You can't control your thoughts, that will only make it worse. If you simply accept your thoughts and create space between thoughts and 'the one that is aware of the thoughts' you will be free. Ask yourself this when your thoughts go absolutely crazy: "Who or what is aware of these thoughts?" This will make you do a 180 and focus on the awareness rather than the object. I hope I helped you with this a little, I'm still learning trying to improve myself on this topic too, it's a hard road Best of luck to you m8

At my local Zendo there is a strong believe that enlightenment is something impossible. I asked the question to my master there and he said "Enlightenment is something we don't really want to talk about here. It is almost impossible to attain enlightenment so we don't want to give people the wrong idea. And even if you do get enlightened, you leave behind everything and can't lead a normal life anymore." Is this something that's wrong? Should I do anything about this?

@ajasatya I heard Sadhguru answer this question with "How do you know when you are enlightened? Well.. It will be so significant that you won't be able to miss it, you just know that something amazing happened."

Very interesting responses guys, I want to become wiser and wiser on this topic but at the same time I just want to chill sometimes too. I guess that's part of it too, finding balance. Hopefully as the years progress and I keep working hard I can get myself to a higher state of consciousness and keep growing. Thanks for the input!

I just found out how deep my people pleasing and 'wanting to be liked' tendencies are. Was busy with my highschool exams, in the Netherlands they decide for 50% if you pass high school yes or no. So I was busy doing math and suddenly this hunger struck me, I had sandwiches nearby but I was afraid to disturb other people sitting close to me so I kept on denying myself to eat. Then after some time I just couldn't focus anymore and got in the middle of this panic attack, my head and stomach were hurting so much because I needed food. I just wrote a couple question marks at the last assignments and got out of the classroom. Now I just feel this terrible shame and regret because I was not able to bring myself to just do what I really needed to do and get stuck in this 'what will people think of me patern.' How can I forgive myself for this. Even when my health is on the line I still feel like I need to be liked. How can I get this out of my system? How can I depend on myself?

@Dan Arnautu Thanks, just what I needed!

@Dan Arnautu I must say, I know what you're going through. Had several of these really frightful weeks I asked about on the forum aswell. I was/ still am sometimes, really scared that I will die in one of these attacks. What I've learned from everyone's responses is that there is only one way to handle it. Don't try and overcome it, don't fight it, don't resist it. This has worked for me and when you get out of these 'cycles' for a while it feels amazing. also, instead of trying to say "I accept this", "I accept that". Say "Its okay". This works because when you try to say "I accept" you are trying to like or to love something you want to go away or despise. When you say "It's okay" this doesn't apply as wanting it to go away, but being completely acceptive with it. Anyway, good luck. I wish you the best

I keep wondering when I meet someone who asks me what I'm doing and why, etc. Which book to advice that will get them hooked into personal development and start taking steps. It obviously depends on the person and what problems they encounter in life, but still there must be a fundamental book that I can advice.

As the title reads I'm not sure to which meditation technique I should stick at the moment. I want something simple that will help me transmute my resistance into consciousness. Do you guys have any suggestion on what techniques I should look at?

@Natasha Thank you!

@Martin123 Watched the first 5 minutes of the first one. To say it's ok instead of I accept. Very interesting, thanks for listing these two, I will watch them

@Stoica Doru But how do I love myself? I have this deep ingrained loathing of my face and how I act around people

@Shin When my mind suddenly goes blank and I feel this peace over me, I get hit after 15 sec from something that ranges from some anxiety to a full blown panic attack. During this backlash, everything that once was clear becomes very chaotic and hazy. Idk how to explain it but it feels like all the equanimity I had before the backlash just vanishes in an instant and I become one with the pain and fear. I would like to know if there is anything I can do to learn or grow from this. Anything I can do that helps me overcome this fear and let the peace stay without interruption @nightrider1435 I try to face it everytime. Even if I do manage to accept it, the next time when I get insight it still happens

With all the personal developement and meditation I do my awareness is growing pretty rapidly. Recently I noticed that wherever I go or whatever situation I'm in, I'm always aware of my heart beating. It is very strange for me and sometimes freaks me out. Is this something that's usual?

@phoenix666 Really awesome you were able to change the eating habits of your parents! I would really like to help them with that aswell because I know what big improvement it made. When I stopped eating chips, lots of cookies and candy I just started feeling clearer and happier overal. When I try to tell them how it might benefit them aswell they give me "Max you don't know how it is to work every day, come home and want something to comfort you" So idk really know how to give them motivation to change. Also do you cook food for yourself now too? that seems like something interesting! I'd like to learn how to cool aswell. Maybe it's time, I'm 17 and I don't even know how to cook anything other then an omelette haha

@phoenix666 I read in Sadhguru's book that cleaning up diet has indeed a lot of pro's since if you think about it, the food you eat eventually turns into you. So if you eat healthy your mind will be clearer and your body healthier. It's hard to do now since I live with my parents so sometimes I just gotta eat what is for dinner that day, but when I go and live on my own after I finish school, I'm planning to go super healthy aswell

I do meditation right after I wake up. Gives me a big mindfulness boost throughout the day. With my meditation I just like to focus on my breathing and play with awareness.

@Mert Well, after such a long time of practising this technique it's hard to change it up. It's become so routine for you. With the do nothing technique you basicly don't do anything and don't want to change anything. So even if your mind goes into automatic see, hear and feel labeling, that is fine Good luck and remember, everything your mind produces is oke, you don't have to do anything with it. Just let it be and observe