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I just wanted to voice my gratitude for this magnificient thread. Thank you RyanO! FLOWER POWER Blessings

Hi buscon, Do you mean exclusive single-pointed concentration (samatha) or inclusive mindful awareness (vipassana)? Both are good, but the latter is more valuable for gaining advances in the field of spirit because it leads to insight of reality. Living beings are motivated by pleasant activities. How do you make concentration and mindfulness more fun and engaging to practice? If you can answer that, I think you already have all the answers you need. Blessings

Hi alwayson, Nevermind! Blessings!

Hi alwayson, Capitalism is freaking awesome, but there's a point to be made with the criticism of corporate dominance. The problem with purely market driven economy is that unless the hearts of men are at peace, their better natures will be overcome by greed. Their actions are driven by sympathic nervous agitation, "fight and flight", and the growing desire for dopamine high, which affects how the markets operate and interact with the world. It's a vicious cycle that can't be treated with simple magic bullets. You and vortex seem to make it a very easy question of free choice. Can one "just" choose to be healthy, educated, wise, attractive, rich, and free of persecution and manipulation? No, for one can realistically affect only some of the factors that shape his life, and others can be hurdles the size of mountain to overcome. Can you compassionately understand why offering the Capitalist Pill as general medicine can be both insulting and frustrating to a human being who observes innocent children that did nothing to deserve a life of suffering, yet the multitude of societal factors constantly coax and indoctrinate them towards that path? Your suggestion only works if people are aware and seeking to know of the long term consequences of their actions, but the overload of sympathic stimulation, i.e. greed, stress, hunger, and violence, is anything but helpful to that! The current system simply is broken and killing the Earth through vastly unsustainable consumption. Capitalism can work, but only if the fractional-reserve banking and interest is replaced with something saner, say money with demurrage, and if we first can give the world easy means to cultivate their hearts. The former will probably rise spontaneously after the latter is achieved, but the real question is: How do we overturn the toxic overload of irritation and agitation? If we can't put forth an effective solution, then the whole discussion and people suffering becomes impasse because nothing changes at the level where it truly matters. Anyways, keep the discussion going on! I love it when people remind me how awesome Capitalism is. Blessings

The problem with reason is that it can actually be used to justify any behavior and relative position. Rationality becomes another attachment if you take it too seriously. Exhibit A: Have you stopped molesting children? Yes or no. Exhibit B: We define subject and object as separate, yet arbitrarily refer to "self" that is both. How come? The modern use of language is full of such loaded questions and flawed premises that suppose a division when in fact in most cases the meaningful answer is diametrically opposed to both. Buyers beware! This is, of course, the very reason why the religious texts should be primarily understood analogically rather than via plain logic. Besides, subordinating human behavior into logical context and inspection makes no sense, since sentences like "I like you" and "I'm hungry" do not express logical ontology and measurable quantities, but modalities of consciousness. Blessings

Hello, nice to meet you! I am a 22-year-old male with serious stress issues, but am definitely looking forward to getting better. Blessings

Thanks to everybody for the cheers and the plentiful advice. Very much appreciated! Currently I feel like I've found the right practice to nourish my spirit. The article concerning it can be found in the "Contributed Articles" section: hopefully someone else might also benefit from reading it. Still, it's the lingering physical symptoms that are the real issue, and it might take months before the tide turns. Healing from a chronic condition sure takes its time. Meanwhile, I'm experiencing an increased frequency of weird electric sounding crackling just above and behind my head and generally very unsual modes of perception. I sure don't want to make anything out of it, just am wondering how strange these things are. It's good to hear that other people have had hearty chuckles from my user handle. For me Taomeow's previous signature combined with the handle hit the laughing nerve, as does cat's fantastic diving gear. Blessings

Hi DanC, What you are experiencing is perfectly normal and it happens to absolutely everyone in the meditation business. Besides, if there was no challenge experienced, then how would you gauge that you had indeed gained progress? IMHO, the uncomfortable moods put us to view things in a different light, which is essential for learning to subdue the egoistic and reactionary whims. Nevertheless I know of two practices that have helped me in this regard by making my spirit lighter in dire moments: The Secret Smile Enhancing Perception through Innocent Wondering Please remember that consistent practice is essential, and there seems to be nothing wrong in what you are doing. Blessings

DISCLAIMER First read the practice section; reading my commentary is entirely optional. Comments are hardly ever necessary, and our current Western civilization suffers from a terrible inflation of words. Less is more, and I don't wish anyone to waste their time on airy platitudes that offer highly inefficient instructions of what one should do in order to advance spiritually. My only request to anyone who tries my instructions is that you post here whether or not it delivered to you what it claimed. Anything else will be intellectual exercise that I definitely want to avoid, especially in this sketchy stage of writing. PRACTICE Some of you may have taken a notice of me promoting innocent wondering. In this practice I want to take you there, so that you can see why the sages seem to have put a lot of emphasis on the virtues of effortlessness (i.e. "naturalness") and youth. Following the practice might also provide you with a neat alternative or supplement to any mindfulness practice you might have, since it should amp up the ease of absorption considerably. Small children observe the world in a peculiar manner. Whenever they meet something new or exciting, their eyes enlarge with interest and their mouths open in awe. Can you put yourself into the same state by empathic resonance, and can you uphold the state without much effort? How does it affect your mindstream and sense of being? More importantly, why should adulthood mean the cessation of this wonderful process? You should especially be mindful of how the eyes convey the sensation of amazement and how the muscles of the soft and hard palate are lifted. It should induce an overall sensation of facial muscles being pulled towards the back of the head. Perhaps you can also find a sweet lightness in your chest, as if you are falling in love. By engaging into these movements you will easily regain a hold of the state, even if you should become distracted or pursue some other task in the meanwhile. I've found cultivating amazament of the amazament to be a good way to let the sensation spread all over the body, which should prove to be a fairly effortless entrance to the first jhana. Consistent practice and will bring prompt results: the more you do it, the more engaging it becomes. From personal experience I can tell that ego and intrusive thought patterns fall off very quick, even when I simply start wondering again if I had become distracted. You see, all mental perturbations are transmuted in the fresh and non-judgemental inspection, and this averbal process eventually leads to the pervasive joy of the present moment. I've been making a good recovery since February, but things have gotten very interesting about two weeks ago when I started just wondering. Unfortunately, I can't remember the context how the practice came forth, but I guess it was an inevitable conclusion from all the research I've done. Sometimes your emotions may drift into unbalanced or negative states, yet it's especially beneficial during these moments that you gently turn your attention to the process of just wondering it and let the tensions subdue: it provides the necessary healing of the unprocessed energies. Remember that awareness is energy, and the only purpose of these stuck energies is to merge back into your undivided attention. It might be wise to intentionally seek to trigger all sorts of uncomfortable sensations in a tranquil location, and first learn how to deal with a bit of such tension by bringing it into the wondering awareness, so that you can easily overcome the draining moments in the future. However, the overall emphasis should be on cultivating the wondering and amazement. To recap: Genuinely put yourself in a mental frame as if you had no comprehension at all how to intellectualize anything; be as curious as if you saw even the most common things the first time, or you have no idea what to recall at all, or you're amazed what things are called when you recall them, etc.. The cognition is always very limiting, and it would be beneficial to human beings if they were not concerned of how to constantly represent things in a limited manner. Caution. The purpose of this practice is to prime you for more enjoyable and satisfactory perception through innocent wondering and amazement. If you should mistake the process for cultivating confused and ignorant states of mind, then the consequences would almost certainly be dire. COMMENTARY So what's so special about getting into the process of innocent wondering and turning yourself into a living question mark? That is up to decide whether you want to lose the rigid self-identity and enter a wondrous silence of alertness and vividity. Your cognition will remain intact with all the precious experience you have, but you will be able to deal with matters with a lightness of spirit. Besides, it's neuro-physiologically completely arguable that this state is indeed how the healthy human beings operate. Most of you are probably familiar with the Reuniting.info and its discussion of neuro-physiology affecting human behavior. However, sexuality and mating behavior is only a specialized function of a more generalizable conduct. Firstly, we have the parasympathic nervous system that relates to lasting and relaxed being (anabolic body functions; rest and digestion) and sympathic nervous system that responds in urgent and intense manner (catabolic body functions; "fight or flight"). From this I'm going to suggest two complementary ends on a scale of nervous stimulation: the sensitive (i.e. perceptive) and the irritable (i.e. reactive). Secondly, these nervous circuits generate an interest. If you understand anything of mathematical attractors, banking, chemical buffer reactions, or the concept of vicious circle, you already know the deal. If you are at either base level, then you will have to invest quite a bit effort until you have managed to switch sides. If you are an irritable person, then it's very hard to not engage in irritable behavior and further stimulate the irritation. On the other hand, the sensitive person will have the capacity not to be overwhelmed even by the severely irritable traumas for his base level function dissolves efficiently such impacts. Thirdly, there's little understanding of the efficient ways to cultivate the neuro-physiological sensitivity. Religions exist to rectify this, but unfortunately not all of their methods and traditions are efficient and easy enough to guarantee a lasting peace on Earth. All life simply strives for a good vibe. If the subtle pleasure of perception becomes overwhelmed by the mass of irritable responses that offer a temporary fix, we find that there might even be a problem with the language that associates the true with good (i.e. pleasure), but neglects separating the sensitive and irritable ends of pleasure clearly enough. From survival's point of view, it's quite clear that living in the head promotes unrealistic and dissociative behavior in the long term, thus thinking can only have a limited benefit. Moreover, the testimonies from life-threathening experiences indicate that dangerous situations make us recall our past experiences as in to learn from them, so there seems to be a very definite connection with excess mental dialogue and stress. The Greek daimon, especially as elaborated by Plato, is certainly remiscent of the ancient traditions that say that the dead and their influence affects the world of the living. Although daimon is described as more of a type of personal spirit of fate, Plato disagreed with the tradition which claimed the daimon was given to each of us, and he instead said that it is chosen by us. Without going too deeply into the shallow discussion of free will, it seems strange to speak of any kind of freedom of choice or withdrawal when it's always the good we're after. Nevertheless if we become ignorant or inhibited of some valuable type of pleasure, it would undoubtedly lead to great disease and discomfort. Through understanding the neuro-physiological foundation, we thusly profess that the law of karma guides living beings and that the impact of karma is at the gross level a cultural and epigenetic heritage that reaches back in time for many generations. It seems to me that in the center of all the distress is a simple set of prejudices that mortify the innocent heart and make entire populations insensitive to the simple pleasure of perception, which leads to wars and confrontations of authority. Since the irritable pleasure is the competitive pleasure, this type of relative position is always beyond all justification: Life offers no explanations, but we just are here and make ourselves feel good and homely. Yet our atomized civilization spends vast amounts of time and effort in rationalizing and justifying even the minutest fads and concoctions, even though hardly any of it has anything to do with valid ontological concerns that can be rationalized in the first place. Nietzsche spent volumes in explaining why truth seeking is delusional mask for the Will to Power, but unfortunately for him it's always easier to deconstruct and criticize than offer a sane alternative that does not end up being another justification for an insatiable power high. I think there's more to all this discussion, but I'll leave it to a level I'm experienced with: Whether or not karma has further spiritual dimensions, I can't tell for sure. There's also much more to the neuro-physiology aspect, both evidence and instructions, and how it shapes human civilization and culture, but that material is not quite ready to be published yet. Blessings

Dear SFJane, IMHO, innocence is not about the experience one has, but how does one react. Do you think it's possible to have worthwhile and educative communication while having a strong prejudice on the subject? Are aye and nay parties willing to set up an agreeable demonstration that provides shared first hand experience, or will the discussion continue 20+ pages without any actual attempt to resolve the discrepancy? To me most of this thread seems to deal with second hand evidence of authors and events that have little or no impact on practical level, at least for the uniniated. Such token truths offer as little impact on anyone's life as knowing the existence of the Red Spot of Jupiter, unless you are an astronomer. Is calling that kind of token trading silly the same thing you would term "calling the bs?" Anyways, I wouldn't start yelling "BS!" at the sight of it, but take it to a compost and turn it to a nourishment of gardens. The flowers love it, so why wouldn't I? As far as me and my conduct is concerned, it was an obvious error of judgement to directly address this important topic in a thread that had already gathered a slightly confrontational quality. If my meager contributions are unsound, then there's no reason why anyone should become upset of it, since there's certainly plenty of good discussion to be made. Thanks, I will take a look tonight. Blessings

What kind of emotional vampire are you? IMHO, when people stop responding with their livers and kidneys, they stop accumulating negative karma and respective sympathic neuro-physiological stimulation. Reactive spirit is the only thing keeping the flamers vampires alive.

Dear SFJane, I am not completely certain if I read you right, but were you by any chance equating innocence with gullibility? If this indeed was the case, then I must respectfully disagree with you. To clarify: By childlike curiosity, wonder, and joy I specifically mean the innocent open heartedness in approach to matters in general, so that regardless of the outcome we feel content in spirit. If we should ever lose it, we would surely become bitter and resentful adults with an eye for power games of domination and justification. This happened to me, and by experience I can tell it happens to just about everyone else to varying degrees. I can empathize with your initial post, especially the affection to power bit. A lot of work remains to be done for me to rectify this, but having found the innocence has made my life much more bearable through not getting caught into the bait of power high. Experience is always something that must be acquired first hand, and there can be no short cuts in this process of learning to live. On the other hand, it does not matter if I listen to something I would categorize as false or true knowledge, or even bigoted or compassionate speech: My heart remains within the simple consciousness of inclusive wondering, without intellectual attachment to any outcome. Yes, it is very regrettable that our society pulls such dirty tricks on the innocent minds, both outright lies and complex schemes of subversive indoctrination, but such schemes are only possible because we, the civilized people, become stuck in our heads with our rigid conceptions and neglect nourishing our hearts with the sweet silence of wonder and joy! I must with great humility say that I don't really know a thing about true and false, but I can tell apart pleasure and pain much more acutely than ever before. And as I learn more and more about being a more balanced and happier person, the less I care for scholarly concerns and arguments. It appears that I was never looking for the truth of life, but how to simply have more fun. There is no more justification in such simplicity. My concern with all the people participating in the threads of this type: Are you having real heartfelt fun while having an argument? If not, then is that being true to yourselves? And if not you are not being true to yourselves, then what could there be to the notion of truth? Blessings

Forget about the truth and being in right. No measure of logic, empirical proof, nor conviction may ever turn a heart. Words that don't encapsule empathy and compassion are not worth the time and energy that was used on them. Childlike sense of curiosity, wonder, and joy sure are the best medicine for the skeptic and believer alike. The problem is how do you find your innocence: Forget about your sense of authority and let the children play! Then become a child and join them. After that everything else is superfluous and care free. When the premise of a discussion is in clildlike delight and wonder, only then you may have good scientific/spiritual research. If adults are arguing, then it becomes a heated tug-o-war with political agendas. Blessings!

Thanks to everybody for your responses! I sure would like to be a more active participant on topics around here, but unfortunately my condition is quite bad so that I'm only able to gather myself to write every once in a while. Hopefully these chip-ins will eventually end up being worthy contributions. I've come to realize that my problems are largely because of an early traumatic event which resulted in me not being able to rebound from later oppressive conditions, and thus triggering a burnout stress. Latent posttraumatic stress is a very strange thing: I wouldn't have known to suspect it at all, except for the fact that my corrugator muscle (the frowning muscle) and the muscles surrounding it are either frozen or often experiencing a sense of nervous arousal. No other disease can explain it, and I've also collected a fair number of scientific sources that seem to indicate the types of afflictions I've experienced, including the corrugator link and mixed brain lateralization development. Please let me know if you want to read those articles asap, so I will post the links for the interested. A lot of people in the past have said me that you only need to snap out of an ill mental frame and, *whoosh*, you are cured from your mental problems. This is hardly a mental problem, and all the insight points into it being a very physical condition. So what does the burnout feel like? Usually it just feels like having a persistent hangover while dosing both sedatives and stimulants. Add in being in a heightened catabolic state and lacking motor coordination, and suddenly you are a semi-invalid. Thankfully I've been able to find the hidden gears few months ago, and I'm positively heading for the better. There's some wonderful material on the making that will hit the light once I'm for certain over and finished with this condition and can finally have the necessary mental clarity for a good editorial touch. Re: Tea. I would have to say that plain green tea is very tasty, but fresh water with a pinch of salt is even better. Blessings!

http://www.thirdeyehealth.com/ First of all you should check this site's "My Strange Story" and "Bright Eyes Blog" sections. I think these have the most 'meaty' content. More specifically these links are the most relevant for this discussion, since they more or less reveal his process of bodily readjustment: Body Posture Torso Nipples Touch Magic Eye Button: The Bright Eyes and The Canine Teeth Any thoughts? The blog post seems to describe a type of inner smile, but overall I haven't been able to figure out how to successfully implement this brilliant sounding scheme.