"Chuang Tzu was a philosopher in ancient China, who, one night went to sleep and dreamed that he was a butterfly. He dreamt that he was flying around from flower to flower and while he was dreaming he felt free, blown about by the breeze hither and thither. He was quite sure that he was a butterfly. But when he awoke he realised that he had just been dreaming, and that he was really Chuang Tzu dreaming he was a butterfly. But then Chuang Tzu asked himself the following question: "was I Chuang Tzu dreaming I was a butterfly or am I now really a butterfly dreaming that I am Chuang Tzu?"'
We are spirits having a human experience.
As far as meditation goes, I find that Eckhart Tolle has perhaps one of the best books on it, Practicing the Power of the Now. Focus on FEELING the body from within, as a cohesive unit-feeling. Concentrate on that feeling alone, transforms attention into awareness.
Likewise his book, Stillness Speaks is a wonderful book to read.
"How short-lived every human experience is, how fleeting our lives. Is there
anything that is not subject to birth and death, anything that is eternal?
Consider this: if there were only one color, let us say blue, and the entire world and
everything in it were blue, then there would be no blue. There needs to be
something that is not blue so that blue can be recognized; otherwise, it would not
“stand out,” would not exist.
In the same way, does it not require something that is not fleeting and impermanent
for the fleetingness of all things to be recognized? In other words: if everything,
including yourself, were impermanent, would you even know it? Does the fact that
you are aware of and can witness the short-lived nature of all forms, including your
own, not mean that there is something in you that is not subject to decay?
When you are twenty, you are aware of your body as strong and vigorous; sixty
years later, you are aware of your body as weakened and old. Your thinking too
may have changed from when you were twenty, but the awareness that knows that
your body is young or old or that your thinking has changed has undergone no
change. That awareness is the eternal in you–consciousness itself. It is the formless
One Life. Can you lose It? No, because you are It."
Chuang Tzu was a philosopher in ancient China, who, one night went to sleep and dreamed that he was a butterfly. He dreamt that he was flying around from flower to flower and while he was dreaming he felt free, blown about by the breeze hither and thither. He was quite sure that he was a butterfly. But when he awoke he realised that he had just been dreaming, and that he was really Chuang Tzu dreaming he was a butterfly.
This is the plot of r/detrans
———————//———————
Nyuk nyuk nyuk…But here’s my 2¢:
Carl jung’s active imagination technique is like what you’re describing, letting your mind wonder, but still staying conscious enough to be lucid, speak to beings you encounter, etc. I do this sometimes before going to sleep at night. You can go into these liminal states, where, you get up to pee or something and think you’ve been laying there for hours but you discover it’s only been a few minutes and vice versa.
The kind of meditation I do, I learned at the Shambala meditation center. When a thought Comes into your mind, you just say “thinking” and do that over and over until you’re thinking nothing, just breathing. It’s very healing, imho.
Not sure. I’ve lucid-dreamt before, but if you’re talking about astral projection, when i was younger i tried to do that a lot.. only once did i start to feel the separation and got scared. Felt like two magnets rattling together, but all over.
Have you? If so, how did you achieve it? I've read that you have to focus on your hands and imagine the world around you while your eyes are closed and you're drifting. This leads to lucid dreaming with much practice. A friend told me years ago that lucid dreaming isn't a "step toward OBEs, but...it kinda is." Fucker was usually equally vague about everything, so I couldn't fault him for.bwing himself, but God damn. Gimme something I can work with. "It is, but it isn't." WTF??
TO EVERYONE WHO COMMENTED ON THIS THREAD, THANK YOU FOR YOUR INSIGHT ON THIS EVER INTERESTING MATTER. IT IS VERY MUCH APPRECIATED. I LOVE THIS SUBJECT.
"Chuang Tzu was a philosopher in ancient China, who, one night went to sleep and dreamed that he was a butterfly. He dreamt that he was flying around from flower to flower and while he was dreaming he felt free, blown about by the breeze hither and thither. He was quite sure that he was a butterfly. But when he awoke he realised that he had just been dreaming, and that he was really Chuang Tzu dreaming he was a butterfly. But then Chuang Tzu asked himself the following question: "was I Chuang Tzu dreaming I was a butterfly or am I now really a butterfly dreaming that I am Chuang Tzu?"'
We are spirits having a human experience.
As far as meditation goes, I find that Eckhart Tolle has perhaps one of the best books on it, Practicing the Power of the Now. Focus on FEELING the body from within, as a cohesive unit-feeling. Concentrate on that feeling alone, transforms attention into awareness.
Likewise his book, Stillness Speaks is a wonderful book to read.
"How short-lived every human experience is, how fleeting our lives. Is there anything that is not subject to birth and death, anything that is eternal? Consider this: if there were only one color, let us say blue, and the entire world and everything in it were blue, then there would be no blue. There needs to be something that is not blue so that blue can be recognized; otherwise, it would not “stand out,” would not exist.
In the same way, does it not require something that is not fleeting and impermanent for the fleetingness of all things to be recognized? In other words: if everything, including yourself, were impermanent, would you even know it? Does the fact that you are aware of and can witness the short-lived nature of all forms, including your own, not mean that there is something in you that is not subject to decay?
When you are twenty, you are aware of your body as strong and vigorous; sixty years later, you are aware of your body as weakened and old. Your thinking too may have changed from when you were twenty, but the awareness that knows that your body is young or old or that your thinking has changed has undergone no change. That awareness is the eternal in you–consciousness itself. It is the formless
One Life. Can you lose It? No, because you are It."
This is the plot of r/detrans
———————//———————
Nyuk nyuk nyuk…But here’s my 2¢:
Carl jung’s active imagination technique is like what you’re describing, letting your mind wonder, but still staying conscious enough to be lucid, speak to beings you encounter, etc. I do this sometimes before going to sleep at night. You can go into these liminal states, where, you get up to pee or something and think you’ve been laying there for hours but you discover it’s only been a few minutes and vice versa.
The kind of meditation I do, I learned at the Shambala meditation center. When a thought Comes into your mind, you just say “thinking” and do that over and over until you’re thinking nothing, just breathing. It’s very healing, imho.
Use the liminal states to have an out of body experience - ever have that yet?
Not sure. I’ve lucid-dreamt before, but if you’re talking about astral projection, when i was younger i tried to do that a lot.. only once did i start to feel the separation and got scared. Felt like two magnets rattling together, but all over.
What,.if.anything, did you do differently that one time? (You know, if you can put your finger on it, that is...)
Have you? If so, how did you achieve it? I've read that you have to focus on your hands and imagine the world around you while your eyes are closed and you're drifting. This leads to lucid dreaming with much practice. A friend told me years ago that lucid dreaming isn't a "step toward OBEs, but...it kinda is." Fucker was usually equally vague about everything, so I couldn't fault him for.bwing himself, but God damn. Gimme something I can work with. "It is, but it isn't." WTF??
TO EVERYONE WHO COMMENTED ON THIS THREAD, THANK YOU FOR YOUR INSIGHT ON THIS EVER INTERESTING MATTER. IT IS VERY MUCH APPRECIATED. I LOVE THIS SUBJECT.
I have and just posted a thread about it in this sub.
Happy to make you happy!