Alright /x/, what is the true nature of reality? As someone with

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>>18865546

Explore psychedelics. Do some research on erowid first, start with small doses and work your way up. Whether it's DMT, LSD, shrooms, salvia or potentially even edible weed, you'll get at least some of the answers you're looking for with respect to the ephemeral nature of reality. You'll also be left with a lot more questions.

I won't spoil anything since you might not believe me anyway, but that's by far the quickest path if you're interested in what lies beneath our physical experience of this world. It's profoundly shocking, to say the least. A warning though, once you've crossed a certain dosage threshold, there's no going back. It will almost definitely change your worldview forever. Be careful.

>>18865578
:/ I'm a bit leery of psychedelics m8. My sister got caught up with a psychonaught and it led absolutely nowhere good. He's some kind of Christian now, but since he wasn't raised in it like I was, so he doesn't have the same skepticism (and I'm pretty sure he doesn't believe all the doctrines). Another buddy of mine was also a psychonaught; went down to South America to take ayahuasca, shamanism, the whole bit. He ended up back as a Christian too, and a Calvinist of all things. He basically spent his 20s on one massive trip in search of enlightenment, and has since sworn off everything now that he is 30 and wants to have a normal life. I've tried weed a few times, but I didn't like it.

>>18865578
this. achieve a state of mystical consciousness. but just for the record, it's also possible to achieve such a state without the use of drugs.

I would define it as a state of awareness that includes the six categories of: unity, transcendence of time and space, intuitive knowledge, sacredness, deeply felt positive mood, and ineffability and paradoxicality.

These transcendental states are similar, if not identical, with states of consciousness described in the world's great religions.

Now it is difficult to speak or write about these profound transcendental states, as when they occur, there often is no observing ego, and the content is felt to surpass the limits of language, and the structures of cognition.

Nonetheless, these profound experiences usually do remain in memory and the reborn ego is able to recall them as sacred touchstones that radiate spiritual knowledge, and a feeling of ultimate security.

Among the intuitive insights that remain for many persons are:
A conviction of the reality of an eternal structure or principle greater than our individual egos, for which people have many names. The most popular has been God. Some prefer "the Ground of Being" or "the Nothingness that contains all Reality"

Well you can choose your term, but there is something incredibly magnificent; greater than our everyday egos.

cont.

>>18865598
cont. 2/2

So that's one. Two: in these states, there is a sense of the indestructibility of consciousness, that many would call Immortality or Infinity.

Three: an interrelatedness within the great unity called the Brotherhood of Man.

Four: an appreciation of Love as an ontological power, an energy, beyond the limits of human emotion.

Five: a sense of awe at the intrinsic magnificence - the beauty - of what has been experienced, both the imagery and the unfolding themes of the content.

Now the presence of a memory of this magnitude appears to constitute a powerful therapeutic resource for anyone experiencing it, the memory provides a feeling that, ultimately, somehow, all is well.

Six: ineffability and paradoxicality, but how could I even begin to try to put this into words?

"Those who know do not speak; those who speak do not know."

>>18865598
>>18865603
>those who speak do not know

The great thing about Zen is that anyone who tries to "teach" you can be immediately dismissed as ignorant.

>>18865591
I get it, but you shouldn't let your personal associations color your whole perception. Although if weed turns you off, perhaps psychedelics aren't the safest route for you. If you're uncomfortable with losing control, it could be utterly terrifying.

But like I said, do a little research on erowid. Even if you don't take the drugs yourself, you might find something interesting in reading other people's experiences. In particular, read up on DMT.

As far as the Christian thing, I've definitely witnessed some Christ-like imagery on my trips. I was never religious myself, but I can now see there is an eerie energy attached to religion and ritual.

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>>18865603
Thanks m8, I've often said that one of the reasons to choose life, and to choose to live is that living gives us the possibility of having transcendental experiences like love, beauty, and oneness. I've attempted to explain to friends and family that what we call God is better understood as the ground of Being, but I could not articulate myself properly.

>>18865612
I can take a look in the spirit of free inquiry, but you're right, I don't like losing control. (I don't drink alcohol for that exact reason, and I have lots of issues with being emotionally vulnerable due to feeling out of control). And the ridiculously strong energy attached to Jesus makes me seriously consider being a Christian (even if I'm unorthodox) just because he has so much power attached to him. I really don't know what to make of it.

I've also explored BDSM in the past, but I found myself unable to really get into it due to the terror of emotionally connecting with someone. Then there's the issue with decreased ability to pair-bond as you have more partners + legality of BDSM in Canada/fear about rape/abuse accusations the distaste for putting women on a pedestal and the butt ugly women that are involved in that scene, but that's another story.

>>18865546
>what is the true nature of reality?
The answer is contained within your question. Nature. Not undefined mystical energy, not souls, but the natural world. The ultimate conclusion of any other ontology is madness.

If you want to know the nature of the world study the natural world. Do this in the context of natural science. If you want to know the nature of yourself make a study of yourself, and use any tool you find useful to analyze yourself as you are and who you want to be.

Meaning is instantaneous, not cumulative. Meaning is experienced in the present moment and so stuffing it away in the afterlife, in the transcendental, is to destroy it by tossing it into these realms of nonexistence. The only thing that exists is now. The universe is physical but to the artist-being of a human this means it is a canvas. A canvas upon which we create the art of our existence, every stroke meaningful in itself for what it is. It is a question of what art we want to make, experience, and live, individually and together.

TL;DR life-as-art = purest spirituality.

>>18865670
But m8, my study of the natural world has led me to conclude that there MUST be a supernatural one. Now I'm just trying to figure out what that means for me and my life.

>>18865591
That's funny because that's how me and my buddy (who by the way is celebrating his birthday today) became xtians.

>>18865546
I've projected 3 times. Once to the etheric plane, and two other partial projections. There's really no way of KNOWING that there is an afterlife dimension or spirit until you've projected, so take what little credibility I have that I've actually done it before.

I'm also an ex-Christian, and I agree that Christianity (and all religions) are complete b.s. None of them match with reality, and even if one of them was real, religion is fundamentally wrong to practice.

>>18866360
do you think buddhism is religion?

>>18865571
I can't wait for the next roll of the dice. I don't think I've had near enough time in the cooker anyway. I hope I'm a black guy next time, at least from the waste down.

>>18865578
In all that of that text you missed the most important bit of advice for a western audience- Think really hard about what you are trying to accomplish, we tend to abuse substances over here, as opposed to USING them. Big fat ugly difference.

>>18865591
Anyone self-identifying as a "psychonaught" doesn't possess the maturity to venture into those waters and come back to shore better for the experience to begin with.

>>18865598
>deeply felt positive mood
This can be replaced by- and will be at some point- intense fear. It's fine though, because you've mentally prepared yourself for this beforehand and have coached yourself on how you are going to deal with it, right? That's another real big tip.

>>18865598
>>18865603
Just tell him the name of the book you're paraphrasing from and spare us the eye strain.

>>18866386
I think it's a religious like philosophy.
It leaves room for a person to devote himself to it's teachings, but it's real intention is to find truth and lesson suffering.
So how religious or how secular it is is dependent more on an individual's take on it.

I say people should learn from it, but not devote themselves to it. Contrary to religious' people's view, It's more spiritual to be a free thinker than it is to be religious.

>>18865670
No. Nature is beautiful, but it's not the true nature of reality. Art is also beautiful, but it's not the purpose of being alive. The true nature of reality is the infinite. The physical world, nature, art, humans are divisions of the infinite. We exist as separated beings in spacetime to be impressed, to be amazed by the all itself. Experiencing this separation is meaningful in itself, as it's the only way for the infinite to be impressed. Art isn't meaningful in itself, it's meaningful only if it impresses you.

There's a lot of shitty art that would be meaningful only if it were ritually destroyed. To call this destruction process art too would be stretching the definition of the word too far. Separation is meaningful, and this goes for words too. Call things by their proper name. If you are insistent on fooling yourself it's quite possible to see art in everything. This happens not because everything is art but because you are not making meaningful distinctions between things. The fact that you don't see them don't mean they're not there.
'

>>18866476
That's all well and good. Problem is, it just comes off as self-indulgent and preachy when I come across it without directly seeking it, as reading a specific book. I'm not OP, so I guess I'm the dummy here. All the same >>18865612
is right about the ignorance of 'trying' to tell or teach someone about something so personal and so enlightened.

I live my life as though every one is watching, as if God is, and I do my best to make it entertaining

>>18866503
What's your shtik? Tap dancing? Cock jokes? What is it, how do you entertain, from joe blow all the way up the flag pole the the big guy?

>>18866509
Rap music (flow) and semantics. Lot of personality and a fun loving heart.

>>18866412
The book of one
Is the name of the book
Very good read.
>>18865546
If you read the book of one you'll understand.

>>18866511
Are you Frank Ocean?

>>18866530
No I'm not famous, I'm just a kid.

>>18865578
>I won't spoil anything since you might not believe me anyway,
If you think you've got something worth sharing just do it faggot.

>>18866567
I hope its not machine elves I hope its not machine elves..

>>18866495
I don't mind being dismissed as ignorant, self-indulgent or preachy. I do mind when someone sells the idea of life as art. I've grown up amongst people who call themselves artists and I noticed that their idea of life as art does nothing but lower their standards and blind their eye for quality. There might be some truth in it, as we can convince ourselves of anything and it's better to see beauty and art everywhere than ugliness, but I think it's a philosophy best taken with a couple of buckets of salt.

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>>18865546
>> The axioms which one accepts will have a profound effect with regards to what you perceive and experience
Only in that they color your perception, they do not change the things you are perceiving
> The beginning of the existence of the universe implies a non-material first cause of some kind
You are applying causality to a theoretical construct in which there is no causality. "The Universe" includes the dimensions of time and space; without time there can be no causality
>The nature of the mind implies the possibility of non-material substances
In what way? If you mention quantum physics you may as well just stop posting.
> The abundance of anecdotes about supernatural occurrences leads me to believe that some small minority of them are true
That doesn't make any sense.
> The historical inaccuracy of the Old Testament in the Bible gives me strong reason to suspect that it may not be telling the whole story about mankind's origins/the gods
No shit, sherlock
> The historicity of Jesus makes me believe that he was a real person, and is very spiritually significant
Historicity isn't a word and there is no real evidence of a Jesus of Nazarath outside of religious documents

>it seems like the world is going to shit
It is, mainly due to the ease with which people like yourself are manipulated or distracted from what's important and what's true. If you really want to help forget all this spiritual garbage and start learning anti-propaganda techniques and critical thinking skills.

>>18866598
I understand. As I mind when people misquote that old french fry commercial by saying, "Give it to Mikey, he eats everything." That is not how it went. It went like this, "Give it to Mikey, he hates everything." But in the commercial Mikey liked it, SO it must have been good. I feel your pain.

>>18866658
Oohh, I like your style Anon

>>18866665
Common sense, skepticism and critical thinking? The real holy trinity.

>>18866674
True that bruddaman

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>>18866661
>As I mind when people misquote that old french fry commercial by saying, "Give it to Mikey, he eats everything."

How about people that think a cereal commercial is about french fries?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34wJt3pRY0w

Besides, when is the last time you saw a commercial for french fries??

>>18866386
Silly semantics aside, Buddhism is used as a control method for the masses, it is used as an excuse for atrocities, it is filled with contradicting canon, makes assertions easily disproven by science, and any large Buddhist organization will have all the same corruption and trappings as any other religious organization.
http://studies.aljazeera.net/en/reports/2016/09/muslim-minorities-peril-rise-buddhist-violence-asia-160908090547506.html

Does't matter if it's "a religion" or not. It's a blight on humanity and should be removed.