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paradox, i definitely agree with you in regard to our "global spiritual culture"...it's an amazing time we live in i will say again, that a mind entrapped in dualism cannot conceive of non-dualism...there is absolutely no point in trying....it will never, ever work....it is a philosophy only and not an experiential basis of truth. i think I forgot to say that I really like and respect Tolle? to say there is no technique - what can i say...this is typical neo-advaita speak...in this day and age, how can i stress this more?? we have to work a whole fucking lot harder than that....the sort of subtle, instant turn-around of consciousness that occurs by listening only to the words of an awakened teacher, i honestly thing is a rare and unlikely event in this time. the great spiritual geniuses of the past didn't just have a little mental 'pop' where a few words transformed their entire perception of reality....they often went through hell (because their transformation was highly accelerated) ! that is dark night territory....how many get to bypass that? i would certainly like to know!! maybe we are talking about the difference between real spiritual awakening and just feeling a bit more connected to everyone and the trees and life around us. Tolle says again and again, that him being in the room & talking about "it" is totally pointless....his teachings are just a finger pointing to the moon...I totally get that he gets it. At the same time, I feel like there is only 1 in 1000 people that will read/attend a teaching by Tolle and get the 'click' in the transformation of consciousness...and again 1 in 1000 of those people for whom that is enough to awaken into non-duality...those few have been ripe for a long time. for the rest, it is awakening into possibility, and is largely intellectual, which, of course, is a fine place to start. One of the major aspects of Tolle's teachings is opening the minds of Christians. if you look at spiritual traditions where there are enlightenment events...even the awakening isn't that simple....the mind blows out, and the bliss can carry on for days, weeks or months, but then there's such a strong current for it to pull back in again....they have to keep practicing, keep hearing teaching, keep receiving shaktipat (energetic transmissions from the guru), keep reading the non-dual texts, etc. so i think we're talking about different things. almost a form of cbt. not paying any attention to the negative aspects of ourselves 'ego' and instead giving all attention and presence to the divine 'joy' 'stillness' within us all. the issue i have with this is --- "good luck" ... how many people can just hear Tolle's voice, have it all make sense, and then just drop it (ego). If the average person can just hear some nice words that intellectually make sense and from that moment on "give attention only to presence, joy and stillness" - that is who I am talking about who is already 'ripe'. For the rest of us normal folk, you have to put in the effort, the work, the hours!! I think it's deluded, lazy, and quick-fix "Westernized" to think otherwise. The weird thing is that it's total application and total letting go, at once. Complete dedication to practice but simultaneously completely free of desire or expectation for any result. but as far as philosophy & tricks for recognizing your own ignorance from moment to moment in everyday life then diversity is wonderful & for that reason i feel the issue you raised about Tolle is not as detrimental to the value of his work as it may seem I absolutely agree...his work is wonderful and I think it will be very interesting to see how it is perceived in the next 10-15 years I think my view is lost & unpopular again, so I should just shut up....online discussion of these things is pretty tricky

the issue I have with tolle's "neo-advaita" is that he doesn't offer technique. i feel like his books & talks engender/strengthen a resonance with people, especially those who are ripe to awakening...and take them to a certain stage...to become ready for the next teacher/teaching/level of understanding i think maybe he is a "bridge guru" i'm not sure if it's a flaw.....it's probably not, because i feel he knows what effect and purpose his 'teachings' have. eckhart must know that as a "world guru" he has a particular purpose to serve, and some severely restricted limitations but personally, i feel there are not too many people who are just ripe to awakening by hearing some conceptual teachings...his teachings all sound very nice, and challenge the conceptual framework the issue being that he doesn't teach a path ... which is typical of advaitists/neo-advaitists -- they teach that "I Am That" / "Thou Art That" -- don't bother with aspiring, just let concepts drop, because what we may strive to be -- is already our essence.... personally I feel this is fine for people who are already in the midst of realisation, who are 'ripe', or who are quite balanced, and some 'lucky' ones (frequently unlucky if you ask them personally) just chance upon it....but honestly, people in the midst of kundalini awakening are probably going to need a whole lot more help than Tolle's reassuring words...and people who are a few steps behind are going to need to apply a whole lot more effort...i.e. if you're not willing to put 45 mins - 1 - 2 hours per day into meditation (building up from 5-10-15-20 minutes, over weeks or many months, etc.) and some extra time into understanding various texts and teachings - I think: good luck, maybe you won't be so complacent in the next life. i don't bother posting in the meditation threads here much, because a heap of people will say that the amount of time meditating is not important, as long as you're "in the present" (well that's very nice, but that's the whole point of practice -- most people can't stay in the present for more than 2-10 seconds! you have to train that), or that real meditation occurs when the technique drops away (yes it does once the mind becomes calm and peaceful and unified), but i'm tired of hearing those myths sometimes. put in the effort, start entering the jhanas, at least soft jhanas, or developing some real insight beyond the personal/psychological level, and then let's start calling it meditation. the minimum level you can start calling it meditation is so-called "access concentration" -- then move on to insight. Neo-advaita as a philosophy or belief system is a total waste of time (imho) .... only the smallest portion of the populace will 'click' through by taking on these ideas....for the rest, it's *hard* work. The mind trapped in dualism can not adopt non-dualism in any other way than conceptually, and it is still an inferior, non-experiential understanding...which is basically no understanding at all.

that mantis pic! - hahaha still laughing

yum

these kids clearly don't have access to cooking sherry? or am i just highly unenvolved??

camphor (crude) is used in some indian religious festival desserts. only a pinch is used for 6-8 servings, otherwise it's overpowering/awful/toxic i too would love a cinnamon source...bark or leaves

a few used in Ayurveda that come to mind Vasa/vasaka, Adhatoda vasica: broncho dilatory, expectorant and mucolytic properties (contains vasicine/vasicinone) Kantakari, Solanum xanthocarpum: for cough, asthma and pains in the chest Karkatshringi, Pistacia integerrima (galls): alleviate coughs and edema in the lungs Pippali, Piper longum (long pepper): primarily used for cold, wet and 'mucusy' conditions of the lungs. Pippali encourages vasodilation and therefore increases circulation. asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia

I was in a car accident about a year ago and it took about 2-3 months (stupidly) to realise that my injuries were persistent and significant...probably because the accident was my fault (fatigued, I drove through a red-light looking for a street where I'd missed a turn off), I was feeling kind of guilty about it & thought/hoped it would resolve. My head got slammed pretty hard against the driver's door. The main damage seems to be tissue damage/inflammation at the sub-occipital region and sometimes I get burning pain in the SCM. Everything seems to be pretty text-book for trigger-point therapy - tenderness/pain in the traps at the chinese accupressure point GB-21 - refers pain over the top of my head, mostly to my eye (just the one side) but also through the side of my head sometimes into my ear. Applying pressure to these areas, when painful, helps a lot. Ibuprofen seems to work very well - relying on pharmaceuticals is a "new thing" for me ... the pain would go on for 3 days to a week..then one day I decide "I'll test some ibuprofen" -- it worked within an hour and then no pain for 3-5 days!! that's when I realised it was interrupting the inflammatory cycle....so naive ;-) when the injury flares up, it seems to make my mind very foggy/depressed? I can treat it with pressure to the sub-occipital, traps, and supraspinatus. When I have pressure applied to the traps I sometimes feel the foggy/heavy energy drain out of my head with a massive relief. I also get the same sensation after meditation sometimes...with a big cold flushing/draining sensation...that may be about posture more than anything "energetic" but it definitely feels like "emotion" is draining out at the same time - not sure how to describe it. My partner is getting a bit sick of me being addicted to massage & being picky about it being done right... it aggravates the SCM for me to position my arm to do it myself...I use a theracane most of the time & I do neck/traps stretches twice daily. Am just wondering what sort of treatments/therapies have been found successful or helpful? Any advice?

that's very interesting that you had lasting results green tea is about as hard-core as i get these days (yes, lame)...i really wouldn't consider something like that unless i was convinced that mind over matter plus better living through chemistry, etc, was the best way to go/last resort :-) i'm too skeptical now to start entertaining non-physical theories about the injury even though i can see some 20% of mental issues tied into it. i'm not sure how cactus would offer permanent results through an anti-inflammatory effect if there is tissue damage?

hmm I just spent 3 months in India and never once saw a public bin...I really am not sure what households do for waste disposal? every food place offers "mineral vater sir?" (meaning bottled water, which is usually a Pepsico product) because they know a westerner/middle-class indian will get sick/be upset about getting sick, or at least, be worried they might get sick. the price is stamped on the bottle, so it is one item where you'll never be over charged, unless it's mumbai. i hate chilled water, so i loved that in india they offer "cold or plain". i had to drink minimum 2 litres per day i assume i will look like a retard here when i ask for plain water. why is it that Aussie men need a neoprene stubbie holder so their beer can doesn't freeze their hand, yet they are willing to pour icy cold liquid down their esophagus? back to india -- plastic bottles accumulate on the road side, like dead rats & frogs in the open storm water drain-ways, and when the heaping tower is big & stinking & toxic & next-to-a-hospital enough, some intelligent person will come along at night and set the thing alight awesome gay emos pic, lol

MCBT is where it's at, I reckon...incognito, you might be interested to look at the australian MiCBT institute website, and research into treatment of drug/alcohol dependence...you'd probably also be interested to have a look at how the MBSR (mindfulness-based stress reduction) programs are run, by Jon Kabat-Zinn, et al, and the results (these programs have a really solid history). the participants are people that *really* need it, and really get results. (I think his book Full Catastrophe Living might be the best to look at) Yawning Man - amongst Buddhist meditation teachers (sorry to keep going on about Buddhism, if that's not your thing), they sometimes lump meditators into two groups, for the benefit of one distinction: anger types, and greed/sensory-craving types. It's just based on whichever habit is predominant. The meditation teachers *prefer* the anger types because they already realise how terribly shit anger makes them feel as it burns through the body/mind, and its sometimes tragic consequences, and so are much more willing & motivated to practice & change, whereas the sensory-craving types are still getting their little temporary "pay off" through their habitual tendencies, whether it be food, sex, drugs, whatever....so what am I rambling about?? Maybe that anger can be a good teacher? Perhaps it is far more valuable than complacency or despondency. Good luck PS treating the neurotransmitter balance side of things is smart. habits will still remain. addressing that *and* the the psychological side of things is "super smart". and in my experience/opinion, looking primarily at neurotransmitters can often only take you so far and possibly won't provide the same opportunities. (i don't disregard that there are many people who may have some psychological issues due mainly to some underlying physical imbalance.) go at it from both directions is my encouragement one last thing, if i may - be smart about your sensory impressions: music, tv/movies, etc. & the company you keep. those are easy things to adjust but definitely make a difference.

the Buddha said that getting angry at someone is like throwing hot coals at them...you definitely burn yourself first, and depending on the other person's sense/skill (and given that there's no punches thrown!) - they can "dodge" the fire anyway, choosing not to take it on. every time you re-engage with these reactionary habits - you just make it stronger, making it more likely to happen again & again. it's awesome that you're not satisfied with the situation as it is -- you absolutely have to put in some smart practice...and then the habit weakens. personally, i'd recommend finding a counselor/psychologist that can teach you "mindfulness meditation" and/or CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) - the combination of these methods is sometimes called Mindfulness based CBT (MiCBT/MCBT). basically learning a no-nonsense, no-religion, etc, form of meditation. I see you're in Victoria...if you feel like it, you can PM me and I can give you contact info for a psychologist...it's fairly easy to hook it up with your GP as incognito mentioned. in Buddhist practice, the antidote for "hatred/anger & ill-will" is through intentionally cultivating its opposite - "compassion and loving-kindness." there are specific practices for this. as mindfulness develops, recognition of negative thoughts increases, and a negative thought is countered with a positive thought. this is very important from both psychological & neurological/neurotransmitter perspectives and requires a bit of skill & maturity but anyone willing & ready to change can start. it obviously feels a bit clunky when you begin but becomes more natural over time. the positivity starts to become the habit

Ayurvedic herbal advice: Shatavari (Asparagus racemosus) 6g Brahmi (Bacopa monierri) 3g Valerian (Valeriana officinalis) 1.5g divided into 2 doses per day, taken with 60ml diluted aloe vera juice. You didn't give much other info, e.g. the nature of your actual period...regular/irregular/flow, etc., and any other issues like leucorrhea, and also digestive complaints, for example. Those are some of the things that anyone prescribing herbs would need to know. You might expect the more "angry/irritable" types to have menorrhagia (abnormally heavy and prolonged menstrual period. Heavy flow lasting more than 4-5 days, and possibly inter-menstrual bleeding). In that case the preparation Ashokarishta is very effective, but having said that, with imbalance of such an extent, it would be advisable to see a practitioner for more thorough diagnosis and advice, including lifestyle & nutrition. Herbs are usually a catalyst to restore balance and rarely the whole of the treatment. Good luck

I guess I can't shut up today... One other aspect that requires looking at, always, but especially if practice is difficult despite a sensible choice of technique, good guidance/research and perseverance -- what supports the practice? I won't go into detail but it helps to start reducing music/radio (especially songs with a 'hook'/riffs :-)), television, over-eating or heavy/junk foods, sex that is may be something other than loving & respectful, aggressive/argumentative situations, excessive sports/physical training...etc, etc. These things will keep "refluxing" in the mind like a greasy burger. Good sleep and all those other good things will help a lot. Don't worry about perfecting these supportive elements first though - gradually refine them alongside the practice.

It's very interesting that you ask "do you need drugs?" in the post title because one of the most purifying/transforming aspects of the development of (meditative) concentration and the altered states of consciousness that result from the mind's coherence/single-pointedness is the sudden realisation that highly desirable/blissful states which are far superior to the every-day mundane states of pleasure, in terms of their quality & refinement & absolute fulfillment, are achievable without any input from any sense-organ or any external factor. This is usually a total 180 to how we've lived up until this point. What the mind has always craved through seeking things externally, and that we've been conditioned to believe is only achievable through sense-contact/external factors (chocolate, girlfriend, car, dream job, charity work) suddenly arises for the first time without any such basis, and you can imagine how much the mind is "blown" by this new revelation - bliss, happiness, contentment, equanimity, etc. all arising internally as a result of concentration. Of course, these states fade away when the meditation ends, but they do leave a residue in the mind that carries on through normal life, as well as a transformation/reduction in the conditioned nature of outwardly seeking satisfaction & fulfillment - an ever-present drive which constantly imbues life with varying degrees of stress and worry. This aspect of meditation (called concentration, calm abiding, shamatha, etc.) is achieved through the cultivation of sustained concentration on a particular object, the most common being the breath because the quality of the breath is intimately connected with the state of mind. The untrained mind has great difficulty initially with staying on the object of concentration (breath, or whatever), so an aid or crutch is used. So each individual should have a technique/crutch that is suited to their predilections/personality. Breath counting is very common and many people find it suitable (it has advantages over some other aids) but if it doesn't work for a particular individual they may use a mantra (to mark the incoming and outgoing breath) or visualisation (to mark the incoming and outgoing breath) if they are happier working mentally with sound or vision. It should be something that the mind find fairly pleasant (or at least not entirely objectionable) or why would you even want to persist with it? Another form of meditation that can lead to concentration (shamatha) is the typical metta bhavana (as it is called in buddhist practice...the generation/cultivation of loving friendliness/kindness). This can be used by people who enjoy it or find this technique comes easily. Solid concentration is then used as a foundation for insight/vipassana...which is where it really begins, in a way. Different teachers give different emphasis to the ratio of practice of shamatha/vipassana, or whether concentration is first developed before continuing to vipassana. The OP said "try as I might I am unable to master it" - well, try as I might, I am unable to master the piano - but what exactly does that mean, and is there not clear improvement anyway? I couldn't just practice once or twice a week and expect to start playing well. In the beginning, the effort required is strong. With each stage the effort required for refinement becomes subtler. Most likely the obstacle in the beginning is commitment. Commitment comes through trust, faith, conviction, etc. If you're not thoroughly convinced: about the benefits of meditation, that you actually want these benefits, that you personally are capable of achieving these, have seen the positive effects in others, etc. you will never really commit to the sort of practice that is necessary to make progress. But how to be convinced/have faith in something which is totally subjective, which you have never experienced? How can you know that these people that talk and write about meditation and enlightenment aren't just either crazy, talking bullshit, or genuine but deluded. Well, that is one of the enormous benefits of concentration (shamatha) practice. Once you sort of stumble into these first stages of altered consciousness (jhana state) and you have this realisation that, yes, something is *really* going on here, thought has stopped (there are sometimes little blips in the first stages), it's not all mystical bullshit, it is achievable without any external factor/substance, if I [regular guy] can do it - why aren't so many others doing it & why does hardly anyone practice this when it's been known about and written about clearly for at least three thousand years?!, it feels healthy and purifying residing in these states, and it actually feels good (which helps!) -- that is almost always when fairly solid conviction to power ahead arises -- it becomes experientially real. Enough of my ramble...good luck One last note...I don't want to say that jhana states are better than psychdelic highs or pleasure states achieved through use of substances like MDMA, or whatever. Obviously when these jhana states arise, there is some neurological/neurotransmitter correlate. I'd rather not offer any personal speculation. However, these states are very stable (with a little practice), and I've never heard someone speak of a jhana hangover, though the first jhana can get a little too intense at first for some people. But these are the sort of sustainable states that slowly and steadily change the "happiness set point" that is being discussed and researched a lot in the last 10 years around the topics of personal tendencies toward happiness vs depression.

what about the cognitive glitch where you are convinced beyond any doubt that you are downloading the most sacred & important & enlightening intelligence ever conceived from an alien entity?

"Layayoga" as mentioned is very good...but it is only really instructive for someone with a foundation of dhyana / achieving jhana states "Kundalini Tantra" and "A Systematic Course in the Ancient Tantric Techniques of Yoga and Kriya" by Swami Satyananda Saraswati are also good they're pretty traditional though...involves much time and discipline, strong motivation, steadiness of mind and developed concentration

it's all looking good and feeling 'right' again thanks

they used to sell loose leaf in canisters...they dropped that (and the best one variety which was tulsi & gotu kola)...now they have overpriced teabags...still good though if you're still after seeds reptyle, message me your details...no cost. only have green leaf variety (krishna)

yes Salviador...buddhism / advaita vedanta mostly

i wasn't suggesting you do that. you can peform khechari mudra without modifying the frenum. most meditation traditions will suggest placement of the tongue in such a way.

once you get bored there, however many lifetimes it may be ;-) bring it back to the heart centre in the meantime Hathayoga Pradipika, 32-36: "Khechari mudra is turning the tongue backwards into the cavity of the cranium and turning the eyes inwards towards the eyebrow center. (32) The tongue should be exercised and milked and the underneath part cut away in small degrees. Indeed khechari is perfected when the tongue touches the eyebrow center. (33) With a clean thin blade, gently cut away the membrane under the tongue. Cut it by a fine hair's breadth each time. (34) Then rub in a mixture of powdered rock salt and turmeric. After seven days, again cut a hair's breadth. (35) One should continue doing this regularly for six months, then the membrance at the root of the tongue will be completely severed. (36)"

heheh anyone working with techniques for the purpose of inducing "experiences" is pretty off the track...if you want phenomena - just open the two eyes that are on your face! look at what's in front of you...now that's an experience! by the way, not to diminish anyone's "experience" in any way - but of course it's a trick of the mind! that the limited spectrums of energetic vibration are channeled into the sense doors and the brain constructs a world around "you" - something most of us witness every day - is also a wonderful trick of the mind. "kundalini yoga" as taught in the kundalini yoga school(s) - why anyone would want to mess with that, i don't know. if you don't have a proper teacher who's been there themselves, you're in for a very rough ride. and no, the yoga teachers who teach kundalini yoga are not suitable teachers. a couple hundred hours of yoga teacher training doesn't qualify you as a kundalini guru

it would be good if this argument "pot: help or hinder?" was mostly left alone now so this thread doesn't go way off track...as with all ethno forums, that has already been debated many times over. a few people have suggested to just stop smoking and see if that helps, but he's already cut back a bit, which is a good effort. if smoking acts, in part, as a coping strategy for some underlying issue, simply suggesting to someone that the problem is the weed is overly simplistic. that's why i think it will be a massive help for someone to guide & support, who can see the bigger picture. whoever that person might be, it isn't one of us.

sorry if i missed this incognito - did you ask the practitioner you saw about local courses and his background in training? will be interested to hear how you go with looking into it and/or starting a course