Ask one who has been to Nirvana

[Moriarte]

You say you are no philosopher. If you were, you knew that my line of thinking rests on an ancient tradition of similar thinking.
So no you can't.

Yeah, ten thousand years of traditional bullfeathers. So you had some ups and downs, got into psychedelics, went to “nirvana” and now we got four pages of incoherent pseudo-philosophical babble consisting of random Lao Tzu quotes and alike.

Amazing. Never happened to anyone before.

 

[amadeus]

I know the ancient Chinese secret.

Spoiler :

 

[Terxpahseyton]

....

 

[Terxpahseyton]

As someone who has achieved nirvana, can you tell me if Terx was drunk or high when he thought he achieved nirvana?

I am curious to learn about your road to and experience of Nirvana, if you would like to share it.
I gladly admit that while I do believe to have achieved Nirvana for an instance, there is an element of interpretation present, so to hear someone else's account would for sure improve my understanding.
You are also welcome to PM me if you do not want to share it in public.

 

[Hygro]

Terx man check out this photo of me from a few years ago

 

[Terxpahseyton]

That is a mighty fine halo you got there

 

[H4run]

An acquaintance of mine wasn't saved by its use in the least, though she also did not use them responsibly. She actually ended up schizophrenic and jumped off a parking deck. But her demons were extraordinary strong, had haunted and tortured and also possessed her her whole life - and in her every worsening confusing, deterioration, and down-ward spiral into hatred, anxiety, fear and aggression, and in general irresponsible drug use or rather abuse, lsd seems to have only helped her demons to get an ever tighter hold on her. If you bring such vibrant monsters to the table, and lack the proper guidance, things really can go south.
I much regret that I was in no place to try to offer such guidance, back then. Maybe I could have saved her, then.

That sound horrible. I think the drug would generally just exaggerate the initial mood she had before she smoked it. But that's also one factor, the other factor would be how cooperate you are when the drug want to take-over/overwhelm your sense of self control, the more you fought and freak out, the worst it would be the result.

My worst trip literally consisted of me starring into a mirror. Worst experience of my life, in that moment.

Tell me about that, what happened?

the bad ones tend to be the most valuable

Tell me the worst trip that you had that valuable to you? Don't get me wrong I got what you mean, but can you be more confident and raw about your experience? I believe for something that you believe to be something good for you and for other there shouldn't be nothing to hide or cover about, unless you really don't confident with what it is.

But thank you for your answer, not agree with you but I found the conversation interesting.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

@Ziggy Stardust
In this thread I can not truly convince anyone of anything. I knew that beforehand.

I know, that's the thing with subjective truths.

If it had been objective, you would have been able. You would have told me something I could have reproduced. But like religion, for it to be reproduced, I first have to subscribe to it. Which makes it subjective.

But I do find my world view ultimately objectively validated by reality, I have to insist.

Insist all you like, it doesn't make you less wrong about it being objective. Are you aware that writing: "I insist" is completely meaningless? I insist you do not. Is my insist less worthy than yours? Do you think you have a better grasp on reality than I do?

Really? Do you? Do you think that's air you're breathing? Well, it probably is, but you know, it's a quote.

You have found a truth that works for you. It doesn't work for me. I have other ideas and ideologies. And I'm quite comfortable with them, and also have them re-affirmed. They are mostly based in science, and you know what's the best part is?

When you ask Science: what's the objective truth about the universe? The answer is: No one knows. It's brutally honest. I enjoy that. And subscribe to that. No one knows. Including me & you. Just be happy you found something that works for you, a lot of people don't get to enjoy such peace of mind.

 

[Farm Boy]

The methodisms of science can yield pretty good mysteries of faith!

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

The methodisms of science can yield pretty good mysteries of faith!

The more you learn, the more you realise you don't know. Every answer leads to more questions. Fun times

 

[warpus]

There is actually one particular point in time when I had a sort of experience where I reached a .. place.. and a curious state of being. I usually do not talk about this incident, because it in part seems a bit silly.. and in part I was not sober at the time, although I was very coherent.. so.. well anyway, let me begin.

I was sitting in the back of my friend's car. Don't worry, he was sober. It was dark out and we were driving down a straight road and passing a streetlight on a regular basis. I sort of started dazing off and would see this flash of light every 2 seconds or whatever. Eventually this put me into a sort of.. trance? I felt getting sort of hyponotized, and felt that I was sort of letting go and only focusing on this flashing light and nothing else. I wasn't staring at it like I said, it as just out of the corner of my eye. I was sitting back there very relaxed just sort of drifting into this calm mental state, where things in reality started just. not existing anymore.

Slowly I pushed any knowledge of the outside world from my mind. I closed my mind and focused on the perceptions. The light was now gone, due to my closed eyes, but there was a sort of rhythm to proceedings nevertheless, and so I felt myself falling deeper into this curious state of mind I've never been in before.

Eventually even the car stopped existing in my mind. There was only me. I could feel gravity's effects on my body, but it was a sort of experience where this is the only thing that existed. There was nothing outside of that. The concept of the car turning just did not exist at the time. A small thread was still connected to reality and I felt safe knowing that I could pull on it anytime and return back to reality.. so while gravity was the only thing I felt, I also sort of knew in the back of my head that I could pull myself out and see everything again. Like a dangling safety rope you can grab at any time if things go wrong.

So I was sitting there just.. experiencing this. I've never had such control or understanding of my mind's inner thoughts. It's like they weren't even there during all this. It's like I was those thoughts, if that makes sense. Usually you feel separate from your subconscious, like it's a thing there somewhere that isn't quite you. But here I felt like it was just me. And nothing else. Maybe that one thread dangling down from the top allowing me to get out of this if I wanted to.

I felt myself slipping in deeper and deeper into this state and eventually I sort of knew that I had an option to just completely let go of that safety rope... and embrace pure.. nothingless.. or whatever it was.

I chickened out and snapped out of this trance. Or whatever the hell it was.

I have never again experienced anything like this. I felt like I was in a state that's usually achieved when you are trying to get into a deep meditative state and succeed. I felt like an infant dealing with controls I do not understand, so I was too afraid to continue and snapped out of it. I am not sure what would have happened if I let go and continued. Probably nothing bad - but I was honestly scared.

What is nirvana? Is it anything like that? I've read various opinions on this subject and it seems that the answer is "who knows". But it was for sure interesting and it seems that if I were able to tap into this part of me more regularly, it would be really healthy for my inner mental state. If I knew what the hell I was doing, which I don't.

 

[Farm Boy]

I don't usually get there, but there is a sort of grace in being able to to set aside the perpetual internal monologue. Your story of yourself. What was, what is, and what you're planning for next but not now. If you're in a car, maybe it's where you're going. Maybe it's what your friend is saying, maybe it's formulating a response. Lol, even getting mad at Limbaugh. Either way, you're constantly digging into your experience and absorbed stories and extrapolating about times that are not now. But sometimes, you can find yourself in only now. A baby sleeping on my shoulder sometimes does it for me. You don't want to wake him up, he's already comfortable, and you sort of have reconciled that you aren't going to do anything until the nap is over. So you're waiting without waiting. Abiding, maybe? There's noplace else you'd rather be. No plan to be made. Just the a place you want to be, doing a thing you want to do, in a moment you want to be in. I can sort of get there driving sometimes too, but rarely alone. Weird when it happens, because when it does it might last 15 seconds, but then there's this moment of "where am I, what state have I driven to?" Then check the gas level and realize it's been almost no time at all.

People seem to describe this sometimes when singing in a choir. The lyrics sort of melt, the group effort tugs you out of yourself. You aren't really even the one in control of your own breathing, in those moments. No real surprise that during a performance, singers sometimes just timber over. Or weep, exhausted, when the concert ends.

Not sure if that's anything like what Terx finds, or Ziggy finds, but they're pretty good moments if you can catch them. They can indeed change you.

 

[Moriarte]

If that is what you wish to see there is nothing for me to do about it. Your cynicism and relativism is sad to witness, but not surprising, and of your own choosing, ultimately. Good fortune on your road.
But I strongly encourage you to take the ancient wisdom of human kind serious, because there is much deep wisdom and truth to be found there. But a delicate, very nuanced, very alive kind of truth. A truth that needs to be, step-by-step, discovered in its depth to be fully realized and appreciated. That is why traditional teachers of the golden way will not simply tell you the golden way, like a teacher at his or her whiteboard, laying out a manual, but will rather guide your process of discovering it yourself.

Which ancient wisdom? Which golden way? There are so many.. Nuanced truth? You are dealing in mysteries, man, spreading fog and occasionally pontificating, although in a modest, attractive way, I’ll give you that. Which is entertaining to read, but, unfortunately, it is lacking a method to convey the information coherently even to yourself, let alone others. You even admit yourself that most of your experiences are unverifiable (meaningless). Come on, don’t pretend to be sad for me, I am both feet on the ground, walking my path - meeting new people every day, reading a new book every week. Working on improving my body, intellect and emotion. Sometimes simultaneously. When I wake up healthy and in good mood, I wake up in nirvana (tm). I could explain how to achieve that state if needed, but it’s common knowledge, really.

More wind in your sail if this thread is what you really need! Hell, when I get to 60, I might do that baboon on top of the hill spreading pages of ancient wisdom myself. By that time they’ll definitely legalise psychedelics.

 

[NovaKart]

I’ve talked to people who thought they were a snake or thought people were going to eat them, but they had been using k2.

 

[Birdjaguar]

... You even admit yourself that most of your experiences are unverifiable (meaningless)....

It is interesting that you connect unverifiable to meaningless. Such thinking ignores much of what it is to be a person.

 

[amadeus]

Is it fair to call it Enlightenment if it’s goosed up by drugs? I think that’s just drugs.

 

[Hygro]

If you know, you know, who cares what receptors cascaded you to that point

 

[innonimatu]

Hey I just did that a few minutes ago. Feel a lot better for it too. I don't think it's still open though, I only kept it open for the duration.

You made my day

 

[Farm Boy]

That can be a very grounding experience if you've stripped all your filters off beforehand!

 

[amadeus]

If you know, you know, who cares what receptors cascaded you to that point

I'm about an hour into my Xanax and Alka-Seltzer combo. I'd like to detail the spiritual experience thus far:

Enlightenment: in an objective sense, pretty duckin' far away from that.

I'm on my laptop and I've got this nifty hizakake (basically a baby blanket) on my lap that's keeping my legs nice and toasty whilst computering.

I'm planning on running out to the hardware store today to get some compressed air. Seems like kind of a rip that I gotta pay a few bucks to get air. I mean, cripes, I got air here in my apartment and it won't do crap.

I ain't any closer to Nirvana today. Kinda sucks, dunn'it? Come on! Land of the Rising Sun! Sun Goddess Amaterasu! There's a little shrine every few hundred feet. The God Emperor. You'd think the conditions here would be optimal for Nirvana, but it ain't comin' yet.

Conclusion: Nirvana's a Hallmark holiday.