DreamBliss

That's a fine idea, which is probably way Hanes and Jerzees, at least, sew the string inside in the back somewhere, or are using two pieces of string, or something, because I have, so far, been unable to do this.

I can tell you that Camas, WA is pretty much a Christian town. At least a dozen churches in a 4 mile radius I think. So yeah, a religion can be local, and "take over" a place. No Unitarian here as far as I know. The only different church around is a Christian Scientist church, as I have said elsewhere. There is a Buddhist temple or something about 10 miles away or so.

Good and Bad are human inventions. There are no extremes at the Source. If there is Good Karma, there must also be Bad Karma. So throw out Karma, along with Sin. But do not close yourself off. Remain open, always remain open. Because maybe Good Karma exists. Maybe Bad Karma exists. Maybe Sin exists. As long as the possibility of existence is there, remain open. Just don't invest belief energy into anything that can hinder your spiritual growth. Accepting one thing as good means accepting its opposite. You can't have one without the other. So don't believe in either, yet remain open that either may be true. This is how you find truth. Leave all avenues open, until, in your own experience, they lead to dead ends. Then retrace your steps, remembering what you have learned, and cross that road off your spiritual map. My practice is not to accept any chains, or anything that could lead to chains. My practice is to remain free, open and receptive. My practice is to go beyond duality, beyond good/bad, light/dark, sin/perfection. My practice is seeking Truth. Is it really true that everything, everyone, all of creation, is in reality all one? If everything is one, then there can be no good or bad. Things just are. The world, all of creation, simply is. Human perception sees good and bad, right and wrong. Take off those glasses and then look. What do you see beyond your filters, beyond your criticisms, beyond your judgments? Human perception of good/bad, right/wrong, sinner/saint causes and enforces separations. If we are all one, then why are we trying to be separate? That is living a lie. I do not know if we are all one. This is not a state I have first-hand experience with. But it does make the most sense, so I have loosely adopted this as truth. If it is not truth, then I will release it and let it go. I do know what the experience of being labelled a sinner, of being separate, is like, and putting on my own glasses, in my perception I would say this was bad. Harmful to me and not helpful to my spiritual growth. I have crossed these streets off my own personal map. Every bird must chip its own way out of the shell to emerge into the world. We can not break this shell for you. You must use your own beak to break through into your own spiritual path. All we can do is share our experiences and what, through them, seems to us to be truth. I have shared my truth. Is it your truth? Only you know that.

I think there is another trap to watch out for here... As a Christian I was told I was a sinner and needed saving. Buddhists, Hinduists and Taoists, among others, teach that there is this thing called karma everyone has to work out. I do not believe either exist. There is no such thing as sin, because everyone is born perfect. Most of us just forget that on the way. Someone enlightened probably remembered it. There is no such thing as karma for the same reason. Both karma and sin imply that there is something wrong, something that has to be done, something you have to be saved from, or work through, I think there is only action and conseqence. Everything we do will have some sort of effect. This is not resulting from karma or some sort of punishment for sin. This is just something to keep in mind, so that we are careful of the actions we take. This inspires us to act and move in love while remaining in the present moment. I doubt very highly there is some place of eternal suffering those who do not become Christians will end up. Nor do I believe there is some process of reincarnation in the sense that we need to keep working through things until, some time in an indeterminate fuuture, we finish our last life, having learned everything we needed to, and jet off somewhere off the wheel of reincarnation. It seems the Christian belief of Heaven and this other have a lot in common here. But why do these spiritual practices have us focusing on some future, rather that right here, now, in this moment, this body, and this life? This is the only moment you have. Your past moments are gone, your future moments do not exist yet, the best you can hope to do is draw from the past to create some fantasy idea of what the future may be. But the truth is there is only this moment. This is a fallicy I think in many, if not all, of the organized religions. Any system of beliefs that for any reason has you focusing on the future, when you will be enlightened, when you will go to Heaven, when you will work out your karma, is suspect. If everyone on earth, all of humanity, focused on this life, and this moment, our planet would not be in the state it is in, there would be no crime, and we would become a society that lives hamronoiusly with our world as well as with each other. As it is with Christians saying things like, "This is not my home" we find crime and pollution. After all why does this world matter if it is not my home? Why does this life matter if it is not the one where I have freed myself of my karma? I'll work out my karma in the next life, or God will take care of things. These are not, in my opinion, good mindsets to have. I have said some of this before. I simply wish to urge people to be cautious with anything that tells them that they are broken, or need fixing, or are lacking, or need to do something, or need to work on something. That, it seems to me, is engaging the seeker, which reinforces the ego. If you want to grow spiritually, you have to move beyond the ego, beyond seeking.

I was just wondering if we could start a list of retreats and workshops. Maybe provide the name, description, duration, location and price for each event. Focus on meditation, yoga, spiritual practice and other types of events related to this forum. Maybe we could even get a pool going of everyone interested in going to a retreat, carpooling in groups to get there and chipping in some money based on what they can afford. Googling is next to useless I have discovered tonight. In case the list is not a feasible idea, or nobody wants to do it, I am looking or something, preferably free, but no more than $200.00, for the whole event. Some sort of relaxing getaway, maybe with a day or two of silence, meditation and yoga. Hot springs or a hot tub is a bonus, as well as a natural swimming area. I am not interested in what appears to the Buddhist idea of retreat, that is where you actually work during the whole thing, and you pay good money to do so! Every retreat I have found with any kind of Buddhist foundation has some sort of, "mindful work" or "cleaning up the grounds" involved. As I already clean up the grounds where I live, and absolutely despise, loathe and hate such work, I really don't think I would find that relaxing in a retreat! I don't mind something where helping out would be nice, but is not required, which would allow me to make a choice. Do I feel willing to serve in this area or not? Better I am willingly doing the work without feeling like I am forced into it, than unwillingly doing it and being forced into it. This whole thing, my experience so far, people just don't understand. They don't get it. They tell me I should be thankful. I should be grateful. But I have bucked haybales, chopped wood, mowed lawns and washed dishes my whole stinking life! I don't get paid for the work I do around here, and the person I am doing it for, instead of paying (or even thanking) me, often expects me to do more or cook her supper or something. No, for a minimum of 5 days, preferably 7 or more, I want to reward someone else the opportunity to serve me. To allow me to just relax, meditate, socialize with people who I might have more in common with than the Christians all around me here. I need to get away from all of this, just fore a few days. Have a real vacation. I have not had any time away in years! There's some pain in my new signature, a reason I wrote that, in case nobody noticed. What I really, really want is a retreat that is also a workshop covering as many of my areas of interest as possible. Building/Construction. Art/Drawing/Painting. Music/Singing. Dreams/Lucid Dreaming. Astral Projection/OBE. Heck even Barefoot Running! So if you know of anything in the Washington/Oregon USA area do you think you could post here and let me know about it? Please keep in mind, it needs to be in Oregon or Washington, and it needs to be no more than $200.00, unless they have some sort of bursar as they do for Findhorn. I really appreciate your help! And if we could get a list of events up and running, or some sort of calendar, that would save a lot of hours Googling my eyes bloody, and it would be a benefit to everyone else as well. Thank you.

Yeah, I have to admit that I am a little disappointed in the guy. Why not throw out Hay House after any contract he may have has been satisfied, and go independent, helping people freely? I mean if things are as he says, and his needs are always met, because his mindset is right, well why not prove it? So I am a little suspect of Mr. Dyer and Louise Hay as well as the rest of the Hay House bunch. But I still see the man as a sort fo spiritual role model. C T That was a very insightful post, thank you! liminal_luke Its OK. You have a right to be as you are, and feel what you feel. It is up to me to choose my perception of what you say, and my response to it. Yes some good suggestions have been provided, but nothing that speaks to me right now or seems feasible. Trying to keep it local and inexpensive. Not too sure about communing with faeries, although I have always thought elves with their pointy ears were kind of hot... ... and don't get me started about girls with tails. What is it about tails anyway?

To my mind it is very simple. If you are a truly spiritually developed person, you never need to worry about money, because it always comes to you. Money, resources, whatever you need. It is precisely because you are spiritually minded and have no blocks in your mind about finances that this is so. I often read Wayne Dyer saying how this is precisely how things work in his life. Same for Louis Hay. Maybe they are not telling the truth. But I do not think this is the case. They are successful and have no financial issues because they have developed enough spiritually where such things are not a problem. Same for Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev. He travels all over the world, has built a few special structures, and has no job that I am aware of. How does he pay for all of this? To my mind a truly spiritually developed person does not worry about getting paid properly for their work, because their mind is beyond that kind of thinking. They have some knowing that whatever they call God will take care of them. I don't know how to describe this state, because I am not in it. I admit I still have limiting thoughts, especially when it comes to money. This was how I was raised. I have to completely reprogram myself and change my way of thinking. But I still live with the people who programmed me this way in the first place. I am still inundated with worries about money. But I can clearly see a place, a state, where I am doing what I love to do, doing what I enjoy, doing what interests me, and there is no need to worry about money. I can freely help others. I know that I am provided for. Read about Jesus in the Bible. Did he charge people money to raise them from the dead, cast demons out, or heal their bodies? It is a societal issue, especially here in America. Nothing is offered freely because of pervasive beliefs like, "There is no such thing as a free lunch."Everyone is out to get theirs. Everyone feels entitled if they have anything to offer that anyone may be interested in. I predict that as long as people in America and elsewhere in the world keep thinking that way humanity as a whole will never grow and evolve spiritually, and we will be stuck in dual-minded, materialistic ways of thinking. This way of thinking is excluding. In essence, anyone who does not have money can not get away, receive quality teaching, recharge their spiritual batteries, , and grow spiritually. They can not receive quality direction and guidance. Not only can they not receive these things, they can't pass on the benefit of these things to others. Imagine if everyone, no matter their financial situation, could go off somewhere, receive quality teaching, recharge, grow spiritually, and come back, exuding the energy of all their positive experiences to their family, friends, and loved ones! But this is not what we see. Everyone is in their own little bubble. People are left to whatever faith they grew up with, having not even an inkling of anything that may be better. So our society as a whole suffers, our race suffers. All because so-called spiritually minded people simply can't see beyond the limitations of what they feel they deserve, or are owed, or what's theirs, etc. I just wish someone understood this. This thread has left me heart-broken and feeling like I am not being taken seriously. That I am not supported. Why only $200.00? Because that was the most I knew, for sure, I had any chance at all of raising, in some way or other, in a month or two. As I have said before, elsewhere. I get paid little-nothing for my work. I have no employment. I have practiced what I preach, offered my teachings and services for free, but my limitation mindset constantly bites me in the ass. Nobody has donated a cent to my work. But I still refuse to charge. I still am acting on faith, and will continue to do so. That is how much I believe in this. For now I am giving up on this. I guess I am left alone, as usual, to my own devices. I guess I am not going to get any time away to heal and recover. So be it. BaguaKicksAss Thank you for the links and continuing help. I do understand where you are coming from with your earlier post.

Just seeking information here, recommended videos, courses, books, etc, I do not want to be hypnotized by someone. Searching around for how to hypnotize myself I found about a million videos where someone was trying to hypnotize me, by having me follow a video or something. The rest of what I found was just garbage trying to sell me some course. What I want to do is learn how to hypnotize myself. I would like to create an audio track, maybe use brainwave music, but where I hypnotize myself using my voice, ask myself some questions, record the answers (I'll have a mic running and maybe a paper and pencil in my lap) then wake myself up. How do I do this? Anyone have any advice, help or recommendations?

Thank you for the suggestion. But at this present moment I have not manifested the finances to pay for my passport, plane tickets and accommodations to take me to London. If you would be willing to provide a link to the event I will look into it. I can always ask for the Source for the resources I need and see what happens. If I did have those kind of resources there were some things going on at Findhorn in Scotland that interested me. Maybe I could do both! That would one heck of a summer for once...

Friend: Could you provide a link or something to what you are referring to? I will search for BaguaKickAss here in the forums, but I am not sure what specifically you are referring to. All Else: Thank you for the link. I am browsing through it now, but it appears to be a very old thread. We really need something pinned with a listing of current events, in the way GrandmasterP suggested. I was too angry and frustrated to search last night. I figured someone would have done something like that. but I did not find it just browsing around, which is all I had the patience for. A few more things... I am not looking to be pampered something like a famous actor going to some luxurious resort, assuming this is what famous actors do. I just want to go somewhere, and not have to do any work. Is that being pampered? If the place happens to allow people to do work around the place to help cover the costs of being there, as long as it is obligational and I can do the work after I spend a week or so relaxing, I don't mind that at all. I just want a week or so, but I will be content with 3-5 days, where I simply have no work I need to do. Is that too much too ask? Furthermore in this place I would like to go for no less that 3 days to as many days past 7 as possible, I would like to be spiritually nourished in some way. Through talks, some sort of workshop, training in meditation or yoga, or both, etc. I guess I must be naive, but I would think a truly spiritual guru, master or teacher would not expect money, especially large amounts of it, from this they instruct. I understand that facilities must be paid for, and everyone needs to make a living, but do you really have to charge $500.00 - $5000.00 for teaching someone how to barefoot run, or lucid dream, or astral project, or meditate, or do yoga? Really? I mean if they are truly spiritual, and the place hosting them is run by truly spiritual people, shouldn't money be coming to them easily, so that they don't need to charge so much? How spiritual can you be if you are struggling with your finances? Something seems off here. I know that if I had anything to teach that anyone wanted to learn I would do it freely, simply accepting donations, and not expecting any payments. I would be trusting that the things I need are provided. And as far as I know I am not super spiritual or enlightened. So what's the deal with these other people? All I am looking for is to get away from a few things that I am stuck with here in my current living situation. 1. Work. 2. Having to figure out everything on my own, not having anyone of more experience to talk to. 3. A Christian religious environment where I am left feeling spiritually malnourished. I just want to get away from these 3 things, have a vacation from these 3 things, for 3-7+ days. I'll figure out how to get there, but the most money I could ever hope to raise is $200.00. So where does a financially limited, overworked and spiritually malnourished person go to get away for a few days in Oregon or Washington? Is there any place?

I was responding to an earlier poster's suggestions to use meditation, instead of self-hypnosis, for answers. My practice of meditation is to simply sit, in as ZaZen a posture as my body allows, focus on my breathing, focus on the contact of the tips of my thumbs, and eventually just to let go of any effort at focusing. I have added the process of admit, allow and accept to my meditation process, in regards specifically to thoughts. At some point, occasionally, I just sort of fade out. I am not asleep, nor am I really awake or aware. Just in a state of "not there", for a lack of a better way of describing it. I know I have many years of practice ahead of me, and I need to do this more regularly, for longer periods of time, uninterrupted. But that is my practice at this time. I used to do different things during meditation, come into it with a question, go on a shamanic journey, explore the inner landscapes. I don't do that anymore. I am practicing "just sitting." I do hope, someday soon, to go to a retreat/workshop and gain the benefit of a guru, master or teacher's instructions for meditation. But for now I will simply sit. I find I enjoy meditating outside, and just listening to the wind. Grabbing the reigns and steering us back to the topic, I have just finished my latest edits for my self-hypnosis page. I am providing the link here in the hopes of receiving constructive and supportive criticism. http://hi-techheadache.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_11.html Thank you for all your advice, help and replies!

Which I believe I was quite clear about that I have done. But just in case it wasn't clear... I have succeeded! & "...I have had my first session..." Please see my previous reply for more information.

I have succeeded. I was not sure how to proceed, but found enough books at the library to get an idea. Now that I have had my first session, I know what I need to work on. It was very strange... Relaxation comes easy to me, but the mind was still saying in the background something like, "Ha! Ha! This is so funny! Look you're not even unconscious yet!" But I just let the brainwave part of the audio I designed wash over me. I surprised myself by answering my questions, for the most part, without hesitation. And my voice sounds so weird... Also I told myself a few times that, "You already knew this..." It did shed some light on some things. Gave me a clearer idea of what course of action to take in a few areas of concern. How I did it was I designed a brainwave track with pink noise (I think I used pink) and my own audio recording. Running in the brainwave frequency associated with the hypnotic state. I had that playing on my MP3 through my earbuds while my microphone, using Audacity, was recording my answers. I may make a tutorial detailing all of this and put it on my YouTube channel. Others may want to try to this, and I can show them how. Turns out that the more intelligent you are the more suggestible you are. The whole process was very easy to do and went very smoothly. I learned I need more time for answers, or just to get lost in the audio terrain of the brainwave track. I also need more of a visualization time before the deepener. I need to be more established in the scene in my mind so I see it clearly. Need a pinch more volume for my audio vocal track. Need to figure out in what way there is a small amount of interference with the audio and my visualization. Seemed like the audio made it hard for me to visualize for some reason. Anyhow thank you, those of you who provided positive, supportive and helpful suggestions. As for the rest, I appreciate and respect your viewpoint. I may not agree, but I also do not disregard what you have said. There may be something there I will need to read later or something. Meditation does not work for me as a way of seeking answers. I know there is a form of meditation that does this, but I struggle just to meditate, stay still, and not do anything. It's hard enough just to let things be as they are, my thoughts, feelings, urges, physical pain or sensations. I am just not, what would the word be, developed enough in my meditation skills? Finally this whole, "you need a teacher..." or, "you need a professional.." or, "practitioner..." etc. is a big steaming pile of bull. Maybe it makes things easier, but you don't need anything outside yourself to deal with the inside of yourself. You just need you, and that's it. If you have access to these other external sources of assistance, help, guidance, etc by all means make use of them. Be thankful and enjoy the blessings they provide. But don't get caught up thinking you need something outside of yourself to do something inside yourself. Nobody outside of yourself knows you better than you. You alone posses the most accurate map of your internal terrain. The best these others can provide is some help reading the map. But if you keep at it, you'll figure it out. You want to avoid looking outside of yourself for the help you need. This will keep you in a seeker mentality, which in turn the ego thrives on. You want to be free of the ego you have to let go of the seeking outside yourself. This is my understanding. It may not be 100% correct, but that's OK, because I am developing, growing and learning right along with everyone else. It seems as if it is the Truth to me in this present moment. I'll post a link later to any tutorial I make for this. I may even design a more general, less personalized script and put it up on my Soundcloud account for others to use. We'll see...

This is what I am experiencing. I am in a town that is predominantly Christian, and everyone I live with is Christian. There are something like half a dozen churches within 2 miles of my home, and more scattered around town. The only alternative faith I have is Christian Science. I think there is a monastery of some sort probably 10 miles away, so well outside walking or biking distance. We have to adopt the Christian solution. When Christians don't have a church to go and meet at, they meet at someone's home. So we of alternative spirituality should start home meetings. Because one thing all religious institutions have figured out - we need fellowship with like-minded people. People who share our faith, or interests, or whatever. We need that social outlet. The problem with heeding our own counsel is that we only get one point of view. We need that environment where we can go, feel supported, and have multiple points of view. We need physical contact, hugs and hand shaking. Forums are nice, but we define reality by our senses, we can't help but do this naturally, so a place like this isn't as real to us as going somewhere and being physically around others. And heck, if you are a horny or lonely guy or girl, but you don't like to bar hop and party, how are you going to meet someone of the opposite sex? Nothing sucks worse than a one-sided relationship, you and some image or name on your computer screen, and sex is decidedly unfullfilling. So yeah, we need to start some home groups. Maybe we could start a thread for this? Moderators? What do you think? Keep the personal location information out, post the state and city you are located in if you want to start a home meeting, and let others who want to meet in that area PM the original poster or something. This something we can do? I'm in Camas, WA, in case there are any other Camas residents around here...

This is something I wanted to share from my blog. The original post is here: http://adifferentpath.blog.com/2014/04/13/apparent-reality-vs-reality/ I am reading Adyashanti’s “Falling Into Grace” and at first this text was really speaking to me. But then the author started talking about “accepting what is” and how some things are “immovable and unchangeable.” I disagree, 100%, with this belief. I can easily demonstrate why. All around me are walls and windows. Someone like Adyashanti may say that the reality is that these objects are solid. You can’t go through a closed window or a wall. That is reality. But this is a false statement. There is another reality, that the windows and the walls are made of particles and space. That these particles vibrate at a certain frequency, and this is the same frequency my physical form vibrates at. As a result my hand won’t go through a wall because of this vibration. But there is also yet another reality, that I can affect my body with my mind, so if I could affect the vibrational rate of my body, then I could, theoretically, walk right through a wall or a closed window. All these “realities” are really only “apparent realities.” Accepting the “reality” of the solidity of closed windows and walls is not really accepting reality. It is accepting a belief about reality. That such things are solid. In truth nothing is immovable or unchangeable, or else it would be perfect. Another author said it best, something along the lines of, “It is only real if it never changes.” I think it is as foolish to accept an unwanted apparent reality as it would be to fight against it. In fighting what appears to be real we are, in essence, giving it power over us. We are making it more real for us. But in accepting it as real we give it the same power. We never challenge it. By letting things be as they are we are essentially saying that is is OK for these things to be the way they are, when maybe it is not OK. If we are going to accept, admit and allow we should accept, admit and allow everything, including when something is not OK. A Buddhist monk who sits there as someone prepares to shoot them or cut them in half with a sword because that is the reality of the situation is foolish. They are not giving value to either their life or the life of the one about to perpetuate the act, as every action has a consequence, and murder has a consequence in the life of someone who commits it. The monk should defend themselves or run off. Because it is only an apparent reality that they are about to be killed. As they aren’t dead yet, it is not real. They have just as much chance to escape, or win their freedom, as they do of being killed. The apparent reality in our American cities is that here are many homeless people. It is foolish for us to simply accept that and say, “Oh well, that’s just how things are.” No, the truth is that this is how you believe things are, and how other people in society believe things are, but this is not the reality, only a collective belief in an apparent reality. Going out there to feed and clothe the homeless also enforces the apparent reality of homelessness. Because the energy of service draws more service to it, so in truth you create more homelessness by serving the homeless. Also fighting against homeless, trying to remove them from the streets, will only give the apparent reality of homelessness more power. I think what we have to do here, in this example, is accept the apparent reality of homeless, but not in any way invests belief energy into this state. We acknowledge it appears to be real, that homeless people have come into our sphere of awareness. Then I think the next step is to look inside ourselves. What is being reflected to us outside is showing us something wrong inside, inside each of us individually and inside society collectively. Addressing whatever it is that is allowing homelessness to appear is how to address the issue of homelessness. Our beliefs about apparent reality that we actually believe are reality, our beliefs about society, our beliefs about the individual’s place in society – these are where the issue of homelessness has been given birth, and until we address this, no matter how much we serve the homeless or throw them off our street homelessness will continue to appear. It points to a flaw in society itself. Exactly as sap coming from a sawn limb points to an injury in the tree, or blood coming form a wound points to an injury in the body. In the case of our Buddhist monk, an even better tactic of non-resistance is to not even resist the bullet or sword blade! Really! The only way a bullet can pierce or a sword blade can cut is because of our beliefs in what bullets and sword blades can do. These beliefs are reflected in our bodies. We believe the bullet can hurt us, we believe the sword blade can hurt us, so these things can hurt us. But remember, this us apparent reality. It seems to be enforced by all we know about the world around us. But it is not true reality. In truth the monk can make his body non-resistant to bullets and blades, so that both would simply pass through, leaving them unaffected. It only requires mental training of the ability to use one’s mind to change the vibrational state of the body. Monks are already most of the way there. They have exceptional mental clarity. In some cases they have exceptional body control. This is just the next step in the natural progress of their training. It is not about defying reality. It is about defying apparent reality. This is done without any kind of seeking, including the seeking of control, and any kind of struggling. You accept what appears to be real, but you also know, with every fiber of your being, that it is only apparently real, that it is not necessarily what is truly real. You become non-resistant to apparent reality, but in this acceptance and non-resistance you still challenge it. You test it. You ask, is this really real, or is it only apparently real? Do I really know for sure that I can’t walk through this wall or allow the blade to go through me? You can’t honestly say you know this for sure. You can’t honestly say that you have learned everything you need to learn to walk through a wall or allow a blade to pass through you. You can’t honestly say you know everything you need to know. You can’t honestly say you have tried everything there is to try. You can’t honestly say you are no longer investing belief energy into apparent reality somewhere. You may still have deeply ingrained beliefs about apparent reality from society, your family or your culture. An example is needed here, and we will use the Bible, which may be a fable, or may be false, but for now we will assume that all accounts are true and that there is hidden ,meaning we may not have uncovered yet. Jesus stepped out of a boat and onto the surface of lake or sea, during a storm. He walked on water! The apparent reality is that water is not solid, that you will sink, and when one of his disciples tried it, they started to sink. For a moment they stood on the water as they forgot apparent reality, seeing Jesus out there, walking around, but then their beliefs about apparent reality, literally, began to sink in! But Jesus invested no energy in apparent reality. He did not fight the water or the waves. He probably did not fight opposing beliefs. He probably accepted everything, allowed everything, but invested no energy at all into apparent reality. So he stepped out and walked on water. If Jesus could walk on water, we can too. We can walk through walls and let blades pass through us. We simply have to invest our belief energy into knowing, having faith, we can, rather than in the apparent reality that we can’t. Everything Jesus did, everything Buddha did, we can do, and more, without exception. We are limited only by our beliefs. Our thoughts do affect reality, but not directly. First we have a thought, then we choose to believe in that thought or not, then if we have chosen to believe in it the thought it affects our perception of reality. Jesus probably had a thought such as, “water is not solid, you can’t walk on that, everyone knows that!” but he chose not to believe in it. He chose another thought, probably something like, “Through my father I can do anything, even walk on water.” He believed that thought and stepped out, knowing that the water was a surface he could walk on, and as a result he was able to walk on water. It was not a miracle. It was just a different thought, belief and perception. A teacher like Adyashanti seems to be saying, unless I am misunderstanding him, that we are powerless. That there are things we can’t change, that we can’t control. I say that is absolute bullshit. I say that seeking to control and change things will lead to suffering, same as any seeking, and in that aspect he is correct. I say that accepting apparent reality (and it is all apparent reality at this stage, because it is always changing, all the time) is as foolish as struggling against it. Both approaches give apparent reality power, and take it away from you. I say that you are not powerless, that you can control and change things. But you don’t do it through seeking or struggle. You change things by seeing them as they appear to be, as they present themselves to you, and then simply choosing not to invest your energy there anymore. Whatever the truth, you have an energy in you that is the same energy in everyone else and the whole of creation. You can interact with that energy using your thoughts, solidify that energy using your beliefs, and through your perception experience that energy in any way you wish. Here is an even simpler, parting example… Someone comes up to you and spits in your face. You have a thought about this experience. From these thoughts you choose what to believe and that determines your response. If in your culture it is an honor to be spat upon, you have a though that this is an honor, and you smile and say thank you. If you are a descendent of Irish settlers in South Bronx you have a thought that this asshole is insulting you, and you punch him into next week. If you smile at all it’s to show all your teeth in a threatening gesture. If you are a Buddhist Monk you will probably have the same thought as the Irishman, but will still smile lovingly at the person who spat on you. In this example, whatever you chose to do, you had a choice of action. Thoughts came, you chose which ones to grab onto and then you choose to invest energy into the corresponding belief. That belief, in turn, had a direct effect on your perception of reality. You chose to be honored, insulted, or to simply accept it as what is. You determine what is real for you, which is in fact only an apparent reality. This is your power,, to choose what beliefs you will put energy into, and this will directly affect your experience of apparent reality through your perception of it.

I have not taken the time to see what the others have posted to share something in context. I just read your first post, and I will give you my opinion. I was a Christian. I have told this story, part of "my story", many times here. I found Christianity to essentially not be enough. Things were left unanswered, things did not make sense, the Bible had many inconsistencies but didn't cover everything, and the Christian view of God made no sense. For example, why did God allow Satan to torture Job? If Heaven and Hell are separated by some uncrossable chasm, how did Satan cross it? Why would God let him come into Heaven in the first place, after casting him out? And how did Lucifer and 1/3 of the angels find sin in Heaven, which is supposed to be a perfect place? Also how does Heaven fit in with others have seen when they have died and returned? And why would I want to stay on once place for all eternity? Furthermore, how come a Buddhist monk, like Thich Nhat Hanh, would be consigned to eternal damnation in hell simply because he was/is a Buddhist, and not a Christian? I had read a few of his books, and I had never found anyone in my Christian faith even remotely as demonstrating the love that pours off the page's of this monk's teachings. It was this last bit about Thich Nhat Hanh that was the straw which broke the camel's back, for me. Combined with everything else, I renounced my faith. Then I went through the process of seperating my idea, my image, my identity, from my religion. Before I used to say, in answer to, "who are you?" "... and I'm a Christian." Well what the hell am I now? Be warned! Do not make your religion a part of your identity. It is better that you have no religion, so that you are open to all teachings, while remaining attached to none. But if you must choose a religion or path, do not make that a part of who you consider yourself to be! If you do you place yourself in the position of having to defend your religion whenever you have to defend your identity. This is how all religious wars have started and will ever start. When followers of one religion, one spiritual path, must fight the followers of another religion, another spiritual path, in order to defend their identities, their sense of self. Choosing one religion, one path, one set of beliefs, will leave you close-minded to anything that opposes, and someones that which is said or seems to oppose is not even based in your faith. For example as a Christian I had adopted the belief of other Christians around me, that homosexuality is wrong. But there is, to my knowledge, nothing that directly says so in the Bible. The same for masturbation, something I still struggle with today. Yes, I am being completely authentic and honest with you here. I should also mention, in the spirit of honesty, that being what others call "spiritual, not religious" is no walk in the park either. When you have a chosen religion or path, things are clear. You follow those teachings. You disregard everything else. Any religion, not just Christianity, is a "straight and narrow way." But if you are "spiritual, not religious" then all teachings are available, and it becomes a very wide, serpentine, maze-like path. What is the Truth? What is true? I read this in one book, but this author says something different. This is what I am dealing with now. I am feeling very confused and lost. Apparently this is a good state to be in, this "I don't know" state. But I hate it! Still your experience may be different, or you may enjoy the state of "not knowing." If that is so then a path of no religion is the best choice for you. Your best bet to start is to pick up the texts or listen to the teachings that speak to you, where you are now. If you are in tine with your intuition things that are true for you will click with you. As your mind is open the world opens up to you. You really feel like anything is possible. And the afterlife? Well now it can be an adventure! You don't have to stay in one place for all eternity or reincarnate. You don't have to worry about karma or sin, judgement or punishment. You can have any afterlife experience you choose! Also you can define God how you choose. Is it a He or a She separate from you? Or are you connected to Him or Her? Or are you one with Him or Her? Or are you, inside, in some way, Him or Her? Or is God an it, simply an energy? This is my idea of God. An energy that is above all human duality. Not critical, not judgmental, neither hates no loves, somehow, in some way I don't understand, it is beyond that. But certainly not the Christian idea of God as some old man in a throne somewhere who seems to suffer from human duality. Duality, for the record, as I understand it, is extremes of hate/love, judgment/acceptance, bad/good, right/wrong. Apparently there is some state outside of this that allows all extremes yet is beyond them. Someone more experienced in their spiritual journey can explain this better. The easy way is the way that Christians say few find. But I think its the easy way that everyone finds, and Christians don't have this right. I think the hard way is the way few find, and the hard way is to step off the path of a chosen religion, a chosen set of beliefs, and make your own way. The easy way is to become a Buddhist, Taoist, Christian, Jehovah's Witness, Muslim, etc. To follow one path, to follow one set of teachings. The harder way is to open yourself to all religions, taking what speaks to you on a moment by moment basis as you proceed, as you grow spiritually. One last warning here: Hold your beliefs loosely. That is practice being ready to drop them at a moment's notice whenever they prove to be false, when they no longer serve, when they are holding you back. Do not make your beliefs or belief systems a part of your identity, any more than a religion. You are not what you believe or what religion you follow. Nobody dies and enters the afterlife a Buddhist, Christian or Muslim. The sooner people realize this, the sooner we grow up enough as a species to throw religion out the door. Because when you die all that is left is who you really are, beyond your physical body, and who you really are has no religion it subscribes to, no beliefs, set, single or system. You can't take anything from this world with you when you die, and that may even include your memories, although I am not sure of this, or any of this. Consider this a theory for now. Something else I wanted to mention that I have been thinking about the last few days. A theory or thought is developing. That is that humans need to stop giving power, or energy, to things outside themselves. We give belief energy into a religion, an idea of God, the scientific method, the law of gravity, and a bunch of other things. But just because something by all appearance is right or working does not mean that it is the only way, the only possibility, completely infallible, or 100% true! We also give power to people or things outside us. We give power to the president to keep us safe, and now America is not a true democracy, because laws are being passed no American had opportunity to vote for. We are a "representative democracy." That just means we have decided to let others make the tough decisions for us, and now Americans are very sheep-like, just cattle moving along in herds in traffic on the highways. We give power to our mates, or companions, or friends, to make us feel loved, to complete us, to keep us from being lonely. We call ourselves husband, wife, lover, friend. Yet when the other leaves, what are we? We have made this relationship a part of our identity, and given power to someone to do something that they can not do. We give power to money to buy our happiness. Yet when the money runs out, when our positions disappear in a flood of water, a mudslide, or are destroyed in a tornado, fire or earthquake, where is our happiness? We used to say, "I am a homeowner." Well what are you now that you are living on the street? We don't question enough where we put our power. So we become addicted to things, we seek things, we look outside for whatever it is we are seeking, giving power to that thing to be the answer, the solution, that thing that completes us. By giving our power away we imprison ourselves, in a cage of beliefs, a religious trap, or a web of relationships. I read that what I am seeking is really myself, who I really am, that presence that has been within me since I was a child, which is a part of God, or one with God, or something. I call God the Source, as I view it as an energy, not an entity. I do not know if I buy into this. That all I need is right inside me. I am still working through this. I can only say that I see the logic that seeking things to make me happy, or complete me, or release me, or anything else, outside of myself, will bring me suffering. So whatever you choose to do, work on your inside, see if you are seeking, be honest with what you are experiencing, this moment. Admit, allow, accept. Fighting against something gives it power over you. Better to go limp in the jaws of whatever has got you, or you will suffer. There is more here I should say but I need to go to bed. You may PM me if you have anything you wish to ask of me and my experience, or any questions, or if you just want to talk.

Here is a link to my latest blog post: http://adifferentpath.blog.com/2014/03/21/thoughts-on-thoughts/ I have just started absorbing this idea, but I am curious to know if you think I am on the right track or not. I appreciate your feedback!

Thank you all for your posts, I appreciate your advice and criticism! However my present-moment experience, right now, as I type this, is confused. I will have to read everything said here a few more times. The ocean and wave analogy is not mine. This comes from Jeff Foster's, "The Deepest Acceptance." I admit I am troubled... If the teachings of this author are wrong, then that is problematic for me, as I have been reading this, applying what I have read, and it has helped me, at least I think it has helped me. I am learning to simply be OK with whatever is presenting itself to me. I am learning to stop seeking. I think this text has seriously contributed to my spiritual growth. Does that make it good even if its bad? Can a writing that is wrong somehow be right for me? How does this work? Is there any sort of test you can give a book to determine if the teachings are right or wrong? But who decides, and who is there to say their opinion is right or wrong? Is all of this subjective? What is poison to you in your spiritual journey is an antidote to me on mine? Yes, at this moment, I am very confused. I am saying, "I don't know" more than I care to. I would like to have a handle on something. Otherwise I feel adrift, like nothing matters, and what the hell is the point? The Bible is cherished by Christians and considered Truth. I used to be a Christian, and I had this same belief towards this text. Now I am not a Christian. If I am to be labeled, I am "spiritual, not religious." Now the Bible to me is part possible account, part metaphysical truth beyond or outside Christian interpretation, and certainly not the whole Truth, not the only book one should read on a spiritual path. I think the same could safely be said for all religious texts. At best these are fragments of a larger picture. But is that True? How are we to know if all religious texts are fragments of the whole, or if perhaps all but one of them are True? If we determine that one is True, and the rest are not, how do we find the one that is True? How can we know it is True? In another thread someone said that they didn't want a "false faith." It implied to me that perhaps having faith is wrong? Maybe I misunderstood them. But if faith is wrong, don't you have to have it to believe that all religious texts are part of a bigger picture of Truth, or one only is True? Because you can't really know for certain, can you? So in not-knowing, you have to demonstrate faith, don't you? I am not finding my way through this puzzle. I hope someone can guide me. I am very, very confused,

I am not sure if what I want to do is mind conditioning. I do find it useful to reprogram myself. Living as a Christian for most of my life, living with societal and familial beliefs systems the only way to stop thinking the way I have been programmed as a child is to program myself to think differently. I do not know how be free of mind conditioning. I mean my mind has already been conditioned one way, so if the better course is to become unconditioned, not to condition myself another way, how do I go about this? In any case although I was entertaining the thought of subliminally programming myself, initially all I want to do is ask myself some questions. I want to access that part of myself that is referred to as unconscious, but is really subconscious or subjective. I feel I am hiding things from myself, and I want answers. I have come to a place where I understand that I am not to seek. So whatever I do I have to do it without seeking. I am still learning about this. But seeking or not, I still need to know what I should do or where I should go. I am fairly certain I know these answers but am not able or not allowing myself to hear them or access them. I know I have to use the seeker here as I am looking for these answers. But I need direction. I also want to know why I am, all of a sudden, having trouble recalling my dreams. Why I can't seem to lucid dream. Why I am having so much trouble astral projecting. What is my dream, purpose, fate, True Life or whatever else you call that? Maybe monks would gladly trade places with me, as perhaps being directionless is some sort of ideal state. But I do not like it. I have to clearly know and understand what my best course of action may be. I want to root out whatever I have hidden from myself and come to terms. Bring it all out, feel whatever needs feeling, experience whatever needs experiencing, begin the process of freeing myself from anything that would cause resistance in me, or become a barrier to me, or whatever. You say I should not condition my mind. OK. I am not sure, at this moment, my thoughts on that. But I am not looking to condition my mind. I can table that for now. I simply want to hypnotize myself, ask myself some questions, answer them, if possible while in a trance state without the interference of the conscious mind and ego, wake myself up, and listen, learning what I need to learn.

deci belle Thank you.

Seeker of Tao I have no interest in defending a viewpoint or belief. I may appear to dip into those muddy waters as I have only recently begun to transform. I used to be someone that would fight to the point of getting banned from a forums for his beliefs. I am not that person anymore. In fact, I really don't know who I am now. Which I think may be a good thing, because it means I am free of any assumptions about myself. In my reply to what you said I was merely guessing and theorizing. Working my way through this idea. I think this is provable. If someone, somewhere has developed wings you can use for flying, strap them on to someone who society would label delusional or mentally ill, someone who thinks they can fly, and see what happens. In the end I think the conclusion I arrived at is more likely than what I started with. It is not some hidden belief holding them back, although this may be a possibility if there is any merit to the idea that all creatures on the earth are born with certain things they know programmed into their DNA. More likely, most likely it is simply that the human body is not designed for flight, it does not have the equipment. Some humans have been able to levitate, and defy gravity that way. But I am sticking with flight here as an example, not affecting gravity energetically. Can humans fly without wings? Can they levitate, in other words? Well I agree with what you said, that it is not just belief that allow someone to defy gravity or walk through walls. There is more to this issue than that. Some things I can think of from the top of my head are: mindset, perception and beliefs. All I can say for sure is that this would be an interesting field of study. Thank you for your reply. dee I completely understand your viewpoint. You will believe it when you see it. However you may find it beneficial in your practice to practice faith. Some things in your life will not be tangible, you will have no way of knowing their truth of their reality, and the only way to proceed is to step out in faith. Ever watch Indiana Jones cross the chasm? Inevitably we all come to such chasms. We look down and all we see is darkness and empty space. To reach the other side we have to step out and, by the act of stepping out, demonstrate faith that there is a a way across, whether we see it or not. I looked at your words so carefully out of respect. I wanted to be sure to properly reply to everything you said. I also had a desire to help you, as I saw a belief there you were and perhaps still are holding blindly too, and as someone who defined himself by his beliefs, and defended them to the loss of forum accounts and friends, I recognize all too well when this is happening, and I know all to well the damage it can do to an individual. It is like picking up broken glass and holding it tightly in your hand, refusing to let go, because you didn't see broken glass when you picked it up, or perhaps you never saw it at all. But you believe, you just know, that you have some treasure there in your hand, so you hold it tighter and tighter, but all the while it is cutting into your hand deeply, and you are bleeding. You are suffering, and even though you may be aware of this, you refuse to let go. You may even adopt the resulting pain and suffering as part of your identity. You say that this is who you are. Probably the best thing I ever did was to open my hand and let the worthless garbage in there go. I opened my hands, I opened myself, I opened my mind. In that openness I found freedom. When I learned to pick up something that I think may be valuable, I learned to hold it loosely, so I can easily let it go. The same way love for another should be held. The ego is what drives you to grasp, to hold, and probably to pick up in the first place. The ego is concerned with your concept, your image of yourself. It wants to defend this, and all the beliefs that comprise it. To loose any of those beliefs is to watch the whole concept, the whole image, crumble. Then who are you? That may seem like a terrifying state to be in, and I can tell you from personal experience it is. Who am I? I have no clue. If I am not my body, not my religion, not my beliefs, not my social position, not what I do or who I am with, then what, who, am I? I think a better question is why do I need to know who I am? Why is that important? I have chosen to blaze my own way through the terrain of spiritual experience, and I am now lost, wandering in circles, but I am beginning to understand that maybe I should have stop wandering around and just sat down. Stop trying to get anywhere. The same as I am learning to let go of my concepts and images. To stop defending them and to release them like the broken glass they ultimately are. To simply be whatever the heck I am outside of these. So this is my present moment experience, and it is from this place I have spoken to you. I will certainly share a video of my walking through a wall or levitating should I ever find myself able to do these things. There is a lot out there that I want to experience and learn about. But my other present moment struggle is with seeking, and letting go of it, wherever it lurks in my life. Still I find what I have read so far about the Tarahumara fascinating, as well as this thing called ringsels which I have read about in, "the Way of Play." I have to figure out how to experience these these people, places or things without seeking them You can find videos of me just sitting, and talking more about these sorts of things, at my YouTube channel, here. They are called "The Circle." https://www.youtube.com/user/DreamBlissFlows/videos?tag_id=UCzlmdNE27ArlLR2AVUcoCbA.3.the-circle&view=46&flow=grid To all the rest who posted - thank you for sharing your insights and viewpoints. That is just one of many things I love about this forums! I can always count on someone giving me another perspective, or a more spiritually developed person setting me straight!

Dee I would like to challenge your thinking. I am not attacking you, nor am I trying to force anything on you. You say that humans can not walk through solid windows/walls. I will assume that this is also something you believe. That this is reality for you. If I am wrong feel free to correct me. OK, now let's challenge what you "know." First of all have you ever tried walking through a solid window or wall? If you haven't even tried it, you really have no right to claim that it is not possible. Assuming that you have tried this and presumably failed, have you taken any time to ask yourself where this belief came from. Is it truly your belief, or did you pick it up somewhere? Finally have you looked for and met anyone who claims to have this ability to walk through solid matter? It is easy to say it is not possible because you have not done it, but have you put any effort into watching someone else try to do it? Because if you haven't, you can't honestly say it is not possible, because as long as there is one person outside yourself that you have not seen try and fail at this, the possibility remains that people can walk through solid matter. Finally have you studied any science or physics? What does the latest scientific studies tell you about matter? Do they completely eliminate any possibility of someone walking through solid matter? Is this truly outside the realm of science? I warn you emphatically and lovingly to be very careful about what you choose to believe. Your beliefs set the limits for your experience of reality. There are things out there that defy mankind's definition of reality. They even defy mankind's current scientific knowledge. You can choose to close yourself off to these things, that is your choice. But before you do, ask yourself if you are truly happy with what your family, friends and society define as reality, AKA what's possible. Seeker of Tao "This 'if you believe it will happen' LOA stuff is just not true. Why do schizophrenics who truly believe they can fly not fly if this is true?" I am not any kind of medical professional, assuming a medical professional knows more about the human body and mind than I do. But my guess would be that, assuming your statement is true, a schizophrenic doesn't fly because somewhere, deep down inside, there is still the belief that they can not fly, that humans do not fly because they do not have wings. This is one of those societal beliefs, programmed into us when we are very young. These beliefs may even go back further, and be embedded in our DNA. A sort of species knowledge every individual of every race is born with. Birds are born, more than likely, knowing they can fly. Probably more automatic than that. Somehow there is no question of flight for them. And humans are born with the opposite. For us its not flying but walking. Just a natural tendency I guess. When a schizophrenic gets up on a ledge or something and prepares to jump off, my guess is that whatever their conscious belief, there is something subconscious or subject that prevents them from taking off. Also lets not forget a human doesn't have the equipment. Has anyone created a functioning pair of wings and placed them on a schizophrenic who thinks they can fly? Try that and get back to me with the results. My guess is that their conscious belief will override the subjective or subconscious, and they will flap away like they were born into it! Question... What is LAO and why do you say what you do about it? I am curious as to the apparent Christian and Buddhist belief system of powerlessness, that an individual is not in control, that some things should be accepted as they are, etc.

Well after reading the replies following mine I still don't know who this Wong fellow is. One thing did catch my eye however... Women want a man with a diploma? Well crap! That means I have two strikes against me already! I'm a college dropout and I have no steady employment.... ...And here I thought all the females wanted was a man who looks like a Greek god and has a car... I can't believe I have been so wrong!

Who the heck is Wilson Yong?

Welcome newcomer! I think you will find this very supportive, if someone strange, community of fellow travelers on the spiritual path.