starsofclay

@Shin Amen!

There's only us, there's only this Forget regret, or life is your's to miss No other path, no other way No day but today There's only us, only tonight We must let go to know what's right No other road, No other way No day but today I can't control my destiny I trust my soul, my only goal Is just to be There's only now, there's only here Give in to love or live in fear No other path, No other way No day but today

@Will Bigger well that kind of sucks... Oh well, guess I'll have fun while it lasts!

@Jacobsrw I would start back at scratch, and try to go 5 minutes without moving a muscle or checking time. Get a meditation timer app on phone (or just any timer) and set it for 5 minutes, so that it will tell you when 5 minutes is up. Then, being very proud of yourself for accomplishing that, go to 10 minutes. If you can't make it 10 minutes, go to 6, then 7, etc. Like @Viking said, it could be a concentration issue. Your first post reminds me a lot of my issues

@Patang what is this "enlightenment?" tell me more.

@jillmars7 do you feel any better after posting this? Sometimes it helps to just get it out...

@Nahm oh ok, I've never looked that deeply but of course we sometimes believe what we see at first sight... Still, I'm going to look around for some organic juices with no artificial crap just in case. I know you aren't fishing for compliments, but that's pretty nice of you to do that for your team members

@Privet I just recently purchased a neuro-feedback device like the article mentions, and am loving it so far. Funny, when I was looking for reviews on that device, I had also seen this LLLT mentioned as another method, but never looked into it. Are you going to get one?

@AdamDiC oh good Well, I can only give you layman's advice.... but I wouldn't feel too bad that you are back-sliding. You are only 18. There's plenty of time. This may be hard to hear, but you are still immature. Hell, most of us are still immature at 30. But I'm not sure if this deep of introspection is healthy for one that hasn't sowed much oats yet. Go and read the parable of the prodigal son. My advice is to enjoy life now, and of course you can stop yourself from sowing oats that you can't come back from, but maybe just be a teenager for now. You can of course continue to meditate and keep yourself in check while doing all the above. Hope you feel better!

I struggle with the same... never really liked meditating because my thoughts just race and race (although I recently purchased a muse headband for meditating and it is helping a lot). I've tried the do-nothing meditation, which sounds a lot like what you said you tried, and it is still hard for me to let go. Congrats that you were able to!

@kieranperez oh ok.. I thought maybe he meant while driving the vehicle around in daily life (and no I don't mean a car)

@Nahm are you sure? The article I had read said it was from the artificial flavoring in the vape liquid, so it could still be a different form of "popcorn lung" than the actual popcorn lung,

Do you consider it fun, or scary that you can experience this kind of stuff without drugs? And you've only hit the tip of the iceberg, like me. Personally I find it fun, but it can get pretty scary while it's happening- yet always has me coming back for more

@Sahil Pandit Is there a good method to follow for doing that?

@BjarkeT I had a more detailed response to this, but my internet dropped as soon as I hit submit.... but basically yes to all that

Yeah this can be hard... thank god for forums... I can talk to friends and co-workers about it, but I have to try and keep it as non-weird as possible... not because I care if they think I'm weird, but because they just tend to tune you out once you get a little "whoo-whoo". Meditation is such a foreign concept to them. So is self reflection and what not.

they also say there's a kind of psychological acceptance when you pay for something, rather than getting it for free. That being said, it would be nice if all the good stuff was cost efficient.

basically, you did this: https://www.aypsite.org/13.html except you did "who am I", instead of "I am" (ayam). Read the whole article (or at least from halfway down), it and their website will explain a lot. Somewhere on there it talks about how you have to take it slow because you are clearing your nervous system out and can experience sicky feelings if you don't pace yourself. It may be under the spinal breathing article, which will talk about that feeling of energy rising from your pelvis to throat (and beyond)

@Lynnel msm is great for this... try to get the crystals, they are pure and high potency. Spirulina is great too. But if you're going to do anything, try msm. Starting feeling like a whole different person after only a week

@Living God sometimes i just want to ask "what the hell?!". Other times Im singing my own praise

I see what you are all saying but it serves its purpose for those who don't understand that.. and then a certain percent will eventually come to know truth. Not everyone will

At which point spirituality isn't for you

None of it is bull shit. One (one's ego) must directly experience these things to even believe it's possible, and even then it can't be proven to be real. But who cares if it is real? It does it's job. It is a veiled form of self-help, that many people across the world need, and haven't spiritually evolved enough to go into enlightenment work. And at the same time it is a springboard into enlightenment work, as long as the ego who tries is able to let go of those particular beliefs. But the question is partially invalid, because you are trying to apply it only to people who are already on your level. Whatever level that is, I'm not sure, but some still need to believe in something to propel them forward.

@Vipassana Haha in my egos infinite laziness, I never was able to get into dream journaling full time, but I do write down really good dreams every now and then. However, one of my employees is big into dreaming, so we tell our dreams to each other every day at work. I've noticed that my recall is much better, plus my actual presence in the dream. I usually dream about 1-3 long or short dreams per night! I don't recall every bit of every one, but it its definitely a noticeable difference. Also, i smoke pot every day (very tiny threshold amount) and usually before bed. Although before we started telling dreams at work, I trained myself to dream with pot by recalling every detail i could when waking up. Sometimes you have to lay there for a while and think really hard, and it hits you like an epiphany. Sometimes it hits in the shower, or while meditating. I do get lucid every now and then, but one problem i am still having, perhaps it's the pot, is my dreams ego gets so caught up in the storyline that even if it notices a dream sign, it completely ignores it, or it just becomes part of the story.