Awakening/satori is the process by which meditation permanently cures[1] a person of suffering. I notice that people who have gone through the process of awakening usually have little intrinsic desire to share the details of that experience. Getting an enlightened person to talk about himself can be like picking a lock. Causally, this makes sense—people with ego death have little need to brag.
When meditation was limited to yogis in mountain monasteries, perhaps the silence was a good thing. But now apps like Headspace are mainstream. What happens when some of its users stumble upon exotic mind-modifying experiences? I know where to find my local Zen master and how to talk to him. I doubt the median Headspace user does.
For that reason, I'm going to try the opposite as an experiment. If there's anything you want to know about meditation, awakening, etc. from someone who is a couple years past stream entry and has a strong enough scientific background to understand Steven Byrnes theory of what's happening in the brain, consider this an invitation to ask. The most basic questions are welcome, as well as advanced questions. There are some things I may choose not to answer, but you are certainly welcome to ask.
Talking about sex used to be taboo. Humanity is much richer now that accurate information is available for free online. If we are to liberate all sentient beings from suffering, the same must be true of enlightenment.
Or, more precisely, reduces suffering by one or more orders of magnitude. There are stages. ↩︎
I am not sure exactly what you mean here. From what I am reading, it is very difficult to know what it is without having experienced it. So how am I supposed to know? Do you have examples of motivations that would not be right?
(I would say that I personally feel very curious as to what it looks like, and that I would be significantly sad to learn that I can’t even try to get there.)
I highly recommend practicing as part of an organized community. […] You're also looking for a teacher who can be your mentor in all this.
I expected that. Then:
What are the standard keywords I should look for? What I mean is that I know quite nothing about the surrounding culture. Would I be looking for a “Buddhist church”? A “Zen temple”? — Are those the same? — A “meditation school”? Something else entirely?
What if there is no such community in my city? Is there a next best thing that still permits me to start that journey, or is your advice to not try that without a local community?
Awakening/satori is the process by which meditation permanently cures[1] a person of suffering. I notice that people who have gone through the process of awakening usually have little intrinsic desire to share the details of that experience. Getting an enlightened person to talk about himself can be like picking a lock. Causally, this makes sense—people with ego death have little need to brag.
When meditation was limited to yogis in mountain monasteries, perhaps the silence was a good thing. But now apps like Headspace are mainstream. What happens when some of its users stumble upon exotic mind-modifying experiences? I know where to find my local Zen master and how to talk to him. I doubt the median Headspace user does.
For that reason, I'm going to try the opposite as an experiment. If there's anything you want to know about meditation, awakening, etc. from someone who is a couple years past stream entry and has a strong enough scientific background to understand Steven Byrnes theory of what's happening in the brain, consider this an invitation to ask. The most basic questions are welcome, as well as advanced questions. There are some things I may choose not to answer, but you are certainly welcome to ask.
Talking about sex used to be taboo. Humanity is much richer now that accurate information is available for free online. If we are to liberate all sentient beings from suffering, the same must be true of enlightenment.
Or, more precisely, reduces suffering by one or more orders of magnitude. There are stages. ↩︎