Hello, I've read all of Carlos Castaneda's books, some of them more than once, and I've been familiar with his literature for over 10 years. I also have 10 years of experience with Vipassana meditation. Therefore, I would like to share my experiences with meditation and compare them with quotes from Castaneda's books.
A bit of backstory: While I was studying fine arts, Castaneda's book 'Journey to Ixtlan' somehow found its way to my desk. Even though I was more of a gamer than a book reader, I delved into this book and found myself completely absorbed in the shamanic worldview. After that, my circle of friends became similar, and we started venturing into nature, experiencing deep spiritual moments. I became so obsessed with Don Juan's teachings that I dreamt of finding a teacher and living the adventures that Castaneda had written about.
One day, thanks to a complimentary ticket from a classmate, I found myself at a natural spiritual festival. Despite the Baltic ethnic festival atmosphere, I was drawn to a group of people who, in appearance, could fit into the image of an Indian tribe. This encounter led me to meet a special person who became my teacher and introduced me to Vipassana meditation.
He explained that Vipassana meditation involved an intense 10-day retreat during which you meditate 8 to 10 hours every day without technology, writing, reading, other activities, or speaking. Intrigued by this process, I waited the whole summer to embark on this retreat, which fundamentally changed my life.
The practice of Vipassana meditation involves seeing the truth with open eyes. It's derived from the Theravada Buddhist tradition, which is most closely related to Buddha's original practices. The process entails concentrating on your breathing as it is, allowing you to quiet your inner dialogue and prepare your mind for subtle concentration.
A key aspect of the practice is scanning your body and observing your body's sensations with a mind of equanimity, enabling you to address and eliminate impurities and reach deeper levels of consciousness. The meditation also leads to a gradual 'melting' of the physical body, a sort of dissolution of the human form, which I remember Castaneda referring to as the energy body.
One of the major benefits of this meditation is gaining a clear mind. Unlike hallucinogens, which can suddenly and temporarily alter your consciousness, Vipassana meditation offers a step-by-step process that gradually reveals and addresses issues, allowing you to progress at your own pace.
The inner silence I've gained is now stronger than my internal dialogue. This ability to sit and enjoy doing nothing has been a delightful transformation in my life. Despite the unusualness of such profound silence, I've slowly adapted, and I now speak from a place of quiet rather than trying to drown out unpleasant sounds.
Moreover, after several years of meditation, I started feeling the energy of trees when I'm in nature, a sensation that extends to plants and even mineral stones. Rather than relying on descriptions or imagination, I can determine what's right or wrong for me by simply holding a stone and feeling its energy.
To wrap up, Castaneda's teachings have strongly resonated with me through Vipassana meditation. As Castaneda eloquently stated, the path is just that - a path. It is essential to choose a path that aligns with our hearts and inner knowing. There are countless paths to explore, and by selecting one that resonates deeply within us, we can embark on a journey that leads us to our true essence and understanding.
For anyone interested in this form of meditation, you can find more information on the 'Vipassana 10-day course' on YouTube, or I can provide a website if someone needs it.
Safe travels to you all, and goodbye.
79 Comments
And that makes three…(to those who know what I’m talking about).
Hello, I appreciate your feedback. I want to ensure that my post doesn't come across as self-promotion. Could you please clarify what elements in my post raised concerns in this regard? I'm more than happy to address any issues or make necessary adjustments
This
No problem, I'll change it right away if you think it's a spoiler.
Again, no don't change anything.
Firstly, you changed your post. Secondly, meditation courses are free; people contribute voluntarily afterwards if they want to. And thirdly, it's a global international organization; I'm just a small part of it.
I hadn't finished editing my comment yet.
Most people in here after they write something take a pause, and then look at it again to see if what they intended to communicate was coming through.
And to fix any typos.
Sorry, I didn't know that you could change your mind in comments. I thought a warrior, once they commit, is resolute in their actions.
I just wanted to share good stuff with people, nothing more.
We have a different take on what constitutes good stuff.
While it's good that what you're pursuing is quieting your thoughts, you're on track towards an intent path that is an absolute dead end by the mere fact you're associating with Vipassana, and reinforced it by making this post.
https://www.reddit.com/r/castaneda/wiki/buddhism/
Placating the internal monologue does not align with evolution. An evolution is what humanity desperately needs RIGHT NOW.
I don't know why you're fighting, but it doesn't affect me at all. Good luck with your point of view. I don't have time for this; I'm going back to what I was doing.
It just seems like you posted on the page without reading any of the posts. I was offended by the responses when I made my first post too. But then I realized everything they said was right and learned how to cultivate inner silence. All any of this is is being silent.
You're a drug dealer, but don't know it.
This is getting better and better! It's great that you know what I don't :D
My sentiments exactly.
I wish I was surrounded by people who know far more than I do.
That's NEVER a bad thing, unless you're motivated by the ambition to steal from others by pretending to have knowledge.
Can you fix me?
No one can teach real magic to another grown person.
It's never been done.
8000 years ago the old seers (Olmec sorcerers) took very young children as apprentices.
Those you can teach. But we're talking 3 or 4 years old just like "younglings" in Star Wars, which is based on our magic.
Then money and agriculture were invented, cities started to emerge, and the world of those Olmec sorcerers was destroyed by invaders.
They fled to a new place, and got invaded again.
Then fled to another, possibly the Toltecs as the last time, and when that world was also wiped out they could no longer teach "younglings". Didn't have any given to them.
So they they formed lineages of 15.
15 sorcerers CAN usually teach grown individuals, but ONLY when "the Spirit" sends them.
Not something anyone who's not a sorcerer can comprehend.
If "The spirit" sends someone to a lineage, then that person can be taught.
But it takes all 15 members of a lineage to do that.
So no.
No one can "fix you".
Anyone who claims otherwise just wants your money.
But YOU can study hard in here, actually do some real work, and then "The Spirit" will fix you.
If you don't stop.
Most who learn real magic, which by our experiences over the last 4-5 years is only 1 in 100 who claim to be interested by subscribing, figure out what it's like and realize it's too cold for them.
The world of everyday life is shit, but it's "cozy".
If you learn magic, you're all alone in alien worlds.
Too cold for most people, so they jump back into the shit of normal living, and never try again.
Not to mention, there's plenty of pretend stuff to give people "hope".
But that's all they get.
There's nothing else real out there, that the people who passed through this subreddit ever found.
Searching all over the internet, hundreds of people, no one found anything at all that was real.
Just charlatans like the Dali Lama, exploiting impotent meditative effects everyone experiences all the time.
On waking up and hitting the snooze alarm button, on smoking some pot, on shooting up some heroine, or in the case of women, by using their natural witchcraft abilities.
There's a couple of men out there who managed to get those weak effects through meditation, which made them famous.
But they're unable to go far enough to be actually worth pursuing.
You seem to have been sent her by our enemies, a specialized type of Inorganic being (spirit) which feasts on human awareness.
We make human awareness unpalatable to them, so they constantly try to take us down.
Usually in threes.
Count the posts today and add yourself.
That's three again!
Or maybe it's 4 today, since you seem to be in the middle a bit, and Techno said there were 3.
Some are removed before the post is visible.
Carlos himself taught us about the "attack of 3s".
As a warning so we'd notice it.
Can you tell me about your knowledge level? Are you learning magic or simply repeating what's in books? Because I'd like to understand who I'm talking to.
I've marked a few things that were most interesting to me.
What are trees? I'd like to learn more about them and why I feel connected to them.
Regarding awareness of non-organic creatures, that's intriguing. You mentioned that I attacked you, but from my perspective, it felt the opposite - like you and some other posts were attacking me. I chose not to retaliate but to absorb the negativity with an equanimous mind, so it may have seemed draining to you because you didn't receive what you were shooting. In my view, I wasn't creating karmic attack traits.
If you're comfortable, could you explain what you were feeling and thinking when you were writing to me? If you can, of course.
It's all in here. In the posts.
You have to do some actual work to learn what's going on.
But I'm here because I was blackmailed by the Allies of Carlos, and for no other reason. They pulled em into their world in broad daylight, and said they'd keep doing that if I didn't obey them.
In person. Not imaginary. Not in meditation.
Awake, sitting on the steps of a hotel in Bangkok, where I sell security cameras to the police department.
But you have to see that for yourself by doing actual work to learn. Otherwise it's just a story.
Except there's many in here, by multiple people, so no need to wonder.
Just read posts!
You didn't actually think Carlos would fail did you?
Here you go. I think you missed this map.
That's stuff I did, and Juann did.
Awake, eyes open, completely sober, and walking around so there's no chance of dozing off.
the witch there is Cholita, so she did that stuff too.
Except in her double, while I was awake surprised to see her walk through the wall into my dark room.
Every single crazy thing from the books has been done now, including breaking the laws of physics, and several equivalents of Carlos jumping off a cliff.
My preference is to leap to distant galaxies.
In my physical body. Not in some kind of imaginary meditation.
And no one with real magic doesn't like to talk about it!
It's just annoying when you believe the person isn't g oing to actually do any work to try to do that themselves, and is only "sizing up the competition".
We see that over and over and over and over....
Here's what Carlos wanted us to do, and wrote about it in a book that was only bound in copy store format.
It got ignored by our community, but it was his parting instructions.
So do what's in "Silent Knowledge", and here's how much fun you can have, doing it.
Silent Knowledge is "seeing", but Carlos got tired of no one realizing you can't "see" unless you can get silent.
You had Tai Chi people claiming they could see.
And all sorts of bad men pretending their results, thinking no one could call them out on it.
"Seeing" is VERY real. You can see anywhere in time and space, tot anything any human has ever known, and maybe a little of what they will know, in the future.
We're kind of fuzzy on the whole future thing.
But maybe that's because it's always in movement.
There's a link to the silent knowledge publication somewhere in the wiki.
See those portals towards the end?
You get to leap into those, for hours if you like.
See the magical objects?
You get to pull them down from the air and use them to do other cool things.
But you can't skip any steps on that path you see below.
There's no shortcut to SK (Silent Knowledge).
And no Yogi, Buddha, Daoist, Kabbalist, or Magick person has ever even gotten close to it.
Those are all fake.
>You seem to have been sent her by our enemies, a specialized type of Inorganic being (spirit) which feasts on human awareness.
We make human awareness unpalatable to them, so they constantly try to take us down.
After all, do you believe in the existence of flyers or not? We don't even know if our enemies exist or not. Why don't you ask SK one night about their existence and how to see them? It seems better than asking about how to work with scissors
I don't think it's quite as simple as "do they exist or not".
In fact, nothing at all exists but awareness and the emanations.
And I don't yet have the ability to ask questions of SK.
You're thinking too much "show biz".
Or "superman".
I'm not sure which.
But certainly pretending oriented.
Sorcery takes a very very long time to master to the point that you can control it.
You have to have an absolutely "clean link to intent".
Meaning, you need to be 100% empty. So you can retain just one idea at a time, to see how that plays out in the emanations in the absence of anything else to stir them up.
We just get "shows" at first. Accidentally triggered magic.
Or "previews" if you like. Intent gifts to keep you motivated to keep exploring.
They're like lessons from a powerful sorcery teacher, with you as the apprentice.
Copying how seers have always learned in the past.
So when you get serious, you begin to get one show after the other during darkroom or womb dreaming practice, but never being able to duplicate them yourself when you want to.
That is in fact HOW you learn! By being frustrated with magic you can't control.
Even as far out as "Silent Knowledge" that will happen.
Carlos complained at one point during an interview in the 70s, that on his own he could never get anything to happen.
I think meaning, he couldn't prove anything to anyone.
Only when don Juan was around did magic happen.
We're stuck with that too.
Because that's how people always learned in the past.
HOWEVER, I did see a flier once.
Using silentt knowledge.
It was a perfect match for what Carlos described in private classes.
Which ought to cast some doubt on it.
Silent Knowledge is NOT Silent Truth.
It's just knowledge.
And a SK lecture on what a flier looks like, could easily be a 3D model of what Carlos described, right there in the air in front of you.
it even had the big tongue Carlos imitated for us, licking your toes.
Here's an interesting question.
Does the assemblage point actually exist?
Don Juan didn't say that. He just said that the old seers "conceived of it".
So now it's real.
But humanity also "conceived" of God.
So you can visit him.
Don't make the mistake of believing "the truth is out there".
Yes, it is.
But is it true?
Only an advanced sorcerer could even begin to try to answer that question.
And in the end I suspect they'd say, "We can't know that. We're just not that intelligent."
You aren't middle eastern are you?
I've had problems with persistent middle easterners who just won't go away, thinking they can use me to answer questions for some magical scheme they have.
One wanted me to ask about the Jinn, or something bizarre like that. Or ask the Allies if they can do something the Jinn can do.
We finally made a policy in private chat, that if anyone asked you to do something they ought to learn to do themselves, you should never agree.
Because it only indicated they were a bit unhinged or dangerous.
The women in here of course, already knew that. I suppose men are always trying to get them to do something odd, for dubious purposes.
That middle easterner got tossed out, got a new user name, and snuck back in twice. "Willing Brick" I believe, was one of his names.
A willing brick in the wall???
He made it so that the mods are now distrustful of middle easterners in general with the theory being that their culture obsesses them with authority figures. And with giving their own authority over to their prophets or gurus, so that they themselves have no responsibility for what they do.
Brick man could never get it through his head that all of us are lucky to have any real magic at all, and certainly no one has casual control over it yet.
And that the implication it ought to behave like fake movie magic and fake "Prophets" is truly offensive.
We just need to be grateful we have any at all.
Since no one else does.
Yes, I am from the Middle East. That person was probably just a lazy person who wanted someone else to do his work. You know that there are many lazy people everywhere and we Middle Easterners are no different from others. But I am not a lazy person.
But you have a prejudice that magic is immediately accessible to anyone who learns to do it, instead of realizing that real magic is a very long road, and there's not even a guarantee you'll get to the end of it.
You also haven't deduced the nature of reality. Hopefully you'll study more and begin to understand.
Magic is too "story book" to you.
So you ask questions which don't even take into account what's written in the 17 books and publications Carlos and the witches put out.
Most people didn't read them, so no offense meant.
But if you had, you're realize that don Juan and Silvio Manuel both messed up with Silent Knowledge, in the case of Carlos and La Gorda.
Even after spending 3 hours in Silent Knowledge, with Carlos right there in front of them naked, in the dark, standing in a washer tub of ice water.
They were trying to "see" him in more detail.
But failed.
Carlos and La Gorda weren't at all what the lineage needed in order to reproduce itself.
Resulting in the end of that 400+ year old sorcery lineage.
Which was fortunate for us!
There's also another case where Carlos asks don Juan what he'd do if someone with a rifle were waiting to kill him along the path he was walking.
That his sorcery couldn't overcome a rifle!
Don Juan said, "Then I simply won't come around."
Carlos was also suffering from the "Superman" complex, thinking don Juan had to either be invincible, or impotent.
As if there's no in-between.
I suspect that attitude is taught to middle easterners.
So don Juan said, "If there's something that my seeing can't reach, then that's my fate.
Saints and Prophets who are invincible and infallible are simply made up beings. Designed by a religion, for stealing money from others.
There's nothing made up in this subreddit.
Here's another example of culture prejudice making it more difficult to learn sorcery.
We get to see thousands pass through here each year, so we've learned quite a bit.
The Thai are a big problem. They love mysticism and magic, and if you visit Bangkok be sure to locate the Spirit Dolls so you can understand the extent of their interest in magic. The dolls contain the remains of aborted fetuses so that their soul which has no Karma, and thus cannot enter heaven, is obligated to help the owner of the doll in order to earn passage into the afterlife.
Jackie Chan himself wears a fetal bone amulet.
The Thai seem promising to us in here.
But they're utterly brainwashed by the most religious and delusional form of Buddhism.
Nothing will get them to wake up and see, no Buddhist monk has any super powers at all.
It's all made up to steal money.
I sort of goaded the last one to look around, and ask himself why no one was demonstrating or could do any of the magic that Buddhists claim.
Instead of realizing there's the internet now, and the absolute absence of anything convincing out there, as opposed to this subreddit which is loaded to the gills with magic and how to do it, he concluded he simply wasn't "worthy" yet to see magic, so the Rinpoches were making him meditate years more until they'd let him learn some.
My theory: No Thai born male who still lives there will ever put in the work to learn in this subreddit.
Let me continue.
Asian martial arts are a total fraud.
But it took some South American martial arts (Gracey Jiu Jitsu) to expose the ineffectiveness of all Asian martial arts.
Even so, some Chinese "masters" got old and delusional, and challenged an MMA fighter.
Who beat all of them in seconds.
It's on Youtube.
The Chinese used to believe their Kung Fu masters were the real thing but with proof they can't even fight a full minute, and can't land any blows, that's changing.
>You seem to have been sent her by our enemies, a specialized type of Inorganic being (spirit) which feasts on human awareness.
We make human awareness unpalatable to them, so they constantly try to take us down.
After all, do you believe in the existence of flyers or not? We don't even know if our enemies exist or not. Why don't you ask SK one night about their existence and how to see them? It seems better than asking about how to work with scissors
just think it's important to note that vipassana 10 day retreats are free and not-for-profit.
Just to be sure, is "feeling good" all that this practice can do for you? If so, it seems that you don't really understand anything about Castaneda, nor Inner Silence...
Yes, perhaps I don't know anything, but how can anyone else speak about my inner peace?
Because it's total nonsense make believe.
Designed to get attention, instead of real magic and actual knowledge of reality.
You got hoodwinked. Tricked. Taken in.
And didn't even bother to look around in here, it seems.
Because the bliss/inner peace is just a begginer's thing, it happens literally at the beggining of the J-curve, just as you leave the blue line and enter into green line. I understadn why you think so, to you it feels impressive, but it's really not a big deal. You think so probably because you lack references of what is possible beyond that.
You started feeling energy with meditation after 7 years of practise, but with tensegrity you can feel energy after a month of practise. That should explain all about those teachings.
Everyone is different. If you're looking for the fastest way, go ahead. It's not for you.
Not the fastest, but the one that works! that was the point.
So what is worked out for you? Can you share?
Tensegrity, recapitulation, gazing, shutting off inner dialoge, all techniques works when you really try and do daily. And it takes time.
I mean what workout for you, you said going so fast, where are you now?
Still a beginner, but practicing everyday, learning to shout off inner dialogue, all techniques worked for me at that beginner level, felt energy, all kinds of sensations, clarity of mind, peacefullness, i'm struggling but i enjoy it, and my body and spirit enjoys it.
You need to read the books again and let what you are reading sink in even if it doesn't make sense. All the lessons are in there. It seems to me like you are overhanging things, which I also did when approaching this page. I thought of a million different ways to respond to the mods shitting on me. But instead I kept reading the books and learned how to shut the fuck up instead of talking all the time. The question is, do you want to know the real you or do you want to feel a false sense of peacefulness?
Trust me dawg, if you do what I say, you will be back here in no time and you will understand.
I felt the effects of tensegrity immediately...qigong I have been doing and still doing (I like the calisthenics part) for years...barely felt anything.
i feel like people confuse having a modicum of mental health with something "spiritual"
when you can sit there and simply be happy for no reason, i think that was normal for our ancestors. you dont have any urges to talk to the guy next to you or whip out your phone or whatever, you can sit there and look at a rock and not be bored
i think tabdrops said the other day that thats because you have more concentration, so maybe its concentration rather than "energy" related
but anyways, people mistake that feeling for something deeper and they never gain any real knowledge
weve seen it so much in here were kinda ruthless to you guys now, make no mistake though, this is the real deal
btw i found this place the same way, i posted something here about sexual energy thinking this place was just another nice place to take a dump on and the mods left it up anyways and later i realized my mistake
I feel the most compassion from your post compared to all the ones above. It's a bit confusing for me. I tried to translate it into my language and still feel a little lost in translation. But apart from that, thank you for your opinion; it left something good inside me.
Compassion is overrated.
Very often people come here and show the similarities of some other practice/religion telling that they are the same or very similar. We even have people believing that they can help us to "synthesise" our practices with some other practice.
This can't be done. The practices and the INTENT of the practices are very different and they can never be "similar" or "merge".
What your practice does has nothing in common with what we do here and what the goal is here.
Merging sounds a bit offensive in my ears for our sorcery with Buddhism stuff.
I know well because Ι used to practice meditation with my secret mantra that the chosen representative of Maharishi or/and of Deepak Chopra(?)( it's been many years and I don't remember) In my country gave me.
We were doing collective meditations and what not.
I would see colours and he would tell me to let that go and focus deeper on the mantra, untill I don't know if I'm breathing or not, lol. I was considered advanced.
He is a respected figure that owns one of the greatest psychotherapy foundations in the country and a guru with many titles. The goal was to lose the feeling of my body and get immersed on the power of the mantra. And you call that the ultimate goal? This is enlightenment for you guys.
I can assure you that what you have as a gained skill is merely the surface of what we do here. As it is every meditation accomplishment.
Thanks for the kind words. However, to me, it seems like you're fixated on the text's title and haven't taken the time to consider the difference between your experience and this meditation.
I did but maybe it's not obvious how similar they are.
These experiences are very similar to mine in the meditation I used to do. To be fair I merely practiced for a month before I got bored of it.
Your gains from years of practice are less than the gains of someone that does darkroom practice seriously for a month.
This alone is enough to understand why we do not accept Buddhist teachings here.
So you don't accept the Buddhist technique here because it's boring for you and yields fewer gains? To be honest, I posted this because I saw the Buddhist flair, and I thought this was a Buddha-friendly community. And as I remember, Castaneda did meditation a few times in the mountains, but somehow I can't recall any dark rooms.
Carlos Never did meditation anywhere. We have all the books, all the notes of his lectures, we have people that attended his classes and was in the inner circle with him and the witches. So I can say that with 1000% certainty that this claim is just cringe.
In the mountains he went with Don Juan and he was getting lessons there learning to move his Assemblage point . Something that will never happen with meditation.
He did what we do here throughout all the books. We don't do only Darkroom. But he did practice gazing in a darkroom and moving his assemblage point with the guidance of a sorceress from the lineage. You can find it I think in the "Eagle's Gift" book.
Darkroom is a combination of practices( tensegrity and gazing in the dark) that move our assemblage point without the need of a nagual.
Buddhism is cozy, saintly, love and light, you don't have to struggle/ discipline/ get over yourself and gives no results into exploring the unknown and go beyond being human into freedom.
Real life evolution and the unknown are nothing like that. You should read the books again.
To make you a proper analogy, It's like you say that you gain muscles from walking 10meters a day to bodybuilders. It's boring and a bit offensive.
Tell me what is so interesting about your practises?
You have to get hooked to the intent to really appreciate what we do here.
The fact that practising makes my assemblage point moves and I experience things beyond human logic is just enough. Not only me, many people here.
But the catch is that I let go of my mind and I redeploy important energy from useless places to make that happen. That is what the practices do. If I go into further explanations It will get very mental and I don't want to.
You can read posts from peoples experience to get a glimpse about the practices. Wiki is full of useful information and posts.
Of course if you choose to practice seriously you can see it for yourself . And understand why we are so serious.
I got bored and asked ChatGPT what Vipassana was. I wanted to know exactly how bad off our new guy is in his thinking. I still secretly hope there's some other magical system out there which has something to offer.
But instead I couldn't believe how ludicrous the idea is that THIS would help you learn sorcery. It is in fact, the exact opposite of sorcery!
I hope you guys can see through this in a few seconds. It's just an attention seeking make believe system. Where they pretend to "see what's really there", but in fact just become greedy guru bastards. Like this man:
Question: What is Vipassana?
ChatGPT:
Vipassana, which means "to see things as they really are", is one of India's most ancient techniques of meditation. It was rediscovered by Gautama Buddha more than 2500 years ago and was taught by him as a universal remedy for universal ills, i.e., an Art of Living.
Key Features:1. Objective Observation:
Body Sensations: After mastering awareness of breath, practitioners observe sensations throughout the body, understanding their impermanence.
Mindfulness:
Vipassana emphasizes mindfulness, being fully aware and present in the moment.
Observing thoughts and sensations without attachment or aversion.
Equanimity:
Developing a balanced mental state, not reacting to pleasant or unpleasant sensations.
Maintaining composure and balance of mind in all situations.
Silence and Solitude:
Vipassana retreats usually involve periods of silence, avoiding any form of communication with fellow meditators.
This solitude and silence help to deepen the practice and allow intense focus.
Ethical Living:
Practitioners adhere to a code of ethics which includes non-violence, truthfulness, and abstaining from intoxicants.
These ethical guidelines help in reducing mental agitation and facilitate calmness and concentration.
Impermanence:
The concept of "Anicca" or impermanence is central to Vipassana - understanding that all sensations, thoughts, and phenomena are transient.
Benefits:
Vipassana Retreats:
Conclusion:
Vipassana is a profound technique that seeks to eliminate mental impurities, resulting in the highest happiness and freedom. While it is deeply rooted in Buddhist teachings, Vipassana is universal and applicable to people of all faiths and cultural backgrounds. It is a method of mental purification through self-observation and mindfulness, leading to balanced and liberated living.
Follow up question:
So how come it never works?
ChatGPT:
Head explodes. But politely.
It's nice that you take the time to explore Vipassana, even with a skeptical mind. To be honest with myself, I don't follow any gurus or Buddhist teachings. A friend-teacher who introduced me to this meditation because he knew I had an open mind. He showed me a non-sectarian meditation form that I could practice. In Vipassana, I didn't encounter any greedy gurus. All the teachers conduct courses for free, and you're free to go. You can pay after completing the course, and you can contribute as much as you can or want.
I remember one person who couldn't continue the course because he was a drug addict and was disturbing others. He wanted to donate money, but the teacher didn't accept it because donations should come from people who understand the teachings. I don't understand why you're so critical, especially towards Vipassana gurus who don't actually exist.
I know this practice is not the final answer, and I'm still searching for answers, no matter where they may leadI'm fully aware that Vipassana isn't the ultimate answer, and I'm still on a quest for understanding, regardless of where it leads. Recently, I discovered the Theravada way of Vipassana and the line of forest monks, possibly one of the purest forms of Buddha's teachings. I don't know much about it, but it originates from Sri Lanka. In the coming years, I may consider exploring this path as well.
Here are some useful links:
Vipassana Prison Documentary
Vipassana Review
I can't say for certain if Vipassana is the ultimate goal, but, for now, I haven't found anything better. Vipassana is considered one of the most challenging practices in Buddhism, which is why many people either give up or seek shortcuts with gurus.
if you cant fix others, then it's best not to harm them either.
You really don't belong in here if you can't see this is the absolute opposite of sorcery.
And please stop appealing to self pity in here?
That's the second time. I let it pass the first, hoping you'd wise up.
We're only here to teach sorcery. Nothing else! Not to make friends, not to be inclusive, and CERTAINLY not to respect all opinions.
Another of your total misunderstandings.
This is the only place in the world left with real magic. We have hundreds of spies looking all over the internet, and can't find any.
We get 3 like you on average per week, trying to take it down for their own attention seeking purposes.
And we can't survive if we have to please every invader whose "contributions" seek to bury it with obvious pretending, and who try to use social pressure to get their way.
Just go away. You don't need to be in here.
There's a couple of fake Castaneda subreddits, started by people who got kicked out of here.
Go over there.
People in chat can tell you where you can post your stuff and no one will notice what horrible nonsense it is.
I was already past this post, but as we can see, you couldn't stop yourself and posted again about Vippasana. If you don't know how to control your mind and throw some coded words like "creekhead" and don't know what a normal discussion is, please don't reply to this message, and I will disappear. It seems you are using your language like Cable Knight, thinking that no one will harm you. Possibly, your character does not exist in real life.
I have a more nuanced view of this compared to Dan having been born into the Buddhist tradition, specifically Tibetan Buddhism. I've also studied and practiced other forms and non-denominational of Buddhist meditation in the past.
And yes, I have personally seen genuinely good teachers who do not care for money or attention. They teach the Buddhist path with altruistic passion and absolute conviction that the teachings lead to an objective non-biased view of reality.
But hold on here...
So what?
So what if they can attain states of oneness where all mental aggregates are purified and they are able to abide in a calm tranquility (or what they say "the clear light")? The lofty Buddhist goal is "mastery of the mind", the "complete and utter end of suffering" and of "seeing reality for what it is", but our point of view here is 'SO WHAT'?? We do not view "enlightenment" as some kind of lofty goal but merely a side effect of our practice. Quieting the mind produces "enlightenment". So what? Does that mean Buddhist masters can transcend the limitations of physicality? Does that cause them to be able to perceive that which cannot be explained, not even metaphorically? Does that allow them to see that no, impermanence is not the ultimate nature of reality and that awareness flowing through infinite eternal emanations is all that really exists?
No
So now you can see how diametrically opposed our path is to Buddhism even though many elements seem to align. Key word "seem". Our aim is not simply to be content and "free" in this world but to be truly free: we seek to perceive all that which exists, not just the infinitesimally small slice of all that is out there which we know as consensus reality (which Buddhism is part of). We do not seek to simply become pacified in ONE, singular description of the world. We seek to remove that description/view altogether.
What we aim for cannot be explained, has nothing to do with this world of consensus reality and certainly has absolutely no basis in "compassion for all sentient beings". Again, these are all concepts of the world we know.
We seek that which is beyond humanity all together. And in doing so, attain true freedom, freedom of perception.
I completely agree with you, and I'd like to share more information about this aspect of the Buddha's path.
Buddha's ultimate achievement was to burn himself in inner fire, preventing the 'house creator' from taking his karmic roots and reincarnating his body. When one reaches Nibbana, they can transcend the realm of mind and matter, and if they choose, return at will. There were many more Buddhas after him.
In Buddhism, side effects include various perceptual changes, the development of magical powers, and more. In your situation, it seems you prefer these effects as the primary goal rather than as byproducts. Many dedicated Buddhists possess these abilities, but they typically keep them hidden, as they don't wish to attract attention or become entertainers for the masses, especially children. There are books about Buddhism that outline different power levels, with each level describing what you are capable of and what may hinder your progress to the next level.
From my experience at the Vipassana retreat, the initial milestones are to achieve 'Banga,' which involves the complete dissolution of the body and a deep understanding of solitude. The second milestone is to enter the realm of direct experience of the outer mind and matter for a period of time. I once spoke to an elderly meditator who claimed to have attained glimpses of Nibbana. He expressed great enthusiasm about the profound knowledge he had within him as a result.
Glimpses. The issue being that fleeting experiences don’t allow for the proper evaluation of what is actually going on, a condition which then inevitably mutates into invented dogma.
We need to be repeatedly immersed in the unknown to wash all traces of self away, and get to the core of what we actually are.
I wanted to write about my experiences, elaborate on my beliefs, and how Vipassana helped me with Castaneda exercises to find energy spots, recapitulation, and lucid dreaming. However, it somehow feels like it would lead nowhere, and this might not be the right place for sharing.
So, I probably need to change the direction of my messages and ask you a question. If you claim to know what works, I'm curious. I've tried some Castaneda practices, probably not all of them.
Could you please tell me what the best practice is and provide a link?
https://reddit.com/r/castaneda/w/introduction-practices
Darkroom
I will take my time to check that information; it's a lot. But it's not so well-documented. Like the darkroom, I read it for an hour and didn't understand what's the point about it besides some lights and some strange walls; I don't get the point.
Secondly, I didn't say that you need to drop Castaneda's practices, but rather it's possible to implement meditation in practices, and that's completely the same with the dark room situation; you guys just made this thing up.
Thirdly, you're comparing meditation to:
It's not okay to claim that meditation is not working when you're trying to compare so many practices. If you genuinely want to compare, provide me with only one practice or one exercise pose that is significantly superior to meditation and truly claim that it is working.
I'm not doing any more work for you.
Make your choice.
If and when you decide to seriously practice this path, understand why it is that we generally disallow discussion on techniques from other traditions and systems.
The key is intent. Carlos said that one reason why this world of consensus reality appears to be so rigidly inescapable is because 8 billion+ other humans continuously reinforce a specific view of the world through their nonstop internal dialogue. The internal dialogue ceaselessly referencing things OF this world reinforces a view of a solid, cohesive and linear world. The combined force of that intent is so strong, it's a miracle there can even a be way to escape that pull. And I don't mean escape as in become a "master of mind" aka "Master of internal dialogue" like the Buddhists, I mean escape as in become a "master of having no internal dialogue whatsoever". The result of that is the restoration of our natural ability to perceive all that is out there, divorced of concepts like karma and reincarnation (which are things FROM this world).
Therefore it makes no sense to try practicing other paths at the same time because why would you want to make it harder to be free? You shackle yourself to the intent of 1 billion+ Buddhists which will make practice that much harder. Our intent, while extremely powerful, is 10,000 years old with not many practicing it today. We can't afford any distractions if we want to align to this extremely potent intent!
Or you can try doing gazing with a Buddhist mindset like Daniel Ingram, the self proclaimed "arhat". While controversial, I have no doubt that he has truthfully attained the deepest states of meditative absorption and caught the glimpse of "nibbana". But look at his progress, he seems awfully excited to be able to perceive puffs and rudimentary forms of inorganic beings with his eyes open and wide awake. This guy is an authority on Buddhism and advanced meditation, excited to experience beginner level stuff in our path. And Ingram is no lazy practitioner, he's known to be extremely dedicated, putting in 12+ hours of "intense concentration" fire kasina per session and decades of advanced meditation experience as a prerequisite JUST to experience basic puffs? For how hard he works, he could have easily reached the end of the j-curve not long after he started trying to perceive magic. The fact that he's treading water while being a super hard works tells you what you need to know about mixing intent. That insistence on viewing his experiences through a Buddhist mindset does nothing but pull him back.
Ask about stream entry and arhatship, which is Daniel Ingram's "path". THAT would probably make Chat GPT's head explode.
what is Stream entry and arhatship, which is Daniel Ingram's "path"?
ChatGPT: Stream entry and arhatship are stages of spiritual realization or awakening within the Theravada Buddhist tradition. These stages represent significant milestones on the path towards enlightenment. Daniel Ingram, a controversial figure in the meditation community, is known for his writings and teachings on these stages.
Stream Entry (Sotapanna):
Stream entry is considered the first stage of enlightenment in Theravada Buddhism. It represents a fundamental transformation in one's understanding and experience of reality.
Stream-enterers are believed to be guaranteed to attain full enlightenment (arhatship) within a maximum of seven lifetimes.
Arhatship (Arhat):
Arhatship is the final stage of enlightenment in Theravada Buddhism. An arhat is one who has attained complete liberation from suffering and the cycle of birth and death (samsara).
In summary, while Daniel Ingram's teachings may present an alternative or expedited path to awakening, it's crucial to approach these teachings with an open mind and discernment. The effectiveness of any meditation approach depends on various factors, including one's disposition, commitment, and the guidance received. If you are interested in exploring his teachings, it may be worthwhile to consult experienced meditation teachers and practitioners for guidance and to ensure that you're progressing in a balanced and wholesome way.
Well, it didn't say something so different from what's in Vippasana. Prably, she finds some good corner cuttings.
We have someone in chat trying to commit suicide by switching to Ingram, because darkroom is too hard for them. They tried gazing first.
But not seriously enough to realize what a death trap Ingram is for people.
He's the new chicken coop, just outside the main chicken coop in which all of humanity is imprisoned for food.
If you try to escape, they peck you on the head until you die.
Like our guy here does.
The chickens don't want anyone to escape.
If you do, then there's a new prison waiting outside.
Such as a chicken coop with little thrones to sit on, where you can lay eggs in all your glory.
Buddhism and Hinduism are both such prisons.
I just realized that when Minx and Fairy were chasing you around the Bangkok hotel, in the time period when you had to escape them using a cold bath, that was like a scene in the books when don Juan kept getting attacked by zombies every night so Julian instructed him to dig a hole in the ground to sleep in to stop getting attacked.
I don't recall that story, but there was a similar one with La Gorda.
Except they were different phenomena.
The Allies were sent to one private class by Carlos, likely with instructions.
But La Gorda picked up the "intent" of some old seers from a relic, so they came after her with their own plans.
Likely to scare her to death.
My theory is that at the moment of death the luminous shell cracks open, and they have access to someone's energy.
But until then it's "sealed".
And only the death defier knew how to open it before death.
As far as we know.
So don't play with relics like that, once you are capable of moving your assemblage point.
Or, fight back!
I'd love to have old seers come after me.
They couldn't possibly match Cholita's fury.
Is fern gazing inherently the best way, in your experience?
Or I'm thinking about using a mirror, or staring at a picture of somebody's face with my eyes half shut, because the brain would know how to process it better.
I mean the human brain would have an easier time forming a second attention face, because we would have evolved to recognize and process other faces. Except you have prosopagnosia. But we didn't evolve to turn ferns into images.
It's the misalignment of the eyes, putting unrelated darkness and light spots from the fern together as if that were the "surface", which makes ferns good.
But La Gorda gazed at piles of leaves and Cholita finds a nice dried leaf which has bent into a sphere and hangs it on fishing line where she can sit in her garden on a lounge chair under an umbrella and gazes at that.
Taisha recommended laying on your back on the grass and gazing up at the blue sky, looking for the "worms" that form from plant dust fibers which get on your eyeball.
I like to gaze at asphalt as I walk along a safe path where no cars will come, while forcing silence to nosebleed levels. I also look for "eye dust" the way Taisha recommended.
But since the eye dust is moving along over the asphalt view, the second attention assumes it's something flying.
That results in dream characters materializing to "explain" why there's something flying along slightly above the ground.
Stuff as complicated as a little man in an air balloon, working the controls to steer his ship.
Carlos (using his Ally) could gaze at the sparkling ripples on water, and travel on them.
The "second attention" sights are what matters.
And they don't have to just stay there.
You can enter them too.
The main thing is NEVER THINK YOU ARE EARNING MAGIC WITH YOUR EFFORTS!
It's not a religion or a fake magical system where all the leaders want is for you to stick around and keep giving them money. So they tell you to be patient.
Don't.
It's a fight to the death, to find magic.
No magic means your silence levels are poor, and gazing won't do you any good.
Except to the extent you learn more and more about how to remove the internal dialogue.
Here's a 3D picture you can use to learn to cross the eyes, and see the hands of the woman coming right out at you.
It's a lot easier with something as complicated as a fern because there are many "misalignments" of the eyes which lock in to a surface. Even if that surface is not real.
I've not done the nosebleed "trick", but "eyes pop out of your skull silence" seems like a possibility. Eyes . . .
Well, that's one of the main points of gazing.
The nosebleed trick means, you don't let your attention waver for even an instant.
Or words will pop into the mind.
So it's a "pure" form of hellish torture. Perhaps it's like bamboo shoots up the finger nails.
Gazing is different. Your attention is focused on the thing you are gazing at. It's more like one of those "Cop Buddies" movies where they're questioning the suspect at the police station with a light shining in his eyes.
Torture, but lesser torture.
So you don't as much have to force the internal dialogue off. You can just "gently" try to remove it, as long as you are still staring at the object of your gazing.
Thus, I suppose it's easier for most people, and so "faster".
But Chair Silence is also very fast.
It's just that it never brings out your double into the real copy of the world.
So it's ultimately going to require crossing the 4th gate.
Which is very difficult.
Darkroom crosses the 4th gate as soon as you get to the red zone.
Maybe instead of an educational video on Gazing, I'll make one on "the paths to sorcery knowledge", and cover gazing, recap, chair silence (Nyei's preference?) and darkroom.
Leaving out Tensegrity, since that never worked for anyone.
Outside being the main part of darkroom.
Naturally, "Running around on mountains" is no path.
Once in a while some bad man will come "let me know" there's a group of sorcerers out there, running around in the mountains.
It always turns out they were one of them.
And the whole lot is trying to set up a new franchise for themselves.
By running around the mountains...
One guy carried heavy rocks to the top. That was his magic. To be a "rock bearer".
I can only imagine how he got that job.
Even the pretend sorcerers couldn't stand him, so they gave him a "special" task?
But he believed it! Insisted he was half eskimo, so I ought to stop telling people wrong things about shamanism.
Rock bearer?
I was relieved when Techno found a quote that said what we all already knew.
Shamans are assholes.
They COULD change their ways.
How to is right in here.
But they won't, because they're bad players like everyone else.
Especially the Native American ones, who 90% of the time aren't doing their tribes traditional form of shamanism.
Which is typically rather silly. You can't really criticize their "real thing", but it's certainly not something anyone with any sense would want to learn, unless they were involved in preserving their traditions.
Unfortunately, the truth is that most Mesoamerican shamanism was modified as soon as the books of Carlos became popular.
I watched it with my own eyes, as a child of 9-12 years old.
Tribe after tribe in southern California had young members pretending they had what Carlos wrote about, all along.
When they didn't.
And then they'd complain about Carlos, all the while stealing from his books.
And seemingly none of them even had a clue that it was all just left over Olmec Shamanism.
Defunct long ago when the rituals and Allies were lost.
All they have now is the drugs and a bunch of silly costumes.
What is similar to carlos castaneda and vippasana meditation?
ChatGPT: Carlos Castaneda's writings and Vipassana meditation are quite distinct in terms of their origins, practices, and goals. However, there are some aspects in which they share common ground or similarities:
It's important to note that the similarities between Castaneda's work and Vipassana meditation are more in terms of broad, abstract concepts like mindfulness, awareness, and inner transformation. The specific practices, methodologies, and cultural contexts are substantially different:
While there may be some shared philosophical concepts, the practices and traditions are fundamentally distinct. Vipassana meditation is a well-documented and respected meditation technique, while Castaneda's work is more open to interpretation and skepticism.
what is Carlos Castaneda ultimate goal?
ChatGPT: Carlos Castaneda was an author known for his controversial and highly influential series of books based on his experiences with a Yaqui Indian shaman named Don Juan Matus. These books, often referred to as the "Carlos Castaneda series," are primarily classified as a mix of anthropology, ethnography, and spiritual exploration. Castaneda claimed to have undergone various shamanic experiences and teachings during his interactions with Don Juan.
The ultimate goal of Carlos Castaneda, as portrayed in his writings, is somewhat elusive and has been a subject of debate and interpretation. While the books offer a mixture of metaphysical, spiritual, and shamanic ideas, Castaneda's work doesn't present a clear and singular ultimate goal. Instead, it explores various themes and concepts, including:
It's important to note that Castaneda's works are controversial and have been criticized for their authenticity and the accuracy of the accounts of his experiences. Some scholars and experts in anthropology and Native American studies have questioned the factual nature of his writings and whether Don Juan was a real person or a fictional character.
Ultimately, the ultimate goal in Castaneda's works is subject to interpretation and remains a matter of personal perspective. Readers and scholars have drawn different conclusions from his writings, with some viewing them as valuable spiritual and philosophical insights and others as works of fiction or a blend of both.
What is Vippasana Ultimate goal?
ChatGPT: The ultimate goal of Vipassana meditation, which is a central practice within the Buddhist tradition, is the attainment of enlightenment and liberation from suffering. This ultimate goal is often described in Buddhist terms as the realization of Nirvana (Pali: Nibbana), which represents a state of complete freedom from suffering and the cycle of birth and death (samsara).
Here are some key aspects of the ultimate goal of Vipassana:
It's important to note that the ultimate goal of Vipassana meditation is deeply rooted in Buddhist philosophy and is considered a profound and transformative spiritual realization. While the specific experiences and interpretations of this goal may vary among different Buddhist traditions and individuals, the core objective remains the same: the cessation of suffering and the attainment of enlightenment.
Typical of a Buddhism seeker!
Appealing to a higher authority, when you're clearly busted for pretending.
Ingram even came here to do that, after I called him out on a Youtube channel.
Or he sent his daughter to protect himself.
That's also common.
Get someone with more power to do it.
A woman.
🤮🤢 Definitely not.
After completing the course, it is recommended to engage in daily personal practice. Once a year, consider going on a retreat. There are different centers where you can reserve a private space for meditation if you prefer solitude.
I've heard that practicing entirely alone can feed one's ego. Whatever is resonating within you will eventually manifest whether you are alone or at a retreat.
I am not consider going anywhere 😂 have fun