Ayahuasca infusion

The Emperor's Lounge
#21

If you Google “list of meditation techniques” you’ll find there’s a lot :slight_smile:

Examples: Headspace lists at least 8. Mindful Steward has an article “23 types of meditation: a beginners guide”. There is a reddit post titled “Last year I tried 57 different meditation techniques”. It links to this article which mentions where they got them from. They list some examples I have tried and some I’ve just read about.

As far as which ones I’ve done and which have become a regular thing, I don’t think that is going to give you any assistance. For an extended period I did focus on mantra meditation, for example using bija mantras. One I used a lot was Om Kleem. I’ve also used devotional gayatri mantras before, for example the Kamadev Gayatri mantra, meditating on the “god” of love, aka an image which is representational of the consciousness of desire and attraction in the universe. But that is a very specific one, and not everyone will find it useful. I’ve also used a type of vipassana a lot, and this type of gradual expanding and unifying awareness meditation can be quite useful. I’ve done the meditations on fire which I quite enjoyed, including a candle and an actual fire pit. Focus on the breath is also a good one especially for recentering on the life force.

But what’s going to help you is not going to be what’s helped me. If you’re looking for connection with the subconscious, then breathing, the navel/solar plexus/dantian or third eye are good focuses, and especially attempting to become as internally silent with your thoughts as possible. It’s easier to sense what’s going on inside you when the mental chatter calms down. But take a look at that link and you might get some ideas.

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#22

Types of meditation can be divided into three main types to get rid of fluff.

Focused Attention
The goal is to focus your attention strongly on an anchor or point of focus. Can be done with eyes opened or closed. Attention is returned to the point whenever it wanders.

Visualization
Visualize something and return Attention to it when Attention wanders.

Open Awareness
Don’t focus on anything at all, simply open yourself to observing the mind and what happens within the mind.

These three techniques are really all there is to meditation, everything else is just a subtype.

Mantra meditations, for instance, are just focused Attention meditation where the anchor is a mantra that you repeat aloud or mentally.

Don’t over complicate meditation. Learn these three techniques, then as you research, you will find that all “techniques” fall into one of these categories.

In meditation you are either focused or open, Visualizing or not.

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#23

Note, these are the fundamental skills for meditation.

I’m not saying that certain techniques don’t work, they do. For instance Chakra visualization meditations can be VERY powerful.

I’m simply pointing out that there are really only 3 fundamental techniques to be mastered.

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#24

You’ve obviously never done them and have no idea what you’re talking about

you’re afraid of psychedelics.

That’s ok.

Come at it from the emotion of fear not from the “logic” of risk.

There are things that psychedelics can teach you without ever ingesting them.

What do you believe about “drugs” and “society” and “control” even… do you have such a tight grip on reality that if you lost it for even one second you/it would break?

Taking psychedelics involves ACTUALLY losing control, but you’re not alone in being too afraid/unaware to even be able to IMAGINE things would be ok if you lost control.

That, or, you’re societally conditioned to believe things without self-confirmation.

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#25

If you don’t know how to identify mushrooms, then eating a poisonous one might be a concern.

As for not knowing how much is in each cap, the amount of psychoactive components can vary from species to species.

There are other explanations or interpretations for his comments. Please stop speaking as though you are the sole authority of someone’s psyche, history, and knowledge.

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#26

OH WHAT A SURPRISE, look who’s assuming I am speaking as though I believe I am the sole authority of someone’s psyche etc.

You are acting as if you are the sole authority on what I BELIEVE

There are other explanations or interpretations for my comments

#27

Wow didn’t know, thanks for that info!

And while we’re on the topic, how does the forum feel about combining psychedelics with subs? Enhancing/easier to integrate thus making them more effective? Or bad idea? @SaintSovereign

I’m asking because I am considering Ketamine therapy but wondering how it will react with subs.

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#28

Idk. I feel like if you’re going to do psychedelic therapy while using subs, treat both with respect and responsibility, and it’ll help you out.

#29

For the record I’m NOT encouraging people to forage in the wild for mushrooms lol.

I don’t even endorse the use of them as I feel its a deeply personal decision lol.

When the student is ready, the master will appear.

That’s my personal ethical stance on the matter.

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#30

The word ‘meditation’ is as broad as the word ‘exercise’.

#31

It’s a good simple explanation for those getting started, but I myself wouldn’t reduce it to those things. Those are common techniques to master, but (some) meditations or techniques go beyond this.

I’m currently studying documents relating to Taoist alchemy and also embryonic breathing, which is about attempting to recover the original awareness of what the Chinese called the “One Breath”, a technique which eventually leads to being able to breathe underwater and other interesting side effects. It’s a difficult study (but I always did like a challenge) because people translating these texts are very often not masters of the technique or the schools of thought they are trying to translate the ideas of, and so they will bring their own preconceptions on board. Some will try to represent the technique as a solely physical one, while others will go deep into the esoteric side of things. It’s my job to try and figure out when someone is projecting their own world view onto the topic, and when they are having a moment of clear insight.

The reason that I bring this up here, is to point out that the reason there are different opinions on meditation and it is very often grossly simplified, is that many never make it past the initial stages of benefits to calmness or body integration, or increased energy etc. But as you go further into it, what Ingo Swann spoke about with respect to developing “new” methods of sensing or abilities within the mind, and the whole idea of the “non mechanical parts of the brain”, becomes clearer. Like in a video game, you only get the better weapons or abilities once you’ve passed the first few levels.

An example of that which I am still working on (but have managed to reach a number of times) is the waking hypnagogic state. This is when you reach a level of quietude of your ordinary waking mind but your spirit/mind is still roaming within the body, and you start to see random images or even sounds occurring, often flowing into one another. This is in some respects the first contact between the conscious and subconscious minds, and the images you see are not “real” in that they have no relationship to something happening outside the body, but it is a state which you need to go through in order to reach a deeper level of meditation. Some Taoist texts mentioned this phenomenon, but in most cases if something like that happened you would rely on the guidance of someone who had reached that stage before in order to know what to do.

If I was to try and come up with a way to describe meditation, I would probably say it is about developing new methods of perception and action. Often rational thought (in the sense of the “voice in the head”) is a distraction in meditation, you’re trying to learn to perceive things without allowing the typical methods of analysis coming into it, leaving any analysis until later. You’re learning to move your center of awareness, and play with directing energy or intent, without saying “move mountain move!” Learning how to align with the invisible causes etc. You’re learning to act and see in ways you haven’t done before. The techniques are a means to an end, but not the end itself.

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#32

Incorrect, and my expressed concerns are valid. I just wanted to bring a bit of balance.

I am not afraid of psychedelics. They are afraid of me :laughing: :rofl: :joy:

#33

I’ve been working with Ayahuasca this year (in a legal way)

Because I am alone and without shaman/group, I work at a low-dose.

Each journey is a 2-3 hour therapy session, in effect.

It doesn’t go so deep as to completely lose control, but does facilitate change, allows emotional release, new insights into myself, etc.

I would not go higher than this by myself - safety and remaining psychologically grounded are very important, especially if working with possibly lifelong repressed pain, trauma etc.

I’ve had high-dose journeys in group with shaman/facilitator in the past, and the experience is VERY strong, harrowing, terrifying, you are undeniably faced with yourself with no escape as concepts like “time” are ripped from you, leaving you naked in front of eternity. It’s not for the faint of heart. Or, rather, it’s important to have a real need, intention, and a safety net.

But yeah, low-dose is more like a therapy session - one must still be willing and able to be present to whatever arises, and provide acceptance and containment to possibly uncomfortable thoughts, feelings, etc, - but this does seem one way of processing through material, getting new perspectives, etc.

In terms of meditation, there are many rich long-standing traditions of meditation, as well as modern secular adaptations, etc. What are you hoping to achieve? Where are you at now?

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#34

I don’t imagine either founder of subliminal club is going to endorse psychedelic use with their subliminal products lol.

I’ve heard promising things about ketamine therapy. If you’re going to try that, and want to avoid any ‘interactions’ with your subconscious processing of everything, perhaps take a few weeks off the subs around the time.

#35

Yes I used it back in 1996 my former Ninjutsu mentor suggested it, as he was experimenting with giving it to students at the time and he had formely spent time in Peru learning about it and the rituals involved. I personally didn’t gain anything from it apart from a few hallucinations.

#36

@MechaShaman Didn’t read the thread, just the initial post. Since you’re an expert, I’m tagging you.

#37

Thanks.
Most has been said, the point is: if you want to experiment with Psychedelics by yourself, dont go with Ayahuasca. Thats super advanced stuff and much can go wrong. If you want fast progress, go to a retreat with someone who holds space for you. Whatever substance it is.

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#38

This, with all do respect, is part of the problem as I see it.

You’re correct, there is much to see and experience. Astral projection and travel, lucid dreaming (which is not astral projection, but is related) remote viewing, energy manipulation, energy healing, telepathy (both sending and receiving), entity contact (either real and non-corporeal or archetypes of the collective unconscious, I won’t speculate but I have my opinions), time travel…did I miss anything?

There is A LOT, and that’s part of the problem. Many people find themselves hopelessly lost in the maze because there is simply too much information out there.

The good news is that the list I gave are the fundamental mental training techniques which are the doorways to all those skills I listed and perhaps more.

At the end of the day, the doorway to opening all the hidden skills of the mind, is mental training and the ability to control your own mind.

The ability to focus deeply and intently.
The ability to visualize with such clarity that you trick yourself into the reality of the vision.
The ability to stand open and non-attached when things arise. This is a critical skill for remote viewing so you can sift through the information coming through.

My opinion is that people often never make it past this stage because they get lost and confused searching for the “right” or “best” technique and just give up.

Consistency of technique is actually very important to the development of skills. And the reason why is that in order to develop consistency, you need to train a bio-feedback mechanism within yourself that can allow you to more easily enter the state again and again. We actually can apply some science and rationality to the spiritual, and by using a systemized approach, we can increase our “hit percentage” and our consistency of achieving different states.

Just like an athlete, we will never reach 100% (probably) as even the best athletes in the world are never 100%, but we can get close, and we can make sure that the states we achieve are never random.

That’s to say, you need to do a technique long enough, that you develop familiarity with the physical and mental sensations associated with the different mental states. Once this familiarity is gained, then the body can re-create the state more easily.

If someone hops around and uses multiple different techniques, they never develop the familiarity needed for repeatability, and their experiences become random and inconsistent.

I would say that it’s a system of mental training that facilitates the discovery of talents, skills, and abilities that are otherwise hidden to most.

I look at meditation like the training that an athlete does to perform in their sport. Why does the sprinter do jump squats? To run faster. Why does the seeker meditate? To strengthen and unlock their hidden skills and abilities.

Also like athletics, not all meditation techniques are efficient or effective. Some are even harmful. Some are frankly wrongheaded and don’t actually make sense.

However, it doesn’t need to be that complicated.

That’s interesting, I’ve experienced that spontaneously and I will admit that when it happens spontaneously it’s rather unpleasant. lol.

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#39

Why does this sound like something I would expect of a martial arts instructor in the 90s.

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#40

well then I would at least add a fourth skill, which is to learn to make your mind as quiet and receptive as possible. Stopping thought, even the silent ones which says “that’s a chair”, is crucial to “mental training” because it is a non essential function and does interfere with the other functions of the mind. I would put it at the same level of importance as awareness/focus training, and in fact training that silence helps the other abilities.

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