u/Euphoric-Welder5889

So my sister converted to be a Muslim. We talked a lot about what happens after we die. She believes she will go to heaven. I thought the idea of heaven and hell sounds ridiculous. I said I follow Sadh.guru who speaks about rebirth and nirvana or mukti. She said that sounds just as ridiculous as believing in heaven and hell.

What do you think? Anyways believing in either thing is just a belief. But what sounds more ridiculous to you? In Muslim heaven you are 33 years old for eternity. You can only do good things and you will be with all your loved ones who also made it to heaven. I also heard something about a river of wine and virgins. So what will you do in heaven? Just drink wine, make love all day and be with your loved ones for eternity. Who could do that for eternity? I mean eternity?? A million years. A billion years. Sounds ridiculous to me.

So my sister converted to be a Muslim. We talked a lot about what happens after we die. She believes she will go to heaven. I thought the idea of heaven and hell sounds ridiculous. I said I follow Sadh.guru who speaks about rebirth and nirvana or mukti. She said that sounds just as ridiculous as believing in heaven and hell.

What do you think? Anyways believing in either thing is just a belief. But what sounds more ridiculous to you? In Muslim heaven you are 33 years old for eternity. You can only do good things and you will be with all your loved ones who also made it to heaven. I also heard something about a river of wine and virgins. So what will you do in heaven? Just drink wine, make love all day and be with your loved ones for eternity. Who could do that for eternity? I mean eternity?? A million years. A billion years. Sounds ridiculous to me.

I do Angamardana and surya Kriya, Shambhavi, archala arpanam and miracle of mind daily, and yogasanas 1-2 times a week. I want to intensify my sadhana. I’m going for Shoonya in July, but until then I want to pick up something more to do. I have tried mahamantra and nirvana shatakam chanting and Chit Shakti meditations. Since I’m not working I have a lot of time. How do you suggest I intensify my sadhana?

I’m someone who is doing 3.5 - 4 hours of sadhana every day and it’s really making a difference for my wellbeing, but I haven’t done these free guided meditations for a while. Recently my friend started doing Chit Shakti meditations and he really enjoys it. I thought I would also give it a go. So I tried Chit Shakti for love and for peace and it really made me feel so good. I think sometimes we are forgetting just how powerful these free tools are.

Anyone else here who finds that Chit Shakti meditations are amazing?

I’ve had influence on my mom and my friend about starting to meditate and follow Sadhguru. I guess they saw the transformation in me and they just took it up. But really it can only happens if Sadhguru allows it - if Sadhguru calls you. Who else has experienced like this that Sadhguru’s grace allowed you to influence someone else to take up sadhana?

Why ysk: It’s simply pointless to try to stop or change any thoughts or feeling you have when you meditate. If you try you will only produce more thoughts. As Sadh-guru said, the mind is like a car that has 3 pedals which are all accelerators. There are no breaks when it comes to the mind. Whichever pedal you press you will only create more thinking. Try this as an experiment to forcefully make yourself not think of a monkey. You will find that it is impossible. Whatever you try to avoid becomes the basis of your consciousness.

So don’t try to stop thoughts when you meditate. Just leave the mind alone, and create a little distance between you and the mind. Let the mind run and just observe it as if it was something separate from yourself. See that whatever you think about is just an accumulation of impressions you have gathered throughout your life. There is rarely anything new happening in the mind. Even if you think about the future, it is still a projection of your past experiences masking itself as future. There is no such thing as past or future. This is only the mind’s projection. There is only ever this very moment. Past and future is in the mind. Just leave the mind alone. There is nothing interesting happening. It is all the nonsense from the past. You will find that it is very rarely you have a truly original or inspired thought. Most of what you think about is just garbage. It is all recycling of the old data you have already gathered. So you observe whatever is happening this very moment and leave the mind alone.

After some time, if you don’t push any of the mind’s “pedals”, the momentum will start to run out. The amount of thoughts will slow down and the force each thought has upon your attention will decrease. Then you may enter into a space where you have clarity and peace of mind.

Just try to sit for 5 minutes like this. Don’t do anything. Just observe the mind and what is happening there. It’s helpful to be aware of the breath and any bodily sensations as well. Just see if you can sit for 5 minutes without pressing any of the “pedals” in the mind. You may find that it is in fact very difficult and takes a lot of practice. This is meditation. When the mind ceases to have so much power over your attention, that is meditativeness. It’s a quality one has to work hard to acquire.

My friend has been suffering for a while with Schizophrenia and heart break. He is always feeling a bit off. Yesterday I visited him and he was feeling a bit low. But somehow he showed an interest in meditation and I showed him miracle of mind. He really liked it. Today I asked him to download the Sadhguru app and try the Chit Shakti meditations and he just loved it. He is speaking about that finally he feels good inside his body. I told him that if he’s interested I will pay for the Inner Engineering program. I’m just so happy that he found something that works for him. He says he will start meditating every day. It’s amazing how meditation can do such wonders for one’s wellbeing. Just wanted to share this happy story. I feel my friend is awakened to the immense opportunity of turning inward.

My friend has been suffering for a while with Schizophrenia and heart break. He is always feeling a bit off. Yesterday I visited him and he was feeling a bit low. But somehow he showed an interest in meditation and I showed him miracle of mind. He really liked it. Today I asked him to download the Sadhguru app and try the Chit Shakti meditations and he just loved it. He is speaking about that finally he feels good inside his body. I told him that if he’s interested I will pay for the Inner Engineering program. I’m just so happy that he found something that works for him. He says he will start meditating every day. It’s amazing how meditation can do such wonders for one’s wellbeing. Just wanted to share this happy story. I feel my friend is awakened to the immense opportunity of turning inward.

My friend has been suffering for a while with Schizophrenia and heart break. He is always feeling a bit off. Yesterday I visited him and he was feeling a bit low. But somehow he showed an interest in meditation and I showed him miracle of mind. He really liked it. Today I asked him to download the Sadhguru app and try the Chit Shakti meditations and he just loved it. He is speaking about that finally he feels good inside his body. I told him that if he’s interested I will pay for the Inner Engineering program. I’m just so happy that he found something that works for him. He says he will start meditating every day. It’s amazing how meditation can do such wonders for one’s wellbeing. Just wanted to share this happy story. I feel my friend is awakened to the immense opportunity of turning inward.

I heard Sadh.guru speak about joy vs goodness. Goodness is an assumed position. When you are good, someone else must be bad. In the name of goodness you are becoming against a whole lot of people and life around you. But when you’re joyful, you are not against anyone. You are naturally kind and gentle to everything around you.

What do you think about goodness vs joy?

I heard Sadh.guru speak about joy vs goodness. Goodness is an assumed position. When you are good, someone else must be bad. In the name of goodness you are becoming against a whole lot of people and life around you. But when you’re joyful, you are not against anyone. You are naturally kind and gentle to everything around you.

What do you think about goodness vs joy?

I’m doing Snoonya and people are saying such high things about this program. In my mind I’m so incredibly exited about doing this. I heard from Sadhguru that Snoonya can cure your sleeping issues. I heard the Shakti Chalana Kriya really fires you up.

It’s really hard not to expect anything. What should I expect from this program?

For me I must say sukha kriya, AUM chanting and Angamardana. I tend to have some anxiety and these practices help a lot. Also going for any physical activity helps. What are your ways to deal with anxiety or any psychological issues for that matter?

So I did the first available online initiation in 2021 during Covid time. It was an explosion of an experience. I felt I didn’t have a body. I couldn’t feel where my body had gone. It was really weird. After I was just shaking uncontrollably and I started crying out of bliss and love. This lasted for a few days until it settled into a more normal experience. But at that moment in time I felt immensely connected to Sadhguru and had an enormous gratitude for teaching this practice. I remember I felt high as if I had smoked something. In July I’m going for Snoonya initiation and I hope it will also be a blast.

Has anyone else experienced something like this?

I heard Sadh.guru speak when asked about whether he I religious or spiritual. He said religion means you have to believe something as the truth. And that truth becomes the authority. Spiritual process means you are seeking truth and only the truth is the authority. He said he belongs to the latter. I listened to this and thought it made a lot of sense. So many people are blindly believing in their religions and do not even ask any questions. Like for instance those who believe they will go to heaven, isn’t it like an imprisonment that you will go somewhere for eternity and drink wine and be with virgins all day all the time? To me the religious way sounds quite stupid. And don’t even get me started about hell, how stupid that sounds.

Being a spiritual seeker means you do not accept authority as the truth. You are willing to look at every aspect of life and see for yourself whether it is true for you or not. For me, heaven and hell sounds like utter nonsense that’s been created to controll people.

What do you say?

I heard Sadh.guru speak when asked about whether he I religious or spiritual. He said religion means you have to believe something as the truth. And that truth becomes the authority. Spiritual process means you are seeking truth and only the truth is the authority. He said he belongs to the latter. I listened to this and thought it made a lot of sense. So many people are blindly believing in their religions and do not even ask any questions. Like for instance those who believe they will go to heaven, isn’t it like an imprisonment that you will go somewhere for eternity and drink wine and be with virgins all day all the time? To me the religious way sounds quite stupid. And don’t even get me started about hell, how stupid that sounds.

Being a spiritual seeker means you do not accept authority as the truth. You are willing to look at every aspect of life and see for yourself whether it is true for you or not. For me, heaven and hell sounds like utter nonsense that’s been created to controll people.

What do you say?

I previously got declined because of mental health issues. I wrote this time that I have been waiting 5 years to take the next step with Shoonya. I told them I am completely stable for 2 years. I said I have been doing balancing practices for 2 hours every day for 5 years along with Hatha yoga daily. Now they accepted my application and I’m so exited to take part in this program. For years people have talked about Snoonya Snoonya and Snoonya. People are saying such great things about this program. Now I finally get to learn it. Shakti Chalana Kriya and Snoonya meditation are supposed to be the next level of energy and peace within.

What do you have to say about the Snoonya program?

Whenever you are identified with something, your intelligence will only work to preserve that identity. It doesn’t matter what your identity is. Once you are identified with something you are doomed. The aim of the spiritual practices is to hold these identities a little more loosely. All identities start with the body and mind. If you can create a little distance between you and the body and mind, that is the beginning of freedom. Now you’re not identified as just a body and mind. Now your identity is cosmic, and you will know so much joy and bliss.

“The whole effort of the spiritual process is to break the boundaries you have drawn for yourself and experience the immensity that you are. The aim is to unshackle yourself from the limited identity you have forged, as a result of your own ignorance, and live the way the Creator made you—utterly blissful and infinitely responsible.” - Sadh.guru

How have you broken your identity?

Whenever you are identified with something, your intelligence will only work to preserve that identity. It doesn’t matter what your identity is. Once you are identified with something you are doomed. The aim of the spiritual practices is to hold these identities a little more loosely. All identities start with the body and mind. If you can create a little distance between you and the body and mind, that is the beginning of freedom. Now you’re not identified as just a body and mind. Now your identity is cosmic, and you will know so much joy and bliss.

“The whole effort of the spiritual process is to break the boundaries you have drawn for yourself and experience the immensity that you are. The aim is to unshackle yourself from the limited identity you have forged, as a result of your own ignorance, and live the way the Creator made you—utterly blissful and infinitely responsible.” - Sadh.guru

How have you broken your identity?

I recently spoke to someone who is a Muslim. After my sister converted to Islam I have been asking her questions, and she sent me to this person to answer some questions she could not answer. So I’m speaking to this person who says so many things about Islam. I asked critical questions and he answered the best he could. He asked me whether I believed in God. I said that I kind of do. I said I’ve had spiritual experiences so yes I believe there is something larger than ourselves.

He was very friendly and said we should meet up for a coffee and visit to a mosque. It’s clear he wants to convert me. In reality I can never become a Muslim because I don’t believe in a God that judges every single action you perform and sends you to either heaven or hell. Also, he said I could not have a guru or worship anything other than Allah. This is a problem because I follow Sadh.guru and I worship Devi every day.

So all in all I cannot become a Muslim, but I’m still curious about Islam. My mom is a little concerned about me going to a mosque because I’m so easily influenced by other people. It’s really a problem that that I have. So should I go with him to a mosque to learn more about or should I avoid it?