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Doing Neti Neti on mushrooms is effective.

04:15 Wake up, drink a glass of water, do oil pulling, light stretching 05:00-06:00 Shambhavi Mahamudra practice (~40 minutes) + 20 minutes of Neti Neti 06:00-06:30 Workout 06:30-07:00 Reading

I had 2 powerful awakening experiences that have caused a permanent shift: 1. Listening to my inner voice after 1.5 years and finally meeting up with a hippie group on the beach doing Wim Hof breathing. They emanated love and acceptance. On my drive home, I've never been the same since - similar to how Ram Dass encountered his Baba and 'caught the bug'. 2. Listening to Leo's Neti Neti video whilst under the influence of Cannabis

@WelcometoReality Ah, I see what you mean. Thanks! @This I suppose it comes with the package of trying to do this thing at all @Carl-Richard Quite helpful, thanks! @Kalo Will do. I tried it for a period of time and got distracted by other things instead and stopped doing it. Funny how when you're trying to find yourself, the self basically does anything it can to divert your attention. I'm tired of getting distracted though and the straight-up methods resonate with me at this stage. Neti neti is certainly one of those.

Sounds like a useful technique, something like the Neti Neti method.

It depends. Skepticism and constant questioning are generally healthy traits to foster. Any experience that can't withstand scrutiny is unlikely to be authentic. Ask yourself what purpose is being served by the doubt. Does it disable, depress, and demotivate you? Or does it drive you deeper inward, toward the Truth that you are? The ancient gurus questioned everything. Neti Neti, not this, not that, until only Awareness remained at the core. Don't take their word for it. Do the work yourself, and see what you discover.

Yes the neti neti method is awesome in that way, but it is not good to reduce everything down cause it is limiting in my view, and anatta is more correctly = not my soul, today modern buddhists think that anatta means that the Buddha taught that there was no soul only material body conciousness, which is not the Truth. Anatta = not my soul, guatama didnt teach no soul.

Hey guys, lately i have doing the self-inquiry for 5 months & i combined this technique with neti-neti method, so thereby whatever appeared to me is not me as so I'm the one who perceived all of it. So after doing this technique by combining these two methods i almost two days in a row, i really see that thoughts and things are just arising and passing, and also the "I" the perceiver is no more there as it was also somewhat an object. But i didn't had any mystical or total blissful states while getting to know there was no-self. But also in the other hand i realized there's no-self. So did i get it or am i just tricked myself into it?

Ok, so i tried this Neti Neti method. Hope I did right. I realized that if somebody removes carefully my bodyparts or exchanged them with others, I’m still there, so I can’t be my body. Body can’t be an essential part of me. I realized that I was there before the construction of my Story started, memories, values, language , thoghts etc...So I’m not my story... Everything I remember, imagine, think to exist is not necessarily there, it’s more like guessing really.. What remains is the observation/curiousness/something something and the currently observable “experience” . Since that observable “stuff” is not constant eighter, it cannot be me... I’m left with the observer...

Analyzing isn't the word I would use, since it implies being stuck in your head. Diving into yourself through systematic meditation though, can lead to insight. The ancient gurus practiced neti neti, which means "not this, not that". They examined each aspect of themselves, the body, the senses, etc. and discarded each layer that was not the core of who they are. At the end, at the center, all that remained was Consciousness.

5MEO-DMT was the first substance I ever tried. It was meant to be jumping in the deep end for someone who had never drunk alcohol or even smoked a cigarette. I was interested in truth-seeking and had got in on Leos videos because of an interest in philosophy. Obviously, his Neti-Neti video put me face to face with a black void called infinite consciousness, that was quite a shock for a then atheist. The rest is the usual start down the personal development and spiritual journey of awakening inevitably coming across the idea of psychedelics and wanting to explore consciousness. I did my first 5MEO session at an ayahuasca retreat last May and while other people beside me also doing 5MEO were screaming, crying, moaning and wretching, I was lying there strangely contented. I had to take two inhales but it was enough to knock me catatonic so I lost sense of the body but still fully conscious. There was a bit of black and white patchy clouds morphing in and out and an intense buzzing energy. It left me a bit stumped because, except for the buzzing energy, I didn't experience anything different to my 'good' meditation or breathwork sessions. I couldn't make up my mind about it so decided I needed to experience another session as a reference. This was almost a year later and the dose was certainly higher. I didn't even get to finish the first inhaling or holding my breath and I was already gone. Again, everyone else screaming, crying, moaning, cathartic releases etc etc... Me... lying in a black void contently listening to space music with the intense buzz of energy present yet again. But both times I would have to honestly say that nothing really happened. It was the same with the ayahuasca and again with mushrooms. I don't really experience anything. one flash of visual but several hours of nothing really while everyone around me is going through a process or loosing their shit. What seems to happen is that everything I experience is formless, void, black and when I come out the other side I do my work during contemplation in the weeks after. it's a bit dissapointing to hear peoples fantastic DMT vision journeys being shot through the universe into the womb of creation itself and thinking my turn... for another buzzing black bath. I'd almost believe something is wrong with me or that I'm one of the rare people whos not affected by the substances. It's hard to find people to describe their 5meo experiences because they don't seem to be able to describe it or its so vastly different to what I'm experiencing, visually, consciously and emotionally.

Hey everyone, I just finished my first book on the topic of zen, enlightenment etc - Alan Watts - The way of Zen. And it's a great book, I'm fascinated how easy it was to read it. Anyway, after completing the book I don't feel like there is any point to do self-inqury anymore, I mean I've been meditating and self-inquiring for a while now (I've Meditating daily ~1.5 years and self-inqury 2 - 3 times a week for 5 - 7 months) I do understand that asking myself questions like "who am I" or "what am I" or the neti neti method is basically spinning around in circles, chasing my tail - asking myself who is myself, while being I while searching for the I, and basically fueling my own existance. Baisacally the conclusion after finishing the book is that reaching Dao cannot be the goal or a destination or something to achieve because if it becomes one of these, it's not Dao. And that makes perfect sense since a goal, destination or achievement is a thing and how can enlightenment be a thing? I basically don't see any point of asking questions anymore or even looking since what is there to look for? Who's looking? It's still my mind that's doing all that. Any tips on what to do? How to think? or Any idea of how to proceed on this spiritual journe y past this point would be helpfull.

One way of completing the neti neti method is to recognize what thoughts are, and then to see that thoughts are a part of the totality and not a cause of anything. One way of looking at it is if a thought is a cause, then what is the cause of that thought itself? And the neti neti method can be seen as what the actual causes are which are not this, not that, and only That, as in the totality. I found another of Leo's older videos, and this is about the nature of thoughts.

The neti neti method might be useful as a stepping stone towards nonduality, but notice that's it only goes half the way. Why? Because when we say "not that" about anything, that's a duality perspective. The nondual perspective includes everything. That of course means that it even includes the neti neti method but it's more than that. It's a totality perspective. So the neti neti method should only be used as a stepping stone or it becomes a duality trap.

Neti neti means not this, not that. I now have a different method that I will experiment with. Instead of saying not this not that, to say this and that. I am this, and I am that, I am everything I experience!

Something that I got reminded of is that all personal memories are from the personal stage! So it's the whole personal self that needs to be questioned, including when practicing the neti neti method. And I also want to remind myself of what Roger Castillo said in his recent satsang video. The thinking mind (the crystallized ego) is very attached to successes and failures. What needs to happen I theorize is that all personal successes and failures need to be recognized as a part of the perfect order of reality. So it's actually 100% success! And then from a transpersonal stage there can be a transcend and include of success and failures so that it's still valid but seen as a "game" layer on top of a foundation of peace.

Here is an older video by Leo where he explains the neti neti method. I find it useful for shifting my perspective from material identification and separations and to a nondual perspective.

@Gesundheit What Is sees these both as conceptual notions. Pointing attempts to arrest the mind, if not for just a glimpse of what IT IS, completely free of the mind's gravity. To be clear, you are approaching this identified with the mind's constructs. The words used to point are flying by. The more you think, the more you will fail, but that is OK... such futility is required, apparently. neti neti

Where's the line that separates something and nothing? When does something change to nothing? It never does because It's the same thing. No, not at all. You can not learn nor realize Infinite love with a finite mind. Of course Mahasamadhi is now, where else would it be? There is only here and now, and has been so for eternity, but "you", the one which happens to be in your body typing on a computer, could not interact within the illusion if you were not in a "physical" vessel in this gross realm. If you were in a mahasamadhi right now you would not be able to interact with anything or anyone, nor do anything, because you'd be in an absolute state of consciousness unable to stand or move. Agreed, yet we must somehow talk about these things, for the love of expression, the love of sharing. Yet in a lighthearted manner because you can't communicate serious awakenings. As soon as you take yourself seriously, or what you speak of seriously on a forum like this, you've already missed the point. Ken Wilber covers all these points in "The religion of tomorrow" much better than I can. The four inexpressibles cover it well, and The heart sutra: That which is emptiness is not other than form, and vise versa. And neti-neti, not this not that.

@Swarnim Yes, it is not my intention with this practice to be awake 24/7. I have seen the nothingness, and I do self inquiry and use the deconstruction of reality with neti-neti in combination. I have a lot of "associations" of objects that I consider a thing. On that I am working too, I am also doing that with every suffering that occures, using shinzen youngs mindfullness methods. Unfortunately I am not aware of all the associations I have. An awakening into the nothingness can help I believe, but I'll exercise mindfullness with what I have now. Unfortunately It is hard to deconstruct every association of "bad pain" that occures, because it doesn't happen really often, and I don't want to deliberately hurt myself. I'll just wait for the suffering to happen, and not cause myself for harm than necessary, because I am more interested in relieving suffering than in truth atm. I have seen the nothingness and had countless awakenings. I want to "stabilise" and fall deeper into enlightenment in the now.

So I wanted to share this Insight I had a while ago about the existential nature of the self / other and the sentient / inert duallity. Not long before this, I had a short Samadhi experience while doing some neti-neti and focusing on Actuallity meditation. I'm saying this because I applied the "Mu" insight while talking with a co-worker face to face. That day I had been pondering: what does it mean that something is alive? How is it possible for something to exist and be " dead, inert, not sentient " ? This notion felt so absurd. So I was chatting with, lets call him Paul, and as I was directly looking at his face, eyes, mouth moving, etc, I asked myself " how can I be sure of him being "alive", just like " I am " in my direct experience? What I saw was his mouth moving, making sounds, facial expressions, etc while I was PROJECTING on him the idea of " human being, alive, sentient, not inert and different from a rock " . This kind of freaked me out for a while. I felt as if he was a robot, as in ", just moving but no person inside ". I asked myself " what's the difference between him and a rock?? And I could't find a proof of him being more alive than a rock is, the only difference being that I was projecting that he is "alive" and that "he" displays more intelligence and movement. I imagined him being made of stone, but a kind of stone that is intelligent, could move, had a girlfriend, could comunicate, and looks and feels like flesh. WOW. IT'S THE SAME!! I thought " oh god, I'm fucked " . I knew I won't be able to shake this off. And that's how the dead / alive and inert / sentient conceptual duallity colapsed in my mind. Since then, I don't look at others the same way. Anyways, Paul is a cool guy. No idea what he was saying though LOL. TLDR : Others = Mu. Rocks = Mu. The only difference is that I project one is alive, human, sentient and rocks are not intelligent, not alive, etc. wtf. Is this what Leo means with "others" being imaginery? Edit : yes, nevertheless I'm still nice to people

@Nahm "The identification is a self nourishing thought-loop" is what an insight I got from reading faceless posts. I think I am going to raise thought awareness without interfering. As I mentioned, the identification will probably switch from the second thoughts to the next, or to the changing awareness thoughts. Yesterday I just laid in bed with a very calm mind doing nothing, not even meditating and it was calm. There is definitely something to it. "Now what should I do, how can I do contemplative work and neti neti and self inquiry if I just obsverve the seeker" is a thought and a mystery to me. It is a strange loop of deciding to do stuff, but who decides? hahaha. I'm just going with the flow now I guess. "Oh, I want to be in the mystery, how do I get there? What can I do?" hahahahahaha. "I wonder if the spiritual part of me will work without identification"... man that's also just a thought. I risk to identify as the referee of thoughts to decide what to do or what not to do hahahaha. Oh damn that is tricky. Just more thoughts always want to become identified with, in a very sneaky way, it's like the alan watts story of the police chasing thieves up a building. Everytime the police goes up one floor, the thieves go up one, and so they never catch up (until they arrive at the roof). That is happening with my thoughts right now. Maybe I'll inquiry every "level of thought", I don't know what the roof will look like or if it's an infinite loop. Really weird.

Neti Neti is the ancient Hindu meditation practice of stripping away the layers of your personality, until only Consciousness is left. It doesn't have to be meditative. You can practice this during your regular day, and notice forms arising that you identify with, but are not pure Consciousness. Irritated at your wife? What is the source of your irritation? Why do you respond the way you do? Notice the stimulus and the response. It feels automatic, but when you observe more closely, you realize that there is a space between her behavior and your irritation. Similar to the space between two frames in a feature film. The mind perceives the movie as continuous, but it really isn't. It may be a very small space, but it is there. That space is Consciousness. Simply recognizing the space is the first step to expanding it. The irritation is not who you are. You are not defined by it, nor are you at the mercy of it. You can observe it, and explore it, but you are not it. Neti Neti.

Best episode of the series!! ? I really loved the part where Philosophy of Language and Linguistics was talked about. Now I have also started to question this label or to say limit--'Infinity' as well, anything that is coming out of the limits of language is just confined and limited within it's own limit, the nature of reality is perhaps unfathomable and a MYSTERY (and it's really hard for some to settle with this word cos it doesn't base/ground you somewhere, you don't get satisfaction it doesn't gratify the Self-Identity), and if somehow you are grasping it, or can fathom it, that shouldn't be mistaken for Reality itself. Reality as such, is a Mystery, which is the best thing that could possibly be about Reality, it's where the fun lies, there's no fun in labelling or giving reality meaning just for self gratification. Neti Neti!

Yesterday I had a Heaven awakening for a few hours, everything was perfect, a love and peace I couldn't escape from. This isnt my first awakening, but definately the best so far. I didn't even meditate but I know it is a result from the neti neti practice from a book where I had a no self experience. I cannot even put into words how the experience was, while driving 2 hours I had multiple ego deaths merging with objects etc. It was so full of love that my ego couldn't even make me feel bad. Now I realised that "my reality" can have 2 perspectives. The depressed nihilistic perspective to avoid suffering and surviving or realising I'm in heaven. Now this is a 180 degree change in perspective of the world, so I have to adjust to it. Guess what my ego is telling me. "No this is dangerous, you can get trapped into heaven, what if it changes, this is too good you need to ground yourself the world is full of dangers, are you sure this isn't a mental health issue, what if you are bipolar and today is heaven - tomorrow is hell? What about your family? Are you okay with you feeling like you're in heaven while your parents suffer, is this fair? Don't forget that this isn't permanent. Oh no this isn't permanent, now make sure this doesn't go away, okay just check to see if you are still able to tap into ego death... Okay it works... But dont do this too much, who knows maybe you'll fall so deep into it that suddenly you have a panic attack and end up in the dark night. Why are you smoking so much nicotine today, are you sure you weren't drugged? What if this is something neurological and you are about to have a seizure? WHILE DRIVING!!!! Yesterday I realised there was nothing the ego could do, but it simultaneously wants to keep that state of being and wants to control. Now I strongly believe I have to shower the ego with love until it understands without it having to fight with itself. I just use equanimity practice and adyashantis true meditation methods. Do you guys have any post satori practice I can do to "keep the balance" or any advice? Buddhism says that the next step is to keep the state of no self 24/7, but I don't know if I am comfortable with doing this...