Meditation, awarness and alcohol

reply to post by caitlinfae

Actually, this is not about thought processes, and "over-thinking" the experience, it's about what we have experienced and learned from that....observation, if you like. I don't know what kind of people you spend your time with, but to dismiss 90% of all non-boozers and smokers as socially unacceptable bores who can't relate is a little immature in my opinion. I certainly have never been accused of that...I have no such problems, and I'm pretty sure Mr Green doesn't either.

But thats just it, without drinking its FAR from boring....its actually enlightening...the one thing I work towards every second of my day...enlightenment of the soul...this is what I am finding not drinking can lead to, but even with this said it is still an issue for me, I still struggle after a week at work without a drink at the weekend...even though I KNOW it will effect my spiritual growth.

If you enjoy the artificial shift in state that alcohol and drugs produce, then that's fine...it's your choice totally, and I won't preach to you about it, but you have to recognise that it's nothing close to a truly spiritual shift in state that is reached through spiritual practise...that's any spiritual practise, and not just mine. Anyone who tells you differently, and says that dope/booze/chemicals/whatever will put you on the correct path to intense enlightenment is seriously seriously deluded.

I agree totally with you that drink induces a false shift and its a shift I see is false. Compared to spiritual shifts of inner awarness brought on by spiritual intent there is no comparison, yet the shift to total comittment to this path still eludes me it seems.


[edit on 27-2-2010 by Mr Green]

Originally posted by liquidsmoke206
as ATS's only celebrity bartender I feel I should chime in.


Old Uncle Peach(named after a certain lurker on this site)
1.75 oz. of Whiskey or Bourbon
.75 oz. of dry vermouth
.5 oz. of St. Germain elderflower liqueur
a dash of peach bitters

Stir all the ingredients in a glass of ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Drink, then meditate.


Enjoy!!!

-Liquid

I had no idea we had a celebrity bartender in the house. Thanks for the cocktail mix, it sounds quite nice. Drink that then meditate you say...lol

On a serious note for those who might see, I have actually found, that drinking opens up gateways to undesirable lower astrals , ones that normally Id be able to block/filter/shield against in meditation. I know someone else who this happens to also. Its like your astral defenses have been lowered and they can then psychically attack you...this is one of the main reasons I no longer have more than a couple of drinks, and I certainly NEVER meditate after drinking as its like open house for lower astrals/negative entities...I find.

[edit on 27-2-2010 by Mr Green]

Originally posted by Mr Green
What I am starting to find now is that even the 2 or 3 drinks on a Friday and Saturday are really effecting my awarness. Has anyone else experienced this? It seems the more you meditate the less your body can accept alcohol, or this seems to be happening with me.
What I am sensing is a down turn in internal frequency, that I can really detect .

Yep, that happens with me. I can only have about 2 drinks and I will start to develop a headache. My body rejects alcohol now, never used to. It's not even possible for me to consume enough to get drunk.

Even small amounts do seem to affect my awareness for a fairly long time afterwards. Is this why it is legal? TPTB wouldn't want people's level of awareness to raise too much, the consequences of that would be obvious.

I find it ironic that substances that lower your vibration are legal, and ones that raise it are not. Coincidence? I think not...

Im totally with ya Mr. Green. Drinking is pretty big in my family considering I am Irish and most of my friends enjoy drinking, maybe too much. I went a lil overboard in college and found meditation in my senior year and dove really deep into it. Im at the point now where, like you said, it is hard for me to enjoy drinking as i used to.

The crappy part is, when I go out with my friends, it seems there is really nothing else to do but drink. I care for these people but their relaxation after a long work week is to go out and get hammered. I am finding it harder and harder to do this. I go out and try to have a beer or two but Im getting shots forced on me. Not easy to walk the line between a newly discovered life of meditation and mindfulness, and the old life of unconsciousness.

I can't find the actual quote but Eckhart Tolle makes a great point about drinking and consciousness.

We are told to begin to rise above thought to create inner space by ceasing the endless chatter in our minds and practicing stillness. There are many ways out there for us to end the thoughts that constantly bounce around our brains, but there is a difference between rising above our thoughts and falling below them. Watching television, drinking alcohol, or taking certain other drugs may quiet our minds for a certain time frame, but Tolle warn us that they ultimately cause you to lose consciousness and actually fall below thought.

People do one of two things to deal with their chattering mind these days, either fall below consciousness with drinking, drugs, tv, video games, etc, or rise above it with mindfulness, meditation, yoga, etc.

I think once you've learned to rise above it, theres no going back. It sucks but at the same time, I think we know rising above it is so much better for us because it feels so much better. You feel alive, filled with energy, and peaceful. After drinking you feel exhausted and sick.

So now that your body knows this, when you drink there is a part of you that judges you harder than ever. Your thinking how bad the drink is for you as your drinking it. The placebo effect alone will get ya!

I wish I could enjoy drinking like I used to but what im doing now, I know is so much better for me. I guess your not the only one!

reply to post by Mr Green


Celeb might be a bit of an exaggeration on my part, but Im workin on it...

I mean who else can you see thats gonna pour you killer cocktails, educate you on liquor and it's history plus blow yer mind with the sickest card tricks in seattle?


Prediction: Thread deleted for shameless promotion of bartending skills....

reply to post by liquidsmoke206


ya im with you man who dare say a thing about our free self awareness reality lets blow its head off

im joking of course lol

i understand your means mister green and hope that it didnt bother you what i just said

reply to post by imans



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[edit on 27-2-2010 by liquidsmoke206]

reply to post by bringthelight

People do one of two things to deal with their chattering mind these days, either fall below consciousness with drinking, drugs, tv, video games, etc, or rise above it with mindfulness, meditation, yoga, etc.

I think once you've learned to rise above it, theres no going back. It sucks but at the same time, I think we know rising above it is so much better for us because it feels so much better. You feel alive, filled with energy, and peaceful. After drinking you feel exhausted and sick.

So now that your body knows this, when you drink there is a part of you that judges you harder than ever. Your thinking how bad the drink is for you as your drinking it. The placebo effect alone will get ya!

I wish I could enjoy drinking like I used to but what im doing now, I know is so much better for me. I guess your not the only one!

Thanks I like the way E Tolle states how it its. Ive read his books but admit I forgot he mentioned this. He is right of course, we can either fall below consciousness by lowering our frequency (excessive alcohol to the point of feeling low, sick and lost) or increasing our frequency by meditation and reaching inner silence.

After a few drinks it becomes harder to reach inner silence because the mind is on over drive. I can see how coffee and poor diet would also do this. Food full of artificial chemicals/E numbers will all send the mind into an over active state, again preventing or slowing down our ability to reach inner silence. Excessive chatter of the mind prevents inner silence I have found, and it is a very difficult thing to have a completely empty silent mind.

Over the past two years I have found naturally my body has led me to drink far less, however your right it is when in social situations/weekends that I find Im not quite ready to be a complete teetotal meditator and it is a difficult situation to be in. I have read that this naturally happens to people who meditate over long periods of time, but that doesnt make it any easier during the transitional phase!

reply to post by NuclearPaul

Yep, that happens with me. I can only have about 2 drinks and I will start to develop a headache. My body rejects alcohol now, never used to. It's not even possible for me to consume enough to get drunk.

Even small amounts do seem to affect my awareness for a fairly long time afterwards. Is this why it is legal? TPTB wouldn't want people's level of awareness to raise too much, the consequences of that would be obvious.

I find it ironic that substances that lower your vibration are legal,

You make a very good point here. I hadnt looked at it from that angle, but your right it definatly lowers spiritual vibration, of this I have no doubt in my mind. It isnt just the physical effects like headache and sickness , there is another side effect that is much much deeper and it is felt within the actual lowering of consciousness.

reply to post by Mr Green


My buddy from college is getting married this summer and is having his bachelor party in vegas in april. I open up the invite email and his brother who was running the whole thing was talking about how it was going to be a trip for alcoholics and my stomach lurched. Im going to the most materialistic, sin filled place in the world, talk about a test of will. I know I will be called out multiple times for not consuming enough...wish me luck!

Originally posted by bringthelight
reply to post by Mr Green

 

My buddy from college is getting married this summer and is having his bachelor party in vegas in april. I open up the invite email and his brother who was running the whole thing was talking about how it was going to be a trip for alcoholics and my stomach lurched. Im going to the most materialistic, sin filled place in the world, talk about a test of will. I know I will be called out multiple times for not consuming enough...wish me luck!

yes weddings, birthdays, Christmas parties are all full of alcohol, and I really feel for you having a party in Vegas!! You can see why for example monks detach themselves from all of this.

Originally posted by Mr Green

Originally posted by liquidsmoke206
as ATS's only celebrity bartender I feel I should chime in

Enjoy!!!

-Liquid

On a serious note for those who might see, I have actually found, that drinking opens up gateways to undesirable lower astrals , ones that normally Id be able to block/filter/shield against in meditation. I know someone else who this happens to also. Its like your astral defenses have been lowered and they can then psychically attack you...this is one of the main reasons I no longer have more than a couple of drinks, and I certainly NEVER meditate after drinking as its like open house for lower astrals/negative entities...I find.

[edit on 27-2-2010 by Mr Green]

Yes, it opens up the gateway for the negative thought forms to attach. Then you've gotta work to get rid of them.

Also, I was wondering if you find yourself fluctuating in your thoughts a lot during the week leading up to when you'd love that drink. I know exactly the feeling. I have weeks that spin me around in circles then getting back to center on the weekends takes so much energy... only to start up again on Monday. The fluctuation of thoughts from past to future and around in circles will give anyone anxiety!

I have found some relief in really focusing on the present moment. And focusing on my multidimensionality. Also, I have found that when I work at allowing, instead of trying to control and manipulate my reality, the weeks flow easy and my weekends are calmer. It is work, that's for sure.

I don't drink alcohol anymore, but I used to. It always drug me down though, after the initial momentary relief.

that's interesting, i've dabbled with many many substances, and also have always been inherently deep into meditation and occult type practices and what not, what's even more interesting

is that everyone has different experiences with different drugs

like for instance, give someone who is bipolar a narcotic and it will have the exact opposite effect than if a 'normal' person took it

i encourage you to delve deeper!

reply to post by blujay

Yes, it opens up the gateway for the negative thought forms to attach. Then you've gotta work to get rid of them.

I find its not just negative thought forms, I actually see the astrals if I drink a lot in one night (and No Im not hallucinating lol), and this just shows me the alcohol is opening some gateway or whatever. Im convinced this is due to the combination of meditating which does open doorways, but then letting our guard down some times with drink and they just take advantage of this.

Also, I was wondering if you find yourself fluctuating in your thoughts a lot during the week leading up to when you'd love that drink.

No Im not too bad actually, but come Friday I do think about it. It really is starting to become an issue with me now though, as I will make great progress in the week, then spend Sunday to Monday night getting back to the frequency I feel comfertable at. Ive definatly cut back as its a waste of energy and progress to have this continous cycle of loss and gain.

I don't drink alcohol anymore, but I used to. It always drug me down though, after the initial momentary relief.

seems a lot of people are saying this.


[edit on 28-2-2010 by Mr Green]

Originally posted by liquidsmoke206
the candy flavored cocktails are starting to go the way of the buffalo, thank god. Those are for club kids who just wanna get plastered. Very anti awareness, the type of stuff that we try and do nowadays generally has more subtlety and complexity then the crap that has been served in excess since the 50's or earlier really.

Seriously, if you think that you're doing anything "new and different" with alcohol, you're living in a dream world. Alcohol is what it is, a toxin, and the result is always the same — alcohol-induced euphoria, impaired judgment, loss of motor control.

You can dress it up any way you want, and you can present awards for the "the most original" alcoholic concoction, but it's all been done before. There's nothing new under the sun, as they say.

And, as far as awareness goes, if the kids today are drinking "complex and subtle" alcoholic potions to increase their awareness, it aint working. I know and interact with lots of kids, from teens to young adults, who are less aware of everything in the world today — it's like they live in their own bubbles of reality, spoon-fed to them by one marketing campaign or another, but they have no awareness of survival skills, of basic technological skills, nor of their own spirituality.

When I say spirituality, I'm not talking about religion, necessarily. Rather, I mean they have no sense of the miraculous, no sense of wonder, no complex (or even simple) awareness of the Circle of Life. It's like they're living in the perpetual NOW of self-gratification.

So, if you think your "complex and subtle" alcoholic potions are contributing to the overall "awareness" of your customers, you're in La-La Land. You may as well be serving Robitussin. The ingestion of poisons is not the path to self-awareness and enlightenment.

I'm sure you don't want to hear that, being a purveyor of poison for your meager income, but it's a fact.

— Doc Velocity

Originally posted by Doc Velocity

Seriously, if you think that you're doing anything "new and different" with alcohol, you're living in a dream world. Alcohol is what it is, a toxin, and the result is always the same — alcohol-induced euphoria, impaired judgment, loss of motor control.

Agreed. There may or may not be substances out there that expand the mind and the awareness, but alcohol is not one of them. There may be people with good levels of awareness despite their drinking habits, but I seriously doubt there are any with heightened levels of awareness because of their drinking.

For those who feel that alcohol does open door ways and increase your awareness, I would remind you it also makes people feel that perform well in a lot of areas when outside observers and objective evidence contradicts that belief.

People who feel they can walk just fine, drive just fine, fight 3 big bouncers, etc., generally do not perform as well as they assume they have.

One interesting thing about intelligence is, the less you have of it, the more certain you are that you have it. And vice versa. Why? Because you lack the intelligence to see the gaps in your own, or if you are intelligent, you are much more able to see what you dont know. It works the same with awareness. The less aware you are, the more certain you are aware. The more aware you are, the more aware you are of the gaps in your own awareness.

People tend to drink to reduce their awareness, often their own self awareness. (To dull their own awareness of their own pain, shyness, anxiety, sadness, etc.) It should really be no surprise that as your own awareness and self awareness increases and becomes more of a real presence in your life, that you would find it uncomfortable to drug that awareness back into a stupor.

reply to post by Illusionsaregrander

People tend to drink to reduce their awareness, often their own self awareness. (To dull their own awareness of their own pain, shyness, anxiety, sadness, etc.) It should really be no surprise that as your own awareness and self awareness increases and becomes more of a real presence in your life, that you would find it uncomfortable to drug that awareness back into a stupor.

Very well put. I had never looked upon drinking as a way of actually reducing self awarness on purpose, and yes its very true that once a person gains self awarness why on earth would they then wish to drown it out back into a world of stupor.

It may be a way to lower one's own self awareness. You can't ever go anywhere but "here" that feeling of awareness behind your actions, thoughts, and self. All you can do is take a break from it, forget. Then you come back to it and realize it was there all along. That's what we are all doing here in the first place, forgetting what we are, playing a game. But in whatever terms of self awareness you mean in the OP, I find we are doing just that. You are a spiritual being, why have you come into this place of limitation in the first place?

The bartender is spot on about how people get all holier than though that don't drink (and make a big deal about that fact). It shows up in this thread already, already I see a few pedestals in the room waiting to be stood on again.

Spirituality transcends our moods, our pain, etc. No matter "where" you are, you can either bring awareness into it and accept it, peace, or you can doubt it, ignore it, identify with your thoughts. You can have a good day with a broken leg even, hungry stomach, even when sick, a hangover is a small thing (and those who whine about the slightest pain and identify heavily with their body/mind are the ones hurt by one the most which is only poetic). I'm sure we have all had good days accompanied by pain, and we've all certainly had bad days when everything going on with us was perfect, healthy to a T, sober, etc.

So it has to be something else. Once you have self-awareness you should not be a slave to it. You should forget it for a while, then come back to it. Just makes you more aware of it. But that's the game anyway. If we were meant to obsess over ultimate reality and know the full truth, we would not be here.

So since i've disagreed I'll just tell you what I think occurs: What happens with alcohol is much more psychological. Ever notice how you almist never get tired of talking to people while drunk? Never tired of listening to music, or any inputs, never shy to dialogue and always willing to participate? I left it vague because I meant those actions as spiritual actions, a bit of will behind them and intent. But I think it's easy to see what I meant most literally. That's all fine and good, but come the next morning you are absolutely drained. It has much less to do with the alcohol and more to do with the fact your mind stopped dealing with the outside world in it's usual way and you have overloaded it with interactions, social, dialogues.

If you can have a good day with a hangover, you can have a great day without one. Alcohol is definetly unnecessary to a spiritual life, but so is everything else other than the basics.

reply to post by Novise


it is really impressive what you did here, i feel like saying thanks for all the livings that you meant, thinkful brave hearts is the only way for betterment