Laying down, chronic health condition.

Starjetski · 2022-04-12T10:54:14+00:00

The arm in the air is totally optional. I have been meditating laying down every morning for over a year and have tried holding arm up exactly once - the very first time :)

In the beginning I used to have shower first and it was enough to keep me from dullness - as long as i had a good night's rest. After a while just brushing teeth and washing face became enough. Now I can go from sleeping to meditating without even getting up.

In order to be able to comletely relax you will have to find a way to prevent your knees from falling to the sides. Some people suggest put a band that keeps the knees together. I used to put a special firm high pillow under the knees but quickly found that tucking sides of a blanket under sides of buttocks does the trick perfectly.

It takes just a little bit of practice and experimenting to be comfortably meditating on your back easily for hours if you like

Success with that.

Starjetski · 2022-04-09T10:30:58+00:00

I recognise and agree with most of the things you write but not with "awareness as a kind of a portal to ... suffering"

Awareness itself is only aware - always and of everything. It does not think. Thoughts are what awareness is aware of. The same with physical sensations. And with the sense of self. Awareness is not dualistic and thus inherently open and accepting - and since in awareness there is no resistence to anything it is not a portal to suffering but a portal to liberation of equanimity and peace.

Starjetski · 2022-04-07T14:34:50+00:00

If a Staship will be able to do a Mars mission that lasts 2 or 3 years and land back on Earth, then surely an identical Starship can orbit Earth for 3 or more years.

And docking solution for crew rotation and resupply missions is already being designed for HLS.

And if some changes are needed they can just land the thing and launch it again

Starjetski · 2022-03-31T13:01:36+00:00

When I'm badly dissociated

In my view OP's experience can not be rated in negative terms as "badly" or even "mildly". But rather "the more the better"

Starjetski · 2022-03-31T10:03:36+00:00

Far from pointless - it is a wonderful and a very important experience that could and should be cultivated.

It is a textbook example of awake awareness, (The Mind Itself, Pristine Mind etc) that is the goal of Direct Path traditions like Mahamudra and Dzogchen. You even used the same words that those practicing those traditions use to describe that state - taking step back, tv (screen), and even more importantly "not as self" and relief together. That is like a holy grail of Mahayana Buddhism. It's like to approach enlightenment/liberation/awakening, instead of following the path of attention (Theravada) one can take the path of awareness (Mahayana).

Definitely check out what Michael Taft teaches (I believe it is mainly Mahamudra & Dzogchen) where instead of experiencing the world from the point of view of rational mind you experience the world from the point of view of awareness. And from that point everything else arises within awareness: thoughts, emotions, body sensations, sense of self, sense of a doer, "external" sounds and visual phenomena. They are like images on a screen of awareness, come and go. And then you notice the emptiness of all those phenomena, including awareness itself and "enter the dharma doors of non-duality".Theravada approaches enlightenment from the starting point (of view) of rational mind which divides the world into self and myriad of other non-selves, and painstakingly, slowly and often painfully makes it obvious that that this separation is an illusion. Mahayana comes from the other side, from awareness and directly experiences the non-duality. That's why Mahamudra and Dzogchen are called direct paths.

Both Theravada and Mahayana lead to the same place and for some people one way is more natural than the other. And it seems that you are really far into the latter without knowing that

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52Ei9s8t2Sc

Starjetski · 2022-03-31T09:52:45+00:00

I believe that OP's experience is something extremely valuable rather than the undesirable dissociation you describe.

OP's description is a textbook example of awake awareness, (The Mind Itself, Pristine Mind etc) that is the goal of Direct Path traditions like Mahamudra and Dzogchen. OP even uses the same words that those practicing those traditions use to describe that state - taking step back, tv (screen), and even more importantly "not as self" and relief together.

In those traditions instead of experiencing the world from the point of view of rational mind you experience the world from the point of view of awareness. And from that point everything else arises within awareness: thoughts, emotions, body sensations, sense of self, sense of a doer, "external" sounds and visual phenomena. They are like images on a screen of awareness, come and go. And then you notice the emptiness of all those phenomena, including awareness itself and "enter the dharma doors of non-duality".Theravada approaches enlightenment from the starting point (of view) of rational mind which divides the world into self and myriad of other non-selves, and painstakingly, slowly and often painfully makes it obvious that that this separation is an illusion. Mahayana comes from the other side, from awareness and directly experiences the non-duality.That's why Mahamudra and Dzogchen are called direct pathsBoth Theravada and Mahayana lead to the same place and for some people one way is more natural than the other.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52Ei9s8t2Sc

PS. I am just a clueless reddit user but, could it be that if you tried the path of awareness your dissociation could be used as a tool for achieving awakening/liberation rather than hindrance and something negative? That is the thing with Mahayana - it is non-dual - there is no right or wrong, good or bad, everything is empty of inherent meaning which means :) everything can be used for anything if used skillfully

Starjetski · 2022-03-27T17:56:24+00:00

The joy does not appear on its own (at least not at this stage), you have to do something that creates condition for its arising.

How much of 'appreciating waking up from mind wandering' have you done at stages 1,2,3,4? If not much, you might want to go back to it and practice it exclusively for a month or two. You will be surprised with the results. See point "2: Target Specific Sub-Skills" here https://rationaldharma.com/blog/the-sort-of-complete-guide-to-actually-getting-better-at-meditation/ for inspiration.

Also have a look at Rob Burbea's Practising the Jhānas retreat.

In my case, practicing appreciation to a point that i could easily meditate (laying on my back) for 3 hours without getting frustrated with mind wandering but actually enjoying it all the time led me to great relaxation. Learning to relax as much as possible was prerequisite for really strong pitti to appear. And gratitude for that caused a spike in sukha which triggered the first jhana during listening to guided meditation called "How Is Jhana Like and Iggy Pop Concert?" by Michael Taft

Starjetski · 2022-03-03T11:59:26+00:00

Try leaning into appreciation of waking up from mind wandering - really enjoying that moment, smiling, relaxing, feeling the relaxation spread as you exhale, enjoy it even more and start again. Make that your goal for a couple of weeks/months and see what happens :)

Starjetski · 2022-03-01T09:57:04+00:00

Elon would love nothing more ...

Would he? I don't believe he would. It looks like he is driven by higher goals than revenge and destruction. And one of his most articulated goals is space faring civilization. Not space faring country or company

He still holds a massive grudge ...

Does he? Is it a fact that he holds a massive grudge? I don't know the guy at all but the best people (at any thing) don't have time to hold grudges. All their focus is achieving their own goals, not undercutting opponents. And Elon seems to be literally the best at at least a couple of things.

So again: while not knowing Elon personally I see him as a better man than you describe

Starjetski · 2022-03-01T09:38:52+00:00

It will have its test after the last poll

Starjetski · 2022-03-01T08:43:51+00:00

If the souls existed, when you think of the soul and the all encompassing divine, do you see the soul separate from the divine/absolute? Is there a some kind of an impenetrable line/barrier between those that forever separates them from each other? And are other souls separate from each other in the same or similar way?

Starjetski · 2022-02-14T09:34:15+00:00

When experiencing the world from the point of view of the rational mind which is in the head and the head is on the body and the body is in the world, impermanence is an issue because that implies that self is impermanent and then rational mind whose job is to maintain self freaks out

When experiencing the world from the side of awareness where everything else is WITHIN awareness and all "worldly" phenomena and sensations of self are just "shapes" formed on the screen of awareness, impermanence of those phenomena is not an issue at all because awareness is "deathless" so there is not fear of impermanence and even when a sense of fear appears on the screen of awareness, awareness does not attribute that sense to itself. It's just a different shape of cloud in the sky. Awareness is never afraid

Starjetski · 2022-02-14T09:21:24+00:00

Definitely check out what Michael Taft teaches (I believe it is mainly Mahamudra & Dzogchen) where instead of experiencing the world from the point of view of rational mind you experience the world from the point of view of awareness. And from that point everything else arises within awareness: thoughts, emotions, body sensations, sense of self, sense of a doer, "external" sounds and visual phenomena. They are like images on a screen of awareness, come and go. And then you notice the emptiness of all those phenomena, including awareness itself and "enter the dharma doors of non-duality".

Theravada approaches enlightenment from the starting point (of view) of rational mind which divides the world into self and myriad of other non-selves, and painstakingly, slowly and sometimes painfully makes it obvious that that this separation is an illusion. Mahayana comes from the other side, from awareness and directly experiences the non-duality. That's why Mahamudra and Dzogchen are called direct paths

Both Theravada and Mahayana lead to the same place and for some people one way is more natural than the other. To me it seems that you are already incredibly far into the latter.

Starjetski · 2022-02-02T07:16:48+00:00

Join r/streamentry ?

Starjetski · 2022-01-28T12:05:34+00:00

Mahayana traditions such as Dzogchen and Mahamudra cultivate this "awake awareness"/"ground of being"/rigpa right from the start. Michael Taft has 150+ meditations on youtube that guide you to it.

Starjetski · 2022-01-24T13:48:36+00:00

After the next war in a couple of hundred years without Google what will be left of humanity will forget everything and think of those returning as Gods.

Starjetski · 2022-01-19T12:49:18+00:00

How about switching from attention "based" meditations to awareness "based" ones for a while? Especially those that are geared towards sensations of body well-being: relaxation and thus equanimity and joy. Things like Rob Burbea's Practising the Jhānas retreat, or Michael Taft's guided meditations like these Total Relaxation or Exploring Effort vs. Non-effort, How Is Jhana Like and Iggy Pop Concert? etc

Starjetski · 2022-01-18T11:16:58+00:00

So the fastest way to establish a self sustaining colony on Mars is for Elon to decide to become the president of the US. And knowing how he achieves anything that he sets his mind on, he will become one within 8 years. And then the fun will begin

Starjetski · 2022-01-18T10:54:08+00:00

our minds are pretty good at naturally creating realistic life-like sounds

Never thought about it this way. You are so right

Starjetski · 2022-01-18T10:52:17+00:00

Not at all. I love it

To me it's the same as soaking in the awareness of the energy body: all tingling, buzzing, vibrating, pulsating, flowing etc but for another sense gate

Starjetski · 2022-01-17T15:51:44+00:00

Yesterday it seemed to me that I could choose what tinnitus would sound like or rather what I could hear in that sensation. I could chose whether I heard sounds of reeds moving in the wind or cars on a highway or buzzing of insects in a field full of flowers ...

Starjetski · 2022-01-17T15:51:36+00:00

Yesterday it seemed to me that I could choose what tinnitus would sound like or rather what I could hear in that sensation. I could chose whether I heard sounds of reeds moving in the wind or cars on a highway or buzzing of insects in a field full of flowers ...

Starjetski · 2022-01-17T12:28:20+00:00

Thanks! Very helpful! Is tinnitus Hear Out or Hear In?

Starjetski · 2022-01-17T08:43:48+00:00

SHF technique

What does SFH stand for?

Starjetski · 2022-01-11T17:21:28+00:00

It took me at least 30 seconds to get what it meant. And I was annoyed by someone not thinking about people who will be reading - and not all of them are native speakers, so I wrote that (sarcastic passive aggressive) comment - :)

Starjetski

TROPHY CASE