Warm Greetings Nexus,

Thank you for creating this community. How lucky are we to be in a world with so much free flowing knowledge ! ? !


SWIM wants to drastically change their life.


About SWIM

- Single 28yo Male
- Engineer ( Yay !!! Fabric cube and fluorescent lights!! )
- Living in Detroit Mi
- Healthy
- Little experience with psychedelics ( Salvia )


SWIM’s challenges

- Lifetime of chronic depression ( S.A.D. + dead heroin addict Dad )
- Sever social anxiety ( Better with years of self applied exposure )
- Borderline alcoholic ( Kicked the habit about a year ago )
- An idealist that struggles with disappoint in humanity
- Occasional Marijuana use to keep a solid emotional foundation


SWIM’s Progress

- Twice daily meditation ( 8 months )
- Basic yoga three times a week ( over a year )
- Buddhism an Toa researcher ( 3 years )


SWIM’s Plan

- Quit their job in February
- Ask DMT to give them confidence in the spiritual path
- Move to a small town in California
- Follow a strict spiritual practice
- Find the present moment
- Shed the ego
- Figure out what to do next ….. ( Something with a purpose )


I’ll keep this thread up to date on SWIM’s progress.

Namaste

Wow, welcome! It seems you've found just the right place, I hope we'll be able to help you through your journey

What leads you to believe DMT will give you confidence? Just curious, because you don't have much psychedelic experience, what makes you think that a psychedelic you have never tried will be the answer?

I think you have been improving at a steady pace with the meditation and the yoga, what makes you want to quit your job and move and 'shed the ego'?

In my experience - and this is just mine - but slow, steady, and patient improvement has always trumped magical cure-alls, and DMT is often touted as a be-all end-all answer to life's problems.

It's just something that can be a part of your life if you choose, and can play many roles from useless distraction to spiritual teacher to daily routine. It's very hard to predict, but I wish you the best!

Interesting story. Best of luck to you.

I've yet to try dmt, so I can't help you there, but I have some experience with self inquiry. Two books I would recommend are: Eckhardt Tolle - The Power of Now, and Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj - I Am That. And the Tao Te Ching speaks of eternal Truth, but get your mind under control before delving into that.

The mind is the trouble maker. To break free of that spell just observe your thoughts ... without judgement. The mere act of observation will diminish its power. In time Truth will become apparent. But understand that words are only sign posts, they can point the way, but that is all.

Ask yourself "Who am I?". To find out, seek to understand who you are not. You are not the mind, you are not the ego. But there is no need to "kill" either of them, just let them Be. If you stay the course, both will fade away peacefully.

Unless you have lots of money saved, or don’t mind living in poverty, or have a particular job in mind for the future, or hate your job so much that you can’t imagine going on, don’t quit your job.

DMT is a gift, but not the kind of gift you might imagine. It’s like a gift of a block of stone and a chisel given to a sculptor rather than a finished piece of work. It’s still up to the sculptor to make something beautiful out of it.

Contrary to what you may believe, you are living in the present moment right now. You have always lived in the present moment, and always will. Even when you remember your past or ponder your future, you are doing so from the present. So you don’t really have to “find” the present moment – it’s always there and all you have.

Following a strict spiritual practice is not necessarily the same as following a spiritual path in life.

I’m not sure how you define “ego”, but I define it as my sense of self – my personal identity, and that’s not something I feel a need to shed.

If implemented, this is the only spiritual instruction a human being ever needs.

Thank you all for the good direction in placing my thoughts.





SWIM's hopes are that DMT will provide a new experience that opens up acceptance of the spiritual research that has been done. There is no expectations of curing anything or coming to any great revelations.

Admittedly, SWIM knows nothing of the experience but from the research has come to believe it's an effective way to refresh one's view of reality. Hopefully the result will be to step closer to perceiving this moment as a precious dream.

Spiritual drive has always been a big part of SWIM's life and will never stop. How can one explain or justify the passion for spirituality ? But it's there in full force

The last 14 years of life has been constant work and school. The odds have been beaten, SWIM is now capable of supporting himself and his Family. Time to slow done and listen seems very appropriate at this point in life. There are a number of questions that need to be answered:
- Start a Family and settle down ?
- Become a Bodhisattva for Detroit ?
- Is SWIM capable of truly being a Bodhisattva ?

Living poor feels normal for SWIM and there is some cash stuffed away as a result. Obtaining another job when the time comes wont be a problem.

SWIM needs time to focus and appreciate the present moment. Currently, there is too much brain traffic. Most of SWIM's depression is due to uncontrolled thoughts and desires.

As far as the Ego, that which prevents SWIM from being true around people. Of course one still has an identity and purpose but there is no need to think about it.

This move will be a long spiritual retreat to establish a personal practice. Selecting out the tools to carve oneself. There will be plenty of time to join society later, in what fashion is TBD.

I agree with gibran on this one. I personaly couldnt drop everything and move off to start a new life, and for that I have great respect for you.

Good luck in your journeys!


Heratogwae

welcome to the nexus

I hope that you find what you are looking for here

Life is already "spiritual" you're just waking up to the fact that it is way weirder than you could have possibly imagined.

doing "spiritual" things kind of seems like an act to make the ego happy.
yes, doing yoga and meditation are very good for your body and mind
but it is no less divine than working or cooking some raviolis.

awareness is really the key. doing what feels right, not what some book says.
with the understanding of different systems, one can learn how to better formulate their own.

^ good points from ۩ and gilbran2.

All daily actions can be spiritual work.

and yeah I would advice against quitting your job and then asking dmt for how to follow your life. Ultimately its you who decide, not dmt. You might not get an answer at all (or what if dmt tells you qutting your job was wrong?). Personally I would say dont look for answer elsewhere, look for it in yourself. I would say first think about what to do, or have a back up "insurance" before qutting your job..

Good luck (and welcome to the nexus!)