The worst ways to get "enlightened"

I did my yoga, and I'm starting to see not-self and that I am One. What's for lunch?

Rites and rituals for samadhi in India

(dakota of earth) India's worst way to reach "enlightenment," usually defined in Hinduism as mere samadhi, which is a stage to understanding not the final goal itself in Buddhism.

I think I'm starting to lose my grip on reality.

When one becomes a "saint" (a NOBLE ONE) in Buddhism, having entered at least the first stage of enlightenment (of seven stages usually condensed and described as four main stages), one is immediately rid of four things.

Of these is the wrong view that clinging to rites and rituals could ever lead to enlightenment (bodhi, awakening to the ultimate truth).

• 

  Dhutanga of living under a tree

  Attachment to rites and rituals (sīlabbata-parāmāso) is one of the subtle fetters binding beings (who are constantly becoming and never actually being) to samsara, the Wheel of Life and Death. Śīla refers to "virtue" or "moral conduct" + vata (bata) to "religious duty, observance, rite, practice, custom" [25] + parāmāsa to "being attached to" or "a contagion" (clinging, upādāna) and has the connotation of "mishandling" the Dhamma [26], Buddha's Teachings. Together sīlabbata-parāmāso translates as "the contagion of [adhering to] mere rule and ritual, the infatuation of good works, the delusion that they suffice" [27] or, more simply, "fall[ing] back on attachment [clinging] to precepts and rules" [28]. Whereas the fetter of "doubt" (vicikiccha) can be seen as pertaining to the dharmas of competing wandering ascetics (samanas) during the time of the Buddha, the fetter regarding clinging to rites and rituals likely refers to some practices of contemporary Brahmanical authorities [29]. More

• 

  I punished the body (Erika Tanith)

  The former prince Siddhartha Gautama (the future historical Buddha), as a wandering ascetic on a quest for enlightenment, practiced these futile things -- particularly extreme fasting -- for years until he finally stopped blaming the body for the mind's defilements and accepted the blissful meditative absorptions (jhanas) as the real path of purification and path of freedom to seeing things as they really are and thereby finally being able to let go of lust, clinging, attachment, and all that binds us to interminable rebirth and suffering in samsara.
• The 13 Sane Ascetic Practices (dhutangas)

Then I realized I was that One God incarnate

Until then, a person might do any useless thing -- particularly engaging in the extremes of severe austerities and bodily mortifications (tapas, penances, extreme austerities, attempts at purification) to purify oneself or hedonism, debauchery, and excess with the excuse that "anything can be used in the service of liberation, including the very poisons -- alcohol, drugs ("Crazy Wisdom"), sanctified or twisted sexuality (tantric sex), meat eating and cannibalism (as in Aghori holyman practices), fasting and self-starvation (inedia), self-mummification (sokushinbutsu)...

The Ten Stages of Enlightenment

(Asangoham) Ten Stages of Enlightenment

I've had it with God, Krishna and Jesus

(Life of BeerBiceps) How Lord Krishna and Jesus Christ are related: Sindu/Hinduism+Christianity

A Hindu's Crisis of Faith

(Neo Dharmism) I rejected "God" for years...until I had a real experience I couldn't explain

• NEW: (Neo Dharmism) I stopped feeling God's presence — Hinduism had an answer I didn't expect

• 

  Great Lord Krishna of Hinduism

  Hindu Lord Vishnu (the Preserver), Narayana, Hari, the Supreme god of Vaishnavism. [This is a beautiful avatar so much so that the Buddha, the Christ, and the dark Lord Krishna (whose name means "black" Kānha, Sanskrit कान्हा, "The dark-complexioned beloved one" 108 Names of Shri Krishna) are said to be avatars and incarnations or emanations of this god. Of course, in the case of the historical Buddha, this can't be quite right. It is a beautiful sentiment, indeed, but the Buddha is not reborn here or elsewhere, is not a "god," and rises beyond the gods.

• 

  Radha and Krishna=Jesus and Mary

  As for a historical Jesus, maybe, but surely most Christians (or perhaps they should more rightly be labelled Jesuits or Jesevites) would not like to think that their all-powerful, supreme controller, creator of the entire universe were an avatar of a neighboring faith, in spite of the fact that Jesus practiced Hinduism to some extent or was exposed to it in his 18 years of travel in Tibet and India (Nicolas Notovitch). However, the title avatar may well apply to Lord Krishna, the central object of veneration and faith in popular Hinduism today, sometimes rivaling Lord Shiva and the great Goddesses Lakshmi, Sarawati, Parvati, Kali, Ma Durga, and his consort Radha.]
• Ishtadeva or Ishtadevata (Sanskrit इष्ट देव(ता), iṣṭa-deva(tā), literally the "cherished divinity" from iṣṭa, "personal, liked, preferred, cherished" and devatā, "deity, divinity, godhead, tutelary deity" or deva, "deity"), is a term used in Hinduism denoting a worshipper's favorite deity [1, 2] or favorite form of the deity if approached from a monotheistic or henotheistic point of view. More

Could a Hindu godman restore faith?

(Supreme Yoga Vidya) When Ramana Maharishi revealed his powers

(experiences of Rangan, Maharishi's childhood friend)

Three religions, one teaching?

(Finding Meaning Project) If Buddhism says there's no self, what's reborn?

Are nuns 2nd-class citizens in Buddhism?

(Natasha Yehenara) Are Buddhist nuns, who are forced to accept the garudhammas or "Eight Additional Rules," second-class citizens?

Ayya Tathaaloka (Alliance for Bhikkhunis)

[They sure have been treated as such by sexist and patriarchal monks trying to enhance and preserve their worldly power as abuse-prone clergyman. But these additional rules are NOT historical, as revealed by the scholarship of Ayya Tathālokā Bhikkhunī of California looking into the Theravada Bhikkhuni Vinaya, were not laid down or approved by the Buddha, and have been shown to be later additions. For instance, on one occasion, the Buddha's mother, the first Buddhist nun in history, comes to the Buddha seeking clarification on some matter or other, which would never have happened IF such additional rules had been laid down by him. The fact that she asks what she does, as documented in a vinaya backstory preserved among the ancient Buddhist texts, proves the Buddha didn't do it. And the fact that monks at later Buddhist councils added such sexist and oppressive stipulations is tantamount to crimes against humanity and the Sangha, maybe even a "defeat" (parajika) offense of a schism between monk and nun communities. Wisdom Quarterly stands firmly on the side of nuns, Natasha, and all future female-embodied persons (because we can all be reborn any gender whether we like it or not) seeking enlightenment and liberation. We have covered this topic many times in the past.]

(Joe Rogan Experience Clips) The dark truth

behind the crucifixion of Jesus Christ

Japan's mummy monks and Kundalini

(dakota of earth)

Yamabushi (山伏, one who prostrates oneself on the mountain) are Japanese mountain ascetic hermits [1]. They are generally part of the syncretic Shugendō religion,* which includes Tantric [Vajrayana] Buddhism and the indigenous Shinto [2].

Their origins can be traced back to the solitary yamabito ("wild hill people") and some hijiri (聖) ("wandering Buddhist ascetics and renunciants") of the eighth and ninth centuries [3].

According to American writer Frederik L. Schodt:

• "These positively medieval-looking nature worshipers carry metal staves and conch shells and wear straw sandals and sometimes a hemp cloth over-robe with the Heart Sutra written on it. They follow a mixture of esoteric or tantric Buddhism mixed with Shinto, the native animistic religion of Japan" [4]. More

Kundalini Gone Wild

(Vismaya) Kundalini Gone Wild: the real cases

• 

  Kundalini: The Evolutionary Energy

  Kundalini: The Evolutionary Energy in Man by Gopi Krishna HAS 4.7 out of 5 stars with 230 reviews: Coiled like a snake at the base of the spine, "Kundalini" is the spiritual force that lies dormant in every human being. Once awakened, often through meditation and yogic practices, it rises up the spinal column and finds expression in the form of spiritual knowledge, mystical vision, psychic powers, and ultimately, "enlightenment." [This is not real enlightenment or bodhi as defined in Buddhism, but what other traditions consider "enlightenment."]
• This book is the classic first-person account of Gopi Krishna, an ordinary Indian householder who, at the age of 34, after years of unsupervised meditation, suddenly experienced the awakening of kundalini during his morning practice.
• The story of this transformative experience, and the author's struggle to regain balance amid a variety of powerful psychic and physiological side effects, forms the core of the book.
• [This condition afflicts an estimated 100 or so Westerners a year who visit India and go "crazy" from either exposure to energies, the Himalayas, the Moon, mystics, god beings (possibly extraterrestrial or interdimensional), artifacts, or dedicated practice... It has happened to two young blond Americans we know of and one we met who, like Gopi Krishna, regained stability, earned an advanced degree, and tries to counsel victims to bring the chakras back into balance and stabilize this energetic kundalini force. One really can make it back to normal.]
• His detailed descriptions of his dramatic inner experiences and symptoms such as mood swings, eating disorders, and agonizing sensations of heat—and of how, with the help of his wife, he finally stabilized at a higher level of consciousness—make this one of the most valuable classics of spiritual awakening available. More

A new syncretic religion in Japan

What the Buddha Never Taught

*Shugen-dō (修験道, lit. "the Way [of] Trial [and] Practice," the "Way of Shugen or Gen-practice") [1] is a syncretic Esoteric Buddhist religion, a body of extreme ascetic practices that originated in the Nara Period of Japan, having evolved during the 7th century from an amalgamation of beliefs, philosophies, doctrines, and ritual systems drawn primarily from

• Esoteric Buddhism [Shingon Buddhism],
• local folk-religious practices,
• Shinto,
• mountain worship, and
• Taoism.

The final purpose of Shugen-dō is for practitioners to find supernatural power and save themselves and the masses by conducting religious training while treading through steep mountain ranges. Practitioners are called Shugenja (修験者) or Yamabushi (山伏, lit. '"Mountain Prostrator"') [2]. More

Real Happiness Meditation Challenge

• Let's get to know accomplished Theravada JuBu meditation teacher Sharon Salzberg, best hippie friend of Jack Kornfield, Sylvia Boorstein, Joseph Goldstein, Dipa Ma (Nani Barua), Dipa, and countless meditation practitioners at Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts and Los Angeles

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

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• Real Happiness — Sharon Salzberg
• Real Happiness Meditation Challenge 2026

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Real Happiness: Power of Meditation: 28-Days

No, the book Real Happiness is not required to participate in the Challenge. However, if you would like to supplement your experience, it is a great way to deepen your experience. For anyone wanting to purchase the book, you can use the code MEDITATION20 to receive a 20% discount via Hachette (US orders only). This discount also applies to Real Happiness at Work and Finding Your Way.

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• Week 1 • Concentration | Sharon Salzberg
• Real Happiness Meditation Challenge 2026
• Remember, it BEGINS on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026

American Buddhist teacher Sharon Salzberg

ABOUT: Sharon Salzberg is a pioneer in the field of Buddhist meditation, a world-renowned teacher, and New York Times bestselling author. She has played a pivotal role in bringing Buddhist insight meditation (vipassana) and mindfulness (sati) into mainstream American culture since 1974. She is cofounder of The Insight Meditation Society in Barre, MA, and has authored 10 books, including the New York Times bestseller Real Happiness. Acclaimed for her down-to-earth and relatable teaching style, she offers a secular, modern approach to Buddhist teachings, making them instantly accessible. Her writing can be found on Medium, On Being, the Maria Shriver blog, and Huffington Post. She is also the host of her own podcast The Metta Hour, with 100+ episodes, featuring interviews with the top leaders and voices in the meditation and mindfulness movement. Learn more at sharonsalzberg.com.

• Sharon Salzberg, FAQs, 2026; Crystal Q., CC Liu, Sheldon S., Dhr. Seven, The New Real Happiness Crew (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Alan Watts: Buddhism is not a religion

• alanwatts.org, alanwatts.com
• Religion of No Religion - Alan Watts
• Is it true that "Buddhism is Hinduism stripped for export" as Alan Watts says? What is the general consensus of Buddhists on Alan watts : r/Buddhism
• Thoughts on Alan Watts takes on Buddhism? : r/Buddhism
• Buddhism: The Religion of No-Religion by Alan Watts
• Alan Watts twice weekly on Pacifica Radio (KPFK 90.7 FM)

Is it good to have a great meditation?

Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Wisdom Quarterly

It was so unexpected. I didn't do anything.

Is it good to have a great meditation? No, it is great to have one.

A good session makes it all worthwhile as things are not only progressing, but they seem like they're progressing, too. Progress may always be being made, but it sure doesn't feel like it.

O, I see, attention: Just breathe while noticing.

Of course, there is potentially one bad thing about it, and it's not to do with the meditation itself.

If meditation is about letting go, completely letting go, let it be. But we know we have neither let go nor let it be if we ATTACH (cling) to the pleasant experience of:

• bliss (piti and sukha),
• light (aloka),
• sense of progress,
• calm (samatha),
• connection,
• effortlessness,
• freedom (vimutti),
• contentment (santutthitā),
• oneness/nonduality (advaita),
• unbroken mindfulness (sati), or
• stillness (samadhi).

Relax. Let go. We have been swimming upstream for a long time. "Abraham" (through channel Esther Hicks) assures us that everything we want is downstream. Let go. Go with the flow, which will go the way of the Tao (Taoist word for the Way, the path of least resistance).

So a great meditation can't be bad. But craving (tanha), grasping and clinging (upadana) can't be good; it will lead to tremendous suffering. And by setting up expectations about what it "should" be is likely to derail our practice altogether. If we have gotten up and are no longer returning to the mat, to the practice, that is defeat. Why have we stopped. Experience was not meeting our expectations.

Drop, abandon, release expectations and just be. Sit. Breathe. Let go. Let it be.

Just when we thought we were saying something new, suddenly we remember the startling advice of Western Buddhist monk Ajahn Sumedho (formerly Robert Karr Jackman). Craving is unskillful (leads to suffering).

Let go of what? Three things

Zen Master Doggone thinks he's
going to muscle it to enlightenment.

But people neglect to realize there are THREE KINDS OF CRAVING.

• First, there's commonplace sensual craving (five sense strand pleasure).
• Second, there's the desire to become something (arhat, saint, enlightened, free, mindful, knowledgeable, a seer, etc.)
• Third, there's the craving to get rid of something (suffering, sadness, absentmindedness, craving, ignorance, spiritual blindness, bad habits, etc.) It's all a manifestation of misery-making greed (lobha), cupidity, affection, subtle clinging.

To "let go" is to let it be. Whatever it is, we just observe it dispassionately. There's little sense in establishing a goal, objective, marker. Doing so only sets us up for frustration. The way there is to let go. It does not come from wanting and squirming.

The way to absorption and enlightenment

Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation) with Sayalay, Wisdom Quarterly

Say what? Slow down. Sit down? Be humble?

What is it going to take for meditation (natural levels of absorption) to succeed?

Yes, "there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run, there's still time to change the road you're on," if Robert Plant (the lead in Led Zeppelin) is to be believed.

The stairway to heaven is twofold, calm and insight. Mindfulness (dispassionate, non-investigative, attention and radically-acceptance of the present) helps with both. 

I'm ready to start. - You could've started sooner.

But it is better to begin what the Buddha called the "gradual training." That establishes samadhi or coherence (blissful all together mind), on a foundation of virtue (sila).

When these states are cultivated, they become a strong foundation for a more important practice. That is the effort toward enlightenment and liberation, bodhi and nirvana.

That gets underway -- vipassana through systematic satipatthana, i.e., insight via establishing the Four Foundations of Mindfulness). The real secret will be the practice of Dependent Origination (paticca-samupada). But all of that can wait. The mind/heart must first be prepped and purified.

It's nearly effortless now. Allow it.

Stop. Sit still. Or freeze in any of the other three postures (standing, walking, or lying down) and give attention to something that always stays in the moment, in the ever-changing present, such as the ever-present breath. Relax with each exhalation. LET GO of everything. We've been waiting to exhale. This is it.

• The Buddha's admonition to give will make sense now as in giving there is a letting go, and it is that letting go, that non-clinging or internal-renunciation that makes all the difference. How could we let go of the bigger things (views, ego, pride, willfulness, opinions, etc.) if we are still clinging to the small and insignificant ones?

The mind will go into the object of attention, which may be a sign (nimitta) brought about by focusing on the breath to the exclusion of everything else.

The sacred instructions

Who are the noble ones, and how do we know?

Communicating with an enlightened (someone attained to at least the first stage of path fruition) nun, we secured these step-by-step instructions for reaching the first meditation.

We'll reserve those for Part II. This article is about the harder thing, getting started. If there's one word to associate with meditation, it's sticktoitiveness. Persistence pays off. Starting and stopping and not building up momentum is exhausting, leads to expectations, and gets going about as well as a fire from rubbing two sticks together. (Try it and vividly experience how much it's about starting and not breaking off until there's smoke and an ember to nurture, like the pleasant zest and enthusiasm one feels for the nimitta once it appears).

How does it feel? - Meditation or this silly cap?

Now let's get kooky and creative: the cap. What will put us on the path and hold us there until lift off? Lift off is deceptive because of beginner's luck or stories one inevitably hears about "naturals" effortlessly sitting, attaining, and progressing very quickly. People like that, just start. This is for people not like that.

The cap, the cap

that covers the skull

Can crack, be krak,

and never be dull

Helmet to contain

twinkling neurons

and dancing brain

Footballer's drum

Dome of gold

crystal arrayed

Scuffed and old

Binaural at play

Crown, tiara, dunce

magnets, Faraday cage

Employ it young

Come back with age

Where are thought,

Experience, feeling?

Surely the heart,

Not the ceiling...

That may not work. Well, it's OK. Be creative.

A copper wire or band with clear quartz crystal (or amethyst, rose, etc.) will serve for a start. Arrange it over the forehead so the stone rests over the third eye (pineal gland). Then just let it be.

To fall asleep, we have to pretend to already be asleep. Therefore, it follows that to absorb, be as if already absorbed.

Does it have to be a cap, helmet, or headband? Could it be a laurel wreath, woven out of plant-helpers like the vine of the dead, an MAO inhibitor, and the bark of a tree or a mushroom cap feted by datura flower petals, stems, and a creeper?

That might work as the volatile oils, scents, and vibrations begin to do their work by proximity and sympathy. Frequency, vibration, it all seems to be about resonance.

• Helmet in lead photo said to stimulate hair growth (irestorelaser.com)

PRS: Buddhist Bubblegum: Esotericism (9/30)

PRS.org, Matt Marble (Eventbrite); Eds., Wisdom Quarterly

Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions LIVE: Matt Marble on Arthur Russell’s Esoteric Art Join us for a special on-stage conversation between Aquarium Drunkard Transmissions' Jason P. Woodbury and Matt Marble, author of Buddhist Bubblegum: Esotericism in the Creative Process of Arthur Russell.

Marble is an artist, author, audio producer, and director of the American Museum of Paramusicology, best known for his podcasts, including Secret Sound, an exploration of the metaphysical history of American music, and the interview show "The Hidden Present."

With Buddhist Bubblegum, author Matt Marble outlines the specific religious impulses that informed Russell’s groundbreaking work.

Diving deeply into Russell’s Buddhism and other esoteric interests, including goma and hiwatari fire rituals, samatha [tranquility] and vipassana [insight] meditation, shugyo and sadhana martial arts, mandala [sacred geometry] visualization, mantra [mind instrument] recitation, numerology, and astrology, Marble illuminates Russell’s desire to “spiritually infiltrate popular culture” through music.

How much do I have to meditate?

Kelly Ani, Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson, Wisdom Quarterly

We have no idea of what the mind is capable of until we meditate (Wisdom Quarterly).

.

A person should MEDITATE for a half hour every day.

But what if I'm TOO BUSY?

Ahh in that case, an HOUR is necessary.

Well, I'm not really all that busy. I'll take the half hour. What should I do?

Slow down for ana-pana-sati.

Meditation can means a few things, two of which are extremely important. First begin by resting the mind/heart. That could mean sleep. So sleep then meditate. Meditation is not sleep. It is like sleep in that the body is very relaxed and suffused with pleasant feelings of tranquility.

• SLEEP: A scientific study has just revealed that one region of the U.S. with a single time zone (central) actually has an hour of daylight difference at each end. This means that even though it is the same time, one end gets an additional hour of light. One end on average sleeps an hour more, and this makes a great difference to income, health, and happiness (satisfaction). So sleep. If one does not sleep well, meditation will reveal it by extreme drowsiness. Avoid caffeine, and rest more at night instead.

Unlike sleep, one is very attentive during meditation. One goes from many objects of attention -- as we are drawn along by our senses -- to one dominant object. Usually this is the (subtle) breath at the tip of the nose. But it could be a reflection, an element (as in Four Elements Meditation), and so on.

Coffee, sugary cereal? Breakfast of losers?

The first meaning of "meditation" is serenity, relaxation, calm, collectedness, absorption. Unfortunately, this is translated as "concentration." For us in the West, we think of concentrating as trying, as straining to focus, as exerting and frustrating ourselves. Why?

It is because we all have ADD, ADHD, cultivated and reinforced short attention spans, or a speed habit, be it coffee, sugar, empty carbs, tobacco, crack, meth, pharmaceuticals, or overstimulation by whatever other means such as worry and neuroses. The central nervous system and, more importantly, the autonomic nervous system need rest. So rest.

Then suddenly I was transported by concentration (coupled with no expectations), I felt a wash of pleasure, and became one with the breath, no duality, but absorbed into it as my single object of concentration.

.

Meditation can transport one to extreme rest and refreshment. With enough meditation, one sleeps less and is more rested. But that comes with consistency and persisting over obstacles and laziness. When one can do sitting meditation without drowsiness, one is well under way.

Pick a single object. Stay with it. Exclude everything else. Go to a quiet place and, more importantly, be quiet there. Internal chatter is not quiet, so let it quieten. External chatter is not quiet, so make it quiet.

If the breath (prana, ana-pana, chi, "holy spirit") is used as the object of meditation, which is ideal, stay with the subtle breath that grows more subtle with time and attention. More attention makes it more subtle and harder to notice, like a "squiggle of osmosis at the tip of the nose," according to one editor.
 

Wherever you go, MEDITATE.

Stay for all of the in-breath, all of the out-breath, and the rest stops on either end of the breath. When there is the breath there is nothing else. When there is nothing else there is the breath. The half hour one does is staying with the breath.

Eventually, when "concentration" is established -- and this will become obvious because then concentrating will not mean "trying" but "allowing." And it will be accompanied by pleasant sensations of rest, a pure and calm mind/heart cleansed of distraction and overt/manifest expressions of the mental defilements (kilesas, samyojanas or "fetters," asavas or "taints") that are at the roots of attraction, aversion, and delusion (greed, hate, and ignorance).

A concentrated heart/mind is wieldy and can be used to great effect: developing liberating insight (vipassana, investigative contemplation). That is best taken up with a competent teacher as one gains an ability to let go and gain calm.

WHY meditate?

It is the pathway to enlightenment (and the Seven Factors of Absorption that bring it about). The ultimate goal is nirvana, which is possible In This Very Life.

But proximate goals are sanity, health, longevity, sensitivity, realization, satori (epiphanies), relaxation, and calm. Mindfulness (sati) as a form of meditation brings about relaxation, tranquility, serenity, peace, and health.

SUTRA: "The Four Foundations of Mindfulness"
Burma Pitaka Association (accesstoinsight.org)
"Recluses [1], this is the one and only way for the purification [2] of beings, for the overcoming of sorrow and lamentation, for the complete destruction of pain [3] and distress [4], for the attainment of the Noble Path(s) [5], and for the realization of nirvana. That [6] is the practice of the Four Foundations (methods) of steadfast Mindfulness [7]." More