Djshorty

Funny, I thought we're all alreeady enlightened. Maybe Watts never realized he was enlightened, I can't say, but I don't even know if Buddha realized enlightenment, or even Jesus. Who 'realizes' enlightenment though? Who the heck does the realizing? If I don't even know who I am, how can 'I' know whether or not I'm enlightened?!

Well I finished reading Mckennas book, couldn't put it down. I think its great that someone is taking the opposite approach to enlightenment, maybe its not the path for all, but its still the path for some. What really resonates with me is the fact that he says go out and do the work yourself, figure it all out on your own, find out what is true. In essence you don't need to sit in an ashram for 10 years, you don't need to do Kunlun everyday, don't need to dish out 400$ on a workshop for enlightenment, unless of course 'you' feel the need to do all that. While I was reading his book, I was reminded of the talks and books I've read by Alan Watts. They both are pointing in the same direction. Now, I'm struggling with the question of Who Am I? When I listen to sounds, they come from nothingness, when 'I' hear thoughts, they too come from nothingness. Who the hell am I?! Where do these words come from? I'll stick with it and continue digging, like someone told me in another thread. Peace

I enjoyed reading that little bit of the book. It makes complete sense to me that you always have to think for yourself. Great paragraph. Thanks

Hey hey, Well, I have yet to order the Kunlun book, but I'll be sure to do that soon. Lately, I've added the New Energy Ways practices into my daily routines. They can be found for free here: http://www.astraldynamics.com/tutorials/?BoardID=6 . I just wanted to know if there were any dangers in participating in these practices, as it does involve raising energy upwards. On top of these practices I'm also doing some basic Qi Gong, and some of Bruce Frantzis' exercises, as well as daily meditation. I recall Procurator mentioning that taking bits and pieces of different practices can be dangerous. As a beginner, I'd like to know how I can tell whether or not what I'm doing is dangerous or safe. Are there any side effects that I should watch out for? What are the signs of a dangerous practice? I don't have a teacher, so it would be helpful if some members could discuss the danger signs that they've encountered. So far, I can see that my appetite has increased, and I've been sleeping quite a bit. I get some tingling in my feet and hands from time to time. That's about it. Maybe Procurator could give me some words of advice. Thanks All Peace

Hey White Tiger, Nice to meet ya too . Yeaa, I'm just getting into this whole energy work thing, I never use to believe it. I've always looked for the quick route in my life, and so I would never put in the practice necessary to get results. For the first time I'm actually sticking with something, and enjoying it. What you say about sometimes getting favorable experiences, and other times getting the darker experiences from your energy work, resonates with me. I suppose there is no way of getting around the nastier parts of ourselves, just as we don't have daylight 24 hrs a day, we can't have the good without the bad (no matter how much we try to get it). By the way, we're the same age bro, so I guess we are both going through a lot of the same experiences. I think it comes down to the human desire for happiness; we are all trying to fill a void in our lives. In order to fill that void, some of us sleep with as many women as possible, others watch T.V., some chase money, and there are the few of us that search for spiritual experiences. When I dig deep down to find out why I'm doing meditation, or why I'm going to work, or going to university, I find that the desire is the same. I'm looking for eternal happiness. To me this is the root of the tree, and from this root stem all other desires. Question is, how do we get rid of the root? For now, I'll continue to use my will like you said, in order to stop grasping for the leaves (women), and start trying to dig up the root. As for a taoist transmission, I have my fingers crossed that I'll find a teacher like the one depicted in The Peaceful Warrior. I'm guessing the teacher will come to me when I'm ready, but for now I'm also on my own. Hi Seadog, Great answer. It would be easy for me to agree and say "yes my ultimate desire is to benefit others, and myself", but I wouldn't be telling the truth. No doubt, I've always tried to help others out, but I don't think that's my main desire. Eternal happiness seems to be what I'm chasing (even through giving to the poor, and helping others). Is it possible to cultivate different desires? Alan Watts made a point in one of his books saying something along the lines of, "you can't force yourself to love someone". Maybe we can't force ourselves to desire something. Thanks all for the input

Thanks Mal. I'm sure getting older will help in many ways with a variety of desires. I guess finding the answer to how to subdue certain desires isn't particularly easy (otherwise ppl would be able to get off heroine, cocaine, etc..). However, I do think the answer has something to do with rejecting such desires, or at least holding off on fulfilling them. I was addicted to cigarettes not too long ago, but I managed to quit... the way I did that was by not giving into the desire. On the other hand, trying to quench a desire by satisfying it, makes no sense to me, this is like saying smoking a lot will stop you from having the desire to smoke (it might help in the short term, but eventually the desire will come back even stronger). These are just my thoughts on the matter, and hopefully others can chime in. Maybe I just have to live it out, and see where it takes me.

Hey Jakara, Thanks for your insights. I just watched the Enemies of Reason right before I read your thread. It's a documentary carried out by Richard Dawkins that attempts to show how illogical ppl are by turning to alternative medicine (at least this is what I got from it). Although I disagree with a lot of what he says, I find that he also provides some interesting things on which to think. You can watch it here http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=...837385783230047. Let me know what you think Peace

Once again, thanks for all the replies, and tidbits of wisdom. Someone mentioned you have to not want it, and I've been thinking about this lately. How is it that you make yourself not want something, and if you're trying to not want it doesn't that mean you really do want it? If anyone knows how to make certain desires subside (other than satisfying it), plz enlighten me, cause for sure sexual desire in my case, is given even more preference than food. Thanks Peace

Great thoughts... but maybe we're a virus? When looking at the earth from the view of an airplane, I would say we damn well look like a virus to the earth. Maybe that's our role =)

Hey, I'm in my early twenties. Two years ago I was doing MJ (until it ended up providing me with a paranoid high, instead of a relaxed one), and up until about a year ago I had done Salvia Divinorum at least 12-15 times. I've quit everything within the last year, except maybe booze, which I stopped a month ago. For those who don't know about Salvia; it's a legal plant that's relatively easy to grow indoors, and I believe it originates in Mexico. It provides a brief high if smoked, about 2-10 minutes max, but it completely shatters you. It's been compared to DMT, and some people believe it's more powerful than LSD. For instance, I experienced ego loss on several occasions (couldn't remember who I was), and I got the feeling that there was a definite presence to this plant (although I didn't really see any beings), more like felt them. I wasn't able to tell if this presence was healing me, or possessing me. I won't get too much into my experiences here, as I know this isn't the thread to do this in. However, after I experienced ego loss several times, I decided that I actually enjoy having one. I believed the ego is needed to really experience life (otherwise there is no one that experiences it). All in all, it seems that it had scared me away from any practices that attempt to get rid of the ego. I didn't want to practice meditation, eat healthy, or even think about how to get rid of an ego. What the hell is enjoyable about life if no ones home to experience it? (this was the mindset it gave me). While we're on the subject, I'd be very interested in knowing what I can do to reverse any 'distortions' that Salvia and Marijuana have caused to my energy body. Other than becoming more withdrawn after experimenting with these plants, I no longer feel any negative side effects they may have caused. Has anyone found particular ways of healing the effects of these entheogens? At the time, I didn't know anything about energy bodies, or chakras, and so didn't feel like they would cause any harm if done in moderation. After reading this thread, it seems they may have. Thanks Peace Thanks

Good advice. Seriousness is something I'm trying to get rid of , but what I meant was what do people think about the videos and the pictures of him emanating light on the website =). My question was worded wrong. Mikaelz, I think that's what got to me though, the marketing of it on the site. Especially with testimonials and stuff, felt like watching an infomercial. Anyway, Ima order the book and see what happens. It's interesting how I always look to the advice of others before trying stuff out. Seems like I had the answer all along, direct experience. Thanks all Peace

Hi, Maybe some of you have read my previous posts, and already know that I'm pretty much a newbie to everything. Surprisingly I'm still keeping up with my practice (25 mins now of Pranayama breathing, some Qi Gong, and some standing meditation plus seated meditation, overall I spend about an hour practicing). With all these Kunlun threads popping up, I'm thinking about giving that a try too. I visited the website and I'm a little suspicious of all this, especially the videos, and the pictures of Max's hands emanating light, etc... I'm a pretty skeptical person, so anything that seems fishy to me I dig deeper into. I've read nothing but positive comments about Kunlun on this forum and just wanted to know what other people thought about all this? From the outside looking in, it appears a little cultish, at least thats the vibe I get from it. I'm not trying to knock the practice as I haven't even given it a try yet, maybe someone can give me some reassurance. Thanks Peace

That's an interesting theory Rabbit, and it would make sense that the ego would want to manifest things to help you stray off the path. However, I think this incident strengthened my resolve to continue with my practices rather than to dissipate it. I just hope I'm not trying to gain energy for the wrong reasons, which does seem to be the case right now. It's hard to get your mind to not want something; at least that's the way I feel about it. I should note that at the time when this happened, I had just finished a long day of work, got on the bus, and felt pretty down. I was almost thinking that maybe this idea of eating two healthy meals a day and the practicing was accomplishing nothing but bringing my anger levels higher (it had been approximately two weeks since I was eating healthy, and about three months since I started doing meditations). After this thought crossed my mind, I went to the opposite polarity, and just felt so grateful to be alive, I felt like I had the power to live my life anyway I want (this must be what people with bi-polar disorder feel like all the time). It was at this point that the girl started hitting on me. It could be that I'm taking this whole situation out of context, as it hasn't happened to me since. But that whole week I had people asking me what time it was, or asking me random questions when I'd walk by (in one case a woman asked me if the bus goes to a particular place, and I wasn't even taking the bus, I was just walking by). This past week, I haven't had anything like this happen though, so I'm kinda lost. It's almost as if it turns on and off, and I want to know how to control it. Thank you for your insights, Take care

Yea for sure, provided me with some more positive reinforcement. I just wondered if I was attributing it to the wrong thing. Being a pretty shy guy myself who feels like I'm about to go sky diving when I approach girls that I don't know for their numbers, I really appreciated having a girl come up to me instead. Hmm now only if there was a way where they always came to me. I wonder if people have been able to use energy to attract what they want towards them (not the way the Secret would tell us though). However, I have read about the dangers of becoming too engrossed with just gaining more and more energy for personal gain. Thanks for sharing your experiences guys. If you have any more insight into this I'd be interested to hear about it. I'll check out that site Aspirin. Take care Just had to add this. It's wierd but I just started reading that book you were talking about 'the messenger', and in the openin forward it talks about how he started sports betting. Its funny because right now I'm watching my sports bets (betting and reading at same time), and sports betting isn't something I've usually done. Talk about synchronicity

Now that I've been doing my daily practices and eating right, I'm starting to have a lot more energy. An interesting thing happened last week, I was on the bus, and a girl started hitting on me. She eventually asked for my number. Now I know this doesn't seem like a big deal, but this rarely ever happens, if I want to meet a girl I gotta go out and ask them for numbers. Has anyone else experience anything similar after doing energy work for a while? Does energy have an effect on attraction, or am I just being superstitious? Thanks