Monday, July 03, 2006

Nonduality And Spirituality---Enlightenment

I saw a very good post in Vince's blog about the supposed types of enlightenment. enlightenment A---which is causeless and timeless, one which is always present
enlightenment B---which is a gradual refinement of consciousness and going into the highere realms of consciousness through certain procedures and exercises.

The question was that a person had done 20 years of vipassana meditation , but after reading about nonduality and going deeper into it, his point of view totally changed and now he believes that vipassana doesnt do anything to enlighten a person.So, is it really so? Can doing 20 years of meditation have no role in the change in his point of view?

What do you think?

My answer was this:---

A very tricky question indeed. Although I would think that 20 years of vipassana meditation does have a role to play in this because one can only see or realize enlightenment A(which is always present)when the mind chatter has slowed down a lot and one is detached enough from one's desires and fears.

This is because the presence or beingness i.e. enlightenment A is always there. One has to clear ones mind enough to see it.

The tricky part then is that how can the causeless the everpresent be the result of something, but this thought comes only when one thinks that it was not there in the first place and doing certain processes and procedures caused this. Thus the illusion of causing the causeless comes into the picture.

Symptoms of Anxiety

Symptoms of Anxiety
This is a list which I got in one of the anxiety forums that I visit. Very helpful , if you want to know about the symptoms of anxiety. So, here you go.

The following are symptoms that can be experienced by those in an anxiety state:

Physical Symptoms
Headaches
Blurred vision
sweating
Chest pains
Physical Fatigue
Pins and Needles
Frequent use of Toilet
Hands ⁄ Body ⁄ Legs shaking
Faintness ⁄ Fainting
Hot Flushes
Choking sensation
Jelly like legs
Agitation
Light Headed
Flushed face
Lump in the throat
Racing ⁄ Thumping heart
Diarrhea
Hyperventilation
Breathing difficulties
Stomach churning
Neck & overall tension
Sounds amplified
Muscle spasms
Anxiety ⁄ Panic attacks
Blushing
Mental ⁄ Emotional symptoms
Feelings of bewilderment
Going mad
Indecision
Suggestibility
Loss of Confidence
Difficulty concentrating
Disintegration ⁄ Depersonalization ( a feeling of falling apart)
Afraid of making a fool of oneself amongst others
Feelings of guilt ⁄ Sorrow ⁄ Disgrace
Short term memory loss
What's the point ⁄ What's the use
The struggle is becoming ⁄ Has become to much
Feeling alone ⁄ Lost within oneself
Perfectionist
Little or no motivation
Fear of the unknown
Feelings of unreality ( such as )
Detached from surroundings
In a maze
Dark tunnel
Deep hole
In a different world
Mentally Detached
Obsessive thoughts
Compulsive actions
Afraid of harming someone
Weird strange thoughts
Thoughts of suicide
Thoughts or songs that wont stop
Overwhelmed by sadness ( eg. News on TV )
Overreacting mentally ⁄ Emotionally ⁄ Verbally
Becoming short tempered
Fear
While this is an extensive list of symptoms please be assured you will only ever experience some of them as I did. Even more so I also want to reassure you that complete recovery from any of these symptoms is possible with the right help.


For those of you who are worrying about your anxiety and getting tensed about your tension, I would recommend some guided meditation. It really helps to cut down the mind chatter and acts as a great stress reliever. And the best thing is that its free. so click here to get your free guided meditation mp3's.