Benjamin Taylor6 said:In principle, you shouldn't have to expect anything at all. Everything just arrives on its own. Or so the literature claims. For instance, see here:
There was this intense push to frame meditation strictly as a relaxation technique—just a way to blow off steam and de-stress—to make it align with a materialistic worldview. By wrapping it in scientific jargon, they made it accessible to the masses, I suppose.
But pretty soon, that approach started showing its cracks—real inconsistencies, actually. If you want actual progress, true understanding, or any kind of stability in higher states of consciousness, you really need to practice the entire system of Yoga as a whole, just like the traditional texts instruct.
The crux of the issue lies in these "higher" or "lower" states. Does such a hierarchy even exist? Or is it just a downward spiral into lower states? One student back in the day made a rather poignant observation: before I started my IBM practice, I was a bit depressed and scattered. After a year of doing it, I felt exactly the same. Only difference was, I had "learned" how to blush in public. "Before that, I never felt awkward around people, but now I start turning red if some stranger asks me where the Mary Smith hotel is located. I guess I ended up sinking into lower states of consciousness instead of ascending to the higher ones. 😢😲😁
Whenever we stumble upon something that looks like it might actually help us out, we tend to get tunnel vision—we fixate entirely on whatever little thing is gonna pull us out of our current mental rut or shitty headspace. It’s like we're just looking for an exit ramp from the "bad vibes." But honestly? Just like every other screw-up in life, at the end of the day, we’re the ones holding the bag. We're the ones responsible to ourselves for how we handle things.
Look, our mindset matters—and I mean this for everything, not just when we're talking about meditation. If you want a specific result out of life, you can't just wing it. I honestly think it’s a massive mistake to treat meditation, or those higher states of consciousness people are always chasing, like they're some kind of endgame goal you just stumble into after doing all the work. It’s not some artificial thing you just "set up" once you've checked enough boxes. It's deeper than that.
Look, we were born with a higher level of consciousness from day one—even back then, nobody really knew what to make of us. And now? Now it’s just become some topic of speculation for some depressed college student from a year ago, and some socially anxious girl today. It’s honestly exhausting.
And why does that happen? Because she’s basically left wide open to her own thoughts—just constant, relentless self-criticism looping in her head. It’s this heavy, negative internal monologue that stays stuck on repeat regardless of how much she meditates, and honestly, it all just hits her at once the second someone asks her for directions to the Mary Smith hotel.
frozengull2 said:Basically just summing up all that pure, concentrated malice directed at Christian values.
It’ll cheer up the idiots and drive anyone with half a brain totally insane.
To me, it doesn't even seem offensive—it delivers the message through the music, which is why I said it was cool. It’s not being overbearing, though, you know? I don't want people thinking I'm some ultra-devout Christian zealot or something. 😁
In my book, spirituality is about self-discovery, and honestly, the only knowledge actually worth having is knowing who you really are.
And look, you could probably explain that you love Christianity without using that tone—you know, instead of acting like you just despise anyone who sees things differently.
casualtiger2 said:@frozengull2 You’re still stuck on how some junk website can have anything to do with spirituality—or fake spirituality—and all the misery it causes. I really hope you realize that Castaneda makes up about 0.00001% of North America. Still, that 17th point is starting to pique my interest.
Petition: ban heavy metal and eat religion. There’s only one holy, redeeming church—the Orthodox Church.
I've come across plenty of individual, non-uniform explanations in books—things that might be "right" from the perspective of whoever wrote them, but that's it. Just because something clashes with our own perception doesn't mean it's inherently wrong.
Benjamin Taylor6 said:How exactly am I supposed to put in the work here? My instructors at TMU have always been pretty vocal about avoiding "effort" altogether—they preach this idea of spontaneous chanting, suggesting that spiritual fruits should just manifest themselves naturally without any sweating or striving. But honestly, those fruits are taking their sweet time to ripen. It’s getting ridiculous. I’m sitting here out here expecting a massive pumpkin, but all I ever seem to harvest is a tiny little walnut. 😢😲😁
I first picked up Castaneda about twenty-five years ago—it feels like a lifetime, honestly—and there was always this one nagging thing that just never sat right with me. He talks all this heavy, profound stuff, but when you actually look for the substance, he lacks any sort of developed spiritual discipline. It’s all very vague. Aside from basically just taking a little hit of some peyote bud and drifting off into a trance, I don't see much else. To my mind, that isn't exactly what I'd call a "technique." There's no real meditation involved, no deep contemplation or mental rigor—just... wandering. I remember reading one part where Huan gives him this bizarre task involving lizards sewing his eyelids shut, which was certainly memorable, I suppose, but let's be real—that doesn't strike me as a legitimate spiritual practice.
Wait, didn't you guys learn in TMu that anticipation is totally counterproductive? (It just builds up this massive, nasty tension in the mind)
The real deal is that searching for any kind of peace outside of ourselves—which basically means finding it in the present moment—is the goal. Any daydreaming about how much better things will be in some distant future is really just a refusal to accept who we are right now; it's just fantasizing about a version of ourselves that doesn't even exist.
Especially those birds—you know, the ones that start their morning racket so loud you can hear them from blocks away. There’s actually something kind of cool about it, though—just sitting there listening to that raw sound drifting in from the distance, exactly the way it hits you.
Benjamin Taylor6 said:It really all depends on how you actually define meditation. I mean, if we’re talking about the transcendental variety—or even that more holistic, integral approach—then the whole process involves this quiet, steady repetition of a single, simple word within yourself. And then, eventually, you move on to a few words. It's a gradual thing.
And if you’re looking for something else entirely, there are plenty of options out there—really, an endless supply if you look. For instance, you could try that meditation technique based on the teachings of Judge Pantaleon: you just focus on the breath—inhaling "Jesus," exhaling "Christ." Or, if that feels like too much to juggle at once, you can just keep it simple and follow your breathing. Honestly, sometimes less is more when your mind is racing. So, there’s this technique one of my buddies—who, let’s be honest, can’t take anything seriously—swears by. He calls it his "secret weapon." Basically, you clench your right hand into a loose fist, rest your thumb against your chin, and then just... stick your pinky out. Yeah, you heard me. You just sit there, staring intensely at that little finger, taking these slow, deep breaths, and then gently blowing on the tip of it. He claims if you do this for about fifteen minutes, a few times a day, it does wonders. It sounds absolutely ridiculous when I say it out loud—honestly, it sounds like something you'd see someone doing in a park in Seattle while everyone else gives them a wide berth—but hey, he’s convinced. People have all sorts of weird little rituals to keep their sanity, I suppose. 😕😢😲😁
So, how exactly does one define an "unclean mind," anyway? It’s such a vague, slippery concept—one of those terms people throw around when they want to sound profound without actually doing the heavy lifting of explaining what they mean. Is it just being distracted? Or is it that constant, nagging internal noise—that chaotic swirl of petty grievances, selfish impulses, and all the mental clutter that keeps you from actually being present? To me, it feels like a sort of spiritual static... like trying to listen to a delicate symphony while someone is constantly revving a chainsaw right next to your ear. And then comes the big question: how do you clean it out? You can't just grab a metaphorical sponge and wipe away your intrusive thoughts—I've tried that, believe me, sitting there in my living room in Chicago trying to "zen out" while my brain was busy cataloging every mistake I made back in high school—and it doesn't work like that. It isn't a quick scrub. It seems more like a long, tedious process of untangling a massive knot of yarn, one frustrating loop at a time. You have to confront the mess, face the junk, and somehow find a way to let it go without losing your mind in the process.
Psychoanalysis? Honestly, I find the whole concept a bit exhausting—there’s something about the way people cling to it that just feels... misplaced. It’s like when you see someone trying to fix a leaking faucet by talking to the pipes instead of just grabbing a wrench, you know? You get so caught up in digging through the layers of your childhood or dissecting every little subconscious impulse that you end up missing the actual reality sitting right in front of your face. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for self-reflection—I spend half my life overthinking things—but there’s a fine line between gaining insight and just spinning your wheels in a velvet couch session. Sometimes, you don't need to uncover some deep-seated trauma from when you were five; sometimes, you just need to take a walk, clear your head, and deal with the world as it actually is. It feels a bit too much like chasing ghosts for my taste.
It seems like they were busy playing fast and loose with the rules under some supposedly "expert" leadership—and now, predictably, one person has lost their life, while several others are currently fighting for their lives in the hospital. I was just reading this piece about that whole mess in Chicago—you know, the one involving those massive legal battles over the local utility companies and the sheer incompetence of the judicial system there—and honestly, it’s enough to make anyone lose their cool. It’s the same old story, isn't it? You have these big corporate interests, almost like they think they're untouchable, clashing with regulatory bodies that seem more interested in paperwork than actually protecting people. It reminds me of that time back in my early twenties when I was dealing with a landlord in Seattle who thought he could just ignore the lease agreement whenever it suited him—total power trip, very similar vibe to these executives. They operate under this delusion of grandeur, thinking the rules are merely suggestions for the little guy while they dance around the law. The article touches on how the court proceedings are dragging on, which—let's be real—is just a tactical move to drain resources. It’s exhausting to watch. We see these high-profile cases where the "justice" being served feels more like a choreographed performance than anything resembling truth. You look at the way the legal teams are maneuvering, and it’s less about right or wrong and more about who has the deeper pockets to outlast the other in a war of attrition. It makes you wonder if the system is even designed to function anymore, or if it's just become a playground for the elite to settle scores. Just an observation, but it’s hard to stay indifferent when the implications for the average American consumer are so glaringly obvious.
You can never be careful enough. Honestly—and I mean this from the bottom of my heart—there is no such thing as being "too cautious" when it comes to how you navigate this world. It’s like that old saying about looking both ways before crossing a street in Chicago; people think they’ve done their due diligence, they think they're safe, and then—bam—life hits them because they let their guard down for even a second. I’ve learned that the hard way, believe me. You have to stay sharp, keep your eyes peeled, and always, always assume that things could go sideways at any moment. It’s not paranoia if there’s actually something to be worried about.
Look, thanks for all the meditation tips, really, but I was already capable of looking inward long before I ever read a single thing about meditation.
We all have our own specific baggage and bullshit that gets in the way, right? But you can't just outsource fixing that. Self-awareness has to happen naturally—it’s gotta be something you realize on your own terms. No fancy little technique is going to swoop in and explain who you are to you. You actually need to know who you are first before you can even start meditating properly, because you need that foundation—that sense of identity—to have something to actually work with.
Sandra Morgan2 said:It all comes down to what your actual goal is.
If you're looking for self-discovery, for instance, the best move is to pick one single technique. Stick with it until the practice feels as effortless and natural as breathing. Think of it like digging a well in one specific spot—you keep drilling until you hit water. If we spend our time digging holes all over the yard, we’ll just end up with a bunch of shallow pits and no water.
All meditation techniques eventually lead to the same destination because they share the same purpose: silencing the mental chatter and quieting the stream of thought. So, jumping from one thing to another based on how you feel? That's really just entertaining the mind, which is actually counterproductive if the whole point of meditating is to quiet that activity down.
Meditation is really just a little extra help once we've already done the heavy lifting of sorting out our own heads. We have to be the ones to figure out the right way to fix things ourselves.
You can't expect it to work if your mind is a complete mess. I mean, seriously, how is anyone supposed to meditate if they're following the wrong principles to begin with?
If we actually want to figure out what’s really going on, we’ve gotta dive way past all that surface-level noise—all those shallow thoughts and fleeting desires. It’s honestly like trying to break through a thick sheet of ice made of old feelings and half-forgotten memories... You just end up standing there on the edge, totally terrified of slipping under your own superficial worldview because, frankly, you have no clue what kind of madness is waiting for you down in the depths.
But hey, don't hold your breath for anything pleasant—or even anything uncomfortable, for that matter. 🙂
Honestly, I don't think it’s the loudmouths who finally snap—they've been venting all day, right? It’s always those quiet types, the ones who seem totally chill and collected for no apparent reason. They’re just sitting there, bottling up this massive, chaotic storm inside themselves, just waiting for the moment it all finally explodes.
We’re all born with this raw sense of free will, right? But then society kicks in—parents, teachers, the whole neighborhood setup—and they start clamping down with all these arbitrary rules. It’s wild, really. They basically weaponize our own minds against us, turning our own internal compasses into tools of self-sabotage. We end up stuck in this endless, grinding tension, constantly desperate for some kind of breakthrough or a new perspective that might actually help us break free from the toxic loop of obsessions, hatred, jealousy, and fear that everyone else spent years shoving into our heads.
Brenda Cook4 said:Can you actually tell me which specific topic in Philosophy you're talking about?
Seriously, why'd you go ahead and nuked my last post? I was actually putting in the work to point out all those disjointed arguments that make understanding the problem of consciousness such a massive headache.
Give me back that post—I put MY OWN actual time and effort into breaking things down for you and everyone else who thinks ignoring reality is going to lead to anything good in the long run.
Anthony James2 said:That’s an interesting way to look at it. I actually have a similar thought myself. After the fall of the Austro-Canadian Empire, all the Catholics really should have just moved back to Poland where their roots were. 🤣🤣🤣
It’s not just an "interesting view," it’s actually scientifically proven.
All the Catholics from Poland? Where are you even coming from, man? Are you even from around here?
EDIT: I went with the other option in the poll—if we're being real, the Mexicans took the biggest hit, and we only partially did.
I’m honestly at my wit's end here, so I figured I’d just toss this out on Reddit and see if anyone actually knows what's going on. It’s driving me absolutely insane—the fact that I still can't delete my own posts on UNESCO. Like, I can go into any other PDF sub-thread and wipe my footprint without a second thought, but on UNESCO? Not a chance. I’ve complained about this more times than I can count, but it feels like I'm just shouting into a void because nothing ever changes.
Seriously, why is it that I have full control over my stuff on every other PDF board, yet on UNESCO, I'm basically stuck with whatever nonsense I posted? Is this just some weird glitch happening to me, or is the site just built this way?
I’m only just now starting to notice how much the color of the theme—or even the PDF when you hover over it with the mouse—actually matters. This red is honestly hideous; it’s like an eyesore that constantly puts me on edge. It would be way better if they just went with some cooler, more chill tones instead.
Honestly, I really wouldn't want anyone messing with my hard-earned posts—I mean, I practically bled for those. Thanks for clearing that up, though; if that's how it is, then whatever. Guess I just have to sit tight and deal with it...
jadetrucker43 said:You can't link two different accounts to the same email address.
So, tell me—do all those other big-shot forums actually deal with this massive amount of threads, posts, and active users? 🤦
I mean, seriously, if you guys in tech—whoever is running the show—know that the site is getting slammed, why haven't you fixed it yet?
For years now, people have been whining about slow loading times and those annoying 503 errors. Look, regular users didn't go out and demand that this forum be built in the first place, and neither did I. So, honestly? It's on the owner to beef up the server capacity, which seems to be...
granitebadger7 said:So, seriously, what is actually going on with this forum site?
It’d be pretty wild if some actual IT pro could step up and break down how they even built this mess on the forum and—more importantly—how to actually fix it.