It's an excellent question, one which you'll get many answers to.

My path
consisted first of the basic things of humanity: forgiveness, seeing God in all,
the Golden Rule, releasing your expectations, and unconditional love. These are
basic things, but the wisdom of them is in teaching you to accept and let go. If
you wish to pursue enlightenment, in all its forms, then one must master first the
basics, the dance of your humanity. The basics above I relegated as supremely
important to my path because it allowed me to maximize the path of understanding,
compassion, and acceptance simply by following these basics. A lot of these are
stated in different ways in other spiritual traditions but these were the most
relatable for me so it's my specific list. This would be your foundation to build
your pathway to liberation and what could be called enlightenment on.
Second, I believe its important to do the work of the physical, to prepare the body
for peace and inner silence. For long periods of time many traditions have touted
the use of yoga as a means of personal evolution. I personally undertook one such
practice called Kundalini Yoga, which started chopping away at the 'issues' of my
humanity. In the first 3 months of practice, my thoughts were greatly reduced. In
a year, they were almost completely gone. Emotionally, I saw a dramatic change in
my ability to handle everything life was throwing at me (resilience). I saw
emotional stability where once I was awash helplessly in the tides of my humanity.
I believe some practiced aimed toward emotional stability and resilience to be the
'hard work' of (one definition of) enlightenment. I'm uncertain how effective
other practices are - since I only have one life I couldn't really compare and
contrast other methods. All I can say is, Kundalini Yoga was effective enough to
get me to where I wanted to be.
Another practice to prepare for (one definition of) enlightenment is pranayama
practice. Pranayama is the science of breathing and helps to purify the body. For
me, purification looked like a lot of emotional debris and stagnant energies,
looking little like 'actual feelings' and instead simply resembled energies that
don't belong. You may recognize these as lower 'unwelcome' feelings - a shadow
which seems to drag you down. I've also recently begun sushumna breathing
exercises as well as spinal breathing to purify the main channel in my body and
increase what I guess is sometimes called 'ecstatic conductivity'. The purpose of
all this is to further purify your body to become a conduit of bliss and divine
love (which one could call enlightenment).
Meditation finally, or many times merely taking time to stop, breath, and be - has
also served me well. Much of my purification comes with tears, and I find
meditation to always be a place where I can find them in abundance.
I've found in my pursuit that the labels of peace, inner silence, bliss, and divine
love aren't just fluffy theoretical concepts, these are literal things that one may
find and they actually have levels. One may find 'greater peace' through more hard
work. One may find inner silence more profound when one really starts to
appreciate its value - especially since we all have to grow up with thoughts that
just won't quit. Bliss and divine love are the result of the hard work of
purifying oneself through the practices of Yoga, pranayama, and meditation. I've
heard eloquent descriptions, like 'bliss is what you really are' and all that.
You're welcome to see it that way. I've also heard the journey is about uncovering
the truth of what you really are. In a way, that is what all these practices are
doing. Who are you beneath the facade of the darkness of humanity, what are you
really? I believe it is profoundly obvious after a lifetime of struggling and
groping in the darkness towards the light as one picks off every last shred of
shadow and darkness and icky negativity from their life, and rises in peace, inner
silence, bliss, and divine love - that one discovers the freedom - the liberation,
unto their ultimate self. One is then in the world, unburdened, purified, feeling
as much joyous bliss and love, at peace and harmony with oneself and humanity.
You've uncovered, struggled for, and purified all that you couldn't see inside
beneath lifes difficult journey. You can overcome it all.
I've yet to see the apex state of being completely free of -all- lower energy
states, but just one year ago I wouldn't of spoken of bliss or divine love so
confidently because I couldn't even see the exact path to them - only the words of
others. I was still 'in hope of' and not 'experiencing'. I thought the peace of
yoga and the inner silence I found to be all someone of my discipline level was
capable of. Some of these techniques many will just write off as nonsense of
ineffective, or only practice to feel a little better. That's understandable.
There's lots of ways out there that I found ineffective, but as I am just one
person and not the ultimate authority on anything, I can only speak as to what has
worked for me.
Are spiritual practices like yoga, meditation, and pranayama necessary to reach
(one definition of) enlightenment? Perhaps not. But for me, every major paradigm
shift I ever felt, either toward peace, inner silence, or bliss, didn't happen
until a new practice started. Until I actually started experiencing these things,
I was merely reaching for what may of been one persons conceptualization of
something, which I personally may of found to have not much value when I got there.
There are many definitions of enlightenment, awakening, and such out there, and
many different understandings. It's the differences I read all across the Internet
I always found intriguing. I kept believing that the more interesting of the
things I read were true, that there was more to it than some others had believed.
The big question in whatever version you are pursuing is, "Is this what I feel I am
passionate about finding?" If you want to stop at peace or merely be able to love
everyone unconditionally, the end result could be called enlightenment. And that's
all it need matter to you. What I've written here is one humans version and road
map to enlightenment. It's the only path I know, so it's the only path I share. I
am happy to be at a point in my life to not have to speak about hypothetical hopes
and theories. Instead, I can share practiced application of things which I
actually experienced as effective.

Yes, I believe in God - but only as a single creator. I believe in creators like
God who created the universe. I believe they had an evolutionary process and
started from nothing. I believe they had to create everything from the genesis of
the tiniest desire to be something more than what they were. I believe they evolved
- they evolved so much that they reached the absolute pinnacle of evolution. Rather
than just being Gods though with magical powers, they had to come up with ways to
do everything. I believe nothing is beyond their abilities, except maybe, creating
new colors (I believe we have every color available), or other fundamental shit
like that. I believe this particular universe is kind of a simulation that was
created with their version of AI and computers and most of the known world is
occupied by NPCs who are run by their AI and computers.

I believe they fought for every little thing we now take for granted in Yes, I
believe in God - but only as a single creator. I believe in creators like God who
created the universe. I believe they had an evolutionary process and started from
nothing. I believe they had to create everything from the genesis of the tiniest
desire to be something more than what they were. I believe they evolved - they
evolved so much that they reached the absolute pinnacle of evolution. Rather than
just being Gods though with magical powers, they had to come up with ways to do
everything. I believe nothing is beyond their abilities, except maybe, creating new
colors (I believe we have every color available), or other fundamental shit like
that. I believe this particular universe is kind of a simulation that was created
with their version of AI and computers and most of the known world is occupied by
NPCs who are run by their AI and computers.

I believe they fought for every little thing we now take for granted in this world,
and that the original universe, though fruitful to eventually create anything
imaginable, had to be mastered in various ways in order to truly make anything. I
believe they faced great challenges and had to master the sometimes terrifying
forces of the universes without anyone to aid them. I believe that with their great
powers came great responsibility, for if improperly handled would of meant
terrifying imbalances and consequences in their universe. (To put it bluntly, the
power they had over their universe could create the ultimate paradise or the
ultimate heck) I believe they have gone through a lot, suffered a lot, and spent a
ton of time making everything. I believe they had to fight very real battles
against ignorance, except they did so without a net (the net being, Gods above). I
believe we suffer here as a microcosm of their great struggle to create everything.
I believe in showing gratitude for their great creation, and every aspect in it.

I believe "love being the ultimate force in the universe" is true and is an
expression in their most basic truth - that they gravitated toward good things,
things that entertained them, things that made them happy in their pioneer days.

I've been taught and reinforced many times in my spiritual journey to accept this
as my view of those who would create us. I've been taught to wonder 'how the heck
else it could of possibly gone down any other way' to all the details I stated and
I cannot come up with any other concise logical conclusions.

If one considers that any force in the universe would have to evolve from
something, you know that anything (except "nothing") had to have a beginning. This
is absolutely irrefutable. I didn't get these ideas out of any book, only from my
own spiritual journey. Cheers.

Absolute forgiveness. Forgive everyone. Don't let it linger. Don't hang it up on

'deserves'. Absolute forgiveness. When the bad feelings come, endure. This wisdom
is absolute forgiveness is eventual liberation, a concept which means to be free of
your inner darkness and what others can do.

Other core principles to help you relinquish pride are seeing God in all. Seeing
that everyone, no matter what, is equal and divine.

The golden rule. That's do unto others, especially if you don't receive good
behavior in return. Forgo your need to receive any kind of treatment in return.
Become someone who is stronger then what others throw out.

Unconditional love. If you love someone, make it unconditional. Meaning, whatever

they throw your way, the worst heart crushing betrayal, you will still love them.
This does not mean unconditional trust. This does not mean you are a doormat. This
is a choice to honor the value of love under any conditions, even if it is not
honored back. For example, you can divorce someone, and still feel unconditional
love for them. It merely means you will always choose to harbor love, not hate.

Expectations. Both of your efforts and the way people treat you. Releasing your
expectations of others creates the conditions for harmonious relationships no
matter the conditions. Because you merely expect nothing from anyone, you can
accept anyone as the cult of personality they are - whatever that may be. Whether
they yell at you all the time, disrespect you, whatever. And releasing your
expectations of your efforts put you into a flow that acknowledges the truth of
life. That things will come and will not go your way. So if you have no
expectations of good outcomes, you release the pain of that.

One important thing to note about all of these is that they will not instantly
erase the pain you feel from others, or your need to defend your pride. You won't
always play these out perfectly, but you should AIM for perfection. That is the way
toward liberation from the absurdness of others. As you practice, you begin to see
everyone much like yourself, is caught in the same tidal forces of emotion. But by
practicing enduring your emotions rather than lashing out in a battle of pride
justice vanity or ego, you learn to tame those tidal forces rather than merely fall
prey to them. You become far stronger than defending the shit prize of pride and
the momentary satisfaction it gives you. Instead you are filled with contentment
and deep satisfaction toward being a beacon of understanding and peace rather than
a harmful force in the world.

It's a rough road. But if you really want to be free, practicing these is the way.
Furthermore, to completely free yourself emotionally, I strongly recommend a yoga
practice; hatha or Kundalini Yoga are excellent for emotional resilience and flow.
Things become easier when you have a good yoga practice to fall back on. Practice
these principles always to the best of your ability, endure the pain, and
eventually, time will free you. I've walked this path. Come to my house, insult me.
You'll see me smile, cause it's only the feeling of pure validation to be free of
much (but not all) of the insanity of the human condition. Pride is a shit prize
next to the liberation one can achieve mastering yourself.

I offer another perspective. All my life I've meditated because I've read about
things that were hinted about everywhere. Higher states of being, something about
'you are bliss' and all this other stuff. Along the way I chugged spirituality and
it's wisdom which made me a better person. But still I kept 'meditating to get
it', because I knew I had not yet encountered some of the awesome stuff I've read
about. But one day, separate from the reasons I grew, I discovered things that
made life cooler, then another, then another.
I believe my meditating to grow was somewhat impactful here, as were my other
practices, as it cleared what I didn't need from my consciousness to see what has
been there my whole life. Not just what was beneath the layered emotional crud,
but also something more provocative. So somehow, during all this, I escape the
layers of my thoughts, and I find just pure nothing inside. Still though, I'm not
satisfied, I'm not right, so I keep digging. I know still something is not right.
I know I haven't reached that something cause I'm at peace, and yet, this subtle
discontent inside me remains.
Others say things like, "dont be a fool, turn around, there is nothing there to
find" I find little pockets of bliss - still discontent. Still dissatisfaction.
Something isn't right. This isn't the land of holy contentment I've been chasing
my whole life. Is it me? Did I damage myself too much during my reckless days
chasing the proverbial dragon? People say it can't be found here.
But still I look. Somethings not right. It isn't right. It can be found - the
right feeling can be found. It has to be out there. It not only has to be there,
but it has to become a part of me. Not totally - but some part of it has to
impress upon me, because the bliss I find leaves me feeling empty and unsatisfied.
So I keep looking. Eureka! I find something, not quite it yet, but again, I keep
searching. Eureka again! I am desperate to shake this mild discontent. This
shadow looms over me and I can't shake it off. Every day I fight it and every day
I know this is not how its supposed to be. So I keep going. I meditate, I scry
the corners of my consciousness, trying to discover that which has been lauded by
sages past. Were they idiots? Were they liars? No. It couldn't be. I could
accept it - but it couldn't be true - I believe in this. I feel it in my bones. I
know its out there. I know if I search for better, I can find it.
So I keep going, and bam! I run into something that brings me closer to
contentment than I've ever felt. It has a little bit of permanence, enough to
satisfy. I cannot claim for sure if its the holy grail I've searched for, but it
sure feels extremely promising. I'm not looking for something crazy - but I've
done it all and I want to end this discontentment inside me. And now, I can start
to feel that discontentment slip away. Little by little. The energies of
consciousness I felt deepen. The bliss starts to feel more right and less wrong.
This is not the end of the story. Can I overcome the final bits of this
discontentment and reach pure transcendent existence? I don't search for something
permanent, but what I found already begins to transform the darkness. My
consciousness literally expanding to meet the new energies of beautiful existence
all around me. An unlimited well of consciousness, deep and satifying. And I just
started to explore it. I just found it. Is this it? Is this what will free me
completely from these final chains and allow me to feel just fucking normal and
clear, blessed clear free of the stubborn stain on my soul? I am on my way to
exploring that now.
But I wouldn't of found it if I gave up. If I stopped and listen to all those
brilliant beautiful people in /r/meditation/, or /r/soulnexus/, or the rest, and
just accepted that there was fuck all I could find or fuck all I could do. Fuck
what anyone says. I don't give a fuck about their pessismism or their you're-
missing-the-point bullshit. This is the point, for me. There is a huge shit stain
on my consciousness, and I am out to find the fucking legendary Windex of eternal
glory - a treasure so elusive that many will claim it doesn't exist. This isn't
pointless. Finding the 'more awesome more deep bliss that permeates my being', or
perhaps whatever else could of helped me (get rid of the shit stain) was exactly
the point of meditating all those years. And many on the way even doubted it
existed, or perhaps tasted something more tepid in their consciousness as I did
before and assumed thats all there was.
This message if for anyone who feels as I do. Who has ever been confused by all
the double talk, warnings, caution signs 'fools ahead' or whatever else. If you
fucking feel like there is a specific 'it' you are reaching for, don't fucking
stop.

8.4 14.0 -4.75

You have the fire, the fire for change. You've reached the point in your life
where you see clearly what is tormenting you and you have a strong desire to
change. That's excellent.

First things first. Nothing can begin before you get what you put in your body
under control. Everything will flow from this and so if you don't get rid of
things that cause disturbances first, all other efforts will be futile. Some of
the most notorious but sometimes commonly accepted things that can cause disharmony
are caffeine, stimulants, excess carbs, anything acid reflux causing, large amounts
of sugar, weed, excess alcohol, and of course, recreational drugs. Anything else
you put in your body that you sense makes you feel off in some way should be
avoided. You don't have to have a super excellent crazy diet, but avoiding
anything that causes disharmony should absolutely be your number one priority.
There is no avoiding this step, and if you don't do it, all other efforts will be
futile. I recently discovered quite a few things that upset my harmony and it
allowed me to conquer drug-induced schizophrenia. These things were grains, wheat,
gluten, and certain dairy milks. You can consult /r/decaf/ for further information
on fighting caffeine addiction and how others benefited from losing the caffeine.
Weed and any other recreational drugs always come with their price, and anything of
that nature needs to cease for your own emotional benefit.

Now we start with the next layer. Five basic spiritual principles you can try to
live by every day to the best of your ability. Practicing these may be difficult
at first and require some adjustments to your sense of pride, but honestly there is
no better teacher then simply trying to follow these to the best of your ability.
The principles are forgiveness for all, seeing God in all, unconditional love, the
Golden Rule, and releasing your expectations. Let's look at one of these -
forgiveness for all. Why all? Because that is the nature to align yourself with
the light. Let there be no barriers, let no persons crime be too big against you
to forgive. This will put all things in a perspective and force you to confront
your pride and sense of justice again and again, day in and day out, and reach
beyond them. You can grow out of your tendencies and into a pattern of letting
things go. You may often hear spiritual people ranting about letting things go and
you may want to yourself. This is how you learn. You always forgive. The other
principles follow the same lines, and by adhering to them relentlessly, you teach
yourself to relinquish that which has been holding you back. You must let go of
wanting the scales of worldly justice to be balanced toward you, and instead accept
life without expectation. That leads us to the fifth principle, release your
expectations of the world, of others, and yourself. Always live your life without
expectations - this frees you of negativity if you practice it constantly, even
when it hurts.

Even when these principles are not extended to you by others, you practice them
anyway. Because it is the way to free the shackles of the world and emerge
liberated, free, and full of joy and love for yourself and others. It may some
days seem like you're playing the fool. But just shrug and accept it, we're all
fools in this world anyway, every last one of us, every last philosophy, every last
way of life, all foolish and stupid and naive in some way or another.
The pain won't change all at once. On days you adhere to these principles, you'll
recieve pain, hurt, sometimes the worst of feelings, betrayal. Sometimes you'll
lash out, and thats okay, that's the path. You just return to the principles and
try better next time. The principles are not to 'not experience pain', they are to
prepare you to be freed of your inner struggle, so that all things pass
effortlessly and quickly, rather than continue to exist in you in your thoughts,
and berate you every time your mind happens to remind you of the pain.

On the issue of your emotional pain in life - I feel the best way to address this
is through spiritual practices like Kundalini Yoga or Hatha Yoga. I personally
walk the path of Kundalini Yoga. Kundalini Yoga will awaken and enliven an
evolutionary process within you to begin you on the path to extraordinary self-
healing. By simply practicing, you'll be able to be your own healer, release your
tears of your own accord, and bring your body into alignment with it's truest free
self, and exist in joy and liberation. You can read all about Kundalini Yoga - but
the jist of it is, its a powerful practice. And I speak from experience, the
difference in the way you feel is remarkable. The way you experience feelings
changes from dark to light. And though life continues to throw things at you, you
handle things easier. Feelings that would normally rule over you for a day are
cried out in mere minutes and you return to joy.

An excellent yoga practice is Maya Fiennes 'Journey through the Chakras'. It's
great for beginners, it's a comprehensive 7-practice set. You can find it on
Kundalini Lounge or popular torrent sites. You're welcome to choose your own
teacher, but this is the one I used so I mention it cause that's the one that
worked for me. Though I recommend this one the most, you may also find Mariya
Gancheva or Lisa Grail on YouTube whose practices I found very effective.
Beyond this, make sure you master your breathing, and master the art of stopping
for a bit, 10-20 minutes and a time, and just sitting in silence without anything
to do. This can be considered proper meditation, but without all the
technicalities or form. Taking these moments allows you to process. And regular
proper breathing is an important basic which you should review to ensure you are
doing so properly. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, is always a good
time for long slow deep breaths. I've been menaced by breathing alone as not
actually changing anything in my life. Breathing with intention often brings up
pain, pain we must face, which is why it seems like it does nothing. It may be a
little menacing at first when you're just starting your healing journey, as there
may be too much tugging at you to concentrate.

It'll take a while to get through all the pain. It may seem hopeless at times, but
I assure you, as someone who has walked the path it can be done. All these things
aren't theoretical, this is everything experience has taught me and if you worked
at it you could also know great emotional liberation. When you're feeling your
most hopeless, that's when I found it's a great time to do some Kundalini Yoga
practice. It has a powerful ability to change the current emotional paradigm into
a favorable one.

Many I advise probably start down this path, but only do it till they feel better.
You can do that - or you can make it daily and work toward awesome levels of peace.
These things are enough to work on, and should set you on a path toward greatness.
Perhaps merely looking closely at them will inspire you to find your own path if
this one doesn't agree with you. You're welcome to do your own thing.

There is something taught by the original Buddha as something that transcended

other techniques because it's ridiculously easy for something that can pay so much
in emotional dividends. It proved to be powerful while being remarkably simple and
many spiritualists who pursue this often notice quick dramatic radiance and a shift
in consciousness.
The method is easy. First a test however. First you should frown. Notice the
energy in your face, how it carries a darker resonance. Then smile. Notice the
energy in your face, how it carries a lighter essence. Don't forget these two
feelings. This is exactly why this works. Now, form a smile and focus on that
light feeling it gives you. This very slight very remarkable thing is actually
full of remarkable power, and many begin to feel radiating bliss quite easily after
a very short time practicing.
It's one of the simplest things, but here's why you might avoid doing it:
1. A smile is a simple thing. Too simple in fact. How many times has this culture
told you to smile?
2. Surely if this was powerful, everyone would of heard about it by now right?
3. Somehow, you feel that by smiling, you are betraying yourself and your journey
so far. You feel pride in the pain you have felt in your life, and you refuse to
smile because of that pride.
4. It's silly.
5. You feel like its fake, or false positivity.
All these reasons, just recognize them but let their power over you fade. We're
not asking you to assign any value to the smile, but to simply try the technique.
Now as for the smiling, be sure to stop and give it your full attention, almost
meditative like attention. It's important you stop and simply feel it. That's the
most important part. Stop and feel the energy from the smile. After a time, you
may begin to notice energy radiating all over your body - in your chest, in your
stomach, in your spine - all wonderful remarkable pleasant energy. Blissful
mysterious joyful energy. You may find a more in depth look here in a self helped
technique called TWIM, but I've found the most important part of their lesson was
simply the simple teaching of the Buddha himself, the smile.

I think the biggest problem I've had is 'what can I actually do.' - I wanted so
desperately to change the way I felt but didn't know how to go about it. The best
answer I found in this life after a lifetime of books/pills/therapy above all
others was Kundalini Yoga. It put me back together where everything else failed.
Many things can happen through practice, and I assure you these things are real and
magnificent and no small thing each. Depression is lifted, anger is abated and
eventually extraordinarily rare. Emotional issues are slowly raised out and strong
issues are usually, for me, cried out. Crying is a strong sign of healing during
the process. Courage is gained, as well as the motivation to do things. I suffered
from lethargy and procrastination and now I no longer feel those things. Tasks come
easy for me and I don't feel lazy anymore. Fear is abated and things that used to
give your system a shock reaction no longer do.

All my life up until the age of 34 I've suffered with these things including deep
depression. Kundalini Yoga helped me eliminate these things for my life. It wasn't
often easy for me, but I was driven by a desire for peace. I think most people who
undertake spiritual practices have reached a point in their life where they
recognize the value of peace and are willing to do whatever is necessary. This
helps you overcome any trepidation you may be feeling. Things that once felt rotten
in life like frustration you barely feel at all. Your mind is probably chattery,
but after this you can have the clarity of a sage with just a minimum of meditation
supplementation. Don't get me wrong, it'll take time and sincere effort, but if you
reach that point that is something you will have in abundance. I definitely wanted
the clear mind enough and it eventually came and I tell you: Life without the
constant chatter of thoughts gibbering about things I just UGH WANTED TO DROP was
an entirely different world.

If you're interested, I highly suggest you look at some popular torrent sites and
search Maya Fiennes, she's easy to follow, well paced, and has balanced practices
that are rooted in the traditions of Kundalini Yoga. As I said, I used it for
almost 10 years and it is quite awesome. It turned my world into something entirely
difference. Unlike 'anti-depression' pills and supplements where you barely notice
any difference, this actually changes the way you feel things if you work it
sincerely and with a spiritual heart. For example, frustration doesn't feel
terribly ugly when you feel it, nor does anger. It gets to where you feel the
anger, you deal with it, and the event doesn't spoil your entire days mood or sit
on you for 4 hours, the ugly way it used to do with me. The way you feel is
EVERYTHING! It is the dynamic that follows you everywhere. And so I think, in my
opinion, it is worth it to pursue a change for the way you feel with all your
heart. Good luck and I hope you find peace whichsoever path you choose.

I think the path of meditation is wonderful, but when emotions get stuck, something
more is required. This is where the path of Yoga come in. Specifically, I
recommend Kundalini Yoga. I have gotten myself 'unstuck' from those stubborn
trauma spots, and all I did was practice through it when it came. Kundalini Yoga
has the ability to help clear blockages and help you face your darkness.
Incidentally, this well make for more peaceful meditation sessions.

If you're interested, read up on it. I've walked the path for almost a decade now
and I can testify to it's effectiveness. When you're ready to practice, I highly
recommend Maya Fiennes (whom you can torrent) or Lisa Grail on YouTube. Both
teachers have very effective practices which I have used to overcome many of my
darker feelings.
I think it's important to accept pain, but you can also work to overcome it. This
is also part of the spiritual journey. I think it's important we admit the truth to
ourselves; we do not like suffering. We can accept it, but all our lives it has
brought us misery, anger, depression, frustration, and a host of other emotions.
This is part of our spiritual experience and it is precious. But we can overcome it
and that joy is also part of our experience. I didn't make real progress myself in
the 'overcoming' it part, always trying to find answers for my pain in books or at
churches. Not saying it didn't help mind you, but real progress came when I
embraced spiritual practices like Kundalini Yoga.

Things began to change and disappear. Anger for example. You know how you try to
tell yourself "I want to be better, I don't want to get angry when someone does
something I dislike." Well that's wonderful, that's positive. But it still doesn't
stop you from actually feeling all these ugly things. I think I always aimed for
that and at times I even convinced myself I wasn't angry even though I felt all
this ugliness inside. The truth is, I was angry. It was my experience to get angry.
The intention to not be angry was noble. The effort to try to control my anger was
noble. But my heart feels what it feels, and yes, even though it seemed opposite to
my intention, I WAS ANGRY. The simple truth is, our emotions overwhelm us and there
really isn't a way to sidestep them. When someone questions you, "why are you
getting angry?" they really just don't understand that it's the dynamic of every
human to get angry. Maybe what they should be saying is "why aren't you trying to
control your anger response?" That would be more accurate. Because the truth is, it
happens.

What Kundalini Yoga did though was take the fire of that anger and reduced it to
the power of a gentle and calm wave on an ocean. So instead of fire, you have
something that washes over you temporarily and doesn't feel ugly and awful, and
also quickly passes and never really is apart from the ocean that is you. Whereas
the fire you previously felt was a destructive force that sometimes cost you big.
And much like getting burned, you felt its effects well past the actual event. Now
for me, it was important to fight for a better dynamic. Why? I didn't like feeling
all that nonsense. I'm sure no one does. The way we feel is everything! Since
practicing Kundalini Yoga, not only the darkness of my anger transformed, but all
my other emotional issues as well. We are capable of feeling beautiful things. But
to do that, we have to face down and release everything. It's a path sewn with
tears and strife - they say spirituality is no free lunch. Often times in this
world when we strive to do something good for ourselves something will hit us hard
and even our most noblest efforts will feel betrayed. I've walked this path and it
is full of tears. But we can overcome.

If you're interested, I strongly recommend Maya Fiennes as an instructor. You can

find her practices on Kundalini Lounge and also some popular torrent sites. This,
combined with a lot of processing after your practice. I think it's important we
acknowledge the truth of our feelings. We can accept things but it is okay to want
better out of life and to strive for better. This isn't a struggle for wealth or
career or relationship, this is much more important. This is a struggle for the way
you feel about every moment in your life.

Yoga is one part of the path. But you must carry it forward by practicing
forgiveness for everyone. Recognize that everyone doesn't have all the same pieces
to this life puzzle that you do, so forgive everyone! Make is so in your heart no
one 'wrongs you too much' to be forgiven. When you set no boundaries on
forgiveness you begin to understand more about how to free yourself. It's an
important spiritual practice and one you can easily accomplish daily in life. It
forces you to look at your pride, at your wounded heart time and time again and in
the face of pain still find forgiveness in your heart for all. This is a big part
of the path to emotional liberation. So practice this as well. The dynamic of
'forgiveness for all' will be a great teacher. This doesn't mean you won't hurt
when people hurt you, or that you'll give them the same level of trust as before.
It simply means at the end of it all you could share a conversation and laugh about
old times and where it took you, without grudges. The grudges won't die instantly
in your heart, but as you practice you will see them wither and give way to
compassion and understanding for everyone around you. And one day, and I speak for
experience, you will be free of all feelings of revenge and free of inner conflict
and negativity. It's beautiful, real, and tangible; but you gotta put in the work.

Take slow deep breathes. Focus on your consciousness. Stop all stimuli, stop where
you are and just breathe.

Yeah, you probably just feel the pain. But that's what you're gonna keep feeling.
We'll get to that.

All the things you are saying aren't wrong. The pain of life sucks, and we're all
in the same boat - albeit to varying degrees.

There's quite a bit to be done here - even if you have no money - you obviously
have a computer and access to Internet. When I was down on life, all I did was read
spiritual books - not just any spiritual books, but books to empower myself. Look
around, find something your fit. If you need a starting place, Eckhart Tolle is
good. You can get a free subscription to Scribd for a bit. Or try your local
library. Find a good spiritual practice you connect with and start. I've had
exceptional luck with Kundalini Yoga. Maya Fiennes is a great teacher. You can find
her on Kundalini Lounge or popular torrent sites.

Study, practice yoga, breathe. Study practice yoga breathe. Crisis hits. Study
practice yoga breathe. Friends let you down, study practice yoga breathe. Betrayal
- study practice yoga breathe.

You can liberate yourself from your entanglement. But everything you read here are
just words. They are some comfort, but you must work well on yourself. Let go of
your expectations of others. Let go of your expectations of life. Find the
blessings.

Life won't be all about the glories you see around you. Those things are put here
to put us through our dance through the garden. We are innocent children, and true
children of the universe by any stretch - we are the so very young - the new ones.
We come here, we learn, we experience the heartache, the inequalities, the
inadequacies, the simple joys, the broken dreams. And we can also rise above these
things even if we continue to have nothing.

What are your blessings today? Well, you obviously have some sort of Internet
access. That puts you leagues ahead of anyone who existed before 1990. Use this in
whatever capacity you have to help find personal peace. Study yoga, pranayama,
meditation, study spiritual wisdom, principles. You who are beaten down and too
emotionally wrecked to find solace - start finding. It's all here, among the pages
here, r/spirituality/, r/enlightenment/, r/meditation/. It's all out there.

No one can do it for you. Words you read may distract and that may be enough for
today. But true liberation is a combination of your best efforts and your will to
overcome the darkness in your life. I'm not talking about getting a better job. I'm
talking about trying for whatever scraps of light you can reach for. There is a
mountain of legitimate resources out there that can help you pull yourself up.

I've seen many like you who have come here drenched in darkness, hysterical. I give
them all the same advice because there is no other. They rarely listen because they
are drunk on their suffering much like you are. I mean that only in a kind way. I
can only hope you save this information and hang onto it somewhere in your mind or
on your phone and one day it may resonate with you enough.

If it's all so overwhelming, here is a simple pranayama exercise you can do right
now that might shine a little bit of light into your current moment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDJl4e-IWr0

More awaits you if you but open the door to the possibilities that Kundalini Yoga
and other spiritual practices bring.

Why should you process emotions? Because if you do not, they will continue to
reside in your body and resurface in your mind as thoughts, and emotional echoes of
feelings long past. You won't even realize how much it is dominating your every
day, discoloring your every experience and reaching out and affecting every
interaction in your life.
If you're stuck in the emotional mud and your heart refuses to yield a better day
there are several tips I have learned over the years to help you clear your
emotional space. Clearing your emotional space is a very necessary and practical
thing you can do every day. But many of us aren't taught how to do these things -
we learn the way of the world but not the way of the inner world. Some of these
things may be new to you, but I assure you they have all proven very effective in
processing and transmuting the energetic feelings you get in your heart area as
the result of any emotional stimuli. Here is the core practice for processing
emotions:
1. The first thing is to get rid of all distractions. In order to process you must
have focused awareness.
2. This is most important. Sit down, get comfortable, look down, and focus on
your heart area. Remain aware of the emotional energies that you are trying to
process at all time. Breathe and act normally, no need for anything special here
but be sure you actually are breathing regularly. A common mistake for beginners
when focusing is to stop breathing altogether. Try to fall away from this habit
always. All you are doing is focusing on the energy in your heart area, the
emotions that you have. Even if you are clear right now, there is usually
something there to process. If you feel nothing, focus on the nothing. The key
here is to try to have as much unbroken awareness as possible. The little things
that pull you away like thoughts or desires, as well as your world are the things
we're trying not to let break our focused awareness. Keeping a constant awareness
of the feeling in your heart is paramount. This is your most important and
valuable technique. Reread and repeat this constantly as you practice.
3. Try to be alone when doing this. Tears may come from emotional release.
Don't suppress them, if they come let them flow. It is much harder to tear up in
the company of others so that's why I recommend being alone.
4. If after a few minutes you find your emotion still hasn't processed, don't
worry - this will take time especially if you're new at it. If you're totally new
to spiritual practices, it will take some time to break through the emotional web
and knots that entangle our heart space.
Besides directly processing your emotions, you'll also require more if you want
to achieve a deeper emotional liberation. What is this emotional liberation
exactly? It's freeing yourself from the negative of emotions. It's upgrading
your entire emotional experience from a standard human experience filled with the
constant catching of negativity during social interaction or life events, ruined
days, outbursts, stuck trapped feelings, rampaging thoughts, and the horrible
side of many feelings like anger, frustration, sadness. Instead, through
emotional liberation you can feel full of light, your emotions will process
quickly, you will be truly insightful and calm, clear headed, and in touch with
your divine nature. You will always feel like your light is right there for you
to access. The difference, if you could feel it for just one day, would rock your
world.
Imagine that your emotions before liberation are running on an old computer, it's
OS is out of date, it's slow, it has a single core, little memory. It takes
forever to get through tasks. However, if you take the time to learn how to
process your emotions in real time, your computer slowly gets updated into a
beast. Suddenly, you're running Windows 11, with 32GB of RAM, and a 24-thread
processor. Everything processes quickly, and you never leave your light even in
the dark days. It's always there for you, because it isn't hidden under a pile of
unprocessed energy and emotional blocks.
Emotional processing in real time in one thing, and a great place to start. But
with old wounds and traumas, our emotional energy is already in our bodies. This
will continue coloring our experience unless we address the old energy as well.
The following practical methods will help you achieve this goal.
1. Pranayama. A couple of powerhouses in particular - one called bhastrika breath
and another the Kundalini breath of fire. These powerful breaths can be the
cornerstone to emotional freedom, freeing ourselves from the trapped energies in
our body, like powerful pressure bursting through the piping of your body. After
each of these exercises, go into your emotional processing mode immediately. I
almost always find a great chance for emotional release directly after this,
however, you must make the effort to follow the emotional processing steps above
to receive the full benefit.
2. Kundalini Yoga. I could write ballads on the benefits of Kundalini Yoga.
Needless to say, it is a spiritual powerhouse of immense proportions and one of
the great treasures of our world. You may find yourself stuck a lot and a good
Kundalini Yoga practice is a great way to keep busting down barriers. Through
it's help, you will clear emotional energies in a variety of ways. I recommend
the school of Kundalini Yoga because it is the one I grew up with. The other
schools have value but this is the one I practiced and it worked for me. I could
list a variety of reasons to choose Kundalini Yoga that others wrote but I can't
speak to the validity of all that. All I can tell you is that it worked
marvelously for me. I recommend Maya Fiennes as a teacher, whom I've been using
for about 10 years. Her practices are easy to follow for beginners and shouldn't
be too intimidating, and you can find it on Kundalini Lounge, or simply by
torrenting it off some popular torrent sites. If you're looking for something
more immediate, Mariya Gancheva on YouTube is also a great teacher.
3. Meditation with spoken mantra as the focus. This is a great and easy way to
get into meditation. The spoken aspect will allow you to be at ease with the
most challenging aspects of meditation for beginners, which is the fidgeting and
the barrage of conflicting feelings that a beginner will notice shortly after they
enter meditation. With a mantra as the focus, you can improve through genuine
practice and conquer these aspects easier than a straight quiet practice. I work
with many mantras, but you can start with something basic like Om. Many mantras
have meanings in different cultures. I feel it is not so much the word itself but
the intent behind the word. I recommend choosing short mantras, 1 to 3 words in
length, and just saying it aloud. I've had great luck with bija mantras although
if you Google search this you may find the cultural context a little out of your
league. Just keep an open mind because mantras have been an important tool in my
liberation and I believe they can be for you as well. It will absolutely focus
you for a meditation, and after you say mantras you may emotionally process
(using the steps above) and notice lots of emotional release. I cannot say
exactly how mantras work - anything I put out would be supposition - but I do know
they have gotten me into states to release emotional energies.
4. Study the art of letting go. Forgiveness for all, understanding, seeing God
in everyone. It's a way of life that will free you, and aid you in taking on less
emotional weight. At first, practicing this may seem like the way of the fool, or
the naive. You'll initially still take on pain from many interactions despite
your pure intentions. Many will stop here and write this off because it doesn't
let you win. Who wants to let something go when pride feels so right, holding a
grudge feels valid, or sticking it to someone cause they deserved it feels like
the justice that person needs. Let go of this 'justice', it's an endless chase
of ego that leaves everyone feeling the ick of the human experience. It's a crap
prize compared to the experience of being in the light all the time, free of all
the negativity of the human experience. A great man once said, "I have no
enemies, only topographies of ignorance." It means, we're all human, we all
struggle, we all have our own unique way. And we have been growing from birth
into something more. Let's give each other a break. We are only ignorant as all
things once were. We can only educate ourselves through experience. We're not
enemies, we're all just here learning as best we can in our own way. We often
cannot show others a path - we can merely walk our own better. This is the
ultimate perception of your fellow man - we're all 'the human experience' wrapped
into our own unique little package. We're all worthy of forgiveness, of striving
for happiness. Let go of the petty differences. Practice constantly, and let
absolutely nothing be the exception! Absolutely nothing! Give chase to the
beautiful challenge of letting it all go. One day if you practice enough, letting
go of anything seems like childs play. I'm not saying there aren't disturbing
things out there or ridiculous ways you could challenge this 'letting go', nor am
I saying it will disqualify you from all hurt permanently. It will however
minimize that hurt and allow you a special power no one else around you will have
- the power to push aside your own ego, pride, vanity and live free of these
considerations. Practice practice practice and you can achieve the ultimate in
this. And then when you look back, you are like, "Why did I used to find it so
hard to do this anyway? It's super easy!"
5. With regard to what you put in your body, the saying "Do no harm" should always
be taken into account. Anything that affects the way you feel will slow your way
to liberation. Stimulants, for example, are the prime example of something that
disturbs your inner world. Take it from an old veteran, it is better to transcend
these things in a happy body then struggle with the feelings and make little
progress because a 'caffeine feeling' is still stuck in your chest or head. As you
progress, feeling these things will become easier, to the point where you'll
absolutely avoid things you never thought to avoid. For example, certain kinds of
snacks have a detrimental affect on my emotions and I have to avoid them. Just
listen with your body to what your food is telling you. If it says acid reflux,
you definitely need a change. If it says icky feeling comes with this item, you
definitely need a change. Don't ignore what food is telling you. Some foods and
supplements have a very important message and that is 'stay away from me!' These
things are easier for some than others. Caffeine is usually the one that surprises
everyone. Any recreational substances of course carry their burden. Just be
honest - don't deny this. It should be plain to see - just look for it. Your body
tells you all the time. Listen to this wisdom of the body, and feed it only things
which don't disturb it. This is the only criteria I live by - I still eat a lot
and eat yummy things! It's not a big list on things I have to avoid, but those I
do I once in a while resample to reconfirm what they once told me. And you know
what? They continue to say the same things to me years apart.
Emotional liberation is absolutely worth the effort. The difference can be quite
dramatic. I've outlined some of the key points here that I used to achieve this
in my own life and I hope this road map can be of help to you too. I suggest you
save this so you can refer to it later, as there is much here to process and can
easily be forgotten. Also, I know priorities will shift once people find an
emotional level they are comfortable with, and I understand that. You needn't
make complete liberation your goal but the tools are outlined here for those who
do want to go all the way.

One of the greatest discoveries I found along the way were spiritual practices. A
lot of times my feelings would get trapped in my body and I didn't even realize I
was suffering more than I needed too. Once I started practicing I slowly began to
lift the burden of all these feelings into a constantly clear dynamic no matter
what spiritual weather was headed my way. My thoughts too became very rare and
almost completely silent.

The first most important spiritual practice was Kundalini Yoga. I practiced Maya
Fiennes 'Journey through the Chakras' (which is now out of print) for almost 10
full years. Through the journey, I discovered after only a couple of months my
thoughts began to be silent, and I began to discover things were started to affect
me differently. The journey is often referred to as 'liberation' in spiritual
circles and yoga practices like Kundalini Yoga can be your most valued treasure
toward working to liberation.

Liberation, I define, is a kind of freedom from the darkness of your feelings. It

won't prevent all suffering, but often trapped feelings like anger or frustration
can stick with you all day. Post spiritual practices, your feelings don't darken
and negativity starts to appear less frequently in your body until you reach a
point where even the most dire of circumstances can be handled with grace, feeling
as light as a feather. The difference is dramatic if you practice long enough.
Most people are probably content practicing until they feel better though I
recommend trying to make it a regular part of your life.

Kundalini Yoga is probably the most significant spiritual practice. I found a lot
of the noticable affects to be emotional. If you're interested, I highly suggest
going to Kundalini Lounge or a popular torrent site and looking up Maya Fiennes.
You can also try on YouTube Lisa Grail or Mariya Gancheva. Both are very capable
teachers though I can tell you that I trust Maya Fiennes the most since I use her
stuff constantly.

You can read a lot of good wisdom from others. But I believe firmly that nothing
you ever read will ever take the place of spiritual practices. For me, I was
always searching for something until I found Kundalini Yoga and it finally brought
forth the change I had been looking for my whole life. Keep reading, keep growing,
keep fighting. And if you find yourself cornered in a dark place, start
practicing. Let your desire to be free of suffering be the fire that pushes you
forward.

Kundalini Yoga is a practical approach to inner peace. I think it can be a very

healthy supplement to therapy. It is highly effective and I recommend it, it really
is like a deep cleaning. Forgiveness, unconditional love, the golden rule, see all
as equal, these things all free you. Talk your emotions through out loud and don't
always use people in your life as sounding boards, you create rebound feelings.
Just whisper them to whatever force you believe in, or even just your animal. This
I found to be therapeutic. Value the process of clearing your mind of thoughts,
it's oh so precious and freeing. The things above will help you do that. Kundalini
Yoga helps gives your body physical peace as well. I felt a lot of my old dynamic
lift and suddenly life was easier to process. Things that would once take days to
process were processed in minutes.

Avoid stimulants, caffeine, breads whenever possible. Absolutely stay away from
cereal and loaf breads it drains your energy. Take care what you put in your body -
everything else above won't help if you have something that you know is hurting
you. Yes, your caffeine affects you. You think it doesn't, but it absolutely does.

If you're looking for a good Kundalini Yoga teacher, Maya Fiennes (whom you can
torrent) or Lisa Grail of YouTube are wonderful.

I feel not wanting to grow. I just wanted good things in my life, growth wasn't
one of them. Especially at the cost of just hurt feelings and all. Coming to
terms with this will be hard right now amidst your pain, but just take it a little
at a time.
If you're ready to confront your darkness, I highly recommend Kundalini Yoga. Maya
Fiennes whom you can torrent, or Lisa Grail on YouTube have some things which can
help you face your darkness so you don't have to suffer so much in this life.
During the process, you will grow while you fight for your freedom - its just
natural. But the path is rewarding and you'll begin to see that light as truth
more and more. Spiritual practices are the 'meat' of spirituality, theres so much
talk but here we can actually take from the vine and grow ourselves rather than
just theorize and learn about concepts. Practices like yoga and meditation.
This is a world where we have to fight for our happiness, and no one can do it for
us. External things might be good, but the inner world must be cultivated with
practices as well as trying to embrace a few basic spiritual concepts like
forgiveness, seeing God in all, unconditional love. Even at the cost of our own
pain, we must do what others in our lives might not be ready to do and rise and
struggle and reach for more than what we have been given individually internally.
We carry our crosses all, but growth doesn't mean work - it means undoing the
chains of darkness that binds every human.

I hope you believe me when I say, because I have experienced this myself every day,
you can reach a point where almost no negativity reaches you. Living in this world
where your mind doesn't chatter all the time and you don't have to let a moment of
anger ruin your whole day are the fruits of that growth. There are many other
fruits that you can reach for spiritually, and most are achieved through a
foundation of spiritual practices.

Learning to find ways to refine your feelings of suffering was a challenge to me.
The actual how-to-do-it was the biggest thing. Books were great and sometimes
inspirational but offered very little in practical advice. At the end of reading,
a few days later, I found myself slowly losing the spirit those books had endowed.
Once life came at me, my spirits were easily dampened and I was once again humbled
by the darkness in my life. I tried supplements and meds to improve my emotional
being, but nothing really made a big difference. People often pointed toward
meditation - but even that was difficult. Meditation at first seemed fruitless and
pointless. I think what really changed everything was when I learned about
Kundalini Yoga and started practicing.

The promise of Kundalini Yoga was to awaken energies within us, dormant, that would
help us transform ourselves. Not change, transform. Meaning we would still be the
same, only our experience of life would be changed. Something about it really
appealed to me, because I kept practicing every day and as I did, I noticed the
burdens of the world didn't seem so heavy any more. Slowly, Kundalini Yoga got me
'in shape' for other spiritual practices like meditation which seemed leagues
easier after a few practices.

My feelings began to change too. For example, things that would normally make me
feel fear no longer phased me as seriously. Frustration was a big one - I'd often
hit a wall and that wall would hit me back emotionally and knock me on my ass for
at least a full day. A day wallowing in that darkness, teeming with it, and
struggling to not let that negativity affect the people around me. But after
practicing yoga for a bit I noticed the time I was down suffering decreased less
and less. Now, after a major incident, I'm down for far less time and the feeling
just kind of is just more of an acknowledgement and release of how it made me feel.

Changing the way we feel is like upgrading a big part of your life. Honestly you
have to exist with your feelings in this world every waking moment. This is by far
one of the biggest upgrades to your own existence that you can undertake here on
Earth, and the journey is really worth it. I've experienced firsthand the benefits
of a regular yoga practice. You can reach the clear-headed state where thoughts no
longer bother you constantly. This isn't theoretical, this was actually one of the
fruits of my practice.
I started with home practices, Kundalini Yoga with Maya Fiennes. She has a 7-set
practice that is very easy to follow and well paced. I only recommend her because
she is the path I followed so I know first-hand that her practices work. But
you're welcome to find your own teacher or even school. I think the important
thing is to do what resonates with you.

The investment of all this practice is to essentially upgrade your emotional body
and to feel better about your life all the time. It's nice when you see something
that used to make you angry, and to know that instead of being trapped in the
darkness of anger (which you feel regardless of how you handle the situation), you
see that you are free from this burden and won't be continually encumbered by
whatever life hands you.

My advice is to do the yoga, or whatever else you come across that might empower
you to feel better emotionally. You should know above all else that it is possible
to achieve a gradual liberation from the kinds of feelings that torment you and
reach a higher plane of existence for yourself. This liberation is not
theoretical, it is being experienced by myself and many others in this world who
have come to know how a regular practice of yoga (and other spiritual practices)
can free them from the bonds of the darkness that comes with their human
experience. You can fight for your own peace, and the result is worth the
struggle.

Read up on it to encourage yourself - a lot of what they say about the good is
true. This isn't 'buy a supplement and kind of sort of feel it but not really',
this is 'I cannot believe I used to feel that way' level change! It's what you're
looking for I promise you. I highly recommend Maya Fiennes whom you can find on
Kundalini Lounge or popular torrent sites (the practice is called Journey through
the Chakras). Also, Mariya Gancheva on YouTube has a 40-day mental health playlist
that I also recommend.

It's some of the toughest phases, seeing our intent so pure and yet our efforts
betrayed and reduced to nothing. This is the suffering of the human experience,
this very experience you are feeling now is hallmark to the spiritual path. The
spiritual path does not come without this feeling. Though in the moment it may
indeed seem the universe has nothing but more pain planned for you despite your
noble efforts and pure intent. I've known this feeling very well. I'm busy climbing
my spiritual hill, and a car wreck puts a mountain of injury and emotional recovery
in front of me. All my dreams and pursuits shatter in an instant.

For me, what helped me shed the skin of despair was practicing Kundalini Yoga,
meditating, and mantras. Kundalini Yoga in particular led to great advances and I
highly suggest it, especially if you find yourself in an emotional despair. It
helped me conquer everything in my life - and though life still continues with
suffering I find the strength I need and the joy that I yearn for come to me every
day now, not just some days. Most suffering simply comes and goes very fast, and
there aren't periods any longer where I deeply have to mull through somethings for
weeks at a time. The negativity in my heart resolves faster because I live in
harmony in peace and joy. Spiritual practices makes accessing these things so much
easier, like training yourself for peace.
I struggled with a condition that made life feel cruel and unbearable every day.
Eventually, despite all the hardships, I did find an answer though to a condition
that doesn't have a lot of good answers or options. Yoga kept me up through this
great struggle. Suicidal feelings make it feel like an option, but you probably
realize the truth - to kill your own body takes enduring more pain and unknowns
than we can face. The barrier between life and death is difficult to cross. You
probably are realizing this too. Since you have to be here, I recommend doing
everything you can, such as Yoga, to conquer the dark night of the soul.

You can look up Maya Fiennes on popular torrent sites, she has some great practices
on Kundalini Yoga that I highly recommend. Or both Lisa Grail and Mariya Gancheva
on YouTube. Been using them for almost 10 years now and they have really set me on
the greatest path I have known in my life. The changes in me were dramatic.

Spiritual practices like Kundalini Yoga and meditation opened my ultimate paths to
freedom, tempered by a lifetime of wisdom and spiritual reinforcement from my
journey. Envy is tough and you will struggle with it long. I believe kundalini yoga
and meditation can open pathways to overcome it in a way where you no longer feel
the ugliness of envy or any other feeling. I have experienced this emotional
liberation myself and I can tell you it is achievable.

I personally, when envy bothered me, wanted to be a person who was happy for others
genuinely. I wanted to be strong enough to have someone cheat on me and be willing
to let them go without anger. I wanted to forgive everyone in my life no matter
what, and to not hurt the people in my life. I wanted to be very big spiritually,
and do what others could not. I wanted to be free of all hate. That was me when I
was your age. Your intentions go one way but the darkness that comes up when you
experience envy pushes you to feel another way. It's the most common story in human
history - because everyone experiences it. While that couple kissing each other is
going through their own pain in their lives as we all do.

If you want to rise above it all, just stay true to the path. Spirituality may fall
in importance in and out of your life. I hope you will remember through it all that
things like certain schools of yoga (Kundalini Yoga got me there) and meditation
are there for when you're ready.

Keep absorbing spiritual wisdom. Pay attention to what is practical and relevant.
Pay attention to who you are - to the things you truly like in life - not what
others like - what you like. Everything that is YOU is valid and important.
Everything you like, any way you are, whatever your passions are should be pursued.
Remember every passion will cost you a lot of pain in this world. Prepare yourself
for emotional suffering. Expect the ones closest to you to hurt you. Try to
remember that we cannot control the whims of others and everyone has their reasons
for doing things. Everyone suffers no matter how happy they may seem in a single
moment.

If you see a couple realize you may be looking at the best moment they are going to
have in a month, which on another day around the corner that you do not see, they
could be going through their dark night of the soul - their period of great
suffering. Everyone suffers.

Social media casts shadows of unreal expectations and such. One day see wisdom in
dropping it if you're on it - you'll live happier and less depressed. It's because
we're human and what others have will cause us to suffer. Social media, much like
the envy you feel when you see someone coupled, will cause that darkness in you to
surface time and time again. If you're willing to pay the price, then by all means,
keep it. Just make sure its what you really want because it will cost you time and
time again.

Realize that things we feel like envy, or anger, are things we do not control.
Someone may tell you, "Don't be mad." But that is ignorance. Anger is automatic.
Only through dedicated spiritual practice and wisdom can we learn to be free of the
darkness it carries. That negativity you feel when you're angry, it will appear all
the time even if you are trying to overcome it. All emotional reactions are
automatic and the darkness and negativity will come with it no matter what. They
all take a very long time and suffering to truly overcome. Spiritual practices can
help you break the chains of this darkness once you are ready to fight hard enough.
The darkness of envy, betrayal, frustration, anger - it can all be conquered.
Spiritual practices are your strongest tool, but you should read the words of
others and integrate what you find most wise. Believe all that negativity you feel
- believe that everytime when you feel bad - It doesn't have to be that way! One
cannot conquer all of lifes suffering but our inner world darkness can be turned to
light. If you want it enough you can find a way. I did, and it is beautiful to live
without such things.

You can go as far as you want to in spirituality. Mind what you put in your body.
Stimulants, even caffeine, are the enemy. You may be too young and too tempted to
listen to the masses claims that caffeine doesn't hurt you. Believe me when I say
they are wrong. Listen to your body whenever you ingest something. Don't put
anything in it that makes your body feel bad in any way. Master this wisdom and you
will live a much happier life. What we put in our body and how it makes us feel is
a root to all we experience. So listen to your body and only give it things that
don't upset it in any way. It will take time to learn this but remember this as it
is very important if you want to achieve true liberation. You cannot be liberated
from your darkness if your body does not react well to what you put in it. This is
paramount and a requirement to liberation.

Have fun in life. Remember that this world will keep throwing things at you. It
won't stop. Expect, even in the pursuit of good things, for obstacles and setbacks
to occur. Save this somewhere, read it later in life. These are the best most
practical things I have learned about conquering life that everyone can do and I
try to pass them onto everyone.

I too have felt this way many times. You begin to recognize it as you experience it
more. It is possible to feel the original way again more often. It's best to think
of the word 'spirituality' to mean simply 'a journey toward peace'. Forget about
the particulars of what you may have read - they are rooted in traditions of other
cultures that are not your own. Instead, if you do read, ask yourself what
resonates with you and keep it.

I like spiritual practices, that is where the 'journey toward peace' really becomes
a reality. It brings the reality of peace into your life the more you practice.
Mantras, meditation, and yoga are three excellent pillars to build your foundation
on.

For Yoga, I highly recommend Kundalini Yoga, specifically Maya Fiennes. She's a
great teacher who is wonderful for beginners. Kundalini Yoga practice is an
evolutionary practice designed to help you confront your darkness and work toward a
life where passion, joy, and peace come to you naturally. One example is anger -
the way people feel it is ugly, it hurts to even feel it, it feels draining, it
ruins your day. After a time on the path, you can liberate your heart from these
ugly feelings. Imagine that - no ugliness. What would that mean to you? For me,
when I feel something, it's very momentary, it doesn't feel ugly. In fact, most of
my 'hurt' feelings turn to tears rather quickly, which is an ideal way to release
because everyone hurts, even those of us who've practiced for many years. We just
feel it differently. Its just quicker. You hold onto nothing and it passes through
you quick. Also, your mind is no longer a chatterbox.

I was a less than average lazy procrastinative individual with nothing exceptional
about him when I started my Yoga journey at 34. I barely wanted to do it at first.
I couldn't meditate for more then a few seconds before becoming bored and
distracted. But I'm now 40, and I made it through it all somehow and my mind is
clear, my emotions are joyful. I feel light, that is 'light as a feather' as well
as 'feel light' as in there is a light inside and no darkness graces my day. Sorrow
still comes due to life struggles but it passes through and doesn't derail my day.
I believe this is what I wanted from spirituality, from my journey toward peace.

If you're interested in Kundalini Yoga, I recommend Maya Fiennes, she's easy for
beginners and I used her home practices for 6 years. You can find her by checking
on some torrent sites.

I would definitely look into supplementing your meditation practices with Kundalini
Yoga. I've achieved extraordinary results and I believe the words that best
described the two together is highly synergistic. It really helped me make progress
I could feel - and suddenly my meditation practices were filled with tears at every
corner - tears which can be equated with deep release and progress. Some gurus have
called Kundalini Yoga practices as akin to therapy sessions.

I'd take a moment and look around and see if its right for you. If you decide you
want to practice, Maya Fiennes has some excellent practices which you can find on
some popular torrent sites. I personally believe Kundalini Yoga is one of the great
treasures in this world and I've made it my personal mission to spread it around as
much as possible - that's how much faith I have in it. But read around at other
peoples experiences with Kundalini Yoga (many reviews for programs on Amazon). It
eventually, along with my spiritual journey, led me to a peaceful state which I can
access often. No more seeking or searching or clawing for peace. Just peace. :)
Spiritual practices can arrest and reform your old feelings of loneliness. This
isn't theoretical either, I've experienced this kind of transformation first hand.
It's a kind of emotional transmutation process that turns your dark days and dark
feelings into joy and light. The difference is very noticable, very real, and not
at all subtle. You can free yourself to the point where instead of anger you draw
from a well of true calmness - a well which never runs dry. It isn't like 'oh I
dont want to be angry but I still feel angry'. It's more like, 'maybe i still
disagree with this and maybe it still sucks, but i dont have to feel the awfulness
of all that negativity'. It's beautiful.
If you're interested, my path consisted of Kundalini Yoga. It's like therapy in a
practice each and every one, as you notice your burdens start to lift little by
little. I've had some awful times in the last 8 years and even I managed to get
clear of that old world negativity. Peace is possible. Look into Maya Fiennes,
you can find her stuff on some popular torrent sites. She's the teacher I use and
her home practices got me all the way. The Kundalini school of yoga in particular
is different than the others - though most yoga will drive you toward peace.

Hey mate, I've been there more times then I can count. So much so I think it's
unethical the lack of natural euthanizing options we have in this world. No one
should have life forced upon them. With that said, always at the threshold I
usually turn around. Usually because I cannot stomach the pain of any method of
dying. I won't tell you not to do it, a lifetime of suffering has taught me that I
believe in your right to choose this for yourself. But should you have to stay and
fight whether by choice or simply because you cannot do it, there are things you
can do to fight these feelings.

After looking in every self help book and pills I found the thing that really
turned my life around - a Yoga practice. I felt drawn to Kundalini Yoga
specifically and thought it was right for me. It didn't happen all at once and
there were still challenges ahead but I noticed life start to improve. One thing it
brought in droves were tears - every damn day more and more tears, so many that I
sometimes felt drowned in the anguish of my healing. But even among those tears
there was a strong sense of improvement growing day by day, of joy, of my
experience turning around and transforming.

We all suffer and those of us who go through these tough dark nights have a heavy
burden, but I know embracing spiritual practices turned my life around like no
medicine or advice ever could. I hope you'll read a bit about how Yoga can help
you. What is different today is everything - I am totally transformed and full of
joy day after day, even on days with tears. Joy like I hadn't known my entire life.
Everything is bright and not just hopeful, it's just more life. These are real
feelings, not just acted out by me during the day in a feign. Actually emerging
from the hole of darkness, that is something wonderful! This is why I so adamantly
spread this message everywhere I go. There is something you can do today. Roll out
a Yoga mat and practice!

If you're low on funds, torrent-search Maya Fiennes, she has the best practices!
I've used her personally so I can testify she is the greatest teacher, her
practices are easy for beginners and I've used them myself in my journey to get to
where I am today! You will surely feel better after a single practice - then keep
going to uncover the light buried in the darkness. It's real and you can feel
beautiful. The suffering continues in life, always, as long as you're alive. But
it doesn't have to maul you and define your days, just color your moments a bit
from time to time. That's the nature of our existence and that won't change. But
that freedom that you can attain within your human experience is definitely worth
reaching for.

I used to feel meditation was a waste as well. I couldn't really get too much out
of it. One key to remember is that meditation = awareness. I think this one key
is all you need. Any pose, guidance, or whatever beyond that is just fluff. One
trick I used in the beginning to hold my concentration is the alpha-omega breath.
It's like this - you breath in and follow your breath to the alpha point, all the
way to the top of the breath, thereby reaching the alpha point. Then follow my
breath all the way to the bottom, the omega, the end of the breath. Develop a
pattern, then it falls away and feels natural. It's concentration, awareness, and
effortlessness once the pattern is set. Though initially it may feel a little
unnatural. You can use that but I think above all remember that meditation is
awareness. Stay aware, stay present. It's hard initially during the mind-chatter
phase. Emotionally, you find yourself disrupted by desires, impatience, very very
often. But the extra concentration from the alpha-omega exercise helps bring about
a kind of presence that I often would later see I lacked because of the way the
mind works. It's a very practical exercise for concentration and awareness.

What did I gain from meditation? Well, crediting just meditation wouldn't be
right, but I did eventually reach the state without thoughts using my meditation
pattern and also did a lot of yoga which I believes helps clear things from your
mind as well. Emotionally, again, not just due to meditation but due to yoga as
well, I was transformed. Anger held no power over me, nor any other of the dark
emotions.

I would definitely look into supplementing your meditation practices with Kundalini
Yoga. I've achieved extraordinary results and I believe the words that best
described the two together is highly synergistic. It really helped me make progress
I could feel - and suddenly my meditation practices were filled with tears at every
corner - tears which can be equated with deep release and progress. Some gurus have
called Kundalini Yoga practices as akin to therapy sessions.
I'd take a moment and look around and see if its right for you. If you decide you
want to practice, Maya Fiennes has some excellent practices which you can find on
some popular torrent sites. I personally believe Kundalini Yoga is one of the great
treasures in this world and I've made it my personal mission to spread it around as
much as possible - that's how much faith I have in it. But read around at other
peoples experiences with Kundalini Yoga (many reviews for programs on Amazon). It
eventually, along with my spiritual journey, led me to a peaceful state which I can
access often. No more seeking or searching or clawing for peace. Just peace. :)

BITCOIN

Switching to Bitcoin won't do anything to make others less controlling. It is not

the path to salvation for capitalistic societies. Governments will always, ALWAYS
print money in some form or fashion. And regular people will always rely on some
form of government.

Printing money is not inherently bad. It allows for more wealth to circulate. What
we need to address is unfair disparities in wealth distribution. Those who are
creating wealth are not being adequately compensated. Bitcoin cannot help with
that.

Bitcoin is good for buying drugs, or at least used to be, anonymously. That is
probably the extent of its usefulness. I'm sorry, but Bitcoin is not the financial
messiah. If you step back and really look at it, it's an absurd difficult-to-use
expensive-to-use electricity-guzzling currency and those who buy its propoganda are
only doing so because they buy it for the sole purpose (usually) of earning wealth.

As someone who had to use Bitcoin as a currency to buy drugs (because only Bitcoin
was accepted), it sucked as a currency. It was difficult to use and ridiculously
expensive per transaction. Being a currency is its primary function and no currency
should cost 1-50$ per transaction (like it has fluctuated the last 3 years). Thats
insanity. Willingness to accept this as acceptable is insanity and delusion.

Yes, it's trying hard. It's improving. But people rarely use it because it's
inconvenient and expensive. People buy it to get rich. If that becomes its only
major function then it will definitely fail given time. Take a step back and really
look at this stuff for what it is, with a neutral eye. Falling off a cliff with a
horde of like-minded people is still falling off a cliff.

What I am is blessed, blessed by God. Bitcoin is a joke and I'm grateful that I can
see it for what it is. I only wish to spread this great sacred and absurdly-not-
obvious-to-some-people knowledge to others. If you're invested, think long and hard
if you want to jump on a bandwagon just because there are many people on it and it
has survived this long. I'm not saying it's gonna fail tomorrow. I'm not saying it
won't go back up. But think about it logically - the center cannot hold. If
everyone buys Bitcoin to make money and 1% buy it to use it as a currency, where is
the money coming from for people to make money off of?

It succeeds now because it is popular because it makes people money and that is why
it succeeds. Think of that last sentence as a wheel. The wheels that Bitcoin
travels on. In stocks, this works because of the perceived value a company has. The
same is true for Bitcoin, except people are rarely actually using it as currency or
something of value and instead are treating it like a pure stock - which is usually
attached to a company - which usually provides goods and services of some kind.
People are buying this to get rich. That's its value.

How many people reading this have used Bitcoin often as a currency? How much paper
money have you used this week? 99.9 percent of your transactions in the last year
right? I'm willing to bet that's true for even the most stalwart Bitcoin fan.
People here are ridiculous. Cryptocurrencies all are ridiculous. One thing it
actually did though was allow transactions to occur off the grid. You could buy
drugs in another country with this glorified debit card with anonymity. That is its
true value. Decentralization? Please. Give it enough time, if it ever gets bit
enough the government can and will dip their hands into it. It's already being
taxed. How is that decentralized?

Given enough time people will whine and complain that they are getting scammed, or
lost access to their account, and the big government will step in to save the day,
and regulate it in some way. It's the way of the world. And here is the kicker:
They will actually mean well. Just like thinks like banks do when they insure your
deposits against thieves. Or when you call your credit card company to cancel a
bogus charge. Don't you get it? Currency has been around for thousands of years!
It's built on systems that have been refined to protect individuals. It's a
perfected beautiful imperfect system. It's the apex of what Bitcoin will take a
long time to be!

If you want a corruption free system, you're living on the wrong world. Give it
time. All things fall to the taint of human corruption.
Edit: Due to not wanting to seem like a "con," here is my best explanation of the
technique: Okay, so it is a very simple technique but there are some nuances to
understand. It is as follows; Seeing (not saying) the body as not you, along with a
downward "motion," or a downward force, internally. It needn't be incredibly
precise, but with greater attention I am noticing the downward motion to travel
along nadi channels starting at the front of the face on the nose and going up and
over the head, and passing down roughly where the pineal gland is. Don't think too
much of the pineal gland, but I am almost certain that this method stimulates the
secretion of amrita, or the nectar of immortality, from within it. With a proper
emphasis on total removal of self-ness from the body, and the downward motion into
emptiness, along with the amrita flowing through the nadis, a non-physical ecstasy
is experienced by which it can be ascertained in my own experience that the crown
chakra has opened. Notice this nuance: Actively seeing the body as not you, is
different from seeing oneself as awareness. In fact, there is no identification or
placement of self anywhere, just a removal of self-ness, or attachment of self,
from the body. It is different from seeing the body as an object in one's
awareness, and thus not you secondarily, but rather a direct dis-identification
using sight to produce a "not me" experience of the body. Don't worry with the
thought stream so much, let it just be there, as it is, without any interference.
Also, don't worry whether or not it is true that one is not the body, whether one
has realized that or not, the important thing is just producing that "not me"
experience in regards to it. It is also important to stress detachment of self from
the center of the head, as we often unconsciously place ourselves there, and the
downward motion of self out from this area along with the body and every sensation
associated with body in general helps to make that happen. So the technique does
multiple things at once. With the emptiness traveling farther down, one will notice
bliss and ecstasy even in lower chakras such as the anahata and manipura. You may
end up having spontaneous movements of the arms and spontaneous vocalizing at the
intensity if it is done well, but this is normal, just like moaning in sex, except
this will be much more intense, more drawn out, and ultimately more satisfying. If
you attempt this technique, please let me know how your experience went as it will
be incredibly useful to me in my research. Definitely give it a few tries too,
maybe over a couple of days. The length of time you practice is up to you, but a
beginner may need at least ten minutes to start to create that detachment and
bliss.
It's strange how every judge keeps ruling against him. You really think the
democrats reach is everywhere in these places? You really think they're just all
in on it? That every legal authority has sided with the election being legitimate
and the claims being debunked before our judicial system. Not one judge, but
several judges, in several courtrooms.

They're just all wrong / corrupt / blind / ignorant / part of a conspiracy?

What's more likely? That Trump, a known narcissist, egotist, liar, manipulator had
an election stolen from him by a conspiracy across many states to manipulate votes
toward the democrats, votes counted by honest everyday Americans? Or that Trump, a
known narcissist, egotist, liar, manipulator, etc, has lied because he wanted to
make trouble / try to steal the election / cause problems for his enemies / sooth
his ego?

Every action a human takes flows from our inner character. Do you deny Trump
exhibits qualities of being a narcissist, egotist, liar, manipulator? Are these
qualities not present? Is it then not infinitely more likely that he is lying
rather than some crazy conspiracy to steal an election involving a ridiculous level
of coordination, planning, buying off officials, secrecy?

Examine the man. Then examine the actions. The answer isn't a convoluted movie
plot. It is likely / almost certainly the single actions of one man, one very
ambitious man.

Bad economy right after the pandemic. This is everywhere friend. This was due to
the pandemic and associated conditions, not any one man. The decisions made during
the pandemic, whether you agree or disagree, were made because we simply did not
know exactly what we were dealing with. China shut down, many places shut down,
the economy suffered, and as a result a lot of supply chains were broken. One
breaks one which breaks another which breaks another.

None of this is Bidens fault. It wasn't even Trumps fault who was making these
initial decisions the first year of the pandemic. It merely was the result of our
lack of information and humanities reaction to a threat. But supply chains
shutting down was the primary cause of inflation. It was like dominoes. Think of
it like a car. It slowed all the way down. Now it has to speed back up but it
takes time to get the speed back up. Now most supply chains are fixed but
inflation isn't going away. It's no longer really inflation - it's the new prices
of everything because companies are allowed to keep prices high because they are
getting people to pay those prices. That's all there is to it.

What should Biden do? Go beg companies to lower their prices? Go threaten them?
What magical wand should he wave to fix all this? How would you fix it?

Not Biden, not Biden, not Biden! Hardship is everywhere friend, not just the US.
It's a simple thing to understand, stop succumbing to the rhetoric of the loud and
obnoxious.