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  #21  
Old 30-11-2020, 02:05 PM
Still_Waters Still_Waters is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BigJohn
Sure.

If you can get your mind to be quiet...... that is when the magick begins.


As far as having control over what was happening..... very little control.

Excellent points, Big John !
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  #22  
Old 01-12-2020, 03:30 AM
Aditi
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Quote:
Originally Posted by deLord
I've still not completely come to terms with the duality of "do nothing - universe will do/give everything necessary" vs "you have to do some work / sadhana". So --- which one is it? Why not play computer all day? Or completey ignore the spiritual way? If nothing can be achieved but only given by grace or surrender (I do not yet completely understand this concept).
If there is someone telling people to do nothing, I don't know anything about that. My religion's teachings say that we should try to do the right thing, which is not always the pleasant thing, in whatever situation life hands us -this is what I meant when I used the word dharma. If someone follows this advice, they will always have plenty to do. And, of course, there is further instruction if you want to know about God/Brahman.

If you can surrender the things that are out of your control or beyond your current ability to understand, at the very least it will save you from worry. Your inner state is important.

Quote:
Originally Posted by deLord
If siddhis have nothing to do with enlightenment, then why is it that some people say siddhis come under way anyway so it's no use to strife for them?
Reputable teachings say they are not something worth striving for. We can see from scriptures that it is not an indication of how wise or good someone is, it is only an indication of someone's ability to focus on one thing for great lengths of time. Some people interpret parts of Yogasutra as being about powers, but I maintain it is more useful when those verses are read as metaphorical.

Quote:
Originally Posted by deLord
Why will only so little people have siddhis?
We do not know how many people do, I gave some reasons for this in my first post.

Quote:
Originally Posted by deLord
For example what about Baba Lokenath who used to fulfill every wish he was asked for? He certainly did not hold back his powers as most people pray; and from what I read he was the most advanced embodied being I can imagine and that I heard of.
I really like this question, I had never thought about it before.

Maybe this was his enacting karma yoga*. I imagine it like, if I could see everyone who came near me as vision of Jagadamba (God), I would feel irresistible compulsion to serve. In which case he might have experienced every encounter on the level of God interacting with God, whereas here we think it was a person doing something for another person.

This would be different to showing off or wanting to change the world, because those people had to go to him, which one could take to mean that they were already part of his existing karma. In contrast, if someone is making decisions based in a sort of 'I want this and I don't want this other thing' way of thinking, even if they have good intentions, they are initiating goodness knows what new karma.

*Karma yoga is where you do everything as offering to God. They say, actions done in service to God, in an attitude detached from all outcome, will burn through existing karma and will not create new karma. That last part is open to different interpretations, but it is still all good, because even if it did create new karma a bhakta would not mind, because they are detached from all outcome and still in service to God, their beloved.
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  #23  
Old 01-12-2020, 11:54 AM
deLord deLord is offline
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Thanks for all the replies so far. I have read and heard many of the things you are writing here, yet I cannot help but sometimes think "how do they know?", since I can never tell -at the very least on the internet- when someone is paraphrasing book-knowledge or speaking from real, correctly interpreted experience. My path led me deep into many lies of this world so I came to question absolutely everything. EVERYTHING but that's totally not to discredit anyone or any statement. It's just an epistemic program that I had to install at some time.

I mean sure, I am relatively new on the spiritual path but still I always feel there is something wrong with "you have to dedicate your whole life (30 years+) to achieve these states". Why would the intelligence that created us employ such difficult circumstances in which you basically miss all the rest creation has to offer? Plus I don't know how enlightenment feels vs having a good LSD trip for example (which is the closest I can say I came to pure bliss). That of course would be a completely new topic in itself; just saying that maybe there are other, quicker ways of achieving the same state. But only someone who experienced both states can judge that :)

Quote:
Originally Posted by BigJohn
If you can get your mind to be quiet...... that is when the magick begins.

One thing that helped me to get to that state was getting 1-4 hours worth of massages per day. The deeper the massage the better. One woman would brace her self against the wall so as to get 'deeper' and I would feel 'nothing'.

Something else that would help is the Buddhist walking meditations. I would go up in the mountains and generally after 8 hours, the magic would begin.

Being in 'special places' would help.
Anyone has any idea on why stillness is THAT important? For the rational mind this is not understandable. I am working on stillness of the mind but it's so hard
Interesting, I also decided to get some massage sessions recently, trying to get rid of deep tension. Will massage help because it dissolves blockages which then in turn leads to a better stillness of the mind or energyflow or what's the rationale behind that?
So with the walking meditation you mean making each step consciously? I did that in a room but I will try it out in nature some time then :)
How do I recognize a 'special place'? And what do you mean to do there - meditate?

Lastly, maybe someone can give me advice on why it is worth investing many hours per day on sadhana instead of living an "ordinary" life. How can I convince myself that meditation is worth doing? I mean, I do meditate daily but you see, this is one of the reasons I started this thread: right now, I just believe that it will lead somewhere beyond material bounds. No one has shown me. I have no idea whether it helps for telepathy, healing abilities, anything useful or permanent bliss. It's not like muscle training where I can tell "yeah I can see my muscles growing BECAUSE OF the training". With meditation, I do it based on blind belief. I cannot tell whether it helps for anything - and this is after a few years of already doing it.
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  #24  
Old 01-12-2020, 01:07 PM
Miss Hepburn Miss Hepburn is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by deLord
Anyone have any idea on why stillness is THAT important? For the rational mind this is not understandable. I am working on stillness of the mind but it's so hard .....

How do I recognize a 'special place'? And what do you mean to do there - meditate?

Lastly, maybe someone can give me advice on why it is worth investing many hours per day on sadhana instead of living an "ordinary" life.
How can I convince myself that meditation is worth doing?
I mean, I do meditate daily but you see, this is one of the reasons I started this thread: right now,
I just believe that it will lead somewhere beyond material bounds. No one has shown me. I have no idea whether it helps for telepathy, healing abilities, anything useful or permanent bliss.
It's not like muscle training where I can tell "yeah I can see my muscles growing BECAUSE OF the training".
With meditation, I do it based on blind belief. I cannot tell whether it helps for anything - and this is after a few years of already doing it.
Could you ask this in the Mediation section?
Boy, will you get responses!
(Or see if someone has asked it already by scanning topics.)
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Prepare yourself for the coming astral journey of death by daily riding in the balloon of God-perception.
Through delusion you are perceiving yourself as a bundle of flesh and bones, which at best is a nest of troubles.
Meditate unceasingly, that you may quickly behold yourself as the Infinite Essence, free from every form of misery. ~Paramahansa's Guru's Guru
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  #25  
Old 01-12-2020, 03:59 PM
BigJohn BigJohn is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by deLord
Thanks for all the replies so far. I have read and heard many of the things you are writing here, yet I cannot help but sometimes think "how do they know?", since I can never tell -at the very least on the internet- when someone is paraphrasing book-knowledge or speaking from real, correctly interpreted experience. My path led me deep into many lies of this world so I came to question absolutely everything. EVERYTHING but that's totally not to discredit anyone or any statement. It's just an epistemic program that I had to install at some time.

I mean sure, I am relatively new on the spiritual path but still I always feel there is something wrong with "you have to dedicate your whole life (30 years+) to achieve these states". Why would the intelligence that created us employ such difficult circumstances in which you basically miss all the rest creation has to offer? Plus I don't know how enlightenment feels vs having a good LSD trip for example (which is the closest I can say I came to pure bliss). That of course would be a completely new topic in itself; just saying that maybe there are other, quicker ways of achieving the same state. But only someone who experienced both states can judge that :)

Taking LSD, etc. can help but what you get is mostly visual 'things' like being able to see Auras. Siddhas as you have been talking about, I would say, can not be achieved by drugs. From what I have seen, it can only be accomplished by quieting the mind.

Quote:
Originally Posted by deLord
Anyone has any idea on why stillness is THAT important? For the rational mind this is not understandable. I am working on stillness of the mind but it's so hard

When I was a child, I used to get whipped almost everyday by my Step-Father. Sounds terrible except after I would say less then 1 year of getting whipped, all of a sudden, I no longer felt the pain. When I was 17/18 years old, he took a hand selected 2 X 4 which was 8' long and broke it over my back. I felt nothing. Even to this day, I can still see his astonished face. When I was 18 years old, the school bully 'beat me up' in the locker room. I did not raise a hand, not even to defend myself. I 'won'. He never picked on another person again........


Quote:
Originally Posted by deLord
Interesting, I also decided to get some massage sessions recently, trying to get rid of deep tension. Will massage help because it dissolves blockages which then in turn leads to a better stillness of the mind or energyflow or what's the rationale behind that?
For me, if I could find a person who could do extremely deep tissue massage, it would help me to get 'there'. But then, who can get 1-4 hours of massages in a day?


[quote=deLord]So with the walking meditation you mean making each step consciously? I did that in a room but I will try it out in nature some time then :)[quote]

For the walking meditation 'to work', it mean just walking and not thinking. I would normally get lost. Before I started, I would turn around and look at the mountains. When I would come back, I would look for those mountains.


Quote:
Originally Posted by deLord
How do I recognize a 'special place'? And what do you mean to do there - meditate?
To me, a 'special place', is a place where you are alone without any distractions.

Quote:
Originally Posted by deLord
Lastly, maybe someone can give me advice on why it is worth investing many hours per day on sadhana instead of living an "ordinary" life. How can I convince myself that meditation is worth doing? I mean, I do meditate daily but you see, this is one of the reasons I started this thread: right now, I just believe that it will lead somewhere beyond material bounds. No one has shown me. I have no idea whether it helps for telepathy, healing abilities, anything useful or permanent bliss. It's not like muscle training where I can tell "yeah I can see my muscles growing BECAUSE OF the training". With meditation, I do it based on blind belief. I cannot tell whether it helps for anything - and this is after a few years of already doing it.

As for Siddhas, I can not say they are worthwhile. That is a personal choice. When I experience it, I am there basically for 'the ride'.
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  #26  
Old 01-12-2020, 04:01 PM
BigJohn BigJohn is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn
Since this isn't the Hindu section ---where I think you could get more notice - here is a definition:
siddhi
1. complete understanding and enlightenment possessed by a siddha.
2. a paranormal power possessed by a siddha.

Blue Elephant: ''Kindly look for a Siddha - one who is Illuminated by and KNOWS,
Dwells in, IS, the Divine Light / Love of God/ Truth.''


Btw, welcome deLord.

Being that Buddhism seemed to come out of Hinduism, you will find the word also in Buddhism.
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        Happiness is the result of an enlightened mind whereas suffering is caused by a distorted mind.
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  #27  
Old 01-12-2020, 04:03 PM
BigJohn BigJohn is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Still_Waters
Excellent points, Big John !

That basically all I know about the subject.......

the magick begins when the mind is quiet.
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        Happiness is the result of an enlightened mind whereas suffering is caused by a distorted mind.
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  #28  
Old 03-12-2020, 12:43 AM
Aditi
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One of my favourite things about Vedanta is seeing how the sages engage critical debates of each other's theories. It wouldn't be possible to agree with all of it, we each have to come to our own understanding. And many of them have laid out how we can know the subtler experiences for ourselves. It is such a great privilege to have access to any of this information, it might be the most precious thing in the entire world, and the thought that anyone would want to be given a shortcut past it is baffling to me.

If you have better things to do with your time, that's what you should be doing.

@BigJohn What you said about your step father is sort of like what I meant when I said we can't know enough to know what is for the best. No decent person would ever wish that abuse on anyone, but when you have come out the other side of a hell like that, you have this strength and resilience that others can't imagine, and that you know would never have developed if life had been all roses. There are so many ways life breaks us so we have to grow back stronger, and when you know you can cope, you are less likely to live in fear, which is a different sort of hell.
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  #29  
Old 07-12-2020, 01:48 PM
BigJohn BigJohn is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Aditi
One of my favourite things about Vedanta is seeing how the sages engage critical debates of each other's theories. It wouldn't be possible to agree with all of it, we each have to come to our own understanding. And many of them have laid out how we can know the subtler experiences for ourselves. It is such a great privilege to have access to any of this information, it might be the most precious thing in the entire world, and the thought that anyone would want to be given a shortcut past it is baffling to me.

If you have better things to do with your time, that's what you should be doing.

@BigJohn What you said about your step father is sort of like what I meant when I said we can't know enough to know what is for the best. No decent person would ever wish that abuse on anyone, but when you have come out the other side of a hell like that, you have this strength and resilience that others can't imagine, and that you know would never have developed if life had been all roses. There are so many ways life breaks us so we have to grow back stronger, and when you know you can cope, you are less likely to live in fear, which is a different sort of hell.

Nice comments.

When some people relate their story to me...... the first thing that comes to my mind is 'they would have probably experienced more if they were beaten a little bit more...........'

Some say that was terrible, but it didn't take long before I didn't experience pain. I can still see my Step-Fathers face when one day when I was young, he was whipping me and when the leather strips wrapped around my body, I yanked the whip right out of his hand.
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        Happiness is the result of an enlightened mind whereas suffering is caused by a distorted mind.
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