spiritualcookie wrote: ↑Tue Jan 07, 2025 1:29 pm
hmm I do wonder..
You seem to be using your logical mind and learned scientific facts to "resist" the natural urge you have to seek pleasure / distraction that is trying to uplift you. There seems to be a bit of a disagreement between Abraham teachings of seeking activities that feel good, and the scientific theory of "dangerous addictive dopamine hits and their negative effect".
Abraham and other teachings do teach distraction to help to uplift you ("pet your cat" etc) - and some teach to use upbeat fun music to lift your vibration. So I do wonder whether some of these pulls to do uplifting things (eg put on fun music) are indeed "traps" or not.
If I were to teach Ab Hicks to someone I would emphasise that there is a big difference between feeling better emotionally and receiving a pleasure hit. The closest I think Ab gets to talking about this is in the chapter 'have you put a smiley face on it'
If I run through a personal example. If I'm at work and I've not got myself into a place of feeling good about what to do next - I'll get impulses to check email / watch YouTube. If do that - I get a little pleasure rush but I can tell that emotionally I'm actually worse off. And if I look back, the impulse to check email etc. wasn't a good feeling impulse, it was a tense craving impulse of wanting to avoid the moment. Also after the email / Youtube checking - if I slow down and be honest, yep I feel worse emotionally after it. I've definitely had days (not anymore thankfully) where I convince myself I've had a good feeling day - but really I've just provided myself with a continual source of 'hits'. A bit like a guy pulling a slot machine all day in a casino. And when the day is done I'll feel awful - unless I keep chasing hits of whatever kind.
From a Hicks point of view - your impulses always come from the vibrational disc you're currently on, so following impulses will build momentum there. If you're intention is to allow your vibe to raise you have to let impulses come and go as you keep giving deliberate attention elsewhere. Once you've felt that emotional shift, then the impulses add momentum to your improvement.
This is part of why I hold sound of silence meditation in such high regard as my baseline practice. It gives me a direct experiential reference point for what GENUINE emotional relief feels like. Which makes it then impossible to later pretend to myself that I'm doing things that are good for me when I'm really chasing hits.
Day 24:
Updated Goals:
a) 3 x 15 minutes sound of silence meditations each day.
b) Cold shower first thing after waking followed by meditation followed by 15 minutes positive aspects exercise
c) No superfluous internet of any kind (no news, football, YouTube etc.) - Sunday cheat day
d) No food before 6pm - Sunday cheat day. Today's body fat 20.8% from 20.9%
e) Wim Hof breathing until I reach 3.30min breath hold - once a day if I have time
f) While at work - 3 email checks maximum - shuffle music only
Average mood still creeping up. Occasionally feeling a little powerful.
Definitely felt the benefit yesterday of not touching the music, just leave on shuffle from a massive playlist, and the 3 email checks only.
Benefits mixed with occasional withdrawal symptoms
abrahammer117 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 08, 2025 9:13 am
If I were to teach Ab Hicks to someone...
Thank you for taking the time to explain
I wonder if chasing hits may be a side effect of something more important.
Could the real question be: Why do these feelings come up of wanting to chase escapism hits?
I feel like there's more to it than it being an impulse coming from a certain vibrational disc.
I don't think there IS a vibrational disc of procrastination.
Rather, isn't feeling the urge to procrastinate an indicator that you're not aligned with the work you are intending to do?
So wouldn't the way around it be to find a way to feel happier about the work rather than push against the urge to procrastinate?
Focus on the breath until the breath becomes so subtle it's hard to notice, then
Focus on a positive pleasant-feeling tingle / sensation somewhere in the body, and focus all your concentration on it. If you can smile when you meditate, it works very well for generating a pleasant sensation to focus upon.
Note: You're not focusing on the location of the feeling; you're focusing on the feeling itself, regardless of where it flows during the meditation - because it is likely to shift locations and change as you go. The aim is to immerse your awareness in the pleasant sensation—its texture, warmth, or vibrancy—rather than being attached to where it is happening in the body. Allow the Sensation to Flow Naturally. By staying with the quality of the sensation, you allow it to flow and transform naturally, fostering the development of joy (pīti) and ease (sukha).
That's it! That's the whole meditation.
Continue doing this during meditations day after day, being patient, raising your vibration day by day, until one day a switch flips and you're in the First Jhana, experiencing joy and ecstasy brought on by the meditation. It may take a while of practice before anything happens. You can't hurry it along. You just have to be patient and continue doing the work. It'll happen when you're vibrationally ready.
Don’t try to do the jhanas. You can’t. All you can do is generate the conditions out of which the jhanas can arise. Be patient, trust that they will come in time, however long it takes.
Recognize when you’ve established these conditions, then patiently wait for the jhana to come find you.
- Leigh Brasington
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Day 24:
Day 24 of the Meditation Challenge
Day 6 of the Jhana Challenge
In today's meditation, I sat as I always do, cross-legged on my office chair ( ) and during the meditation I saw who guiding hands; one hand was put encouragingly on my right shoulder, and the other hand pointed to the floor. I understood "Ah you're saying I should put my feet on the floor" - so I did. It felt like loving, helpful guidance
Other experiences:
- a lot of head-nodding on my part
- some sensations of energy moving - mostly from the first chakra upwards - like a flower growing. But it was very brief because for most of the meditation I felt a little like I went into almost-sleep-like nothingness so that I didn't notice as much body sensations as usual so it wasn't a proper Jhana meditation where you put intense focus and concentration on the pleasant body sensations. That's ok - there's always next time
) and during the meditation I saw who guiding hands; one hand was put encouragingly on my right shoulder, and the other hand pointed to the floor. I understood "Ah you're saying I should put my feet on the floor" - so I did. It felt like loving, helpful guidance 