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I have tried meditation a few select times and over two sessions in the same year, I had the same experience. I found that I was in some sort of odd state, nei

I have tried meditation a few select times and over two sessions in the same year, I had the same experience. I found that I was in some sort of odd state, neither asleep nor awake. I did not have any recollection of my body. But my thoughts were strikingly aware of reality. I felt an overwhelming connectedness to essentially everything. I googled for the sensation and the closest match I could find was an Hindu word: turiya. I have no experience with this domain and have felt actually quite lost since I have never encountered anyone who had a similar frame of reference. It was quite overwhelming and has not happened but those two times. I do not indulge in any narcotics or mind altering drugs. Very unusual experience.

TheMakeA 12y ago
You might have experienced a brief moment of depersonalization[1]. It can be a desirable state for some, but for others (like myself), it has caused the past six years to be hell. [1] http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depersonalization_disorder http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depersonalization_disorder
Florin_Andrei 12y ago
If you're still experiencing "thoughts" as entities beyond your full control, if the "feeling" portion of the mind still fluctuates, if you're not free to direct your ENTIRE attention in a single direction and hold it there for a long time - then that's not turiya. You've experienced an expansion of awareness. It's pretty cool when it happens. You should "encourage" it and practice it more. Turiya is far beyond the reach of basically everyone in their normal state. It takes very long and very difficult preparation to get anywhere near it. If it's easy to get there, you're basically an avatar.
dsernst 12y ago
Author here. Very similar things happened to me when I first started. Likewise I didn't know who to talk with about it. Feel free to reach out to me (contact info on website), would be a pleasure to talk more with you.

TheMakeA 12y ago

You might have experienced a brief moment of depersonalization[1]. It can be a desirable state for some, but for others (like myself), it has caused the past six years to be hell. [1] http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depersonalization_disorder http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depersonalization_disorder

Florin_Andrei 12y ago

If you're still experiencing "thoughts" as entities beyond your full control, if the "feeling" portion of the mind still fluctuates, if you're not free to direct your ENTIRE attention in a single direction and hold it there for a long time - then that's not turiya. You've experienced an expansion of awareness. It's pretty cool when it happens. You should "encourage" it and practice it more. Turiya is far beyond the reach of basically everyone in their normal state. It takes very long and very difficult preparation to get anywhere near it. If it's easy to get there, you're basically an avatar.

dsernst 12y ago

Author here. Very similar things happened to me when I first started. Likewise I didn't know who to talk with about it. Feel free to reach out to me (contact info on website), would be a pleasure to talk more with you.