Forestluv

Yes. Memory is not thought-dependent. Generally, my memory is better during thoughtless / low thought stretches. Thinking can reduce awareness levels. Have you ever been so in awe of natural beauty that thoughts ceased for a bit? Or, a monent of such deep that you melted away? Or, perhaps a flow state while engaging in an activity like mountain biking, skiing or rock climbing?. . . Last weekend, I got into a micro flow state while dancing - only a few thoughts during an hour period. My mind-body merged with the environment and flowed. Much more intuition than thought. Also, constant thinking isn’t healthy - it’s like having a resting heart rate of 100 bpm. I like giving my mind-body a rest from thinking

@robinmk4l Self actualization can be uncomfortable at times. Sometimes one needs to put Truth above security and comfort.

@CroMagna Permanently or temporary? I think permanently would be some type of vegetative state. Plenty of people have stretches without thought. At first they are small gaps between thoughts. Then the gaps get longer. I’ve had stretches of 5-10min without thought. Perhaps more important is one’s relationship with thought. A mind that is attached to thought and identifies with thought is a mind at dis-ease. A mind that doesn’t attach or identify with thoughts can be at rest in the prescence of thought impulses. Similiar to heartbeat, colon contractions or blinking eyelids. Those impulses are not generally bothersome because we don’t attach/identify with them.

@Baotrader You are looking at it from the perspective of a self. Remove the self and take another look.

Everything has no limits. Everything is everything.

Surrender

To a rationalist, trans-rational behavior will appear as irrational.

@Rilles To a logical scientist, both pre-rational and post-rational ideas will appear as irrational.

You speak of God as if it is an entity outside of everything. God *IS* everything. Linear time is a construct within the mind. It is a perspective. If you can step outside the linear time framework, you will realize the eternal now. I think you are still viewing your "self" as a finite being that exists through time. This "suffering forever" stuff is the perspective of the self. Beyond the self, there is just what is. There is wholeness. Beyond the self, there is freedom. Yet, it's not a self-centered type of freedom. The life experience is very different.

I’m fascinated by how so many people can only see through the self’s perspective: is it beneficial or harmful to the self? It seems so strange. In a way, it’s like asking if my 5-meo experience will be beneficial or harmful to a dream character of a fictional man who lived in Portugal during the 17th century.

@seeking_brilliance A great video showing how science is discovering that free-will is a fallacy. Realizing that there is no "chooser" and the self is an illusion is one of the highest hurdles to cross. Hopefully, the science makes the process a bit easier for rationalists to accept.

You are assuming there is a god entity separate from a "me" entity. From the perspective of "me". . . yes, it can be horrifying. Completely surrendering to an unknown entity can be terrifying. IME, the most terrifying experience of my life - by far. Yet from the perspective of a transcended self, there is no separation - there is one everything. There is no thing outside of the transcended YOU. There is no thing that can harm or scare a separate you, because there is no you to harm or scare. Everything is YOU. For my self, this was one of my biggest hurdles to cross. There was some seriously scary shit thrown to discourage surrendering. And, it is MUCH easier to imagine and converse about it than to face it. This stuff here is a walk in the park vs. confronting it and surrendering to it.

@kieranperez It seems like "truth" in this context is really opinions, beliefs, preferences and seeking security. There is a much deeper Truth.

Perhaps this one should remain a secret. . .

You speak of the ego as if it is a bothersome pet of yours. Ego = self = personality IME, 5-meo doesn't "help" a person - it kills a person. The person ceases to exist. The self cannot imagine existence without it's self. Yet, there is still a lot of work to do after one has transcended the self and 5-meo can help with that work. When one awakens to the dream, the dream continues. . .

I don’t know anymore ?‍♂️ Take anything I write with a grain of salt ?

@Mu_ Nice costume and video. I like the part about direct experience around 5min.

Yes, it is very easy for the self to attach to "spiritual" ideas. Such attachments lead to beliefs - which are "bullshit". Yet, it is also very easy for the self to avoid, dismiss and reject ideas - which is also "bullshit". There is a sweet spot in which one is aware of many ideas and perspectives without attachment or repulsion. I've found this to be important for direct experience. Without conceptual knowledge, I am likely to disregard direct mystical experiences as "woo woo".

Well said. This is the rationale of awakened teachers that use this approach. I've found that relaxing my personality via yoga, exercise, meditation, journaling etc. allows for a better space for the dissolution of the personality and heightened awareness. I think the key is: when the personality is relaxed, are you working toward reinforcing it, or transcending it? I like how Lisa Cairns explains it. . . after her nondual awakenings became abiding, she tried to teach people to awaken in one big shot. She found that students became confused, rebellious, depressed and suffered. About 2 years ago, her strategy evolved. She now teaches about 50% personal healing/improvement and 50% nonduality. She says this is much more effective in helping people to wake up.

The transcended perspective of a self is very different than the self's perspective of a self. Personalities appear within my mind-body consciousness - especially when I am around other people. How can I interact with other personalities without a personality? Yet, personalities also appear in my dreams while I am sleeping. How can the dream personality interact with other dream personalities without it's own personality? One realization is that none of the personalities are "real". Of course there will be dream characters after one has awakened - one just realizes they aren't real. There is nothing wrong with trying to create better dreams - I do it myself. It can be fun and interesting. Just like dancing and watching movies can be fun and interesting. Yet, trying to create a better dream character can also be a distraction from realizing it is only a dream character.

Nice work. I've had a similar experiences in a sensory deprivation tank. I kept letting go of more and more. Then, I eventually let go of letting go and was in a womb prior to birth. Everything I learned and knew after birth was erased. Then a "voice" appeared and said: "Ask". . . . So, I asked "What is genuine?". Then, I was shown genuine in a way I couldn't have imagined. Awakened beings, such as Adyashanti, have also spoken of this "downloading" of insights. To a rationalist, this is crazy irrational "whoo whoo" stuff. Yet it is a real mystical experience to one who has transcended the self. I would just be mindful if the self tries to take ownership of the insights.

Sure, from the perspective of a transcended self that can hold paradoxical views simultaneously. My impression of the video is that this is a from a perspective of the self. It is a self that wants to stay relevant and avoid awakening. It's not a bad thing. One must develop a self to transcend a self - or there would be nothing to transcend. One might as well develop a healthy self.

If you realize good and evil is a construct of the mind and don't exist - what's the problem? It's like realizing Foenst and Acotri don't exist. At that point, who cares if someone said we are part Foenst and part Acotri? Neither exist, so it becomes irrelevant - a non-issue.

All beliefs are limiting. Ideas themselves are benign. It is our attachment and identification to ideas that creates beliefs - which then creates separation and suffering. Even insightful, profound ideas like this one

Because it is the truth of your entire experience of life. What could possibly be more important?