Be the buddha that YOU are! The buddha, is actually a state of consciousness that you are. Not just a man that found the answers, but in reality, it is you, the natural state of awareness which we all share.

Today i went and did my first ever floatation tank. Pre-anxiety set it, and as i got in the tank, my heart was beating very fast. i've been feeling a great deal of anger towards myself and the world, those feelings began to rise, i began to attach, and found myself getting more and more angry. i began to relax, deeper and deeper, I went into the feelings i had been experiencing. A voice in my head said go into the feelings. I went into them, then a realisation came to life, there is no i going into the feelings, there is just the feelings. Then a voice said to me, go into the thoughts. The awareness began to go deeper into the thoughts, soon there was the realisation, there is not a separate entity experiencing the thoughts, I AM the thoughts. Then a voice said to me, go into the experience. I began to feel the sensations of all things, the sensation of the external and internal environment, and simply experiencing them as a whole, there was no I experiencing this reality, but more the sensation of I AM the reality.

Then the voice said to me, now be the Buddha. So I became the entirety of experience and beyond it. Soon i realised that it is a choice one makes to attach to their thoughts and feelings. A choice is made to suffer. Be the buddha nature that you are. Be the sky! Clouds shall pass by only to dilute back into the oneness of consciousness, as all things of this world are impermanent. When you simply experience all that is in the moment, without any attachment, an awareness grows, at first it is weak, but as you attach less and less, the awareness grows deeper and deeper, unto the point where you are the infinite sky of consciousness. From there you see things rise and fall. Coming out of consciousness and falling back into it. The entirety of this world is alive. A consciousness runs through everything. how do the cells in our body know to to operate and perform their function? How does a rock know how to be a rock, a tree a tree? Because a consciousness flows through it, giving it the intelligence to be as it is.

Consciousness or the void, is not something that is asleep, but something highly awake and alert. Ever flowing and moving through the dimensions of reality, in a constant flux of creation.

I recommend the floatation tank for anyone who is interested in exploration of consciousness. It was like being on a psychedelic trip, with less visual stimulation, but simply, the awareness and its thoughts, floating through the void, rediscovering itself. Much love and happiness to all those who read this, i hope you found it interesting and if of any use to your journey, then my duty here is being fulfilled.

I am very interested in trying a flotation tank and will likely try it soon. I enjoyed your story. Thanks for sharing your experience! I agree we are all Buddha. Nice to see the Buddha in everyone. Instantly sharing our experience called life.

How would you compare the experience of being in a tank to taking a dissociative, like ketamine? I've never floated, but I've always imagined they must be similar: cutting off external sensory perceptions, etc.

Blessings
~ND

See the buddha, kill the buddha. Be the buddha, kill ... ?

Weird, I was in a flotation tank twice up to 3h and I didn't experience what you experienced OP. Guess everyone is different.

Am yet to try ketamine and really any dissociative. It seems ill be manifesting some in the next few weeks. After my vipassana, ill give it a shot and, if i remember too, get back to you. It is an encounter with oneself. If ketamine brings a state of awareness to oneself, then I'm sure you could feel similar effects. Its all ones focus in this reality, we bring forth what we create, if we are creating awareness rather than living through thoughts, awareness will be experienced in all your day to day activities, as well as during altered states of consciousness. We manifest what we desire

Hmmm, I have been practicing meditation for 2 years now. That may be a reason why I could experience the tank as i did, as it was a very meditative practice. Lying there, learning to be still and present to all that arises, it always leads to the one thing, that one "suchness" we all share on the deepest level. I'm not you, so i don't know if there was resistance to the experience or not, but if there is complete surrender, floatation tank or not, the same realisations tend to come about for most people, that we are connected in some strange way and that we should be kind to one another for that reason.

Yes, the tank is very meditative and the relaxation is great. The benefit/cost ratio is horrible however... unless you buy your own tank and really use it as a tool.

I think the "believe system" of the floater colors the experience. My experience could be described as making mad love the whore of Babylon or a Kundalini awakening, yet this really doesn't mean anything. I floated on salty water and for a long time I could really stretch my spine. It was pleasant. I dreamt of Ram Dass afterwards and he told us something. Then me and others flew from a (South American? I saw some cacti...) mountain into the sky towards the light. I'm not a big fan of Ram Dass btw.

The light and the flight looked a lot like this (at the end of the video):



Edit: floating has nothing to do with dissociatives, as far as I can tell. I only took MXE in small dosages until I felt numb in an medical environment way. I was able to walk but shaky. Not to be compared to floating imo.

And it doesn't relate to the buddha experience as well. I once experienced/saw buddha on a mushroom trip and it was unpleasant as heck. I wished I had a spiritual shotgun at that time, but no avail. Glad it ended after 4h.

What also differs from Cazman043's experience: I wasn't anxious to float. It reminded me alot of sun tanning, except it was a mini swimming pool coffin compared to the sunning coffin.

I do love a good float! So many great personal insights have been achieved through such a natural experience. I wouldn't compare it to a dissociative like ketamine though.

Now doing K while in a float tank, I'll leave that up to John C. Lilly to explain.