Joseph Maynor

To me breathing is important when I’m meditating to kind of get my mind and body harmonized and re-integrated. When you meditate, you wanna be reconnecting with your body. Breathing is part and parcel of that. If you pay attention to this re-integration process — you can actually see it happening. It lasts a couple few seconds/minutes. The mind has sort of forgotten about the body and those bits of awareness need to be brought back into consciousness. Sometimes there are little sparks here too as this process happens — little jiggers of awareness bubbles, like carbonation zapping out.

You might be controlling yourself! That’s a trap. Stop trying to act enlightened and just let go. You might be like a quarantined dog that needs to run wild. Open the gate and let go. But be keenly aware as you do this. Don’t control, just be keenly aware.

I like it. To me it conjures up a flowering and maturity of a lot that happened in the 60’s and 70’s. That’s probably the exact reason you don’t like it! You don’t like hippies. That preference is the underlying issue and determinant of our differing tastes on this issue perhaps.

I find that the ego returns around people in general. I am the most enlightened when I am alone. The ego also returns in full force around any kind of temptations — be it food, entertainment, booze, judgments/moralizations, etc. The mind will riff off whatever it is fed. If you keep your feeding tube clean, then the mind has less to riff off. This is why it is important to watch your inputs in enlightenment work — not just for shit information, but for a much wider net than that. The mind will surrender to anything that keeps the illusion of ego alive given the opportunity. If you can stay away from those kinds of things, you can prevent a lot of egoic reactions from happening by controlling your inputs.

No because they aren’t aware of the ego or the distortions of the mind.

Wow! This is so true.

I worked my ass off since I joined the forum 4 months ago. Probably more than most would. So, my results are abnormal. I almost treated this like a full-time job. It was worth it. Sometimes you gotta brute force it in life. The most useful thing I think I got from all this work is the organization and use of the theory without clinging to it in an inadvisable way. Used in the right way, the theory can expedite your enlightenment. Of course, you gotta organize and figure out a way to apply the theory -- derive the theory through self-inquiry and contemplation. But also watch all of Leo's videos with highlighter in hand. Take notes! Lots of notes. Organize those notes. Figure out how to apply those notes. Like that. That's how you do constructive work. It's like self-study. I've watched all of Leo's videos multiple times. There's a lot of juicy gold in those videos if you can figure out how to capture it and use it. Ten variables: Daily review/organization of theory/notes + meditation routine + a profound psychedelic experience + self-inquiry work (a little bit daily) + walking meditation + constant mindfulness of thoughts + watch 1 Leo video per day + forum participation + stay clean (stay away from all shit whether it be people, culture, food, negativity, temptations) + practicing “being perception”. I have a binder of theory that I made that I review 1/4 at a time 4 times daily. I also meditate 6 times daily for 10 minutes each. Practice "being perception" too: Watch:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fridge_(band)

I got a lot of results by doing a lot of self-inquiry and contemplation work. I also had one profound trip on Salvia Divinorum. Working with the theory is not to be under-emphasized either -- that's what triggers your awareness epiphanies. I notice that there's a silly taboo against theory in enlightenment, but you do need theory to grow faster. Theory is like a catalyst in Chemistry, as are profound psychedelic experiences. But theory is a double-edged sword too if you don't also learn how to dump the theory in favor of awareness. I've found a nice balance. Theory now serves my awareness rather than distracting from it. You gotta make sure you don't fall into the trap of believing the theory like ideology, but rather use it to calibrate your awareness muscles. It takes a journeyman's touch to negotiate the theory without getting trapped by it. You might need a profound psychedelic experience more than anything -- an experience of ego-death. Once you see that you can't unsee it. That moved my awareness up a few pegs when I had my trip. It got me beyond beliefs to a profound awareness of Being. Now, what's cool is more shifts are happening that are kind of balancing things out now. I feel like my enlightenment is getting both deeper, but also wider too. Wider in the sense that I am less neurotic about "being enlightened" and just let go and let what happens happen. So, I am re-acquainting with much of what I was doing before, but in a more conscious way.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_(Klaus_Schulze_album)

Your "control" is just a sensation in awareness. There is no control. It's an illusory control.

What would a rock be without your awareness of it?

Truth is just what is perceived minus thought augmentation. Basically, you need to realize how the Mind is freaking up your reality.

Notice that your question is nothing more than images and sensed thoughts being picked up in your awareness. And reading answers is nothing more than images and sensed thoughts being picked up in your awareness. That's all that is real. Everything else is thought-story -- pure fantasy.

When you give up trying to control and you give up the idea of free will and you just accept reality for what it is and you give up the idea that you are an ego -- what remains is authenticity. Great video on point:

Here's Leo's Enlightenment Exercises:

@Arman I appreciate your reaction. We need to be careful about moralizing. You gotta be able to let go and trust that you will do the right thing in the moment without clinging to any rules. I still take Hero in progress' recommendation in good faith as valid, but I appreciate the trap of moralizing too. I will take some liberties to scribble about why here. All in good fun! I enjoy a little scribbling from time to time, so bear with me. Just because we're enlightened beings doesn't mean that we deny reality and cling to some moral rules -- which is just mind too! Sometimes you gotta punch someone! I can conceive of contexts where this would flow as a matter of course. If you're standing at a bus stop and a wild rabid dog attacks you, you're not just gonna stand there and say -- dig in boy! That would be suicidal. You're gonna grab a rock, a stick, whatever, with the specific intent to injure the animal bodily if necessary, maybe with the intent to severely injure said animal. We don't need to be pacifists just because we're enlightened. Sometimes an ass-kicking is exactly what reality orders in the moment. It depends on the context! And we certainly need to take caution clinging to any moral rules, since all beliefs are false -- as tempting as it is to pretend that we are Jesus -- we are not. Even Jesus would throw-down if he had to, if his bodily security were seriously at risk. That's reasonable, right? Kick him in the balls, stick a knife to his throat, and take his wallet and see if Jesus really turns the other cheek! Yee-ah right! I don't think so, haha. He's gonna grab that knife and end you with it -- whaddja think he's stupid! I always tell people, "I might be crazy, but I ain't stupid." So . . . We can't be pipe-dreamers. That not reality either. That's model-building, rule-making. Maps masquerading as the territory. We need to fully trust our authentic Being without clinging to any "goody-goody" moral rules. Meaning, purpose, and values are relative, and beliefs are false. Rules are wrong basically! -- an augmentation of reality. Projecting "What would Jesus do?" everywhere, although full of good intentions, does not make that a reality one bit. It's a sneaky augmentation of reality actually -- a sneaky rule that we've created to try to control reality and not accept reality as it actually is. Jesus is a concept, a thought, a mental projection, a pipe-dream. Leo actually says that the high consciousness person can get tough when he needs to: Watch: In this video Leo talks about the error of clinging to should statements: Watch:

Here's a great video to get you a primer on the scope of Inquiry:

Two great ones:

Watch this video. Leo talks about 4 kinds of meditation in it: (1) Do nothing meditation (2) Awareness-focus meditation (3) Active release meditation (4) Mindfulness meditation

@Aimblack There are people on here who know more than me, but I think the answer is that the Ego is an illusion. It is not real. Therefore, it should not be honored. I thought like you until I realized fully that there is no free will and that honoring the Ego only causes a lot of mental suffering for me. Basically, thoughts are thinking they have control over you -- which they don't. Reality is already doing what reality is doing regardless of what thoughts think about it. The Ego is fully an illusion. So, when it is clung to, it only causes you suffering through bad Karma. Bad Karma can be thought of throwing sand into the wind and having it come back into your face and eyes. It's sowing the seeds of suffering basically. Honoring the Ego causes bad Karma. You gotta realize there is no Egoic you, no free will, and no control. The Ego is thoughts fooling themselves that a "part" of reality is a self-controlling thing. There is no part of reality though, that is a thought. Reality is non-dual. You can see the no-free will realization by letting go and realizing that your life still goes on! It's a bit freaky when you see this. This was one of my most profound enlightenment experiences when I noticed this for the first time. There's no you in there controlling things! It's all just happening as one giant reality flow. Videos to watch:

THIS IS A LYRICS ALBUM. You gotta read the lyrics. http://www.pink-floyd-lyrics.com/html/animals-lyrics.html

Just to play a little devil's advocate for a moment, here's another video on point: