Sunya

still haven't really started

indeeeed laroi, i get you. i'm a wanderer too, it's always been hard for me to cement myself in one tradition because deep down i've known that truth isn't limited to one viewpoint.. and also, like you, i've never bought any of that "enlightenment takes 2000 eons" dogma, i do believe that its attainable now. so though being a wanderer, i also understand that sticking to one tradition is necessary, since some do have contradictions.. but i just love the diversity of having more than one tradition under my belt. i love buddhism, taoism, christian mysticism, sufism. i focus on the similarities, which are plenty. as for the contradictions.. these are pretty hard to find, and i think a deeper look reveals that these contradictions are only surface deep. though the mind can get hung up on these differences, deep down there is a knowing that it is futile. but for the sake of not turning my beliefs into a New Age whirlwind.. i think i've most closely connected with Vedanta and Shivaism (reality as a non dual play of consciousness or Shiva), but also have a lot of Buddhism in me (the importance of compassion and right living). so i will focus more on that

which book(s) have you read? i only have the Essential Ken Wilber.. he has like 20.. i'd like to get another but not even sure where to start

Hundun, thanks for your response. I do agree with you.. so does Ken Wilber as he talks about being integrative and developing ourselves in different areas, spirituality being one of them, but also mind, body, relationships.. so I do agree that a healthy psyche is necessary to develop. to focus solely on attaining non-dual awareness and ignoring your social anxiety or lack of confidence is escapism. in my own experience though, i've found that letting go of ego to be the best confidence booster ever i used to read and study social dynamics and did improve but now social interaction is a breeze since i recognize emotions for what they are.. usually

Patrick ever read any Bernadette Roberts? she's a Christian mystic.. a Carmelite nun, she attained the unitive state of "oneness with God" which is the endpoint of Christian mysticism ala St John of the Cross and St Teresa of Avila but 20 years later she experienced her Self disappearing until there pretty much was no Self, or ego, anymore. there was only God left. she writes about her experience, very interesting. http://www.spiritualteachers.org/b_roberts_interview.htm

hello don't have time read all responses, at work right now but I asked my teacher about the subject of ego-death and death of the physical body another said and another all of these teachers are realized, and none of us are. so lets stop conceptualizing what *might* happen

beautiful experience, thank you for sharing about what you said quoted above.. i understand, and this is probably why my teacher always shoots down people that try to intellectualize and philosophize, which is unfortunately my forte. as i've been trying to 'figure it out' for the past year.. now i'm realizing what you ( and Hundun and probably others here) have said. to 'think' about it and create more theories is just creating more barriers from the truth. so it doesn't even matter if you're on the right track, just having a conception will stop you from actually experiencing it. so i've been trying to get away from all the thinking and mind talk. though its tough but you gotta do what you gotta do!

coming from a former pot-head, it isn't worth it.. drains you of energy, numbs you and dulls you, gives you a false sense of happiness and peace.. but that's just because it numbs you to whats actually being felt. embrace the anxiety, embrace the fear, accept it and stop attaching to the emotions. they aren't you. focus on your breath daily and breathe naturally from the belly. focusing on the details like "kidney imbalance" only creates unneeded mental activity, everything will take care of itself if you just chill out, breathe, and surrender to the process of purification. i too had anxiety come up after drug use.. i only did LSD and mushrooms once, but i felt the effects. its a clearing of the subconscious, so embrace it my friend

that video is amazing, song is great and the video.. wow! hahah i love how it all matches up, the video with the beat.. the editing must've taken forever thanks

thanks for the link looks really interesting, will have to check it out

Nope. I say you're on the high horse because you come off as the wise sage who walked down from his mountain retreat to give this poor peasant some much needed guidance. But that wasn't necessary nor asked for. Though your opinion I have read carefully, i don't think it applies to me at all. i'm not trying to escape anything, nor do you make any sense.. i think you're just trying to sound like you know something I don't. Having experience is great, experience is everything. But really.. just because you had an experience of feeling chakras in your body does not mean that is the end all of truth. why would you stop there and assume that there isn't a bigger picture? this isn't escapism, its not being tied down to limiting concepts. lol oh get real man. what are you a super hero? such a noble quest you're on lets see you reply and try to sound all wise, humble, and enlightened again while totally ignoring the points i make ciao, wise one

Alan Watts

ah that was a great post, thanks for bringing it up.

cat rocks

Mantis, I wasn't talking to you, but since you insist on butting in.. i am making conversation and offering my opinion, i'm not personally telling people what they should or shouldn't do. i'm not saying Mantis, you're an idiot for buying into some supposed mystic who lived in the 50s and calls his new age blabbery "gnostic christianity" and tells you that you have to have sex to be enlightened.. no i'm not saying that at all. you are free to do whatever you want, buddy and never said i'd prefer to indulge in sex, but that does sound nice. nothing to overcome for me, everything is good wait wait, this is coming from someone who was dogmatic about needing sex for enlightenment when obviously you aren't enlightened. no.. i'm not dogmatic at all, i don't just blatantly accept teachings, only if they are true by my experience. metaphor was probably the wrong word to use. oh well

lol, ok wise guru. i don't hate myself, and i'm not running away from anything. i am what my teacher taught me. and what she teaches makes a lot more sense than attaching to bodily locations. so whats my issue? believe whatever you want though, and attach to whatever you want. but don't tell me I have issues, lol. i'm sure I do, but i don't pretend to be a guru and give people unwanted advice. get off your high horse, making you old doesn't make you smart. here is what my teacher wrote to someone asking about chakras.. someone who was obviously very attached to this idea of chakras this chakra that. totally missing that these locales point to states of consciousness and it is the state that is more important than this physical location

because everything is consciousness

prince, chakras are metaphors for states of consciousness. don't get too caught up in where they are as this can lead to bodily attachment. heart chakra = love. selflessness.. etc

wait his name is actually Barry Long? sounds like some 80s porn star

leave it to Drew to interject with some unrelated technobabble lol get out of your head man!

my teacher Swami Ganga is a teacher of non-duality akin to zen with some buddhist and hindu vedanta facets. she posts many satsangs on youtube.. it is actually how I found her in the first place http://www.youtube.com/user/GuruSwamiG

ya thats me i find it grossss not the act itself.. but the taste and smell... so musky and bitter. ew :/

i'm reading Jed Mckenna's Spiritual Enlightenment the Damnedest Thing, i suggest you all read it. it's amazing. if you want it, PM me. i see on the board a lot of talk of bliss and equating it to enlightenment, especially with Kunlun. in my gut, i felt this was wrong and completely agree with Jed. nothing wrong with bliss, but it isn't enlightenment.

i think that the only effects that diet or environment would have are the effects they have on your psyche, because it is your state of mind that is the most important. by the way Jane its been a while.. i hope everything is going great with you the advice you gave me months ago really helped, i've been progressing.. letting go, surrendering, found a teacher. alls good!

thanks for the article Jane it's something that i'm going through myself. surrender and keeping a positive state and offering no resistence are the keys that really make the process go as smoothly as possible I think