Back now, had a little experiment while I was gone

So I cut off my internet for about 3 months. Before I left I did make a post about taking an "internet diet" which nobody responded to. I already had my TV cut off so I had very little to do.

So I basically cut out all technology from my personal life and while I was at work I treated it as if it was a meditation in itself. So I'd come home and go to sleep and record my dreams basically. No routine and just go back to work the next day. I'd do some meditating as well.

I had some profound realizations that I am sure are nothing new under the sun, but I began to understand for myself. I had a 30 minute lucid dream which was awesome, and then a few nights later a lucid dream which I estimate to have lasted around 2 hours. I began to develop a Buddhist sort of "sense of peace" from the outset.

I felt genuinely happy during this time where I basically think I managed to cut out all distractions. I had one week where I was really hardcore about it and that's where the 2 hour lucid dream happened. But overall I really cut down my use of tech over the 3 months.

My original goal was to just try to focus on lucid dreaming and clear my mind. I wasn't really looking for peace just an environment for me to master lucid dreaming and hopefully astral projection. But I ended up getting into this Buddhist sort of peacefulness and that ended up trumping everything. The lucid dreams came soon after.

Just thought I'd share. I guess I wanted to point out the power of ridding yourself of distractions and getting into a meditative mode. It's very much worth it if you are considering it, just unplug for a couple weeks and go at it hard on the 2nd week and you'll be amazed. I think I had a "peak experience" and after that nothing really happened. I don't advise it for prolonged periods but 2 weeks is probably a good idea at least, in my experience.

so you turned off your internet and had weird dreams? sounds like withdrawal symptoms.

That would be worth telling wouldn't it? To anyone who would rather have crazy dreams over the internet.

But no, it was more about the sense of peace that cascaded into something more and more. I was intentionally meditative even at work. Turning off the computer was just a factor, but a big one.

But turning off the computer only made a difference for 3 weeks, after that I had peaked and my state of being was nothing new for me and I lost interest. This is meant to be useful there must be some open minded people considering "unplugging"

reply to post by Novise



hmm so you mean that you feel that the electronics were stopping your mind from working. i see how that makes sense but you felt the effects only after 3 weeks. so maybe there was some kind of symptoms involved.

Giving up TV after growing up watching my share has made me like a moth to the flame when I'm around one.I keep hoping it will lose its draw for me.It has been two decades since I've owned a working one.When my old computer went down I was enjoying it for awhile,like you said,a couple weeks.Meditation is key for me.Another uncoupling I have benefited from is dividing my day into two short ones with two short sleep times.

Hey, ya know I would love to do something like this, some sort of "Lucid retreat", - I think I would have to leave the U.S to rid the distractions though - then again 2 weeks aint that bad. (no internet aahhhhh!) I love how there are so many people on ATS that are fascinated with lucid dreams like myself.

I think this could be a healthy part of everyone's social and personal life too. We all need a break from the mindless entertainment that is overloading are daily living from time to time. I can only imagine how your experience changed you

Well done! Big pat on back 2 U from here.

I don't even own a tv and haven't missed it in years.

No adverts in the free movies I watch on the internet, a larger choice of news-sources and plenty of lucid dreams.

I can't stand visiting friends who insist on staring at the goggle-box when I'm there. I am SO aware of the sucking-in sensation which most folks live with day in and day out.

At least with the internet you get to make more of a choice.

Have fun with your new perspective.

I totally agree with cutting off TV. I did it about 13+ years ago and it's been awesome. I'm more selective about the news I watch on line, I read more actual papers and magazines (also more selective about). And there isn't the constant drone of crap spewing from a box in the living room.

Internet I am not ready to part with. But the TV being gone is a really positive change. I sleep better overall. Though I agree LMAO I did have weird dreams in the first five months or so of no TV. likely imagination overload spilling into sleep.

I hate TV for the most part but I do miss some of the commercials.

(During my break I seem to have forgotten to give a post a relevant, catchy title lol..)

Sorry for the long post, I just went into a lot of detail on things that I did and things that began to ring true during this experience.

Dividing the day into 2 days (sleep wise) is very effective I would totally agree with that. Why do we settle for being tired, groggy, etc. in our freetime when we require an obvious amount of sleep anyway timewise. Also going to sleep after work is like hitting the reset button. All that stress and anger that slowly built up all day goes away. So I'd go to bed usually right after work and wake up and stay up through the night and then catch about three hours before getting up for work. The AM is a very very quiet time for you to read and do your hobbies, it is very very peaceful as well and nobody is going to call you or bother you, stuff like that.

Again it wasn't just that I turned off the internet. When I try to think about what I did, I was doing a whole lot of nothing and it's hard to imagine how the time went by as fast as it did. Had a few good books I read and did dream recording (which can really start to take a long time after a while lol).

What was very surprising to me was how this sense of peace/happiness sort of "cascades" into something even more concrete. Before you know it you have this sort of grounded state of being. You feel like you are so far ahead of life (whether you are or are not), you aren't chasing anything and every moment you seem to get more and more ahead. So in situations where I would in the past become frustrated with people easily, and really just have to "be nice," during this time it seemed to be impossible to get me angry and very little bothered me on any level.

The way we act in our personal life really carries over into public life. You stop looking for something to "Entertain you" or stimulate your mind and you find that we waste a lot of time just looking for something to entertain us. Once you stop that rat race you really really feel far ahead.

I really get a sense that this is basic Buddhism (It's at least 80% Buddhism) and the countless teachers (And posters here at ATS) who have told us to live a simple life and be somewhat disciplined have got it all right as far as leading a life of peace and happiness. My understanding of the word discipline changed for me during this, because now it just means "taking care of yourself." That's all they are doing (monks/teachers) when they eat right and keep their house clean and don't go on a wild goose chase looking for something to entertain or shock their minds. Speaking of eating, my diet was very simple. Macaroni (no cheese), rice, sandwiches. I still ate meat. I spent very little time preparing my food.

In dealing with emotional and psychological pain, almost none of it is necessary. It is all attachments that we place on it. I began to feel like I could feel the base emotions of fear, sadness, depression perhaps. I felt the good ones too of course. But the basic emotion of fear is really not that painful when seen for what it is (and allowed to BE what it is) the attachments are what are really making peoples lives emotionally difficult. And happiness is so much better when you don't attach your ego needs to it and drag it down to your level.

I guess when you really start to realize how useless the EGO is, is when it really hits you. The ego is entirely useless. And if you do lose it, you don't lose yourself. You just see yourself for what you are, and not some image that you have made up about yourself. Don't be afraid to lose it, and it can come back anyway if you want it/let it!

These are things I realized. Things I had heard before, but for a little over a week, I lived them. Now I'm back to my junky old self, talk about leading a horse to water but then he doesn't drink. I don't have many regrets but I would definetly recommend something like this for anyone. I basically think I hit a "peak experience" much like Ken Wilber talks about in his stuff. I only mentioned the 2 hour lucid dream because after that happened I really knew I was onto something.

If anyone is considering this all I have to say is "Go for it" But I would just try to do it for a good week or two and then back to normal.

Originally posted by Novise
If anyone is considering this all I have to say is "Go for it" But I would just try to do it for a good week or two and then back to normal.

Unless "normal" is the new way you find.