blewmeanie said:

200mg of ketamine, a scalpel, and a chest spreader.

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Quote:

Consider the mutual synchronization of coupled oscillators. The term itself is obviously abstruse, but the concept describes when pendulums in a row of grandfather clocks fall into synchrony, or crickets fall into chorus, or fireflies fall into sync. It happens throughout nature and at every level. When individual heart cells are placed in a Petri dish, for example, each heart cell will pulsate to its own rhythm, at its own tempo: some of them very rapid, some of them very slow, and of course everywhere in between. Once a critical number of heart cells is reached, however, every one of the heart cells falls into perfect synchrony with one another. We don't know how this happens, not with pendulums, not with heart cells, but this synchrony is what we experience as a heartbeat, and you ...can feel it right now if you put your hand to your chest.

Here is where we find ourselves, then, heart cells in a Petri dish, each of us pulsing our own maladroit egos, clumsy, alienated, rude, confused, until sometimes -- typically when the structures of mind are sufficiently shaken (as I have described elsewhere) -- we fall into sync with the universe around us, everything cascades into place, every grief-stricken mishap makes perfect sense, and life sparkles with good fortune. Such experience of synchronicity is the leading edge of an expanded, non-local, universal consciousness, the Petri dish phenomenon writ large, the macrocosmic reflection of the microcosm. The dare, then, is this: Can we trigger this Petri dish phenomenon at our level of existence? Can we hit that critical mass where every heart falls into perfect synchronicity with every other heart, right here, on this plane of existence, between the hearts of billions?

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JackofSpades said:

this seems to be the key to enlightenment. however i think this is probably the one of the most frightening things to do (open yourself to unconditional love) when you have been harmed in the past.

how does on learn to open the heart? any techniques? the only thing i could really find was right hand across your chest with mantra "yam" but i honestly don't feel much different afterwords...

do i just need to be more patient/persistent or are there other exercises and what not to work on this?

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What you think is what you get. For me opening myself to unconditional love was a process and it was not so hard. When you realize your true nature, nothing is that difficult.
You say you ahve been harmed in the past, but what of scars, are they so bad, that you are still bleeding, and what is that you have to loose if you let go. Cuz no one can harm you if you do not let them do it. So what did you learn from you past "suffering".
As for techniques, I would not know any particular. And my suggestion would be that you do what you feel is right for you. Beside you do not need technique to love unconditionaly, you just need to love and forgive. Start from yourself.

blewmeanie said:

200mg of ketamine, a scalpel, and a chest spreader.

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JackofSpades said:

this seems to be the key to enlightenment. however i think this is probably the one of the most frightening things to do (open yourself to unconditional love) when you have been harmed in the past.

how does on learn to open the heart? any techniques? the only thing i could really find was right hand across your chest with mantra "yam" but i honestly don't feel much different afterwords...

do i just need to be more patient/persistent or are there other exercises and what not to work on this?

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deff said:

oh one other thing i'd suggest is to read shantideva's 'a guide to the bodhisattva's way of life' - it has some of the most beautiful verses on bodhicitta (the altruistic mind of wanting to enlighten all sentient beings) i've come across - i highly highly recommend reading it a number of times

edit: here's an online version - http://www.shantideva.net/guide_ch1.htm
though i much prefer the translation in this version - http://www.amazon.ca/Way-Bodhisattva-Shantideva/dp/1590306147/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1279079978&sr=8-1

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deff said:

you could try tonglen - the tibetan meditation of taking and giving

it involves visualizing all the humans of the planet (and animals too if you like) and seeing all their pain and suffering emanate out of pores in their skin as thick black smoke, then you inhale it all and direct it down to your heart where you destroy it out of compassion. then you meditate on how good it is that suffering has been destroyed, then do the opposite with happiness - where you visualize sending out all your happiness to others as white light, flooding them and enlightening them.

this meditation is one of my favourites... it's very very powerful and is particularly good at healing ones karmic debt (which is a hindrance to enlightenment) - also it can make one much more loving/compassionate/brave etc - i highly recommend it, i've had a number of very profound experiences from this

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