Every morning I read a section of the Bible's Old Testament, Psalm, Proverb and New Testament.
I then use the Lord's Prayer as a framework to pray. Having done this for many years I have observed we begin 'Our Father' and focus on God. My own inclination would be to start with 'Forgive me' and focus on me.
I then spend my day trying to honour Jesus's teachings. The highs and lows of the previous day are discussed the next morning.
Do you ever struggle with the parts of the bible that feel outdated in the modern context? I never read the bible by myself, but I went to Sunday school for 9 years and I remember struggling as a child to conciliate what I was being taught at school and at chruch, and specially ignoring the hipocrisy of the people lecturing the bible stuff not practicing any of that. I don't remember specific examples, as this was 15 years ago and I've since become atheist.
> Do you ever struggle with the parts of the bible that feel outdated in the modern context? I never read the bible by myself
I used to, but it becomes more practical and timeless the more I read my Bible. I read a version with cross-references in the center-line so reading slower and checking these makes it make a lot more sense. The way I'd recommend reading is Mark, Luke, John, Matthew, Acts and Romans (all in the New Testament) while periodically reading the cross-references as you go. This covers basic beliefs and how Jesus taught following the spirit of the Law, why Gentile Christians don't follow the full Jewish Law (Acts 15) and how those before Jesus aren't condemned (Romans). Then I'd recommend Genesis and Exodus to understand the Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob family line, and the establishment of the Law. Follow with 1st/2nd Samuel and 1st/2nd Kings for most of the rest of the historical side of context. Psalms and Proverbs can be read a little at a time, at any time.
> read a section of the Bible's Old Testament, Psalm, Proverbs and New Testament.
This is also the way I read, and it's super helpful. Old/New Testament for spiritual growth, Psalms for worship, and Proverbs for ordinary day-to-day advice (there's also 31 Proverbs so its easy to pickup whatever day it is).
> I went to Sunday school for 9 years and I remember struggling as a child to conciliate what I was being taught at school and at chruch, and specially ignoring the hipocrisy of the people lecturing
A lot of Sunday school is way too boiled down. There's hypocrisy everywhere and the church is no exception. People try to justify their own sin and resultant problems by ranking it against others--part of the reasons Christians are told not to judge others (especially outside the church), but instead help others in the church with their problems and be open to correction. It's supposed to be handled internally, but occasionally isn't, and I've moved to a different church when I've found it's entrenched and not fixable.
> Do you ever struggle with the parts of the bible that feel outdated in the modern context?
Just to add to the excellent comment above. More days than not I am amazed at the relevance of the ancient scriptures. My daughter was caught out last week telling a fib. It made me smile that the next day my bible reading was a 3000 year old proverb about the importance of not telling lies.
Others days, yes, I find it hard reading from a very different age. I sometimes have to delve into my study bible's commentary to get some historical context.
Absolutely I still struggle to read the Bible and find the relevance. But then I felt a tug and wound up at a more modern church that applies it to today. Podcasts on leadership and entrepreneurship. Dinner parties on people’s rooftops overlooking NYC (precovid). Volunteering together delivering meals to those in need. This I could understand.
Also Christians aren’t perfect. My hope is that you don’t let us ruin what could be the best thing that can happen to you.
I went to Sunday school as a child as well, and was later annoyed by the hypocrisy.
But there is lot of ageless wisdom in the Bible. I would concentrate on that. For example check the Matthew effect ("rich get richer"), and how it relates to modern technology, Google PageRank is based on it.
I love your observation about the Lord's Prayer. I often end up using it as a framework too, partly because it does feel so complete (also because of course Jesus literally told us to pray like that). I feel you a lot in the urge to otherwise start with "forgive me" part, and I myself still do that a lot. I realize I need to work on practicing gratitude towards Him more often too, which is important to escaping the trap of self-pity I'm so prone to falling in.
I like Shikantaza, although I can't claim to actually do it daily. It translates to "just sitting" and is a form of meditation consisting of, well, just that. It is mostly based on a single text telling you how to sit and how to balance not-falling-asleep and not-actively-thinking. That's all. There is no extensive literature translated to death and no startup trying to sell you something, but yet you are right there with the core weirdness of meditation and paradoxes like thinking non-thinking. Love it.
Spending time reminding myself that there is no soul, god, afterlife or anything likewise as a reminder that we’re just animals and our consciousness’ need to be anything more is ego getting in the way of being truly empathetic and reverent of the time we have here.
I talk to God throughout the day and focus on listening. This includes some light Bible reading and expecting answers. Transparent, concise, empathic, respectful prayers seem to be answered with great enthusiasm. God is dad, but dad is also God. It is both odd and fantastic.
I got a little shrine with little nick nacks that mean stuff to me. Stuff that represents members of my family, money to bring money, a compass and a few books. I light a candle there every now and again.
I'm no longer Christian, but the Lord's Prayer is so thoroughly burned into my brain it helps me tune out and sleep sometimes.
Mostly karma yoga: I'm working towards various big goals which largely benefit other people or manage crises. When I was younger, lots of meditation in the Nath tradition (sort of Hindu dzog chen - Nepalese, so there was a lot of cross talk with Tibet, Mahasiddha stuff).
Not sure if it counts as spiritual, but for 10 years I've consistently done subconscious, mind+body healing exercises. It's been profoundly transformative.
Prior to that (and for quite a while after) I had a huge amount of drama and chaos in my life, and after searching far and wide for answers (starting with the usual stuff - mainstream therapy, meditation, etc) I learned about these healing practices, which address the physiological reactions that happens when we experience triggering events.
Over time, my practice has developed into this: try to live a normal, well-functioning life, do my best at whatever I do. When things happen that trigger reactions - anger, resentment, arrogance, jealousy, contempt, shame, etc, or anything that makes me feel a jolt or even very mild visceral reaction, undertake the practice, which enables me to find where in my past the reaction comes from, then do a brief breathing exercise to let it go. Rinse and repeat. Over time, the reactions weaken, my overall stress burden diminishes (along with physiological issues like inflammation, chronic pain, etc), and bit by bit life gets simpler and important indicators like relationships and career steadily imrove.
Bessel van der Kolk's book The Body Keeps the Score is a brilliant and enlightening study of how trauma and all kinds of negative experiences are literally stored in the body as tension, which, when chronic, can become debilitating inflammation and pain.
Van der Kolk noted in his decades of practice that trauma victims, and those who are chronically angry, anxious, wary, etc. are deeply out of touch with their bodies. They were often clumsy and visibly tense, though when asked how their bodies felt, they either couldn't say, or they were just "normal."
He had to first get patients to recognize how their bodies felt, then taught them to relax and change those feelings through various exercises, meditations and practices. When the body started to loosen up, the mind and emotions followed.
Edit Eger, a holocaust survivor turned therapist, found the same things in her decades of practice. Both books spend a lot of time describing the symptoms and problems, and the address healing practices toward the end.
It's hard to recommend stuff here (I've been trying for years to work out how to reply to this answer FWIW), as a lot of the popular books about it are too close to law-of-attraction, Tony Robbins, Think and Grow Rich kind of stuff, or linked to the chiropractic field, which is a turnoff for a lot of for most people here, for reasons I understand, as I don't subscribe to much of that myself.
I also don't want to recommend particular practices here, lest I be seen as making health recommendations, which I'm not qualified to do.
I've written a lot of content about my own journey, which can help people to know what different practices are available and enable people to decide for themselves what practices are worth trying. Anyone is welcome to email me (address in bio) if they want to read what I've written. I also have a Discord group for people who want to discuss this stuff with other folks who are interested (pretty much everyone in the group is from HN).
But if you just want publicly available info and modalities, try these:
Authors: Gabor Maté, Peter Levine, Bruce Lipton, Bradley Nelson, Stan & Christina Grof.
Modalities: NET, Psych-K, Somatic Experiencing, Holotropic Breathwork, EFT/Tapping, Family Constellations, Ericksonian Hypnotherapy (but not NLP, in my opinion).
Zen meditation (as I practice) is one of the deeper ways of practice, and helps one to reflect and dig deeper into one's emotions and being.
As a person who read early, and immediately started to tinker with computers and electronics, I was the different kid who bullied a lot, and it deformed me in a lot of ways. I was short tempered, introverted, scared and scarred without any self-esteem and self-worth. My brain was always noisy, and had concentration problems. This affected my friendships and relationships. Having a couple of bad girlfriends made everything worse. Much worse.
When I started to practice, I started to balance and heal myself. I understood myself better, my brain silenced, I became much more patient and kind (I wasn't rude either, but Zen made me softer). I had some career-defining moments in my life, and was able to navigate them with help of Zen.
All in all it made me rooted, balanced and helped me grow to an healthy and better adult. I probably have some crinkles and dents here and there, but at least I know who I am. It allows me to reflect better and understand what's happening.
It's a never ending way, and I'm not looking for a destination to be honest, however it's not a silent walk in the park all the time. Sometimes you encounter your inner demons. These encounters are what transforms you.
Daily mass. It does not feel spiritual every single day but most days the mind is focused, and I feel calm and a sense that I’m part of something greater than the immediate world of work, family and daily concerns.
What I do spiritually: Meditation - it's proven to have health benefits, even in purely non-spiritual setting. Besides that: trying to be good in general, etc. Experience love and gratefulness.
What I think it's there: My main point of inspiration are "near death experiences". There is solid evidence they are not just hallucinations of dying brain. The primary argument that they are not hallucinations is obtaining independently verifiable information observed during "leaving the body" during near death experiences. Ed Kelly (professor at UVA DOPS) said that he collected over 100 cases, when the person leaving the body during the NDE observed information that couldn't be physically observed, known prior to NDE, guessed or hallucinated using known information and credibility of verifying professional wasn't questioned. Many of the reports included information obtained minutes after the cardiac arrest. Many of the reports included reports from different locations (e.g. Wife traveling to meet dying husband with 4 people, earlier than planned). People blind from birth describing independently verified visual information.
Some examples and links to investigate (copy doi to scihub if you don't have access):
Besides NDEs, check research at UVA DOPS https://med.virginia.edu/perceptual-studies/ . Check irreducible mind book - there is surprisingly vast amount of scientific evidence that something spiritual is real, just that majority of scientific community refuses to even consider it.
I'm part of a church where we take ayahuasca a couple times a month while performing our rituals. Day to day is the usual self-awareness plus christian deal: meditation + attempting to do good, try not to be a dick to others etc.
Is there not physical damage to doing it that often ?
Ive done it twice in a row 3 years ago and it was fine but i was wondering that b.c. in the community i did that they were literally giving it to children starting 3 y.o.
The retreat I worked at drinks 4 times a week, every week all year. Often the shamans drink more. I don't believe it causes any damage (quite the opposite), however the diet that comes along with it (traditionally fish and plantains, and skipping dinner on ceremony nights) can be very depleting. Breaks with normal food (salt, oil, vitamins) are great especially for the long-term (e.g. apprentice) drinkers.
You need to be careful with Ayahuasca to not have MAOI in your diet or medicine. Things like fermented cheese, fish, wine for example can each be dangerous.
Disclaimer: I used Ayahuasca once. If you must use psychedelics, stick to LSD or amanita muscaria / psilos, they are much safer. Its ridiculous Ayahuasca is legally obtainable in The Netherlands, while LSD and psilos are not with the former easy to standardize and the latter being banned for safety reasons (17 y.o. French student committed suicide in Amsterdam after usage).
Twice, legally bought standardized in powdered form from an online smartshop. I found it less severe than psilos, more mellow, not very visual (but I had difficulty with getting visual hallucinations anyway). At one point I fell asleep and it reached the level of a waking dream. Woke up all sweaty. Back when I did it (around 2005-7), the smartshop had an OK website, and there was Erowid.
I have been taking it for the past 7 years, sometimes a couple times a month, sometimes more, and have zero physical damage from it. It's pretty common in indigenous communities or other ayahuasca centers to give it to children, yeah. No records of anything bad happening to them. In the church I attend, there's people who have been taking it for the past 28 years with no issues at all.
This post should have an asterisk. It is not risk free, a primary concern being drug-to-drug interactions. That said, a lethal dose is 10-20x what is typically administered.
> Adverse health effects may occur from casual use of
ayahuasca, particularly when serotonergic substances are used in conjunction. [1]
The heightened sense of internal reality for DMT users is mostly due to its interaction with the visual cortex.
Adverse health effects happen with every substance if you take it while taking other, incompatible substances.
My comment meant if you take it as it is recommended and follow the instructions, it should do you no harm. Following its instructions means not taking it while on specific types of antidepressants & anxiolytics and from the pov of most churches/centers, not taking it recreatively and/or without guidance or anything outside a controlled, ceremonial setting.
Of course, if you take clonazepan with alcohol you may get high, but it's dangerous for you and in no way supported or incentivized by their respective companies. Just the same with ayahuasca. No need for no asterisk since the comment does not attempt to proselytize people into taking it, nor does it try to hide the infinite possible combinations of other substances with dmt/aya.
EDIT: There are some other (obvious) recommendations, which apply for hallucinogenic drugs too: don't take it if you're schizoid, for example.
It's called Santo Daime, a syncretism between original indigenous beliefs with catholic christianity; though our views of being a Christian are very different from catholics or protestants though. From catholicism, mostly the non-vilification (praise in a non-idolatrous way) of the Virgin Mary and saints. There's also a mix of african religions which spread throughout Brazil and a bit of esoterism.
I'm not at all religious, so I have no "higher power" to guide me, instead I just put on one of my favourite albums and close my eyes for an hour. The albums I like are very progressive and trance-like so it's kinda like my own personal form of meditation. I don't really use the time to reflect or focus on anything, but having the time for myself is nice for my brain
I'm an atheist, and don't believe in the supernatural per se. To me, the supernatural is best described by Harold Abelson in Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs:
> We are about to study the idea of a computational process. Computational processes are abstract beings that inhabit computers. As they evolve, processes manipulate other abstract things called data. The evolution of a process is directed by a pattern of rules called a program. People create programs to direct processes. In effect, we conjure the spirits of the computer with our spells.
> A computational process is indeed much like a sorcerer's idea of a spirit. It cannot be seen or touched. It is not composed of matter at all. However, it is very real. It can perform intellectual work. It can answer questions. It can affect the world by disbursing money at a bank or by controlling a robot arm in a factory. The programs we use to conjure processes are like a sorcerer's spells. They are carefully composed from symbolic expressions in arcane and esoteric programming languages that prescribe the tasks we want our processes to perform.
> A computational process, in a correctly working computer, executes programs precisely and accurately. Thus, like the sorcerer's apprentice, novice programmers must learn to understand and to anticipate the consequences of their conjuring. Even small errors (usually called bugs or glitches) in programs can have complex and unanticipated consequences.
I do think the supernatural exists but simply as perceived emergent properties of natual systems. For example, most of us have experienced love and might describe it as a supernatural experience. That is a real experience to most of us. Yet we know that in reality, the experience we had emerged from a complex set of natual systems (hormones, brainwaves, etc) that are far beyond our understanding.
So to answer your question, my spirital practices are things that increase my wellbeing and bring about these supernatural experiences.
Regularly: breath-focused meditation, time in nature, swimming laps, sex, burning incense, journaling/reflection.
Is this not false? Maybe not at the level we can see with our human eyes, but any computer process does exist as matter, in the bits of code stored on the disk and the electrical circuits that execute it
I think the point is that compuational processes are an emergent property of matter, but not matter. It's like how when I look at the plant on my desk, I see a green thing. The "experience of greenness" isn't composed of matter; it emerges as a result of the interaction of matter and energy in particular ways, but is not itself matter.
That, also considering things like Gödel Incompleteness, Halting problem, P vs NP being so difficult, Emergence, divergences and intrinsically probabilistic theories in Physics: that already feels sufficiently counterintuitive and supernatural to me. At least there is a vast area of things not yet understood
> At least there is a vast area of things not yet understood
They key is to accept that there are phenomena we don't know enough about yet. There's no supernatural, just stuff that needs a couple more hundred years of research :)
If you don't understand it, how do you know it's natural?
Not saying it has to be supernatural, just that if you think it's not yet understood, being sure it's not supernatural seems like unfounded confidence.
That question is a pandora's box that can't be given the nuance it deserves in an HN comment so I'll leave you with the Plato encyclopedia entry on naturalism [1] which was a philosophical debate which wrestled with this very topic in the first half of the 20th century. The vast majority of scientists and philosophers default to the definition from physicalism [2]
I think you've got it backwards. The default assumption is that only the natural world exists. If something is not understood, the assumption should be that it has natural causes. A supernatural cause would imply the existence of something outside of natural causes, and to assert that that something exists without being able to demonstrate it is where the unfounded confidence lies.
My point is not that the default assumption should be either the supernatural or the natural, but that perhaps actual agnosticism is the humble stance.
I am not religious, but do feel spiritual in that I believe there is something bigger than us, and that we are part of a bigger, yet-unexplained whole that we reconnect with at some point. It is more of a "It's a comforting thought for me" thing rather than a set, unwavering surety. I don't really have any sort of practice of this, though. Lately I finally started meditating more - multiple times per week. I feel it helps to get me out of my head and closer to this sense of greater connection and wellbeing.
967 comments
[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 349 ms ] threadI then use the Lord's Prayer as a framework to pray. Having done this for many years I have observed we begin 'Our Father' and focus on God. My own inclination would be to start with 'Forgive me' and focus on me.
I then spend my day trying to honour Jesus's teachings. The highs and lows of the previous day are discussed the next morning.
I used to, but it becomes more practical and timeless the more I read my Bible. I read a version with cross-references in the center-line so reading slower and checking these makes it make a lot more sense. The way I'd recommend reading is Mark, Luke, John, Matthew, Acts and Romans (all in the New Testament) while periodically reading the cross-references as you go. This covers basic beliefs and how Jesus taught following the spirit of the Law, why Gentile Christians don't follow the full Jewish Law (Acts 15) and how those before Jesus aren't condemned (Romans). Then I'd recommend Genesis and Exodus to understand the Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob family line, and the establishment of the Law. Follow with 1st/2nd Samuel and 1st/2nd Kings for most of the rest of the historical side of context. Psalms and Proverbs can be read a little at a time, at any time.
> read a section of the Bible's Old Testament, Psalm, Proverbs and New Testament.
This is also the way I read, and it's super helpful. Old/New Testament for spiritual growth, Psalms for worship, and Proverbs for ordinary day-to-day advice (there's also 31 Proverbs so its easy to pickup whatever day it is).
> I went to Sunday school for 9 years and I remember struggling as a child to conciliate what I was being taught at school and at chruch, and specially ignoring the hipocrisy of the people lecturing
A lot of Sunday school is way too boiled down. There's hypocrisy everywhere and the church is no exception. People try to justify their own sin and resultant problems by ranking it against others--part of the reasons Christians are told not to judge others (especially outside the church), but instead help others in the church with their problems and be open to correction. It's supposed to be handled internally, but occasionally isn't, and I've moved to a different church when I've found it's entrenched and not fixable.
Just to add to the excellent comment above. More days than not I am amazed at the relevance of the ancient scriptures. My daughter was caught out last week telling a fib. It made me smile that the next day my bible reading was a 3000 year old proverb about the importance of not telling lies.
Others days, yes, I find it hard reading from a very different age. I sometimes have to delve into my study bible's commentary to get some historical context.
Also Christians aren’t perfect. My hope is that you don’t let us ruin what could be the best thing that can happen to you.
But there is lot of ageless wisdom in the Bible. I would concentrate on that. For example check the Matthew effect ("rich get richer"), and how it relates to modern technology, Google PageRank is based on it.
This involves reading the Bible, praying, worshipping and meditating on the Bible.
Preferably first thing. However I don't function so well without coffee so often I get up and make a coffee first.
I'm no longer Christian, but the Lord's Prayer is so thoroughly burned into my brain it helps me tune out and sleep sometimes.
Prior to that (and for quite a while after) I had a huge amount of drama and chaos in my life, and after searching far and wide for answers (starting with the usual stuff - mainstream therapy, meditation, etc) I learned about these healing practices, which address the physiological reactions that happens when we experience triggering events.
Over time, my practice has developed into this: try to live a normal, well-functioning life, do my best at whatever I do. When things happen that trigger reactions - anger, resentment, arrogance, jealousy, contempt, shame, etc, or anything that makes me feel a jolt or even very mild visceral reaction, undertake the practice, which enables me to find where in my past the reaction comes from, then do a brief breathing exercise to let it go. Rinse and repeat. Over time, the reactions weaken, my overall stress burden diminishes (along with physiological issues like inflammation, chronic pain, etc), and bit by bit life gets simpler and important indicators like relationships and career steadily imrove.
Van der Kolk noted in his decades of practice that trauma victims, and those who are chronically angry, anxious, wary, etc. are deeply out of touch with their bodies. They were often clumsy and visibly tense, though when asked how their bodies felt, they either couldn't say, or they were just "normal."
He had to first get patients to recognize how their bodies felt, then taught them to relax and change those feelings through various exercises, meditations and practices. When the body started to loosen up, the mind and emotions followed.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18693771-the-body-keeps-...
Edit Eger, a holocaust survivor turned therapist, found the same things in her decades of practice. Both books spend a lot of time describing the symptoms and problems, and the address healing practices toward the end.
Eger's book is at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30753738-the-choice
In general, both Buddhist meditation and Yoga address these mind-body issues well, in forms that you can practice as part of your daily life.
I also don't want to recommend particular practices here, lest I be seen as making health recommendations, which I'm not qualified to do.
I've written a lot of content about my own journey, which can help people to know what different practices are available and enable people to decide for themselves what practices are worth trying. Anyone is welcome to email me (address in bio) if they want to read what I've written. I also have a Discord group for people who want to discuss this stuff with other folks who are interested (pretty much everyone in the group is from HN).
But if you just want publicly available info and modalities, try these:
Authors: Gabor Maté, Peter Levine, Bruce Lipton, Bradley Nelson, Stan & Christina Grof.
Modalities: NET, Psych-K, Somatic Experiencing, Holotropic Breathwork, EFT/Tapping, Family Constellations, Ericksonian Hypnotherapy (but not NLP, in my opinion).
The transformation it brought is unimaginable.
Zen meditation (as I practice) is one of the deeper ways of practice, and helps one to reflect and dig deeper into one's emotions and being.
As a person who read early, and immediately started to tinker with computers and electronics, I was the different kid who bullied a lot, and it deformed me in a lot of ways. I was short tempered, introverted, scared and scarred without any self-esteem and self-worth. My brain was always noisy, and had concentration problems. This affected my friendships and relationships. Having a couple of bad girlfriends made everything worse. Much worse.
When I started to practice, I started to balance and heal myself. I understood myself better, my brain silenced, I became much more patient and kind (I wasn't rude either, but Zen made me softer). I had some career-defining moments in my life, and was able to navigate them with help of Zen.
All in all it made me rooted, balanced and helped me grow to an healthy and better adult. I probably have some crinkles and dents here and there, but at least I know who I am. It allows me to reflect better and understand what's happening.
It's a never ending way, and I'm not looking for a destination to be honest, however it's not a silent walk in the park all the time. Sometimes you encounter your inner demons. These encounters are what transforms you.
The former takes care of all my health and well-being needs and spills over into the spiritual practice side.
Th latter does whatever it does on the spiritual side and also spills over into health and well being.
One is practiced with the aim of achieving something the other sort of practices itself. :)
We don't have a syllabus for Chi Kung but here's a list of some of the groups of exercises taught and some brief theory as to their uses: https://shaolin.org/general-2/five-animal-play/play09.html
I mostly stick with 4, 11 and 12 on that list - find the more advanced things still a bit overwhelming for more than occasional practice.
Happy to provide more detail if you are interested.
What I think it's there: My main point of inspiration are "near death experiences". There is solid evidence they are not just hallucinations of dying brain. The primary argument that they are not hallucinations is obtaining independently verifiable information observed during "leaving the body" during near death experiences. Ed Kelly (professor at UVA DOPS) said that he collected over 100 cases, when the person leaving the body during the NDE observed information that couldn't be physically observed, known prior to NDE, guessed or hallucinated using known information and credibility of verifying professional wasn't questioned. Many of the reports included information obtained minutes after the cardiac arrest. Many of the reports included reports from different locations (e.g. Wife traveling to meet dying husband with 4 people, earlier than planned). People blind from birth describing independently verified visual information.
Some examples and links to investigate (copy doi to scihub if you don't have access):
0. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6172100/
1. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S01406...
2. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.2190/KNTM-6R07-LTVT-...
3. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.456...
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL1oDuvQR08
5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-91QXXsyEc
6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6172100/
Besides NDEs, check research at UVA DOPS https://med.virginia.edu/perceptual-studies/ . Check irreducible mind book - there is surprisingly vast amount of scientific evidence that something spiritual is real, just that majority of scientific community refuses to even consider it.
Ive done it twice in a row 3 years ago and it was fine but i was wondering that b.c. in the community i did that they were literally giving it to children starting 3 y.o.
Disclaimer: I used Ayahuasca once. If you must use psychedelics, stick to LSD or amanita muscaria / psilos, they are much safer. Its ridiculous Ayahuasca is legally obtainable in The Netherlands, while LSD and psilos are not with the former easy to standardize and the latter being banned for safety reasons (17 y.o. French student committed suicide in Amsterdam after usage).
> there's people who have been taking it for the past 28 years with no issues at all.
What makes you say there is no damage in either of these cases?
Plus its the basics of medicine: no symptoms, no disease.
But you do you, boo
> Adverse health effects may occur from casual use of ayahuasca, particularly when serotonergic substances are used in conjunction. [1]
The heightened sense of internal reality for DMT users is mostly due to its interaction with the visual cortex.
1. https://web.archive.org/web/20170810122337/https://www.iceer...
My comment meant if you take it as it is recommended and follow the instructions, it should do you no harm. Following its instructions means not taking it while on specific types of antidepressants & anxiolytics and from the pov of most churches/centers, not taking it recreatively and/or without guidance or anything outside a controlled, ceremonial setting.
Of course, if you take clonazepan with alcohol you may get high, but it's dangerous for you and in no way supported or incentivized by their respective companies. Just the same with ayahuasca. No need for no asterisk since the comment does not attempt to proselytize people into taking it, nor does it try to hide the infinite possible combinations of other substances with dmt/aya.
EDIT: There are some other (obvious) recommendations, which apply for hallucinogenic drugs too: don't take it if you're schizoid, for example.
> We are about to study the idea of a computational process. Computational processes are abstract beings that inhabit computers. As they evolve, processes manipulate other abstract things called data. The evolution of a process is directed by a pattern of rules called a program. People create programs to direct processes. In effect, we conjure the spirits of the computer with our spells.
> A computational process is indeed much like a sorcerer's idea of a spirit. It cannot be seen or touched. It is not composed of matter at all. However, it is very real. It can perform intellectual work. It can answer questions. It can affect the world by disbursing money at a bank or by controlling a robot arm in a factory. The programs we use to conjure processes are like a sorcerer's spells. They are carefully composed from symbolic expressions in arcane and esoteric programming languages that prescribe the tasks we want our processes to perform.
> A computational process, in a correctly working computer, executes programs precisely and accurately. Thus, like the sorcerer's apprentice, novice programmers must learn to understand and to anticipate the consequences of their conjuring. Even small errors (usually called bugs or glitches) in programs can have complex and unanticipated consequences.
I do think the supernatural exists but simply as perceived emergent properties of natual systems. For example, most of us have experienced love and might describe it as a supernatural experience. That is a real experience to most of us. Yet we know that in reality, the experience we had emerged from a complex set of natual systems (hormones, brainwaves, etc) that are far beyond our understanding.
So to answer your question, my spirital practices are things that increase my wellbeing and bring about these supernatural experiences.
Regularly: breath-focused meditation, time in nature, swimming laps, sex, burning incense, journaling/reflection.
Occasionally: fasting, ayahuasca, solitude retreats.
> It is not composed of matter at all.
Is this not false? Maybe not at the level we can see with our human eyes, but any computer process does exist as matter, in the bits of code stored on the disk and the electrical circuits that execute it
They key is to accept that there are phenomena we don't know enough about yet. There's no supernatural, just stuff that needs a couple more hundred years of research :)
Not saying it has to be supernatural, just that if you think it's not yet understood, being sure it's not supernatural seems like unfounded confidence.
[1] https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/naturalism/
[2] https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/physicalism/
I also meditate but I find that habit harder to keep up.