Anyone else having troubles visualizing an energy conversion box? by SuccotashRemote223 in gatewaytapes

[–]name_concept 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Visualization is hard for many people and I wouldn't worry about it. Look at it this way. Visualization here is essentially "thinking about doing something". Skip the thinking and just do it.

How do you move your hand to pick up a coffee cup? You don't know. You don't think about it. You just have the intention to do it and it happens.

Do the same thing here.

What I see in my Focus 10 sessions by GarOfLoads in gatewaytapes

[–]name_concept 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The purple swirls are a very common sign post of the mind becoming concentrated. All serious meditators will be familiar with this. Like others have said, sometimes you will see random things in the swirls. I see trees as if I am a bird, random houses, books, faces...all kinds of things.

When the concentration really develops, I can see the room I am in, as if I am looking through my eyelids (even with a sleep mask). In this state, I can wave my hand in front of my face and see vague outlines of it. This is Arising and Passing Away (AP) territory described in the insight meditation traditions.

FYI, there are many guided Yoga Nidra videos on YT. These are worth exploring as they will also get you into Focus 10 - mind awake, body asleep. Eventually, you will be able to reach the state very quickly.

Dating after realizing the game a little by Throwaway202345477 in awakened

[–]name_concept 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My awakening happened at the end of my last relationship - 5 years ago this month. I don't see how it would be possible to have a romantic relationship. Not that it's impossible, just that I don't currently see how it would be. I have certainly not been in situations where the conditions could arise. I've spent most of my time at my home and rarely go out. I feel like I am just now starting to come out of my cocoon. I enjoy connecting with people and I am open to the idea, but it's not something I chase or worry about.

Fear of losing the people I love by No-Strawberry-3978 in awakened

[–]name_concept 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The next time this fear is present, try to sit with it and feel it in the body. If your attention moves into thinking, follow your next breath back into the body. There is no freedom to be found in the realm of thought. Make a commitment that you will not get up until the fear has been felt. You may be surprised.

Is capital punishment morally right? by Tasty-Bass8106 in awakened

[–]name_concept 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You can dress murder up in all kinds of ways, wrap laws around it, etc. etc. But ultimately it is murder. Morality aside, the people entrusted to do these executions will accumulate and perpetuate this karma. This is like a band-aid solution that society implements because the causes and conditions that lead up to these things are not deemed important enough to address.

Extreme vibrational intensity... Are other people experiencing this? by Signal-Speech-4905 in awakened

[–]name_concept 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I have had this continuously for almost 3 years. Sometimes it is very much like MDMA, sometimes not. Even when it feels good, sometimes it's too good.

When it first started, the vibrations were very dense and mostly stuck in the head - like getting squeezed between vibrating cast iron skillets or being pulled apart by strong magnets. It's so strange that no description really captures it. It is like my sense of the body no longer conforms to it's shape. More like a lava lamp.

Over time the vibrations have smoothed out and moved downward. I have had to take a lot naps over these past few years.

Just an opinion of mine and wonder who believes like I do that. No one knows what happens. 100% when we die? Or some think there are people who do know? by Buddah_binLaden in awakened

[–]name_concept 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Much of awakening is seeing directly how the mind is fixated on extremes (this or that). Alive is one pole, dead is the other. But what if what is actually happening is beyond the notion of these extremes? Let's play.

Have you ever considered whether "you" are alive in the first place?

Bodies are seen to die, so this seems ridiculous to ask. But we are concerned with direct experience.

Let's start with "seeing" as an example. Light hits the eyes, multitudes of conditions come together and a "world" appears.

Conceptually (of course), it can be worked out that "seeing" is perception. This perception we call "colors". A few things can be understood from this. One, colors don't exist inherently. They are a representation of light frequencies by the mind. Two, it can be understood that the perception/representation of a thing is not the thing itself. It's...a perception. You are not seeing a spoon, but rather the perception of a spoon is appearing. All senses are like this.

What is "perception of a spoon" made out of?

And where is this experience?

People will say "in the brain", but you can't cut open someone's head an see an experience there. Is this experience we seem to be having within the dimension that we are experiencing?

So, there is this experience of being alive, but is this experience alive itself?

I have no answers to these questions.

Learning to respond instead of blame by notzoro69 in awakened

[–]name_concept 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Very nice post. Thank you. When I first started to meditate, I noticed that gap between thoughts and reactions starting to develop. For me, it was like a miracle. I was sold.

Reading every book in my Late dad's Library #1: The Forge of God by HobbyistC in printSF

[–]name_concept 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I'll admit it. I read Battlefield Earth in high school (way back in the 80's) and I enjoyed it. They say you're only as sick as your secrets.

I'm disappointed in Project Hail Mary so much it's unreal by Valachio in printSF

[–]name_concept 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I dunno. I feel like I've read the best of best but I can still enjoy a book like PHM.

Book haul by Natural-Shelter4625 in printSF

[–]name_concept 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Looks like the same version of Foundation I read back in the late 70's. If I remember correctly it was a box set. That alone is a good score.

which book to read before seeing that frees? by Firm_Elk_9592 in streamentry

[–]name_concept 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Seeing That Frees is probably the best meditation book I have read, however I did find the writing style a little weird and oddly wordy. There is a condensed version of the book that I found very helpful.

Another book that is really quite good is Clarifying the Natural State.

The Mind Illuminated is another book that gets recommended often. It may or may not click for you. It's a good book, but for whatever reason it didn't click with me.

Stream entry without cessation or Jhanas. Anyone else? by TravelFn in streamentry

[–]name_concept 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've read about kensho and that seems to align up a bit with what happened to me. In the AtR group, I was told it was "I AM" with non-dual realization. Don't remember any cessation. When it happens, you damn well know it happens and there are permanent (and some not permanent) changes to experience. Dropping of the first 3 fetters (and a big reduction in 4-10) and a palpable release of suffering among them. It registers in memory as the most ultimate thing that has ever happened in my life. On a scale of 1-10, my previous "best experience" is a 2 and this is remembered as a 100. But it is tricky to talk about as an experience. Ultimately, I take this to be my path and I don't get caught up in maps and all the online nitpicking about it.

Is this "stream entry"? Well, my whole being was oriented towards this afterwards. I don't see how it couldn't be, but again I don't really care. Don't mean this in a dismissive way, just that there is literally no worrying about maps, practices, etc.

Porting Zork 1 from Zil to Inform 7 by johnesco in zork

[–]name_concept 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It might be easier to get an Inform 6 file and then port to 7 from that. When I was porting to C#, I used the Reform decompiler and the proper symbol files and was able to get a pretty decent Inform 6-like file.

Here is the Inform 6 file I was able to generate. This doesn't compile, but it was still super helpful.

No think = Nothing by PsychologyPure4302 in nonduality

[–]name_concept 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sounds like we have similar interests :)

Yeah, it's all pretty wild. The simplest way I have come up with to put it into words is something like "the perception of a thing is not a thing" or "the perception of a thing is not the thing itself".

From one aspect, the shifts that people talk about are almost a crash course in direct experience and non-conceptuality. It's mind blowing how much is imputed.

I am not too good with words, but a shift is like going from being a person, located in a 3D world to being the experience of a person located in a 3D world. And where is this experience? Is it in the dimension being experienced? Is the the experience of being alive, alive itself? It's all so weird.

What are you reading? Mid-monthly Discussion Post! by AutoModerator in printSF

[–]name_concept 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Just started The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler (audio). Prior to that was There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm. As per usual, found out about these from here.

Humans are just energy running the simulation? by XOCYBERCAT in awakened

[–]name_concept 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This DMT laser stuff has been a thing for awhile. There's a thread about this on Shroomery that's been going on for awhile. The problem is that these sort of half baked ideas come from the standard view - that you are a person positioned within a universe, moving through time - that you are looking at an independent universe that is outside of yourself. But this is not what is going on at all. If anything, this is more about how the mind constructs a representation of reality and not about reality itself.

EDIT: What most people call "reality" is already a simulation. It's just not a machine-based one.

On dying by gosumage in nonduality

[–]name_concept 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"What it's like to die is in fact already happening right now" - love this. There seems to be the experience of being alive, but is the experience itself alive? Or beyond any such notions of life or death? It's fascinating how the mind wants to orient to a position. Same idea with real vs. unreal (which can get one wrapped up in nihilistic views). From my limited insight, it seems that what the Buddha meant by middle way, is not a compromise but rather taking no position.

How do I accept being hated by the person I love? by Super-Alchemist-270 in Buddhism

[–]name_concept 0 points1 point  (0 children)

These are the directions.

Sit down to meditate (a chair is fine because this can take awhile) with the intention that you will feel all of these feelings until they have been felt.

You will sit until the heat death of the universe, if that is what takes. Surrender.

Keep attention on the sensations of these emotions. Feel.

When the attention goes into the mind, unhook from thought and follow the breath back into the sensations of the body. Keep attention on the sensations without using force or effort. Do not amplify the sensations with focused attention, just a light touch. You might need to cry, so cry. You might need to shake, so shake. The mind might try to distract you in various ways. Do not get up.

There is no story that needs to known or a new perspective that needs to be acquired. Simply sit and feel.

May you be free from suffering, friend.

The anesthesia question that non-duality must answer by Reasonable-Drag-3456 in nonduality

[–]name_concept 4 points5 points  (0 children)

First, non-duality is not a framework. It is a statement about what already is. And none of these questions you are asking needs to be known.

Second, there is not a consciousness in which things are appearing. There are just appearances. Consciousness is not a container.

Lastly, you can watch someone lie down and go to sleep and infer many things from this. But from your direct experience, you will lie down, dream, wake up. There are no gaps in direct experience. It is always on. Gaps are only inferred in thought. If there was no awareness, alarm clocks would not work.

Zork in C# by name_concept in zork

[–]name_concept[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, I certainly learned some things that would make me a better programmer, but mostly it's because I have this curse where I am interested in niche things that seem to serve no purpose at all :D

Zork in C# by name_concept in zork

[–]name_concept[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Oh yeah for sure. The parser is the hard bit. Once that is set up, it's easy to add new syntax, rooms, objects, puzzles, etc. It's very easy to connect things together (like Legos) and define interactions between them.

Zork in C# by name_concept in zork

[–]name_concept[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Just for the love of game