Forestluv

@Pateedm Ime, using psychedelics in a mature and efficient manner is a learning process. They can be an extremely powerful tool when used wisely and counter-productive when used unwisely. Psychedelics resonate with each person differently. It’s great to learn from the experience of others, yet also listen and trust your inner guide. Based on my experience, here are a few things I think are worth considering for someone that wants to introduce psychedelics into a spiritual program: 1. For newcomers, I would not recommend a full, solid trip more than once every two weeks (e.g. 100ug+ of LSD). More frequent use like every 7-10 days will cause tolerance issues and the “magic” fades. For someone inexperienced,realizations may pile up and confusion and excessive instability in one’s life. For most people, it’s just not tenable long-term. Perhaps one strong trip per month if the mind and body are stable and there is a “calling”. . . One can do dmt and it’s derivatives like Aya and 5-meo much more frequently. Yet I would be extremely cautious about frequent use of dmt related compounds for the inexperienced. Aya retreats can be deeply profound within a mature, grounded spiritual community, yet I think using dmt related compounds multiple times per week solo for a newbie carries huge risks. 2. Integrate. When I first started out, I had very strong seeking energy toward psychedelic realms and integration seemed like tedious side-work. Yet I’ve found integration work to be really important for the mind and body to expand and grow. I would dedicate time between trips to integrate with whatever method works for you. 3. Have a well-rounded spiritual life. I’ve found it important to do other spiritual practices - meditation, yoga, contemplation, running and time in nature - sober. 4. Try different dosages and psychedelics - find what works for you. At one poInt, I found alternating between mini and strong doses to be beneficial. Strong trips are harder to integrate than light trips. For example, I did a strongish trip about once per month (100-150ug for me). and a mini trip of about 50ug once or twice a month. 50ug mini trips in nature were sooo helpful. They are not very taxing on the mind-body and can help integrate stronger trips into “regular” life. As well, microdosing can be beneficial to integrate into regular life. Since microdosing is subthreshold, one can do it anywhere. 5. If you want to explore 5-meo and can get the freebase form, I would recommend an initial exploration through vaping (not smoking). With vaping a person has control on modulating the intensity of the experience in real time. It can be very gentle. One can sit on their regular meditation cushion and reach states in which the ego / personality partially dissolves. If anxiety and panic arises, one can simply put the vape down and relax into the groundless. Over time, one can go deeper and deeper while being kind to the mind and body. I see so many people watching dramatic videos of people on 5-meo flopping around like fish and reading reports about traumatizing ego death experiences- it doesn’t need to be like that. . . In the future I think gentle 5-meo vaping will be used in chill environments integrated with something like Vipassana and nonduality retreats. For example, a morning sober meditation session followed by a nonduality discussion, followed by a gentle 5-meo meditation session, followed by another nonduality discussion.

@Beeman See if you can stop directly experiencing Now. That’s it. ISness right Here and Now.

Thumbs up, brother

@Truth Addict ? ? ??

You are creating the separation. Sit in stillness and observe your mind create the separation. You are not going to figure it out intellectually, you’ve got to observe it in your direct experience. When that completely dissolves, you will have the direct experience of everything/nothing and know. Yet there are various degrees of dissolution. Once “me” is transcended, the question will lose all relevance and disappear (because the question is only relevant to the person). You will see how you created your self at this transcended, expanded consciousness. Yet the ego will resist going there.

Yes, You are IT this moment and every moment - there is only this moment. Yet the mind is contracted within a human story of life, reality and it’s self that occurs within a construct of time. The ego doesn’t want to surrender that story and narrative. Awakening can only occur Now since there is only Now. Yet when a mind is contracted within a human story of self, the subjective experience is that it is a process that occurs over time because it’s existence is within a timeline. It boils down to the ego wanting to remain in a contracted state for it’s own sense of survival.

It’s not some external entity that wants to find you. You’re IT. You are Everything. The belief that some external entity will one day desire to find you and wake you up will keep you contracted within a limited finite self. From the perspective of the person, there is effort and work involved over time to dissolve attachment and identification with a self. The ego doesn’t want to die and become God.

Delicious ?. There is a special place to be found after cycling 150km or so. ?‍♀️

@lmfao Ahhh yes. One of the deepest human desires: to just Be. We think we are so evolved, yet can’t do something every other plant, animal and thing on earth does effortlessly: just Be. We spend our lives chasing something so simple that is available to us every moment.

@arlin I’d recommend finding a teacher that resonates with you. Yoga with Adrienne is very mind-body-spirit integrated. She is super loving, gentle stage green/yellow. For more kick ass challenging power yoga, check out also yoga. They get pretty serious tho. https://www.aloyoga.com/blogs/videos

@arlin Yes. Tons of YouTube videos. It slow and chill. It’s like meditative yoga. The postures are held for 4-8 minutes, which can be challenging in it’s own way. Yet one can go deeper and deeper into uncomfortable relaxation. My favorite is Aprille Walker at yoga ranger studio. She has all sorts of different videos focusing on body energetics. Maybe a few on emotions, yet that’s not her direct focus.

There are many forms of yoga. Different forms focus on different aspects. In terms of amount of relaxation and body motion - slowest to fastest: Restorative, Kriya, Yin, Kundalini, Hatha, Vinyasa. I do multiple forms and prefer yin yoga in releasing blocks.

Same here ??

@Anderz It’s cool to watch your mind creating sophisticated models. It’s like watching an artist create music. ❤️ ?

@Anderz Sounds good. As well, sometimes it’s nice to experience what IS simply as it IS, without any models added in. . . And sometimes creating models can be fun entertainment. I also find creating art and food meals can be fun entertainment too.

Of course, yet they are not necessary. They are simply appearances in Now with no more relevance than a dog barking or a train passing by. All appearances in Now. Now can also be absent of all thoughts and models. Thoughts and models can be fun stuff to entertain a mind, yet thoughtless Now is deeply intimate with Now. Spend an hour or so without a thought - the direct experience of thoughtless Now is deeply profound. It blows any model away, ime. Yet to each their own - some minds like to get immersed in thought stories - that’s cool too ?

You are experiencing a classic yellow vs mustard duality delusion. Upon transcendence is the realization and embodiment of absolute yellow. It can be uncomfortable at first, especially since one can no longer differentiate between their sports team and the opposing team. Yet the bright side is that it makes toads and dragonflies look really cool at night. And as an extra bonus, the song “Yellow” by Coldplay will take on whole new meaning. ?

Notice the relationship between engaging in mental thought stories and the feelings experienced in the body. What is happening right Now? Here and Now - not off in la-la land of imaginative thought stories of reincarnation, nirvana and what could happen in future lives of pain and suffering. Humans seek to return home to Here and Now. It cannot be found in any other place or time. Only Here and Now.

I agree that is an interesting model. And what is Now without any models, definitions and meanings?

Nice insight. My sense is many of us are at different “places” with this. Sometimes a mind wants to protect and reinforce that boundary - this can provide a sense of grounding and stability to the mind and body. Other times a mind is in what subjectively feels like a process of dissolving that boundary. Exploring, questioning, observing, contemplating. This can seem intriguing, fascinating and enlightening. And also ungrounded, unstable, uncomfortable and scary. I like how you say direct experience says differently. Without the thought stories, the duality between creator and creation dissolves and there is pure Beingness. Is this along the lines of what you are pointing at?

@Anderz Does not the concept of evolution and change require a construct of a timeline? Can Now evolve? Can Now change without imaginations of past and future?

@Gili Trawangan Welcome to the forum. Great introspections and questions. Notice how the mind likes to contextualize direct experience of Now into experience stories. The direct experience of Now is not the contextualization of “prior” experience into a story (the contextualization of “prior” experience into a story are more appearances Now). The mind loves to imagine. That’s just what human minds do. Such imaginations can be deeply mysterious and magnificent. They can also be scary and painful. At the personal level, the mind would love to figure out the mechanism of cause and effect. Imagine the power of such knowing. Perhaps a human can mold and create it’s own reality. Perhaps it’s “above” a human mind. Perhaps it’s all One within appearances arising. An inter-connected consciousness. It’s fun to explore, yet a mind can can get so immersed into such explorations and thought stories it can lose presence of Now.

@Arcangelo That’s like eating an amazing Ceviche and saying “I now know what South America is ALL about”. There is much much more to explore, Be and learn in Turquoise.

@Aldo Sit in nature for a while and simply observe. The flowing stream, the breeze, the trees, birds and chipmunks. All just being. Is it “humble”?. . . It just is. Beingness. Humility is just another thought story human minds add in. Let go of all the thought stories and just Be. Here and Now. Just observe without the distraction of all these thought stories. They seem super important to the human, yet they have no more relevance than anything else happening Now.

@Bill W We are all the Fellowship of the Spirit. ❤️ ?