Forestluv

There is no “you” desiring something in nothing. Nothing is transcendent of that “you”. It’s not like you are laying on a beach in Belize with nothing to be concerned about.

Mind-bodies are generally conditioned to find relief in thought stories. The mind creates all sorts of stories in an effort to find a sense of peace. Yet this is an efficient effort that doesn't work so well. Yet there is also a “deeper” space to find refuge and peace, of which you seem to have caught a glimpse of.

Great. That is a dualistic belief. Nothing wrong with that. Yet it’s just a relative belief. Beliefs tend to be limiting due to the inherent attachment/ identification to the belief. As well, using quotes from people that one considers an authority can reinforce a limiting belief and hinder deep observation into one’s direct experience.

It’s not that you are “wrong”. To me, it seems like one of your blocks is a desire to find one objective universal truth and you are putting your mind in a situation in which it must decide between solipsism or not solipsism. This is the theme of the duality videos. Let go of that “either / or” mentality. You don’t have to reject one view to explore another view. You will realize upon closer inspection that such dualities are a mishmash.

By labeling it as “worthless”, the mind is making a value judgement which maintains the duality. With that belief there is a lack of openness, curiosity and desire to explore in this area. There is nothing wrong with that, it’s just a contracted view. To label integrative insights as “worthless” will restrict a mind within a relative and contracted view.

@Rinne 1p-LSD has an extra phosphate (p) that gets clipped off in the body - regular LSD results. I previously had the same question as you and searched for experienced psychonauts online for the answer. I came across several that did blind experiments and could not tell the difference. Overall, I concluded there are no clear major differences between the two. There may be some subtle quantitative differences regarding dosage and trip length - yet based on what I’ve read there doesn’t seem to be any qualitative differences of the trip itself.

That is how your mind is perceiving it due to conditioned filters. Remove those filters and it will be perceived very differently.

Spirituality and science is a dualism. Upon closer inspection, there are many nuances and inter-connections between spirituality and science. A belief that it is worthless to explore this would keep a mind immersed and contracted within the dualism.

I love these types of inter-disciplinary discussions. It’s encouraging to see the buddhist scholar acknowledge value in scientific experimentation and empirical data. As well, the physicist acknowledging value of exploring the immaterial (although it a very surface view). These types of talks can be encouraging, yet also disappointing at how early we are in awakening within this area. Spirituality and Science seem to have such strong dualistic categories and we are just starting to realize that there are many nuances and inter-connections. Here a buddhist scholar and a physicist just beginning to realize these inter-connections, yet still firmly grounded on there side of the dualism. Each time one said “Well I agree with what he said about xyz and see value in that”, was a small awareness of these inter-connections arising. This seems like a dialog of two people conditioned and grounded on one side of a dualism, yet somewhat open to genuinely considering what they see to be the other side of a dualism. I think the next step to develop a more holistic view is to get curious and develop a desire to develop a more holistic view. I didn’t get the sense that the buddhist scholar or physicist was truly curious about the expertise of the other and how the other can help them. For example, were they asking curious questions of each other to expand their view? Were they saying things like “whoa, I hadn’t thought of that point from that perspective. That is one of my missing dots! With the point you make, I can now connect a few more dots. Perhaps I can share about a few dots I know of and how your dots help to create a more sophisticated inter-connected view. How exciting!”. . . Rather, it sounded more like two guys that wanted to talk about their own set of dots and merely acknowledge that there are some other dots out there. Yet that’s a big step up from trying to defend one’s own dots and destroy the dots of another. In the future, I’d like to see more “mult-sport” beings arise. Like a biathlete that trains in for both swimming and cycling, a being that trains in both meditation and neuroscience. Perhaps triathletes and even decathletes will arise. For example, those that train in meditation, eastern philosophy, neuroscience, talk therapy, psychedelics and reiki. And perhaps multi-sport coaches will arise that have knowledge and expertise in various disciplines. Imagine a decathlon coach saying “I think to excel in the decathlon, it is necessary to be open to the value of various forms of training including strength, endurance and flexibility. As well, recovery and nutrition is also important”. This is so obvious in sport that such a coach would be laughed it. It all goes without saying. Yet in terms of understanding reality, society seems to just be waking up to this. It is like a weightlifter obsessed for years with how many pounds he can lift and one day thinks “Wait a minute, my diet may be affecting my body muscle and my ability to lift weights”. He has a glimpse, yet then snaps back into his pattern and thinks “Nah, that’s silly, It’s just about my effort in the gym. Gonna press 385 today”.

What is this “I” that desires to become aware of awareness? What might happen if the “I” was let go of and awareness was allowed to be aware of itself without the filter of an “I”?

The relative has an infinite number of intricacies. Is a 7 ft basketball player “defective” or “abnormal”? What about a culture that believes a child with Down Syndrome is god’s Pure enlightenment. Would these children sill be view as “defective” or “abnormal”? Of course not. The highest honor in the village would be to have a Down’s child and the child would be smothered with love, care and admiration. We could brainstorm hundreds of other relative examples.

Because it IS. Look at the ISness all around you right now. It’s Absolutely Perfect. . . You don’t think so? Well go ahead and try to change what IS. You can sing, laugh, think, yell, juggle apples or jump in a lake. It’s all IS. Whatever you do, whatever happens, IS. It is Absolute. Nothing can change that. That’s not to say we reject the relative. For example, I think it’s a good thing to be kind and genuine.

Yes. In this model, things that “just are” are Absolutely Perfect. What IS, IS. How can what IS be any different? Thus, it is absolutely Perfect. There is also relative perfect and imperfect- that has value and importance too. The child in the video appears to be suffering. I think it’s good to try and help the child and reduce it’s suffering as much as possible. The Absolute doesn’t mean we reject the relative and become sociopaths without empathy.

What is it’s own “imperfection”? Imperfection is a relative concept imagined by humans minds.

@SQAAD This is what Leo gets at in the first duality video. You are setting up a duality of perfect and imperfect. Yet upon closer inspection one can observe many nuances and interconnections. It’s not a simple binary duality. You are conflating the relative and absolute. You would need to let go of your attachment / identification to a relative binary model of perfect vs. imperfect to expand. I’m not saying you are “wrong”, I’m saying you are contracted and are within something larger.

What do you mean by “anomaly?”. You seem to be assigning value to it. Would you consider a child with Down Syndrome as an “anomaly”? Who gets to decide what is “normal” and what is an “anomaly”? Are children with autism, anxiety, chronic headaches, bipolar, adhd and asthma also “anomalies”?

@SQAAD You are conflating relative and absolute. I grew up with a very loving golden retriever. She would love a child with Down Syndrome just the same as a child without Down Syndrome. She made no distinction that one child was “perfect ” and the other child was “imperfect”. She Accepts and Loves both children as Perfect. How would it feel to tell a child with Down Syndrome they are “imperfect”? I couldn’t do it. It just doesn’t feel right to me. They are Perfectly what they are and I would love them however they are.

In the groove, rolling along. . . No guardrails needed.

Just Be

@knakoo I would use the same amount, or slightly less, that worked well for you before and if sensitivity has increased, then reduce dosage. As well, I’ve found more isn’t always better. I’ve had some profound insights / experiences on light trips.

That’s what she said. . . ?

I would get in touch with that direct experience of the present moment, rather than getting immersed into the thoughts stories that follow. To me, it sounds like you are off balance toward groundless and could use some grounding.

I would spend more effort in what is actually happening now than worry about what might have happened in the past. I think you are hyper analyzing and that’s the biggest fish to fry. It’s as if your favorite futbol team missed the first shot on goal in the first game and you are hyper analyzing that missed shot and are filled with worry that your team will lose the rest of the games and finish in last place. It’s just one shot on goal. Come back to what’s happening in the game right now.

@SQAAD I concur with what @Nahm wrote. I did not intend to suggest we are "doomed". I don't think we can do a complete reset by snapping our fingers. It takes some work to deconstruct and release - yet it's not some insurmountable task like trying to hike Mt. Everest in your underwear while playing a kazoo.