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I went through this with weed addiction and ultimate ended up replacing it with alcohol. I quit drinking almost 6 months ago (175 days) and only then was I able to truly feel the spiritual connection I had been longing for. I know I cannot go back to Marijuana because I would start the cycle again, an addiction is an addiction no matter the form. I would suggest reading some "Quit lit" - many are aimed at alcohol addition but I think you can get the same out of the books regardless. "This Naked mind" is a great one about the benefits of complete sobriety (although it is heavily focused on alcohol).

Personally, and coming from a high functioning addict, your mentality indicates that you are addicted on some level and until you fully accept that (1) you are an addict and (2) you cannot use that substance today, you will be able to move on. We say today, because if you can quit for today, you can quit for your lifetime. Until you face your addiction head on, it will control your life (the waiting the next high). You miss your life in that waiting, and the waiting is how you know it's an addiction (also the little voice you hear in those moments of coming down asking you why you can't just quit). Once you face it, and eventually overcome it, then you can truly start living. Your second life begins the day you decide that it's day 1. It was the single most hardest, heartbreaking, but wonderful and glorious thing I have done in my entire life. I hope to see you on the other side, recovery is amazing ❤

https://www.amazon.com/How-Stop-Smoking-Pot-marijuana-ebook/dp/B071KYVRZM

It sounds like you're in the honeymoon phase of meditation. Here's a good post about it.

When I first started meditating I would come out of a sit feeling at peace. I was sleeping better. I was calmer and more aware. After a few months and a gradual increase in the duration of my sits, I hit a wall. I would sit for about 20 minutes and when my timer went off, I just felt like I had wasted my time. During my sit, when thoughts would creep in and distract me I'd return my attention to my breathe but I'd start to berate myself for added emphasis. Something like "Damnit tolley! You have one job right now, just pay attention, it's not hard!!!" It didn't help. In a last ditch effort I reread part of Mindfulness in Plain English and it said to calmly and gently return my attention to the breath when I realize I am caught up in thoughts. I wasn't doing it calmly or gently. Later that day when I sat and got lost in thought, I started to berate myself again until I remembered the instructions. I had the thought "but if I don't emphasize it, how will I learn?" but I decided to try the gentle way. As soon as I let the berating thoughts pass by, I could see that they where just more thoughts. All of it! The berating parts, the resistance to do it calmly, the need to "figure it out" and understand what I was doing.

So yeah, this too will pass.

You might enjoy this program, Lillly.

It's about mythology and what has "mind formed us" framed within the treatment of females. I don't know if it's going to start at the excerpt I think you'd be most interested in, but it starts at 25:18. The whole episode is illuminating and would probably give you new things to consider in your insistence that it's all the fault of the male, but I suspect you only want to hear things that confirm what you believe, so this gift is given in that vein.

I remember when I felt like that. I don't want to give too much away because you need to do the journey yourself - but don't worry. Soon you will realise the ego isn't something to remove, suppress or even control. It's just as much a part of you as the earth.

I'd recommend reading The Power Of Now. It speaks a lot about not trying to remove the ego and just embracing what is (including the ego).

Also, this video came at the right time and place for me. I had "reached enlightenment" for short periods a few times and was resisting my natural urges. This video gave me faith that the ego wasn't something to fight. Perhaps it could do the same for you: https://youtu.be/V63nrEHcOBo

haha u/thatness says none, u/NinjaPlatypus23 says all of them. And they're both right, that's what's so funny. But they're also both wrong, what is this craziness?!

Anyway, I read some stoic philosophy and found most of it to be right on the nose. Check out the Enchirideon and Discourses of Epictetus. Or for an overview try A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy by William Irvine.

On Audible, right now I'm listening to Kosmic Consciousness. I read several of Wilber's books years ago so this interview audiobook is a great refresher.

If you're ok with some more sentimental yet practical spirituality, I really like Spiritual Liberation by Rev. Michael Beckwith, narrated by the author. I love his voice, very empowering and soothing. I read the book and listened to it several times already.

I will be there, whilst listening to this. Not my site, but a useful tool.. try not to break it today please reddit.

The Ancient Secret of the Flower of Life has a lot of information in it regarding this, and Spirit Patch often quotes it.

Personally, it provides evidence enough to explain a hellofalot of stuff, such as this theory of multiple realities, universal geometry, and even an interpretation of intelligent infinity and Ordered entities beyond earth outlined in The Law of One - Ra material

I began writing this with full intentions of explaining how i came to these conclusions... but my mind works faster than my fingers and i can't put it into words (at least not sitting at my desk at work)

What have you felt while looking into The Flower of Life?

The first book I read regarding spirituality was Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind nearly forty years ago. There are a lot of young people on this sub that think they know. Time has a way of letting you know you don't know. I thought I knew also when I was young. The older a get, the more I realize I don't know and that is a good thing - not to know. Not knowing opens the mind. Certainty closes it. Thanks for responding to my comment.

I found Daniel Ingram's "Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha" to be very insightful and detailed. It is also rather technical and, of course, opinionated, so you'll have to see whether that is what you want.

To me, trying to improve the ego is like painting over rust. It never really works unless you prep the underlying substrate right. Same with the personality/ego.

Did I find anything of value? Of course. I started with Think and Grow Rich, went to How to Win Friends and Influence People, and read all the famous self help books. I read about negotiating, public speaking, crucial conversations, how to get rich in all kinds of ways, the whole Rich Dad series, lots of Wayne Dyer and virtually the whole Hay House library. All good stuff. But it was all on the surface. I wasn't really getting to what's underneath. But like a coat of paint, it looks great when it is new and shiny.

Eckhart Tolle's stuff was the first to start me looking in a different direction. The Power of Now was the first book that opened my eyes to the fact that my mind wasn't my greatest asset. I read it again recently and it looks quite simple now. Here's where context shifts. Where my mind probably was my greatest asset at one time, at some point it started to become my greatest hindrance. Tolle's stuff is good, but it's not my main diet. I bounce around but keep coming back to David Hawkins's work. I read it several times a week. I like Byron Katie's The Work. It fits perfectly with my "No Belief is True" perspective. That's real power when you ask "Is it true?" and the follow up questions about any belief.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the reply, this is all super helpful! I was considering lending somebody my copy of Waking Up by Sam Harris, which I found really useful and comprehensible during my miltant rationalist phase. I think I'll follow through with that and see what he thinks of it.

I see. In The Power Of Now Eckhart Tolle also talked a lot about Jesus. New Testament is just so full of metaphors that I need some clarity. That's why I never gave it a real try. Also I kinda grew up in church so I feel like having had heard the stories from The Bible often enough.

> How To Win Friends and Influence People is a must-read for people in your situation.

I do like this book, and I have read it myself... but all I'd say is that it cannot be treated like a short-cut or a book of tricks. Otherwise one is gunna end up some shallow people-pleasing shell. A lot of my friends who landed in sales were like this. They perfectly followed the rules of the book, but forgot the bottom line: it has to be genuine.

One of the key points in the book is to develop a healthy and natural interest in other people, so that they interact better with you (it's not too complicated really) - but it can be easy to get into the routine and forget that others are people and not some manipulation checkpoint for satisfying your own ego.

There are two good YouTube channels called Infinite Waters (Diving Deep) and Teal Swan. Also, WeAreCreators is a good channel as well.

In terms of physical books, The Way of the Superior Man is good (if you're a guy). Other good books are The Four Freedoms, Spiritual Liberation, and Think and Grow Rich.

If you're serious about continuing the process of spirituality, it's important that you begin to search around Wikipedia and fall down that rabbit hole.

Start going through your day and observing what thoughts you're thinking, and whether they're positive or negative. After you build that skill, the whole world opens up to you.

Good luck!

Ah yes, my old friend projection. The go-to cop-out argument of the spiritual community.

Edit: ....and my initial comment wasn't because I thought anyone was looking for affirmation. It's just that OP asked if anyone had read it.......in a community called awakened. It's like going to a self-improvement forum and asking if they have ever heard of "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" or "How to Win Friends and Influence People."
"Hey! Do you guys know about this dude Anthony Robbins?"

Edit 2: Also why would you ever expect anyone anywhere to be functioning without an "ego" (which is a fiction that exist only in the conceptualizations of the human mind btw.)
Go find me the most enlightened sage in all of history. I guarantee that although their relationship to it, or understanding of it may be different from that of "normal" people, they still have an ego which "they" are functioning through and using to interact with the world.

"Enlightenment isn't when you go there; it's when there comes here." --Jed McKenna

Some books I liked:

The Watercourse Way by Alan Watts

Mindfulness in Plain English by Gunaratana

The Tao of Pooh

Freedom of the known by Jiddu Krishnamurti

and some stuff by Thich Nhat Hanh. Have fun :)

Good morning!

"'If you wish to converse with me,' said Voltaire, 'define your terms.' How many a debate would have been deflated into a paragraph if the disputants had dared to define their terms! This is the alpha and omega of logic, the heart and soul of it, that every important term in serious discourse shall be subjected to the strictest scrutiny and definition. It is difficult, and ruthlessly tests the mind; but once done it is half of any task. Will Durant, The Story of Philosophy (Chapter 2, Aristotle and Greek Science, Part 3, The Foundation of Logic)."

So let us do this. Nefandi is probably gone, we'll have to suppose his definition of a guru, but with all he said a guru is in that rant I don't think he ever did define it. And it seems you're using the more modern, Western ideal of the word, correct?

I am more used to using the Buddhist familiarity of the word, but I am not sure that these definitions are entirely incompatible.

>IMO a guru tells you they know the way

The first comment was meant to poke fun at how much Nefandi seemed to "know" about gurus and guruitis. It seems he believes his way to be impeccable and that others are wrong... I do not like this sentiment, it leads to bigheadedness and worse.

> in Nefandi's case he's saying to discover the way yourself

Many people have said that before. If we take their advice, they become gurus and we become followers. If the seed of the idea takes root in our mind and eventually blossoms, we would still be able to trace it back to Nefandi, would we not? It would not be original thought, and therein lies a fundamental problem with trying to proselytize self-based change.

Well, Bitcoin, motherfuckers, to begin. Satoshi Nakamoto. Who the FUCK is he? He created Bitcoin for the good of humanity. More than any of us will ever accomplish, he has done. And he doesn't exist.

Anywho here is his whitepaper, and the words he put in the first block when he created this thing:

https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf >The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks[1]

Bitcoin the deflationary currency has already STOPPED banks from letting loose the printing press. It is a direct hedge against money manipulation. A global virus for money to be honest... People can store their money in a place where it can't be fucked with, and can't be manipulated or devalued.

I certainly won't disparage what they teach, just how they market and represent it and themselves. If you can afford it and feel so inclined, go for it like the OP has. But if you're like me, you'll see how superfluous and superficial their "specialness" really is. It's funny how people who attack it for being based in religion get told it's based in science, and people who attack it for not being grounded in spirituality get told it's got a lineage to timeless Hindu belief systems.

Interestingly, Wikileaks has some of internal information.

I'll direct you to this episode of the Power of Myth - Love and the Goddess - once more. If you're going to look at historical precedence to prove your point, Lillly, you need to be fully informed. Not just informed based on your biases.

You might like the text we used: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014RWX8TQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_0XZMP7C40E0NE75F10X1

But some of it is thick with statistics - near impossible to read. It describes the primary theories of psi phenomena, PMIR and FSMT. Offhand, I dont remember what the difference between them is. Both state that psi is always around us, but our receptivity to it changes & that we are more likely to experience psi under certain conditions. One of these conditions is the fulfillment of a need.

Studies indicate that people who've been abused have a higher probability of clairvoyance. Makes sense because there's a need to protect yourself & knowing the future is protective when you're being abused. I always wondered why my clairvoyant dreams stopped after I completed a course in Miracles. My best guess is that I'd healed from the abuse & didn't need it anymore. So my experience fits with the studies and I think that's pretty cool.

I'm curious what you meant by being diagnosed with gifts medically. Could you explain?

My bias is same as the bias as reflected in this book (see below) by probably the leading researcher of humility

https://www.amazon.com/Humility-Everett-L-Worthington-Jr/dp/1599471280

;)

And actually, yes it is bias, I looked at dictionary definitions, and it seems either of us can be right on this regarding or based on different definitions. Funnily many dictionary definitions are actually more towards the direction you are pointing, but I guess deeper writings and accounts of the term may point towards my direction (and oh, there are then the cultural definitions, and differences :DD )

Anyways, that's just words, :D Glad you have found your way to be authentic

with smile

-this proud person :D

Have you read the Quantum Revelation by Paul Levy? He talks about what we perceive as reality is a collective psychosis, or like a waking dream. Thoughts?

Edit: Quantum Revelation by Paul Levy

Its called Jed Talks 1

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.amazon.com/Jed-Talks-Teachings-Frivolous-Frivolity/dp/0997879726&ved=0ahUKEwi1oPndyoTUAhUosFQKHUc3BpsQFgg1MAU&usg=AFQjCNHt39ey4lX8y_raVmcUtgrT_F9ijg&sig2=hkBG...

Sorry I don't know how to hyperlink lol. That's a link to Amazon.

A book I found very helpful in seeing more deeply into myself and undoing my stressful thinking is Loving What Is by Byron Katie.

I'm sorry the last 6 months have been so rough. Sounds like a very transformative time, and I hope it gets easier for you. It is true that a Guru will appear when you're ready, but I think the desire has to be very sincere. Not just a whim or something mixed in with a bunch of other desires, has to be like, a serious longing.

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It's possible to awaken the Guru inside of you, though. One book that has really helped me is "A Thousand Seeds of Joy: Teachings of Lakshmi and Saraswati" its full of wisdom and lessons on discovering the joy within, but just really helped me lighten up towards my own spiritual process. You have to be open to Eastern philosophy and Goddess wisdom though.

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This is called the Dark Night in Buddhism. Before making any decisions about life & death read Daniel Ingram's, Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha.

Some people pan his book but he discusses going through the dark night and how to survive it. It is part of the path towards enlightenment.

Personally, I've never gone through it but he discusses how he thought he was going crazy but he worked through it. I do know to should at the same time seek help as well. You need someone to help you see past this.

The other item I do know is facing the nature of the universe. It can depress us, and bring about that feeling of no longer caring. The randomness and meaninglessness of the universe can be too much to dwell on. But I look at it from a different angle. For no reason at all, the basic building blocks of life came into being. From these blocks life evolved over and over. Everytime on this planet that life is practically decimated, life continued. Life flourished for millions of years and now, at least based on what we know, consciousness and intelligence came into being and that is us.

We have no reason at all to exist but we do. Take hold of that and think why we continue. I look at for all our fighting, and killing each other, on the whole we do care enough about each other to grow from a small pool of individuals to now we are 7 to 8 billion strong. We do that because we car about enough to make sure we all survive.

Politics, philosophy, religion, etc. Are just ideals to help us live together and to continue on. But we continue because we do care and we do want to survive.

And that is the most amazing thing about all of us. You may not feel it now but life is the most beautiful thing about this universe.

There's a whole host of videos on youtube. Personally, I like Rupert Spira, Mooji, Sadhguru, Adayshanti, Paul Hedderman and Gary Weber has some good things to say. Course in Miracles is probably the most influential writings for me but you have to be able to get past the Christian form they are in. They were also the most influential for Paul Hedderman. I also really like Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind by Shunryu Suzuki. I read most of Ram Dass' books. I also read a lot of Carlos Casteneda. I particularly like Journey to Ixlan. It just depends on where you are and what resonates with you.

It has been my experience that many religions share the same between-the-lines essence. The texts and practices are pointers, easily mistaken by the mind to be the reality. The individual mind is an occurrence within consciousness; it cannot encapsulate the infinite. It's like the mind overlooks this relationship, and attempts to create a framework to encapsulate it's known experience and call that the everything. So religion and philosophy become like bread crumbs for the mind to follow back to it's source; hoops to jump through to learn new tricks and viewpoints in reality. They are not new frameworks to encapsulate known experience into a new "everything". That being said...I have enjoyed reading the Bhavagad Gita, the teachings of Jesus, a book called Mindfulness in Plain English, some more mystical works like those of Carlos Castaneda, contemplations of the ancient philosophers, and much more but that is what comes to mind right now :)

If you want a more structured approach to meditation, then 'The Mind Illuminated" is at the top of the pack of books I've read for that. Other notables are 'Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha' by Daniel Ingram, and ' The Attention Revolution' by B. Alan Wallace. There's a great forum here on Reddit specifically for discussing The Mind Illuminated /r/themindilluminated

This is a great topic, and one that I have been learning an immense amount on recently. I am a life coach (in training) and there are many ways we can shift our pattern of thinking about money. I grew up quite poor, and also with the paradigm that you must look to your conditions to determine what you can have and do. There is an incredible negative stigma around money and we are hardly brought up to think good thoughts about it, no matter the social class we are born into. I HIGHLY recommend a couple of books - the first changed my total outlook on money. It's called The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace Wattles. The other is a very popular book by Napoleon Hill called Think and Grow Rich. In Napoleon Hills book, he outlines what riches really constitute, and money is at the bottom of the list. However, in The Science of Getting Rich, you will also discover that it is not a shameful thing to want to be rich. And, again, it's all a matter of perspective. We all know money will not buy happiness. There are 6 figure earners who are miserable every day of their lives. The Universe seeks balance, and when you read The Science of Getting Rich, you will realize that money is a part of that balance, and that it is your natural right to be expansive in every way you desire. If you would like more info, I again recommend checking out some info I have. As I said, I'm building my life coaching business, so right now I'm giving away a lot of free content. I'm also sharing stuff from my very own mentor, whom I feel I owe my life to. I'm new to reddit, so I'm not sure the rules on links, but this is my own link I created if you are interested. Best of luck to you! https://journeymanifested.leadpages.co/loveyourlife/

For me it all started with Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung. They opened the doors. Then, many years later, I had an experience that shoved me through the threshold. My first discovery "on the other side" was Stoic philosophy as presented by Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, and Seneca the Younger. From there I stumbled onto Eckhart Tolle and James Allen. Next I found Aldous Huxley and Alan Watts, who both reminded me of my earlier encounters with Campbell and Jung. Then it was on to the Tao Te Ching and Bhagavd Gita, followed by Khalil Gibran and Rumi. Most recently I added Viktor Frankl's book Man's Search for Meaning to my scriptures.

All in all, I can say that almost everything I've explored since Stoicism is more of the same message only in different words. Know thyself, then master thyself; be present; love fate and accept all that comes your way; and of course the golden and platinum rules--don't be an asshole and, if possible, go one step further and be nice to people.

In practical terms this involves a lot of reading and contemplating, mindfulness and meta-cognition (thinking about thinking), self-exploration and inquiry, and constant appreciation--for the privilege of being alive, healthy, and surrounded by lovely and beautiful people. And yes, that includes the people in this sub. No where, either online or IRL, have I encountered such open-minded, kind, and wise individuals.

I believe amphetamines send you in the opposite direction, but could still provide insights through a change in perception.

A book like Mindfulness in Plain English and beginning a practice like single pointed focus while sober could be really useful for you.

How much time you got buddy?

• Gonna go ahead and second /u/woo-woo-way's suggestion. Watts' Book is a must read.

• The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius: game changer. Disclaimer: the first chapter turns a lot of people off. Aurelius is basically listing all the things he's learned over the years and who from. Power through this if you must, just don't let it turn you off. What comes after is some of the wisest, most profound practical advice for living well. Must read!

• Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

• As a Man Thinketh by James Allen

• The Perennial Philosophy by Aldous Huxley

• The Essential Rumi translated by Coleman Barks.

• The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. This one is geared toward artists but I believe its content is more than applicable to any vocation, be it artistic, professional, or personal.

• The Tao Te Ching is excellent.

• The Bhagavad Gita is another ancient text worth reading, if you're pursuing this path.

> Sorry I had a whole book written then it got deleted when I was going to respond lol.

Heh, I think I know exactly how you feel. I've nuked a number of huge posts by accidentally mishandling my mouse, lol. My mouse has a button on its side which functions as a back command, and I occasionally hit it by accident.

>It was definitely the most powerful high dimensional being I've ever been shown and it was dealing with territory control and problems I could not even dream up.

Yea. We're being told on all sides to be students. There is even a popular book called "Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind" praising the student mindset to such a high degree as to equate it with enlightenment itself. And it even has a famous quote in it, with which I completely disagree btw, "In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few."

So it's very common to meet people who lean toward the student side of things.

I believe the student mentality is a big mistake. It's like chasing your own tail. The more you learn, the more ignorant you become. It's a path without end, because so long as knowledge is "out there" and you're a student, you're never done. It's like a rat in a wheel, the harder you run, the faster the wheel spins, and you don't really get anywhere, because the thing you're running toward is an illusion and the thing you run away from is another illusion.

So realizing this I decided (long time ago) enough is enough, I give up the path of a student forever.

I remember one I got on the day after Prince died, and I was watching him sing and dance in that last scene in Purple Rain (I happened to flip over to it on TV right at the end) and I just thought

"Reality is a quantum cellular automaton."

Now, it's not that I hadn't kind of been chugging away at such a concept for... most of my life. But it really just kind of "popped" or "bubbled up" in a very loud and discrete way, and I felt like I should pursue this concept more actively.

I did some Google searches and even looked at this phrase on Amazon, and it was on Amazon I found this really, really good book:

https://www.amazon.com/Universe-Virtual-Consciousness-Reincarnation-Forgiveness/dp/0982923082/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2A1ZEK12XYYSH&keywords=the+universe+is+virtual+marchand&qid=1671503231&sprefix=the+universe+is+virtual+marchand%2Caps%2C79&sr=8-1

Which in graphic novel form, completely spelled out a lot of my thinking about the nature of reality.

I've been quite diligent in continuing to follow this concept where it leads. To the end of it, IMHO!

this book, Music of the Mind gives great insight into biological development, and it’s an easy read read.

P.S. your finders have not yet fully evolved to type too long

Read the inmortality key, ✌🏽

https://www.amazon.nl/Immortality-Key-Secret-History-Religion/dp/1250207142/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?adgrpid=104632911491&gclid=CjwKCAiAkfucBhBBEiwAFjbkryoOIVEIqEQl2qg5dtX-ErjM8q-8V8-V1AcRtlM3Os8RW98OI4c5gxoC8EcQAvD_BwE&hvadid=441872883581&hvdev...

Check out the book Flow.

I guess the next step is to go from ‘believing’ it to having it as ones living reality.

Jed Mckenna has a great book titled ‘Jed Mckenna’s Theory of Everything:The Enlightened perspective.’ He’s humorous and concise without any woo-woo. I think you might enjoy his writing.

It’s a legitimate question. The problem is that those who are not enlightened are answering with conjecture and those who profess to be enlightened have not yet learned how to express it except through either poetry or through some longwinded manifesto that no-one can understand.

Enlightenment is simple.

Check out this book by Jed Mckenna. “Jed Mckenna’s Theory of Everything: The Enlightened Perspective”

He’s funny and articulate and this slim volume is quite clear on the enlightened perspective.

Made it through 10 out of 15 pages. :)

> I think it's a bit dense and poorly structured but I like the ideas in it.

These are rather tough ideas to talk about, especially as there's no mainstream lexicon to use. I'm not sure if society is currently cohesive enough to converge on one anytime soon.

I might recommend this coursera class I'm halfway through: https://www.coursera.org/learn/learning-how-to-learn. One of the very first lessons is on focused vs diffuse thinking, and is extremely relevant to your discursive vs contemplative modes. It's an easy class. I don't know if it will broaden your understanding, but it may phrase things differently, giving you more phrasing to contemplate on. I like how it's confirming many understandings I've been recently contemplating, much like your essay is doing.

Another cool term I learned from the class: Einstellung - refering to the application of ingrained problem solving techniques (probably via your term discursive thinking) especially when simpler solutions do exist. I would surmise this is directly analogous to your shell.

I’d like to suggest a book for you.

Jed Mckennas: Theory of everything

I find him to be a funny, no-holds-barred, insightful author who gives a clear picture and map of the enlightenment ‘process’.

I’d also like to say that (worldwide) the so-called ‘spiritual path’ is teeming with every kind of ego you can possibly imagine and so it is with this sub-reddit.

Nevertheless there are some here (and in the world) who are genuinely ‘awake’ who may or may not post or comment and there are sincere ‘seekers’ who are here humbly asking for advice.

No circle-jerking.

🙏

If you want full instructions on how to escape all problems, read this book. I did it and it works. Now if a problem arises, it solves itself pretty quickly through me.

https://www.amazon.com/Way-Mastery-Part-One-Heart/dp/0977163261

But to answer your question, when you face and evaluate the problem fearlessly, your observation alone improves the situation. Looking away makes it worst.

"We are enjoined in Micah to do justly and love mercy; in Exodus we are forbidden to commit murder; in Leviticus we are commanded to love our neighbor as ourselves; in the Gospels we are urged to love our enemies.

Yet think of the rivers of blood spilled by fervent followers of the books in which these well-meaning exhortations are embedded.

In Joshua and in the second half of Numbers is celebrated the mass murder of men, women, children, down to the domestic animals in city after city across the whole land of Canaan.

Jericho is obliterated in a ‘kherem’, a ‘holy war’.

The only justification offered for this slaughter is the mass murderers’ claim that, in exchange for circumcising their sons and adopting a particular set of rituals, their ancestors were long before promised that this land was their land.

Not a hint of self-reproach, not a muttering of patriarchal or divine disquiet at these campaigns of extermination can be dug out of holy scripture. Instead, Joshua ‘destroyed all that breathed, as the Lord God of Israel commanded’ (Joshua, x, 40).

And these events are not incidental, but central to the main narrative thrust of the Old Testament. Similar stories of mass murder (and in the case of the Amalekites, genocide) can be found in the book of Saul, Esther, and elsewhere in the Bible, with hardly a pang of moral doubt."

—Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

Also consult the I-Ching, The book of changes, full of ancient wisdom. I like the Android app by Brian Brown Walker, but there are many options or you can buy the book.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.brianbrownewalker.ic

My journey has been very circular over many years. Constantly stuck in cycles of (existential) crisis, '(re)learning', hope, believing, plateauing, falling, despair, forgetting and nothingness. I have this cute little picture book called Stumbling Towards Enlightenment which describes it well. You seem to have adapted better than I, as the only truth I converge to is that there is no truth. 💙

A book relevant to this subject is titled "Spiritual Emergency: When Personal Transformation Becomes a Crisis," and features a variety of different authors and researchers with holistic perspectives.

"Should I go buy books on Anatta and non-duality"

Yes. Books on nondual anatta will be good. But imo just focus on this first: by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh:

https://www.amazon.com/Awakening-Heart-Essential-Buddhist-Commentaries-ebook/dp/B006R6Z0RY/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

More suitable for you than The Power of Now, especially with your conditions. And also practical.

Practice it with the two stanzas of anatta in mind until breakthrough.

Yes. There are books on anatta. But imo just focus on this first: by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh:

https://www.amazon.com/Awakening-Heart-Essential-Buddhist-Commentaries-ebook/dp/B006R6Z0RY/ref=tmm\_kin\_swatch\_0?\_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
More suitable for you than The Power of Now, especially with your conditions. And also practical.

Practice it with the two stanzas of anatta in mind until breakthrough.

Sounds like what Trungpa calls "Spiritual Materialism." https://www.amazon.com/Cutting-Through-Spiritual-Materialism-Chogyam/dp/1570629579

"Inner Whispers" Vol. IV: Direct Messages From A Nonphysical Causal Plane Entity And Guide: via Full Body Open Deep Trance Channel April Crawford https://www.amazon.com/dp/B094NZKDNC/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_9CC10XYDFPJJVA46K8NT

These books (any of the volumes) used to give me comfort, as well as teach me, after I read just half a dozen pages. I

You might want to look up Suzanne Segal's story - Collision with the Infinite.

https://www.amazon.ca/Collision-Infinite-Life-Beyond-Personal/dp/1884997279

​

It can very helpful. If you look around, you can also find it easily on the web

Might I suggest Spiritual Enlightenment: the damnedest thing by Jed Mckenna.

‘Enlightenment’ is simply the total surrender of ones personal narrative. That’s it. Boom. Done. Don’t need to be a monk. Don’t need to go to a monastery. And the only time to do it is now.

🙏

OP - if you haven’t already read Michael Singers Untethered Soul, I would highly recommend that as well. Surrender experiment is def one of my favorite books but it made more sense to me after reading untethered. Also, I just got this for myself and love the guided journal to accompany untethered soul, the journal itself is also very Hardy and has a good feel to it unlike other regular journals. The Untethered Soul Guided Journal: Practices to Journey Beyond Yourself https://www.amazon.com/dp/1684036569/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_C3FK9C0STMWHNH0CFB76

Look to Inner Child Healing

Also highly recommend the book C-PTSD from Surviving to Thriving

🙏💜🙏

Good idea.

I think if you're looking into shame you'll get a heck of a lot out out of reading this brilliant book. If you don't know Jon Ronson he's an investigative journalist, author and film maker and he has a fabulous writing style as well as a way of getting people to really open up.

https://www.amazon.com/So-Youve-Been-Publicly-Shamed/dp/1594634017

Since you liked PoN if you haven't read it already, give 'The Surrender Experiment' by Michael Singer a read. To me, this book just made it easier to understand letting go from the first-person perspective of Michael Singer.

https://www.amazon.com/The-Surrender-Experiment-audiobook/dp/B00YOJ9RV6/ref=sr\_1\_1?crid=1X5TPVPKNNEW3&keywords=surrender+experiment&qid=1647442784&sprefix=surrender%2Caps%2C89&sr=8-1

There have been many falls. Check out <em>An Amazing Human Journey</em>! I haven't even finished it yet, because there's so much history, but it gives you the true history of us.

Yes. It's on amazon. Here is the link for amazon us. But if you are not in usa it is available in other countries and in portuguese as well. Soon in spanish. Here is my website.

Bitcoin is like a virus for money. The protocol is infallible, it is a technological innovation for good. https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf

Life will grow better with tech innovations like cryptomoney cutting through serious power structures like nothing.

Its so easy when you know the rules!

Technology is nature... good is good... and there is a whole lot of bad in society that is keeping people down.

Experience, personal type. Meditation has made me feel nice and relaxed and other things, but only directly investigating my own present moment experience helped me realise my situation (first that I was stuck with my attention entirely narrowed in my thought-area, then in my body).

>How does one become awakened or know that they are awakened?

By instead of thinking-about, you sense-direct. Feel out into the space around you. Listen to the sounds and ask where you are, where they are. Direct your attention to "where you are looking out from" and perceive what's there.

Or: Simply decide to stand as awareness, switch your perspective to that of the background space, and see what happens. Because if it's true at all that you are "awareness" or "consciousness", then it's true right now - and you should be able to adopt that stance at any time.

In the end, it's about letting go of controlling attention...

EDIT: So the experience is of being a "big open aware space" in which thoughts, sensations and perceptions arise and fall. It's like you've widened your attention to encompass the space between and beneath and beyond objects; and objects seem transparent. There's less of a sense of a "solid world behind it all".

EDIT2: Favourite thought experiment for this is here.

I, too, have trouble connecting to the heart. Heartfulness meditation has helped; here's a 3 part starter meditation and an app you can check out.

>Let's Meditate is an innovative app that enables a Seeker to experience meditation with the help of a Meditation Trainer. Sahaj Marg meditation focuses on the heart, By tuning in to our heart, we learn to be centered and discover the unlimited resources that lie within. As a Seeker, you can do a quick one-time registration and get access to a Trainer anytime no matter where you are. All you have to do it login and request for a meditation session. The app immediately connects you with an available Trainer who helps you meditate.

Sorry to shill for Bezos, but you can also find Watts's entire lectures, not cut up into little clips, on Audible. Search for &quot;books&quot; that are <em>narrated by</em> (not written by) Alan Watts.

I highly recommend you check out the Bengston healing method. It’s not really billed as a self-healing technique, but in my experience it can work that way.

The method boils down to rapidly cycling a series of mental images of what you want. These images can include anything ranging from small or large mundane items (e.g., a new Xbox, a Tesla Model 3), to major self-healing. In the latter case, the mental image would be of you doing something you want to do that your pain currently prevents, like playing tennis or hiking the Grand Canyon.

As you’re learning the method, the image cycling is initially very slow and laborious, but the trick is to cycle so quickly that “you” no longer even perceive the images whizzing by.

I have no idea why this cycling method triggers healing. When I’m rapidly cycling, I experience the energetic flux I associate with the awakened state (for lack of a better description). My theory is that this fucks with the probabilities and allows for spontaneous healing.

There are no free resources for learning the method but Dr. Bengston has an audio course, which is available on Audible for 1 credit. He also teaches a handful of workshops every year, but his main focus is research.

There’s also Vortex Healing, but it involves a lot more “woo” and the workshops are way more expensive.

So I AM a spiritual teacher, former pastor. We can get started on this in about 3 minutes.,

1. Stop reading now. All of the knowledge that you have accumulated will end up serving you very well.
2. Now is the time to find the God (Spirit of your own understanding) and simply be. It is a time to experience.
3. Now is the time to simply ask. a. Ask for protection from anything that is not from Absolute Truth. b. Start here and pick a topic that interests you. These are simply baby steps to your greater path. But, start here. https://www.buzzsprout.com/1643383
4. Do not feel alone. Most advanced spiritual teachers, including myself, have had a Dark Night Of the Soul, or a Desert Experience. Those are just times of recalibration, to move into awareness. You are blessed beyond your wildest dreams!

Then you clearly don't know what that word means and too self-satisfied to look it up.

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/presume?s=t

And come on, you're asking other users to come in here and provide testimony that you're actually enlightened or you have helped them achieve something. Seriously, man, take a good hard look at yourself.

I did it by starting a meetup in my area (on Meetup.com) for people post-awakening. You'll attract lots of people that haven't really had an awakening, but you'll also get some that have. I've made one really good friend (who is now kinda my "awakened best friend"), and that alone has made the group worth the time.

I'm new on the journey, but after hearing u/mattheaux308 on a podcast, his book "Initiated" blew my mind. It includes an extensive list of books that he also recommends.

https://www.amazon.com/Initiated-Depression-Delusions-Psychosis-Paralysis/dp/0578796589/ref=cm\_cr\_arp\_d\_product\_top?ie=UTF8

https://www.amazon.ca/Subtle-Art-Not-Giving-Counterintuitive/dp/0062641549

&#x200B;

The subtle art of not giving a fuck.

You may find the mathematics presented in the God Series of books worthwhile: http://www.amazon.com/The-God-Series-32-book-series/dp/B078NJXRDT?ref=dbs_m_mng_awm_0000_ext

However the books use a pattern that is long form and is attempting to break readers out of their existing thought patterns, which I think you’re already largely seeing beyond. Instead, “what is mathematics - the greatest detective story never told” by the pseudonymous author Dr. Thomas Stark may be a more concise choice.

Or this may not be interesting at all for you. But I think you may be surprised at the true history of mathematics.

Cheers.

There is a really nice audiobook reading of Dante's Divine Comedy that you can download for free on Librivox.

Currently reading Yoganada' "God Talks With Arjuna'. His translation and commentary on the Bhagavad Gita. It is so dense and so full of Truth.

Yeah this is from verse 56 of the Tao Te Ching. Here’s a link to a podcast episode about it: https://www.buzzsprout.com/732839/5831653-tao-te-ching-verse-56-staying-silent

Basically, it (IMO) means that the Tao can’t be experienced and/or taught just from words and knowledge. It must be felt in ways that words are too limited to express.

However, words can be used as tools to help get us there; we ought to just remember that they’re only a part of the whole thing, not the thing itself.

The ungrounded state can stabilize, but it requires a profound letting go and equanimity. Equanimity, equanimity, equanimity.

Let all thoughts go. Don't chase or indulge in anything, thoughts especially. Just keep letting go. All phenomena are impersonal and changing, keep this in mind and just observe detachedly.

“The bad news is you're falling through the air, nothing to hang on to, no parachute. The good news is there's no ground.”

– Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche

Here is some recommended reading: "I Am That" by Maharaj on mediafire: https://www.mediafire.com/?ej26i5bgeseh4nk

Keep reading. If you're not feeling like your equanimity is strong enough, no worries. Step back, do some mundane physical activities. Go for a jog. Don't indulge in any thoughts or grand philosophies.

I am presenting a theory Sunday 8/15 at 12:00 PST about this :)

The gist of it aside from proposing a solution to brain in a jar: CFL-QTT conceptually redefines tensor relationships of classical Newtonian motion, and the resulting mechanics construct an immaterial, information-based universe governed by matrix algebra. Information is experienced and simultaneously processed in not 1 but 3 instances of quantized time via a feedback loop (CFL) and conscious ‘awareness duration’ (AD) ≥ 2CFLs. The (tri-simultaneous awareness of information) achieves properties of a (3, 1) Lorentzian manifold without physical space. Unification of fundamental interactions is a small and simple part of CFL-ITT and gets one slide.

https://meet.google.com/ztt-scva-uot

Sadhana involving at least one Mahavidya, along with Kriya yoga. Basically, you combine different yogas and it becomes Tantra yoga. It divides into right and left hand path.

Personally, I believe you either have your souls origin point on Earth or another planet when organisms developed the ability to individualize their consciousness to create new souls. Once individualized, one can choose to incarnate into various organisms all over the galaxy and Universe of which humans are still a quite primitive species still struggling to learn not to throw rocks at each other like children on a playground. Humans are like the insects of the galaxy compared to more advanced species.

You probably chose to incarnate as a human because that is the optimal experience for your soul's growth and/or you wanted to help humanity grow so you limited yourself for a period of time to come here to help out because humans are slow learners and need help to learn to not to suffer. It's like seeing a group of ants are suffering somewhere and not able to fix it so you become an ant for a period of time to help them.

Some possible material to read to better understand this perspective:

• https://www.amazon.com/Three-Waves-Volunteers-New-Earth/dp/1886940150
• https://www.lawofone.info/synopsis.php

You were in an abusive relationship before, it could be complex PTSD showing up.

I would read this book:

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma https://www.amazon.com/dp/0143127748/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_FW58BKHBMS4K9JTHMREC

I’ll buy it for you on kindle if you can’t afford it.

You could try reading my book. Apologies if self promotion is not allowed. Its exactly what you are looking for I think.

https://www.amazon.com/Human-Radio-Consciousness-Connecting-Source-ebook/dp/B09L8P87N9

(At the risk of sounding like an ad for Amazon and ending up on /r/HailCorporate)

I listen to Alan Watts lectures from Audible before I go to sleep.

Yes. It gives you a very clear foundational understanding of how the law works which should help you detach from outcome and be more allowing of your circumstance.

If you want to dive deeper into the allowing part of the attracting process (detaching from outcome), their book The Vortex: Where the Law of Attraction Assembles All Cooperative Relationships helped me a lot. It centers around relationships but it really hammers home the point that it's about your vibrational alignment to your source that matters.

I do recommend listening to Law of Attraction first though as it gives you the foundation, and it cleared up some misunderstandings and misconceptions around the law for me personally... I also found it very enjoyable to listen to.

I got so sick of reddit after using it for 8 years that I made a spin-off of it from the open source code at www.saidit.net, we're now the 2nd largest reddit open-source spin-off in the world.

I created it with the intent of it being more moral, and more meaningful, and the core moderation rule is the pyramid of debate.

https://saidit.net/s/SaidIt/comments/37r/welcome_to_saiditnet/

You all are more than welcome to check it out. I've long been a fan of this community and what it strives to be.

This is an old post, 10 days ago, but I just wanted to share this link - all about black holes. A really great read, based on thousands of years of cumulative experience and knowledge:

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Holes-Are-Souls-Book-ebook/dp/B00R1WXQO2/ref=nodl_

A universal mathematics, using a comprehensive chain of logic and reason, can reveal what a black hole represents. And it is significant, in that it relates to what the avatar describes as heaven. We can understand the mechanics of “existence” within time and space and “non existence” as the avatar says, or the mental domain outside of time and space. We can also understand how the mental domain projects to the material domain, and ultimately how to shift from one to the other. The mathematics of light and of a black hole are beautiful, and reveal much about the nature of reality.

I can see how this would be interpreted as a challenge and asking for proof, in a silly way (and that’s how I think it was meant) but it brings up such an interesting and profound topic that I just wanted to share.

Yes.

The human brain thinks.

God’s mind doesn’t have to think. It simply knows.

We can do either or. Think of not think. Not thinking means knowing. The intuitive area is the knowing area. It stems from the heart region which is like a connection to the all knowing mind of God. The brain often disagrees with the heart but the heart is always right. The only way to activate it is to not think.

Then, from moment to moment, God lights up our very next step in life but nothing more. You will simply know what to do NOW but not 5 seconds from now. This makes life more exciting. As long as you walk the path lit up before you through your intuitive centers and hearts impulses, then you will reach higher ground from moment to moment.

Our job is to constantly reach higher ground or move above where we are now where there is more peace and things work out better. However there are countless levels and the very highest level is heaven itself.

It all boils down a bunch of mental adjustments and skill building. It takes skill not to think or to listen to your heart 24/7 especially since the heart occasionally asks us to do stuff that takes balls of steel to do like quit an unsavory job that pays well only to find a better soul fulfilling opportunity later.

I recommend this trilogy. It explains a lot more:

https://www.amazon.com/Way-Mastery-Shanti-Christo-Foundation/dp/0977163202

Time to buy a new vibrator. https://www.amazon.com/HAPTAQU-Massager-Modes-Vibrat-WOM-en/dp/B09H5R6JB5/ref=mp_s_a_1_15?dchild=1&amp;keywords=Vibrator&amp;pscroll=1&amp;qid=1635803387&amp;sr=8-15&amp;wIndexMainSlot=24

A lot of people struggle with this - you're in good company. For a well-regarded structured approach, check out The Mind Illuminated: The Mind Illuminated: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B01INMZKAQ/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_59CG55GSWGNC5CRS62G5

Recently found this: https://www.amazon.com/Cutting-Through-Spiritual-Materialism-Chogyam/dp/1570629579

He describes the pitfalls starting out on a spiritual path (not just his spiritual path, Tibetan Buddhism. A christian could use the book.). It's not too hard to get the wrong idea starting out. This subreddit will probably even give you the wrong idea that awakening has something to do with positive thinking or mindset--it has much more to do with equanimity (this is wrong as well, but closer than the first wrong that it has something to do with positive thinking). As it turns out, the settled mind is not excessively negative, but an unsettled mind can be positive--there's a distinction here that's easy to get wrong.

I contemplated this at one point, and I think a book that helped me was this one https://www.amazon.com/Wherever-You-There-Are-Mindfulness/dp/1401307787.

This doesn't mean you should never quit your job. However learn to be mindful first. Otherwise you can get stuck in an endless cycle of always chasing after the next thing.

A Gift From The Stars: Extraterrestrial Contacts and Guide of Alien Races https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08HGLNH1P/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_9B1J7RZWA9HSZH7GHBEW

This book has many answers and u could be right about the aliens souls with new bodies thing, but this book has so much information which you probably have some knowledge of or even maybe most of it but I would say read it and lmk what u think.

This, Law of One, and Preparing for Contact by Lyssa Royal

Preparing for Contact: A Metamorphosis of Consciousness https://www.amazon.com/dp/1891824902/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_7KKG54Z30BP5Z6CXGS6B

You should check out this book: https://www.amazon.com/Tibetan-Yogas-Dream-Sleep/dp/1559391014/ref=nodl_

Although I was never disciplined enough to try the exercises, the first part of the book I found very interesting as it goes in-depth into the idea that we can achieve spiritual growth through lucid dreaming and learning to decipher our own dreams. Tibetan monks believe that the content of our dreams are “karmic residues” from our life experiences and that we can accelerate our spiritual growth by becoming lucid and engaging in spiritual practice in the dream world.

Amazon is cool because it allows you to sample a decent portion of a book before you buy it so I would suggest doing that to see if you like the writing style.

https://www.amazon.com/Labyrinth-Rewiring-Nodes-Maze-Rewired/dp/1398425494/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=TEXGHP2Q1GIN&amp;dchild=1&amp;keywords=rei+rei+labyrinth&amp;qid=1630898075&amp;sprefix=rei+re&amp;sr=8-3

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;source=web&amp;rct=j&amp;url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Simulator-Practical-Recognising-Experiencing/dp/0955713803&amp;ved=2ahUKEwiqwI_-ipzyAhWMRkEAHSvxBd8QFnoECBcQAQ&amp;usg=AOvVaw1T_ooF1NLvy1Qk7Vlcr093

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;source=web&amp;rct=j&amp;url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-Simulator-Practical-Recognising-Experiencing/dp/0955713803&amp;ved=2ahUKEwiqwI_-ipzyAhWMRkEAHSvxBd8QFnoECBcQAQ&amp;usg=AOvVaw1T_ooF1NLvy1Qk7Vlcr093

This makes me think that this book might be something for you.

>A young psychiatric patient, known as Lili, is having a profound effect on both fellow inmates and medical staff alike. As she begins to unravel the truth of her hospital admittance, she persuades her sceptical psychiatrist, Katherine Kolinsky, to begin a search for Truth in her own self.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0792XBG3H/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1

Try this one:

&#x200B;

https://www.amazon.com/Course-Love-Combined-Mari-Perron/dp/158469503X

There's an experience of being in a bit of a coocoon, and coming out transformed the other side. Not as radical as psychs and could have a similar effect.

How do you measure your frequency? I found that this: https://www.amazon.com/Siglent-Technologies-SDS1202X-Oscilloscope-Channels/dp/B06XZML6RD works better then others, but as you may know you would not get a correct reading, unless you meditate to the state when you really not mentally being present at the measuring, like the electrons behave differently when they ate being observed in quantum physics experiments. Just the measuring itself may affect your frequencies, it maybe the procedure that you are using or device giving out signal as you being present, or you may need to watch your level of meditation submerge, I just use medical skin response sensors like to his: https://www.amazon.com/NEULOG-Galvanic-Response-Resolution-Maximum/dp/B00B76ORWS with an app that reads the result when the state level is acceptable. So it may be just the way you measure your frequencies. If the measuring is ok, I use frequency stimulators to adjust frequencies in desired range. There are few kinds that I am using, as different wave types need different type of stimulant impulses, but electro-magnetic ones do the most of the work. Hope it helps. For more info refer to Inner Engineering study at ISHA (Sadhguru)

In that case you might love GEB or it's simpler cousin I Am A Strange Loop. They're both tons of fun and basically about that, how systems can observe and comprehend other systems. The books created the inspiration for the ML revolution we have today. And it could be argued, but isn't consciousness how a system comprehends the world? So these books dive into how consciousness works as well as other fun topics like how intelligence works.

>It’s fun to learn what great minds thought.

Yah. Philosophy is a lot of fun.

Have you read any of Hofstadter's works? You might appreciate it, like I Am A Strange Loop.