Giles

Although... https://www.psypost.org/therapists-report-significant-psychological-risks-in-psilocybin-assisted-treatments/

You've misquoted me @Chang dao ling. This is what I actually wrote:

Sounds like you may require the services of a competent exorcist.

Sushumna: ❤️😁

I'm gong to choose to beg to differ: And again, I beg to differ. Neurobiofeedback is effective and it's been the subject of proper scientific research for quite a long time. An introduction (from 1992):

How the Devil Got His Horns - A Diabolical Tale BBC documentary. Art historian and critic Alastair Sooke reveals how the Devil's image was created by artists of the Middle Ages. He explores how, in the centuries between the birth of Christ and the Renaissance, visual interpretations of the Devil evolved, with the embodiment of evil appearing in different guises - tempter, tyrant, and rebellious angel. Alastair shows how artists used their imaginations to give form to Satan, whose description is absent from the Bible. Exploring some of the most remarkable art in Europe, he tells the stories behind that art and examines the religious texts and thinking which inspired and influenced the artists. The result is a rich and unique picture of how art and religion have combined to define images of good and evil.

🤣 ❤️

Each person enfolds something of the spirit of the other in his consciousness. David Bohm Source: https://noetic.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/SHIFT23_DOSSEY_PowerofPremonition_lores.pdf

Photo: the anahata chakra.

You're most welcome, Rheor. Just to clarify my advice: what I said was that in the event that it is actually an overactive pingala nadi, you might need to locate someone who is competent to teach you how to practice nadi shodana properly. What I'd advise against is DIY pranayama, with the sole exception of coherent breathing/resonant breathing, which is clinically validated to have health benefits (it's antihypertensive & sleep promoting) because it rebalances the sympathetic & parasympathetic nervous systems. Should you wish to go down that route, I recommend the FDA-cleared Resperate device (resperate.com). If you're determined to go down the DIY nadi shodana route again, despite it not having successfully remedied your issue 2 years ago, I strongly advise you to read the relevant sections of Gregor Maehle's pranayama manual very carefully. Please note also that Maehle is very specific re: DIY pranayama: If you have any questions, I'm happy to respond to the best of my abilities on this thread because I feel that PMs lack the appropriate wider community scrutiny and, in the past on this forum, that route's led to people entrapping others in their own favourite cults. Hope that makes sense and hoping that you find the above useful. 🤞🏻 Best Wishes,

Sounds like it might be an overactive pingala nadi. 🤷🏻‍♂️ If that's the case, you might need to find someone who is competent to teach you a serious daily nadi shodana practice.

Apologies for any offence that I might have given, @forestofemptiness I shouldn't have responded with haste but upon deeper reflection. Unfortunately, I find Spira in particular and Shankara's disciples in general to be fundamentally mistaken. Sorry. _/|\_

VIJNANA, GOD-REALIZATION We have now completed our inquiries into the simple concepts or aspects of the Divine, those of the Divine as self, as deities and as the universe. These will generally appear to us first on the path of bhakti as they are easier to understand and comprehend. The following concepts are more advanced but are very important, and ultimately, the bhakta needs to integrate them all. Even if this takes time, the love of God is not complete until we understand God as profoundly as possible, a process that the Gita calls jnana yajna - knowledge offering. The first six chapters of the Gita are fairly introductory, with most advanced concepts introduced in the latter 12 chapters. Unfortunately many readers restrict themselves in their analysis to these first six introductory chapters. But the seventh chapter, at its outset, presents one of the most essential concepts of the Gita, juxtaposing the terms jnana and vijnana. The term jnana is generally identified as referring to knowledge of the self or self-realisation. The prefix vi in vijnana denotes enlargement or extension. Hence, it represents a form of super-knowledge, more comprehensive than just self-realisation. Shri Ramakrishna was the first to point out the importance of the term vijnana, and he taught that it meant God-realization, consisting of the combined realisation of the Divine with form (saguna Brahman) and the formless Absolute (nirguna Brahman).38 Shri Aurobindo picked up the baton from Ramakrishna and further developed the concept of vijnana. Aurobindo usually translates vijnana as supermind, i.e. the intelligence of the Divine.39 Aurobindo also defines supermind as the Supreme Being knowing Itself dynamically as time.40 To elaborate further, Aurobindo also described the supermind as the Supreme’s creative knowledge–will aspect.41 This is important to understand because Aurobindo’s lifelong practice and endeavour was to align himself with the divine supermind, something he labelled as the “calling down of the supermind.” It was important for Aurobindo to focus not just on the transcendental consciousness- stillness, emptiness, and nothingness aspects of the Divine but also on its creative and intelligent self-expression. Aurobindo developed the terminology supermind in the early part of the 20th century, and today, more than 100 years later, the term sounds dated, as we more readily associate it with information technology and artificial intelligence (or more profanely with things such as Superman or supermarket). Instead, I suggest the terms God immanent or cosmic intelligence, and the connection between both is explored in the next section. I don’t mean to be disrespectful when I appear here to improve Aurobindo’s language. I consider Aurobindo the leading intellectual and mystical titan of the 20th century, and I am anything but. But the English language dates quickly, a fact that Aurobindo was only too aware of. Other than Sanskrit, in which the meaning of words is predefined in ancient texts on grammar, in English, definitions of words are derived through convention. Hence, they change if enough people change their minds about what they mean. Gregor Maehle Source: Maehle, G. (2024). Bhakti The Yoga of Love. Kaivalya Publications.

PREFACE Vijnanabhairava is a very ancient book on Yoga. It closely follows the basic principles of Saivagama. It contains 112 types of yoga. There is hardly any other book on yoga which has described so many ways of approach to Central Reality that is present in each man as his essential Self. It is both extensive, and intensive in the treatment of the subject of yoga. An English translation of this excellent work is being provided for the first time. The text that has been adopted is mainly the one that is published in the Kashmir Series of Texts and Studies. At a few places, however, slightly different readings yielding better sense have been incorporated as suggested by Svami Laksmana Joo. Each verse of the Sanskrit text has been printed in both Devanigari and Roman script. This is followed by an English translation and a number of expository notes which will go a long way in elucidating the main idea of the verse. A long Introduction explaining the basic principles of the yogas described in the text has been provided in the beginning. A glossary of technical terms has also been added at the end. Since the yogas recommended in the book are based on the tenets of the non-dualistic Saiva Philosophy, the reader will do well to read the author's Introductory Portion of either the Pratyabhijnahridayam or the Siva-sutras before taking up the study of the present book. I express my sincerest gratitude to Svami Laksmana Joo who has kindly taught this book to me word by word. My thanks are also due to Shri Dinanath Ganj who has kindly helped me in the preparation of the index to important Sanskrit words and the alphabetical index to the verses. Varanasi I. VI. 79 JAIDEVA SINGH

This thing of ‘sublime eternal love’ is a possibility for human beings, and every human being should know that – it exists within each one of us. David Lynch Source: https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/jul/26/sublime-eternal-love-exists-within-each-one-of-us-david-lynch-on-music-friendship-and-lifes-biggest-mystery

Rupert Spira's sidekick. 🤣

I've just stated that:

I'm fully aware that it's "OK". If it wasn't, I wouldn't be doing it. That's certainly not my experience. Moksha is completely impersonal, as I've previously stated, several times.

😊👍🏻 😊👍🏻 😊👍🏻 Yes. I struggle with that myself, as evidenced by the fact that I'm still posting on a "spiritual" forum and I'm reading Forrest Knutson's latest book ATM. 🤣 I only stumbled across it recently myself & I was horrified to discover afterwards that she's one of the prime movers behind The Secret. Had I known that at the outset I wouldn't have bothered even to give it a second glance.

Just to clarify: this is perfectly normal for many people. It is not an attainment of any sort. It has nothing whatsoever to to with me (Giles). Furthermore, (albeit merely IMO/IME) most people pursuing a spiritual path would be infinitely better off if they dropped the goal of Self-realization, moksha, etc. along with the philosophical masturbation that almost invariably accompanies it and instead invested a few bucks in the new-age author Marci Shimoff's book Happy For No Reason.

About 40 years.

Of course not... It strikes me that you and I have very different experiences because mine is consistent with: Beyond caste, creed, family or lineage, That which is without name and form, beyond merit and demerit, That which is beyond space, time and sense-objects, You are that, God ItSelf. ~  Vivekachudamani ~ And yours appears to me to be something else entirely.