kieranperez

@Leo Gura you might dig this.

This doesn't mean anything. This is just a figure of speech. Not a factual subjective experience. The majority of your experience is mostly unconscious. You are not in tune with the flow of blood through your veins, the process of calcium that replenishes your bones after you eat a meal, etc. Have I had what some might consider a profound experience of my body that involved a very different change of state? Yes. I've had flow states at the end of long runs of 18 miles where I closed near 5:00 flat after north of 3,000 feet of running uphill and hitting deep states of exhaustion. I've experienced demonstrable yet spontaneous paranormal phenomena (stuff that the yogis would refer to as the Siddhis) in regards to myself and other teachers and many other things. So what? What exactly is your point? Then go have tests done on you and we can have you to attribute the cure of autism. Go prove it. The reality is they'll tell you the same thing I'm telling you. Or keep telling yourself the same nonsense. I'm done with this post and arguing over pure stupidity.

I knew kids that have actual autism. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKmjuJeYhYg You aren't autistic.

That isn't autism buddy. Has nothing to do with it.

LMAO Yeah. Okay ? You, some dude that has no background in clinical psychology, self diagnoses what you imagine to be certain "autistic tendencies" (all based on your own preconceptions of what that means), you take a psychedelic, stuff happens, you feel a bunch of sensations and a radically different change of state that is then laced in by your mind's interpretation of what's going on which is laced with tons of presuppositions, and then the experience fades and then you think "ah! that's the cure to autism! Psychedelics!" ? Alright buddy. You're for sure ahead of John Hopkins and all the leading neuroscientists over 1 psychedelic trip. And of course, let me guess... "they're just deluded materialists that don't know the power of psychedelics." Right...

Name me one fucking person that's ever gone beyond autism or retardation. I don't know why you are so hung up on this or where you're even getting this silly belief that awakening or enlightenment somehow is supposed to "cure" autism. This more than anything else you're dribbling out is fucking ridiculous. Realizing what's absolutely true.

You are. The truth doesn’t have to conform to what you think. I know many people that have had enlightenment experiences at this point and they still have traumas, shadows, and other issues. That’s the reality. Enlightenment is about what’s already true. Enlightened people have started cults, killed people, and also done all the great things people tend to associate them as in their mind and also be totally ordinary people you’d never expect anything from. These are just your projections and assumptions.

Well you are. Go meet some real Zen masters and talk to them rather than just sit around by yourself with your comfortable assumptions. You don’t know that you don’t know what you’re talking about.

There is no ultimate answer to this question as there’s no one way to. I wouldn’t lump someone that pursues awakening that grew up in a traditional Japanese culture than those that pursued it back in the 70s in America. Everybody’s path is different and yet I imagine you can find some similarities among a lot of different practitioners at the same time. You can make large generalizations by saying things like “suffering” or “wanting to know what’s true” but that hardly answers anything when you get down to the core of what motivates peoples search.

Go talk to actual Roshi’s and tell them about your assumption/belief that Zen fundamentally deals with healing and they will tell you to your face that that’s a bullshit assumption. It’s not true. Don’t conflate awakening with healing. There’s a reason Ken Wilber for example makes the distinction between “Cleaning Up” (therapy, trauma work, etc.) and “Waking Up”. Because they’re not the same. There may be some interaction between the two different processes that influence each other but that doesn’t mean that that’s what they’re about.

@Raptorsin7 Go to therapy. Zen and awakening has nothing to do about healing generational trauma.

Yeah man come through. I almost ended up coming out to that. Yeah lol sounds about right. I had a similar moment when I finally decided to just ask him, 'why are you so much more conscious than everyone else on this path?' He just looked at me and gave that smile and said, "a lot of work. I was a fanatic." It wasn't really the answer that penetrated it was just the clarity and directness from which he spoke that really sank in. After that I got who and letter had a direct consciousness into what. Yep. My root Zen teacher Doshin Roshi of Integral Zen is like that. I could probably write a whole memoir on the unique relationship I have with him but yeah his transmission (if he really puts it out there - and I always know when he is or isn't and why he doesn't tend to with me) can really blow me out the water. I remember the first time I sat with him the whole floor turned purple and I was having these full on visions and saw fractals on the floor and my only internal talk was, "holy shit this shit is real! Fuuuuuuck" hahahaha The most powerful transmission I ever experienced though was with Jan Esmann who gave direct Shaktipat (not energy transmission, actual Shaktipat) and that just blew my mind. One thing to read about this stuff. It's another thing to really be in it. The thing is, Peter doesn't put any energy transmission out there. He used to but he stopped in the 90s. His students back then just got hooked to that and he saw they were getting distracted but all that and so he decided to not put it out there anymore. Peter just has an intensity to him that I don't attribute to the gross, subtle, or causal transmission states. I've only seen it in a few people like Michael Jordan and what not. It's not like Shakti or anything like that. I just kind of lump it with that whole "IT factor" thing. Who knows though. He did joke about how he'd go up to students and go like, "yeah I could get you stoned," lol Many of the people that have studied with Peter for a long time though suspect, myself included, that he might have something akin to asbergers or something. There's some basic wiring thing regarding empathy and connection that he just doesn't have. From what I've seen of Soryu from afar he doesn't strike me as that. Yeah, I get what people might have that view. He has to be careful though that care for the destruction of life as you put it doesn't degrade into an agenda as that can easily slide that community into becoming a kind of cult. That requires some careful vigilance. Yeah, I imagine I would. I don't see myself there though as it wouldn't work out logistically. That requires having a certain kind of career that allows you to work remotely and I definitely don't have that. Seems to work great though for people that do have that going for them though. We'll see. Finding a fit with a teacher is like finding someone you're going to marry. And I certainly am not compatible with A LOT of teachers as not a lot of teachers can really handle someone like me. I generally can recognize pretty quick compatibility. Great Vow is very Green so it'll be interesting how well I mesh with them and what kind of trouble I might cause lol Back at you. Are you still at MAPLE or are you dipping? What's your path looking like?

I'll be at Great Vow Zen Monastery. 80 or miles Northwest of Portland. Have you met Peter? I've met a lot of enlightened guys and teachers at this point and the closest guy one I know that's similar to Peter is my root Zen teacher is Doshin Roshi. They're both enneagram 8's (I like intense tough masculine teachers that have fucking balls and don't pussyfoot around). Even then though, Peter is kinda his own thing. That dude doesn't seem to have a feminine bone in his body. An old school man's man. I remember being around him and he has that same "IT factor" thing I came across when I've met some of the best athletes on the planet that I don't see in any of the other very enlightened guys and gals I've gotten to know quite well personally. I don't want mythologize him like it has been done on this forum because he's also just another dude. Sorry seems like a guy that has a strong intense presence to him. Probably all the effect of all that Rinzai training with Harada Roshi. It's good you recognize that. Nobody is ever going to be perfect. Yes, in one sense everything is already perfect and yada yada yada but it really is good to see everyone, no matter how enlightened, will always fall short of idealistic expectations. Enlightened people can still be deluded in some things. Reconciling that by noticing that and yet still seeing the perfection is where the really humor lies. And you're working with a great Zen teacher, and a profound humor is one of the core aspects of truly of an ever deepening Zen practice. Yeah, that aspect can be incredibly healing. My first intensive/retreat was with Peter and Brendan down in Texas and the example they set regarding honesty and integrity just blew me away because at every turn I paid close attention and saw that their word and actions always seemed to match and just stunned me. It was like "these guys aren't lying to me!" And to really see that for what it is is great. By the end of the intensive I was just crying and crying because I finally found what it was I was looking for. A bunch of insane fucking people that were genuinely going for what's true and a more powerful and healthy way of living and experiencing self and life. Same thing at all the other retreats I've been to. I'd just find myself in prayer/gratitude for finally finding this and would just be in tears. The unseeable ever-present sacredness arising out of nowhere. I will say your enthusiasm for how your experience is going gives some reassurance to my incredible fear, doubt, and skepticism regarding me truly going into this time at the monastery because if all goes well and it's a good fit I will try and stay or see what I can do to deepen this path even further.

Yep. How's it going at MAPLE? Still there? I'm entering residency at a Zen monastery in a little less than a month from now in Oregon.

What comes and goes is not enlightenment. You're chasing "stuff". Profound states come and go. And they will ALWAYS come and go. That which is permanent and absolute is ever-present. This.

I’ve made the case on this point enough times. Not interested in debating.

He’s 100% on the money.

http://jedmckenna.createaforum.com/index.php Here ya go NOTE: I hear tell Jed McKenna actually recently died

Actualized morons: “bUuUuuT yoOoOU DOoN’T HaAaVE A bRaiIN!!!”

I’m literally just finding about this and I’m officially done trying to be understanding with conservatives at this point. The craziest with trying to eliminate privacy law under the constitution, which Roe v Wade falls under, is that civil rights laws, gay marriage laws, and so forth fall under this. Expect pushback for trying to outlaw not just abortion but interracial marriage, sodomy, etc. Some states are already passing “abortion bounty hunter laws”. Which is absolutely insane. I’ve never equated the two sides but I kinda felt like I’ve been a bit too apologetic and understanding of those on the right. The idea that the right pushes this narrative against the left regarding censorship and all this stuff but is trying to push forth this kind of toxic shit that could infringe the progress made in regards to civil rights, lgbt rights, abortion laws, and so forth would be having our country go backwards is just crazy.

This channel has become one of my favorite channels on YouTube that I actually think, for those that are on an authentic spiritual path really ought to watch. I often hear of this idea - a belief really is what it is - that the collective consciousness or whatever is leading to mass awakening. Aside from the piss poor and really, flat out false philosophical assumptions that such statements contain, to me it really reflects just how naive many of the people who believe this stuff really are when it comes to most people in everyday life. I’ve had this joke which is something like, ‘before you go about believing we’re on the verge of a global mass awakening, go to your local Walmart or Disneyland.’ Because really, most people in this whole thing, as far as I can tell, have never really encountered a lot of people like those in this YouTube channel, and it’s useful to really get just how fucked most people really are in life and that it’s a lot more common than you’d really imagine. As far as the YouTube channel itself, it’s basically of a guy whose a former photographer that interviews people from the darkest walks of life. Rapists, murderers, KKK members, pimps, prostitutes, mafia bosses, gangbangers, homeless people, alcoholics, even children of inbred families. It offers a very radical perspective that is very disillusioning for those that don’t really encounter much of this in their life. I suggest you give it a check out. https://youtube.com/c/SoftWhiteUnderbelly

If that were true, which it's not, this "new earth" would've come a long time ago when people began awakening in the first place. The Truth transcends positive and negative. Yeah, and he's full of shit on this. Stop believing in what people say. He also says stupid things like... "Maybe you are being taken advantage of, maybe the activity you are engaged in is tedious, maybe someone close to you is dishonest, irritating, or unconscious, but all this is irrelevant. Whether your thoughts and emotions about this situation are justified or not makes no difference. The fact is that you are resisting what is. You are making the present moment into an enemy. You are creating unhappiness, conflict between the inner and the outer. Your unhappiness is polluting not only your own inner being and those around you but also the collective human psyche of which you are an inseparable part. The pollution of the planet is only an outward reflection of an inner psychic pollution: millions of unconscious individuals not taking responsibility for their inner space." Which is just completely wrong an incorrect. Enlightenment transcends positive and negative. He condemns negative emotions as though anything negative (as if some thing in and of itself negative by nature) come from ego and shit. This is completely false. Negative states and negative emotions hold valuable truths, perspectives, and energy. Certain actions warrant legitimate states of mind such as guilt and shame. Tolle says a lot of bullshit and it makes him a lot of money. Even though he does seem to be legitimately enlightened as far as I can tell. It doesn't work like that. You're not going to run statistical odds like that. Stop expecting your mind and logic to grasp awakening. It will not and cannot. Ever. Period. I've talked with teachers regarding the possibility of awakening (which depends on what EXACTLY we mean when we speak of that) being a developmental realization. This at the end of the day is all speculation that will always lead to the inevitable truth - don't know. If you REALLY believe the world is waking up and all this nonsense (which I've yet to meet a teacher that hasn't laughed at that assertion), go to your local Walmart or your local bar and tell me that you still believe that with a straight face. At the end of the day these are all beliefs. They're made up. It's shit people told you and you just buy it. Waking up, by and large, tends to require A LOT of work. The idea that there will be some cosmic energetic shift or something that leads people to wake up or something completely misses the fact that any energetic stuff is precisely that, namely STUFF. The Absolute transcends all states, time, space, mind, etc. In other words, all stuff. Awakening as a concept is just a concept. What awakening or enlightenment or realization refers to is beyond concept, mind, understanding, etc. Whatever understanding you form is something your mind forms. It's not true. I just told you why. Groups are just a systems of rules, values, and so forth. Groups are not intelligent. They don't have a dominant mode of intelligence. As far as every individual awakening... yeah good look with that lol. Even if something like that happened, which I promise you, it won't, that won't create the idealized peace some of the new agers believe because first off, that whole fantasy is confined to what those people imagine. Which is to say that whole image and fantasy is completely self biased in terms of how they imagine that world will work, how people should be, ought to behave, and so forth. It's a self absorbed fantasy. Groups don't awaken. Show me a teacher that's ACTUALLY seen that. When someone actually awakens (which is already a false statement but just to go with it) that individual alone awakens. It's not like there's some chain reaction or some shit. It doesn't work that way and has not. If that were true, why don't all the people that sat in from of say Ramana Maharshi awaken in his presence? There were those that served him as a devoted disciple for decades and it still took tremendous work. I suggest you throw this nonsense out. It's bullshit. You want to know what awakening is? Meditate your ass off. Go on lots of retreats. Find a teacher and have the humility to shut up and do what they tell you and listen. Inquire and surrender. Stop playing things safe by theorizing.

No. Democracy isn't an existential reality. It doesn't exist. Stop conflating inventions and relative distinctions with the Absolute. Democracy isn't an existential reality. It's a social construction, a mental construction that human beings participate in. It has no reality in the same way a game like basketball isn't a reality. Basketball is a made up game with certain rules and so forth and people participate within the confines and context of the sport. Is basketball real? No. In yet, you could say (as imperfect and incomplete as it is) that there are actual bodies you can point to that are doing things like bouncing a ball, shooting a ball, and so forth. Is it real? As Nagarjuna put it best... yes, no, both, neither. The Truth regarding the nature of what we can refer to (despite the common differences in what we mean regarding any of these words that we often miss and overlook) as self, life, and reality is beyond words and ideas. At the end of the day they're all delusional bullshit. In the end, no there is no collective enlightenment as that just doesn't make any sense and is loaded with false presumptions, fantasies, and just delusion and ignorance. Human beings are notorious for projecting an idealized future of which to work towards that never comes into fruition. We see this in organized religion, cults, and so forth. That one day the promise land will come! Nope. Reconcile with the reality in front of you. Enlightenment at the end of the day is beyond words, ideas, beliefs, and yes, precious states.

Straight up miracle. Because it's a delusion and a fantasy riddled with false assumptions. Groups don't exist. Only individuals awaken. Groups don't have a dominant monad of intelligence. Groups are nothing more than a shared set of rules, values, and so forth. There is no utopia coming. Throw this belief out. There is no grand future on the horizon where everyone will meet the imagined ideal that you and people whom share this fantasy project. It's horseshit. Toss it out. Good.

@somegirl fucking walk. This ain’t the father of your kids. Move on. Don’t waste your time. Life is too short to waste your time on this.