Journey to Enlightenment: Realms of Power Pt. 1

Journey to Enlightenment: Realms of Power Pt. 1

Posted by | Apr 8, 2018 | |

The following is a summary of The Science of Enlightenment Session #13, by Shinzen Young.  We are currently reviewing this series as a group on the Individuals Anonymous Facebook group, and you are encouraged to join if you have not done so already.  You may also purchase The Science of Enlightenment audiobook on Amazon, here.  One metaphor for spirituality is that it is a kind of path. A journey to enlightenment. The realms of power refer to the what tends to happen as people pass through these layers along the way. The benchmarks on that path, the way that...

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LSD Psychedelic Therapy: Mental Illness Treatment Resets Brain Network Harmonics

LSD Psychedelic Therapy: Mental Illness Treatment Resets Brain Network Harmonics

Posted by | Mar 31, 2018 | |

In recent years, scientists have been uncovering potential therapeutic benefits of psychedelic substances like psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) – it looks like they can ‘reset’ the brain in people with mental health conditions. Now a new study has revealed exactly what’s going on inside our brains when we take LSD, uncovering a connection that might explain why it relieves the symptoms of disorders such as PTSD and chronic depression. Research led by the Center for Brain and Cognition at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona has discovered a process of ‘harmonising’ across areas of the brain that don’t...

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Love vs Attachment: This One Understanding Can Change Your Life

Love vs Attachment: This One Understanding Can Change Your Life

Posted by | Mar 26, 2018 | |

The following is a slightly revised version of a recent post I made on Reddit, which received quite the response.  View the original post, which was made in the context of offering dating advice, here.  In order for a person to be capable of experiencing real love for a non-family member, they have to get to a secure place in their understanding of who/what they are on a very basic level. They also have to clearly understand the difference between love and attachment. Without knowing the difference, an attachment is the default situation. What’s the difference between love and...

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Working With the Thinking Mind

Working With the Thinking Mind

Posted by | Mar 25, 2018 | , |

The following is a summary of The Science of Enlightenment Session #10, by Shinzen Young.  We are currently reviewing this series as a group in the Individuals Anonymous Facebook group, and you are encouraged to join if you have not done so already.  You may also purchase The Science of Enlightenment audiobook on Amazon, here.  Can an ordinary person in the normal world become enlightened? U Ba Khin is a great example of somebody who is efficacious in the real world, yet highly enlightened.   He has a very stressful government position with the Burmese government in which he was...

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Treating Anxiety, Depression, and Fear of Death

Treating Anxiety, Depression, and Fear of Death

Posted by | Mar 25, 2018 | |

Question (paraphrased):  Lately I have been thinking a lot about my own death.  I want to be able to embrace it.  I want to be at peace with it.  Would anybody who does not have a fear of death please help me understand?  Please help me come out of this so I am able to embrace life (and death) fully.   If you can get yourself to an ayahuasca ceremony, you will definitely find peace with the birth/death process, most likely you will come to the place where you understand them to be literally equal. Sometimes plant medicine has...

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Choosing Your Object of Meditation

Choosing Your Object of Meditation

Posted by | Mar 20, 2018 | , |

The following is a summary of The Science of Enlightenment Session #9, by Shinzen Young.  We are currently reviewing this series as a group in the Individuals Anonymous Facebook group, and you are encouraged to join if you have not done so already.  You may also purchase The Science of Enlightenment audiobook on Amazon, here.  Concentration has a central role in the mystical or enlightenment path all over the world.  Concentration is a microscope which can be used to uncover the nature of our experience.  The concept of vipassana meditation involves utilizing an object as the focus of attention, then...

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Mindfulness and Equanimity, Part 1

Mindfulness and Equanimity, Part 1

Posted by | Mar 9, 2018 | , |

The following is a summary of The Science of Enlightenment Session #6, by Shinzen Young.  We are currently reviewing this series as a group in the Individuals Anonymous Facebook group, and you are encouraged to join if you have not done so already.  You may also purchase The Science of Enlightenment audiobook on Amazon, here.  Sensations are either stable or moving and changing in some way. If the sensation is stable and tranquil, great.  If it is moving and painful, ok.  Detect it, allow it, and you are in touch with the fundamental quality of nature, impermanence. After practicing...

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