u/LSDkiller

So, the above, lol. Sometimes it's nice and funny, something reminds me of a song and then of course I will think about the lyrics and melody. But it's getting out of hand 😂🤦‍♂️

I am using my own personal "basics" for this issue but I am interested if anyone in this community has dealt with what I will call "this thought form" and had any experiences that aided them in getting the "song out of the head" haha.

One idea is to do so literally and just sing that shit if you have the time but that's not always possible. Anyone dealt with this before? Like, as in, beyond ordinary "oh that annoying song is stuck in my head here and there"

Hello all!

I was wondering what the stance of this community is when it comes to discussing koan cases online.

Personally, I am VERY unsure of how legitimate this practice is. I just don't know. This is not a challenge it is a good faith question.

I have found a lineage that speaks to me on a personal level and been assigned someone, but they are an older Japanese person and very high level. They don't have any time for basics and right now I'm at a basic level. I am really grateful for the opportunity to learn from a true master, but I am equally interested to hear the opinions and experiences of true western practitioners.

I am very interested in seeing what experienced practitioners who have received and passed koan practice in dokusan say about this very pervasive "Internet practice".

Please DO NOT SHARE anything inappropriate. This means that if your teachers have told you not to share what happens in dokusan, don't share it aside from generalisations that cannot be harmful (to the best of your knowledge)

As a long term reddit user, and someone rediscovering their personal relationship to zen, I am saddened by the state of the other community that grabbed the name R-zen (don't wanna link it...)

They seem to think koan discussion is all there is to zen, the mods seem to think they are masters or something, and they allow bullying via their cronies. As a reddit mod, reddit user, and now also a zen practitioner, it bothers me immensely. The reason at the end of the day is a kind of arrogance sadly. It wouldn't bother me as much, if I didn't think my own specific human experience were more important than it likely is. But reddit 15 years ago was a small part in opening my worldview and thusly I know some people arrive to zen via that pathway. It bothers me, but due to the way reddit is set up there is literally nothing I can do except not engage with that community.

I find it nice that there are other communities like this one and R/zenhabits

A beginner named Nansen walks into a subreddit which thinks itself a monastery. He holds up a cat to the monks and says "you moderators! If none of you can say a turning word, I will kill this cat!". The cat is a bunch of other beginners. The monks said nothing and so the cat was killed. Later, a zen master named Joshu came along. Nansen relayed the story to him. This zen master did nothing. Nansen then said nothing. Then nothing happened, and the world was at the very least one cat poorer, that being said, the number of cats is very difficult to determine in this specific case. Because the monks in attendance seem to have absolutely lost their senses. They present an interesting koan to the beginners mind. The koan has one name and it is not "Nansen kills the cat". It is one word:

Cult.

Bullying.

Insult.

It is one concept:

WRONG mind.

WRONG speech.

WRONG action.

ARROGANCE.

LACK of humility.

LACK of restraint.

Affinity towards pleasing oneself, regardless of what happens outside of your little bubble.

It is not:

Openness

Public discourse

Accepting a challenge

It is not:

The ancient practice of dhyana.

---

Now I ask you monks: what is this?

LSD has brought countless good things to countless people. It has started cultural movements. Spiritual movements. There is no question in my mind that it is a positive thing. However, it can be very difficult for me to read some posts on here.

Therefore, I want to speak out a little warning regarding set and setting and clarify those two terms as well..

These warnings are from my perspective, there are as many perspectives and opinions as there are grains of sand.

Please see my warnings not as absolute but rather akin to booking travel insurance to make sure everything goes well. We've probably all taken trips to different places with travel insurance, but if you got it offered for free, why not take it? Also, I've been stuck with expensive hospital bills abroad several times. My point here is, when making important and life changing decisions, ensuring the best outcome is simply common sense.

The setting is the physical location and time when one takes it. One could say, the "outside" factor.

Here, the first time one engages in the psychedelic experience, the only thing that's reasonable is to make sure one is in an environment that does not have many negative connotations for oneself. This is NOT always your home!!! Make sure you are comfortable feeling absolutely helpless. Most importantly in my opinion, you need someone who you know and trust who has navigated this headspace before. This should be someone that you trust ALMOST blindly.

Can you travel alone? Yes you can. But there won't be anyone to help you if you get lost! In my estimation it's not the best decision, but not everyone gets lost.

The "set" is your mind. How well do you know your own mind? Are you prone to fear? Have you been through a lot of trauma, mental OR physical? If the answer to this isn't an immediate and clear no which you feel just as much in your "heart" as in your "head", then you should be careful.

LSD specifically, and psychedelics in general, are very idiosyncratic drugs. They are nothing like other substances. Even MDMA and dissociatives differ vastly in their characteristics and idiosyncrasies. You NEVER know what will happen in your mind on LSD and it's also impossible to know what behavioral changes will be catalyzed and what the inside reason is, before taking the substance.

Trying LSD will most certainly change your life- this is a logical and philosophical fact. In the most minor case, it will change your life thusly that you don't get what the big whup is about. Or you will experience something like the people on here, and maybe not know what to do with the experience.

For those who seek something outside themselves when they take psychedelics, let me tell you a little secret: the only thing you'll find is that NOTHING is outside yourself. You may indeed still be "beside yourself", but you won't learn anything you didn't know already. Only intuitive lessons. You will be left with the same questions. Your levels of empathy may grow- especially towards certain groups of people, but no question will truly get an answer, except: "what will this tab of LSD do to ME personally for 12 hours"?

Please read lots of trip reports. Keep an open mind. IMO some of the more crazy ones are likely seriously exaggerated. But more importantly, the rumors about "perma fry" as I heard of them before taking it are NOT. Even leaving HPPD by the wayside.