Has anyone here heard of Eckhart Tolle or Osho? I used to be addicted to speed years ago and have been clean for the past 6 years. At the time I was severely depressed using all kinds of things and eventually winding up inside a loony bin voluntarily for 3 weeks. I wanted to share this realization I've had with the help of some "spiritual teachers". In a nutshell, the problem is never the situation, it's your thoughts about the situation. People take drugs because their pain is so great that only drug will shut off their mind. However, you can shut your mind off just by being aware of your thoughts without following them. They call this "no mind" or the enjoyment of your own being. Basically, you are pure consciousness or presence. Suffering only comes about when you identify with your mind and emotions. This pure awareness is also known as happiness, love, God, freedom, enlightenment etc. #1 reason people are unhappy is because they use this moment as a means to an end. Truth is, unhappiness can't exist in the present. It's only when you start wandering off into the past or future that you completely miss the richness of the now. THIS is the greatest moment of your life. THIS is IT. Accept the moment as if you've chosen it then act from there. That is the only real religion/prayer. What people are essentially looking for is to be free of their mind. Taking drugs, finding someone to fill up their void, doing risky activities, etc. are all endeavors to be free of mind by either escaping the now or distracting themselves from it. Now is all there is, it is never not now. You don't exist in the now, you are the now. All that is needed is a little awareness to see that you're already free and the mind is not you to be sane. I call that, meditation. People think that meditation is something you do, but in fact it's what you are. It's your natural state. Ask yourself, what is it that knows my experience? What am I between 2 thoughts? Or, what is it that knows my thoughts? People are preoccupied with the objects of their attention that they easily overlook that which is aware of them. Let's say you are depressed. There is a knowing of that depression or awareness of it. Is that awareness itself depressed?
Anyways, that's all it really comes down to. It's not an opinion or belief, it's reality. All the words only point to something beyond them. Some people may think awareness doesn't exist it's all spiritual babble. Well, it takes awareness to be able to say that. We all have different thoughts, feelings, and perceptions, but we all have the same awareness or being. I'm not saying anyone here should agree or disagree with me, but to instead look at their direct experience. If I ask you, are you aware? There is a placeless place you have to go to in order to answer that question. Also, what is your experience of time when you're not thinking? It doesn't exist! When you think about the past or future, you're thinking about it right now. The now is eternal but eternal does not mean "time without an end", it means it's beyond time all together.
I hope this helps anyone out there struggling with anxiety or depression.
Anyways, that's all it really comes down to. It's not an opinion or belief, it's reality. All the words only point to something beyond them. Some people may think awareness doesn't exist it's all spiritual babble. Well, it takes awareness to be able to say that. We all have different thoughts, feelings, and perceptions, but we all have the same awareness or being. I'm not saying anyone here should agree or disagree with me, but to instead look at their direct experience. If I ask you, are you aware? There is a placeless place you have to go to in order to answer that question. Also, what is your experience of time when you're not thinking? It doesn't exist! When you think about the past or future, you're thinking about it right now. The now is eternal but eternal does not mean "time without an end", it means it's beyond time all together.
I hope this helps anyone out there struggling with anxiety or depression.
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