Questions & Answers
Here is a space for you to ask your specific questions. Please use the comment links to do so. I will do my best to answer your questions as soon as possible.
To post a question just click on the Comment button below. I will be informed that you have posted a question. I will always do my best to come back to you within 48 hours.
If your question is too personal in nature or you would just rather not ask it in public you can contact me directly at reachout@lifesanswers.org.
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hi jon,
I have been meditating for last two months and had many experiences ,but last day my breadth comes up and stopped and i felt in a very deep meditaion.My breadth comes up automaticaly like it is going to forehead to get diluted.I am new to this experience so i scared and just take breadths forcefully as i did not know what what would have happened if i won’t have stopped this process…please let me know about this,…should i continue this..is it a good thing or a thing with risks…..
Dear Santosh,
It does not seem to be anything to worry about. What you can do is to watch this feeling as if you were not Santosh Kumar but a spirit watching from a short distance away. Watch Santosh’s reactions to these experiences as well without any judgement. This may take some practice by you will be able to do it eventually. Once you can do this and feel yourself as an observer then relax into that observer feeling completing. Imagine dissolving into it. It will feel like a risk to do this but you will be fine. I promise.
You can also try the Walking Into the Light or Surrender meditations at http://www.lightunlimitedpublishing.com.
Try this and let me know what you experience.
Take care
Jon
Hi Jon,
This is probably going to sound like a wild question from a crackpot, but I assure you it is not! I am experiencing something extremely unusual that I am at a loss to identify or explain, and I would surely like to know what is occuring. I think t is supernatural, spiritual, or perhaps both.
Many times after I have been asleep for a period of time and wake up for some reason and get out of bed, I can literally run my fingertips up and down something (like a blanket or a shower curtain) and what I see are little individual specks of light coming out of each fingertip. If I draw my hand up and down on the object, I continue to see these sparks of light or energy. Have you ever heard of, or experienced anything, like this?
My spiritual life has deepened more this year than any other time in my life (I am 56) and I am wondering if it is in some way a reflection or manifestation of oneness with God? I am going to try to capture it on video when I can. It is rather incredible to me. I will look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you so very much, Jon. Hope you are happy and well and enjoying Life! Cher
Hi Cher,
I wish I had an answer for you but I have not had this experience. It would be great to see a video of it though. Let me know if you are able to capture it.
I am glad you are experiencing a deepening spiritual life. that is always wonderful.
Take care
Jon
Hi Jon, Thank you so very much for your thoughtful reply and for being such a caring person. I appreciate what you said about trying to imagine someone or something no longer in one’s life, but, not to dwell there. I look at my 82 year old mother – one of the unhappiest people I know – and see someone who is competely and totally living in regret and in the past. Her own life has passed her by in many ways. She stayed there for so long that her misery became comfortable. So, yes, it’s important to examine these things, but ever so carefully. I will look forward to trying one of the meditations. Thank you again, Jon. The world is a better place because you are in it. Cher
Hi Jon, Thanks for directing me to your site. I would appreciate it if you would share your thoughts on how to be more mindful to appreciate every good thing in life that you have AT THE TIME YOU HAVE IT. It seems we all take sooo much for granted, and also, when something ends, particularly if it ends unexpectedly, it’s like, “ahhhh it’s GONE??? how could I have not appreciated that more AT THE TIME?” A good example – I worked closely with my best friend for 8 years and then she was let go. We went from being in one another’s orbit daily, to now maybe seeing each other every couple of weeks. I asked my friend her thoughts on it and she said, “I try to imagine the thing (whatever it is) not being in my life as a way to more fully appreciate it in the here and now.” I feel like I value my life in hindsight more than I am able to in the here and now, even though I meditate daily and an very conscious of God’s presence all around me. Thanks in advance! Cher
Hi Cher,
Thank you for the great questions and insights.
Here are some thoughts and insights……
I believe your friend’s thought on this subject is very good. I do the same thing myself. In meditation I imagine that something is no longer in my life and then feel what that feels like. I feel it honestly and totally. In this way we can have some small idea of what it would be like to be without something or someone. It is not good to dwell in this place but it is good to explore. There is no way to fully know what it will be like to be without that person or thing. Sometimes it is much better than before, sometimes it is much more painful than anticipated. What is important is to be present in this moment and to experience all that is available fully.
If it is a person that we like, love and or cherish then the answer is quite simple. Be open and honest with that person. Be transparent with them. Be sure that you have no regrets with them each day. Treat them as if they could be gone forever at any moment.
Ask yourself periodically, “If ___________ disappeared tomorrow is there anything I wish I would have said to them? Is there anything I wish I had done for them?” If there is anything, then do it or say it today. Be sure that you have no regrets with anyone in your life. Especially those close to you.
As we move forward in this lifetime and we lose more each year we have an opportunity to get better at this.
It is so very imporant to have as few regrets as possible. One of the worst things a being can do is to leave this human life with regrets. They are like rubber bands that bring you back to this earth again. So adopt a rule in your life to be sure you have no regrets. Live this way as much as possible.
Also, one last thought…
You exist as a multi-dimensional being. You live in millions of probabilities all at the same time. Every time you come to a point of decision all possibilities are experienced. Cher experiences one of those. The Self experiences all possibilities. So keep this in mind and it will help you dissolve regrets.
I hope something here is helpful. Try one of the meditations in the meditation section of this blog and practice examining your regrets and then dissolving them.
And it physical reality, live so that you have no regrets.
Take care
Jon
Hello there,
You answer my question on yahoo and I feel like contacting you. From that question, I hope you know my problems already and I need more suggestion. Btw, Im asian and buddhist.
Hello Kevin,
I am glad to help if I can. I understand that you are hearing and feeling bad things inside yourself.
First, it is important for you to have someone near you that you can speak with about this. A good therapist. Maybe a Buddhist therapist or monk.
Also, you might want to explain to your girlfriend what you have been experiencing. That might help as well.
Then, practice the meditations that are posted here. Practice every day at least 2 times a day.
Remember, no matter what you hear and what you are feeling, the Truth is that you are a beautiful Being. There is nothing ‘bad’ in who you really are. Anything that tells you that you are ‘bad’ or that tells you to do or say ‘bad’ things is lying to you. Do not trust it. Do not allow it to control you. Say, NO to it. See it for what it is. It is not who you really are.
You can also write to me by email at js@jonshore.net.
Take care.
Jon
Thanks for your advice, I really needed that. Sometimes I forget to just calm down and Be present….I get so involved with seeking and hearing the next concept or teaching and I think this is a real probelm for me, you know? Because they say only way to experiance awakening is to quiet the mind, and running after more and more concepts doesnt really quiet the mind.
I will practice the meditations! Every day even! You know, up until now I didnt even have a formal practice. Months ago I gave up being present throughout the day. Then after that I didnt have any mindfulness practices. That could also be why I havent made any progress along the spiritual path :/
Thanks again Jon! 🙂
Hi Maggie,
So I have put the first few pages of my book up on this blog for you and everyone who would like to read it and to practice.
The advice given you is absolutely correct. Quiet is essential. The ‘how to’ be quiet is another story that you will learn and experience.
So do the meditations I have written out here and read the book as I put it up. I hope this will be helpful for you. Also feel free to write to me if you wish.
Take care and enjoy,
Jon
Hello Jon!
I read your article “Enlightenment- The Search” and although the concepts were nothing new to me, I still enjoyed it. My questions are about ending the search for enlightenment- what can be expected to happen after one does this? Is this giving up on enlightenment? How would you define seeking, exactly? If I stopped seeking, do I still meditate, read spiritual books, get advice from Awakened people, etc?
Because about three weeks ago I stopped seeking. I felt some peace from this, but it went away. Then I started to seek again. (and I never Woke up!)
Thank you so much for reading this!
Maggie
Hello Maggie,
What a great question. Thank you. I was just discussing this with someone today so the question is timely.
I can share with you some of my own experiences and I hope that will be helpful.
After I experienced Enlightenment I lost interest in going to spiritual lectures, workshops or seminars. I no longer felt as though I was seeking anything. I felt that I wanted to experience human life but I was not trying to find myself, peace, love or anything else. I also lost interest in any esoteric studies. I still enjoyed going to see some great spiritual teachers that were visiting my area but I did not feel any need to seek any of them out or to travel to them.
I continued to meditate and still do to this day, every day. I seldom read spiritual books unless it is one that I am asked to review. I wrote a book, ‘Freedom From Suffering, A Spiritual Approach’ which lays out some simple life practices for experiencing Enlightenment and for maintaining it as well. I spent many years teaching after this experience and then decided to explore the world of business to see if it is possible to live as an Enlightened being and to do business successfully at the same time. I am still involved in that experiment and will write an article or two about it soon. When I have concluded the experiment I will write a book about it and probably do seminars around what I have learned. I have a strict policy of never teaching anything that I have not experienced for myself over a long period of time. I want to be sure it works consistently many, many times before sharing it.
Seeking is like a hunger for something that you do not have but want very much. You can still want to experience Enlightenment without that hunger, without that seeking. As long as you are seeking then there are always going to be two of you. The seeker and that which is sought. In Truth, there is only One and you are beyond both of those.
There are some practices that I recommend for experiencing Enlightenment. I have written them all out in my book, ‘Freedom From Suffering’. I’ll tell you what I will do. I will copy the entire book here on this blog. I will put up 1 chapter every week until it is all here. Then, if you choose, you can practice these things and see how they work for you. Of course you can always buy the book at my website. 🙂
I will do my best to get the first chapter of the book up on this blog before next week for you. I hope it is helpful.
Did I answer your question? I hope my reply gives you some needed insight.
Take care,
Jon
Hey Jon,
I loved reading your response- it made some things clearer to me. But Im still a bit confused on whether enlightenment happens as a result of stopping the seeking, or if one ends the search because one finds what one was looking for. I think you were saying for you it was the other way, that you found enlightenment then stopped seeking. Does it always work this way? I’ve been seeking for nearly 8 years and I have given it everything. I thought after a while that maybe if I gave up looking I would find it. Thats why Im curious to know if one finds it after giving up the search. But then how does one “give up the search?” My answer would be to stop seeking- and that means not struggling and wanting it and like you said :
‘Seeking is like a hunger for something that you do not have but want very much. You can still want to experience Enlightenment without that hunger, without that seeking.”
I think this means the energy behind what you are doing. Like, if you read spiritual books or go to satsang with a seeking energy, then you are seeking. But if you dont, then you arent seeking? How does the wanting energy differ from the seeking?
Also, what would you say about giving the whole enlightenment pursuit over to God? Like, instead of trying to wake up, just give up?
Thanks again for listening, these are questions that have been bothering me. And I would absolutely love it if you posted your book chapter by chapter! That would be awesome! :DD
Hi Maggie,
Oh my, so many questions. 🙂
First of all, take some deep breaths and relax. I highly suggest that you practice the meditations I wrote on this blog. Most of your questions will find their answers. And the answers you come up with yourself are always the best ones for you.
Enlightenment does not happen as a result of stopping the seeking although that is a prerequisite.
My suggestion is to go the events and teachers with the intention of listening to what they have to say but knowing that the best seminars and teachers are the ones that are clear mirrors for you to honestly see your true Self.
You do not need to give up your curiosity, just any desperation associated with seeking.
Look inside yourself and you will know the difference between the energy of seeking and curiosity. That is one of the reasons that many religions teach the importance of releasing all desires.
Also, the practice of trying to achieve certain ‘spiritual’ or emotional attributes like desirelessness can be exhausting. Just relax. Do what you need to do each day. Breathe deeply. Pay close attention to everything around you and within you. Live.
I know you would like to find all the answers today dear Maggie but it is also important for you to relax. Practice the meditations I have written out and/or try some of the guided meditations at my website that you can download. I will get the book up online as soon as possible for you. 🙂
I will do my best to be a nice clear mirror for you so do not hesitate to write or contact me.
Take care
Jon