David, you did see the clown face at the end of that statement right? I think that is what we had decided on using to indicate "I am just kidding". I think yours was one of the best pieces of advice out there.. come now, you know I have a lot of repeck for what you say... :blush:
you know I have a lot of repeck for what you say… 
For a dreadful microsecond, I thought that was a clown-face you had put at the end of that sentance. 
Alexander wrote:
Probably you are too serious in that, Alexander. We have feel-good chemicals for rewards for many things, like eating or biting your finger-mails (for those who have this habit). David was taking the terms at this level( not the drugs that could shoot your dopamine level to the sky.)
I think it’s more about the attitude that you have towards meditation, rather than the effects of meditation. Your brain can get a big reward even when you’re doing something (supposedly)useless. You can just be filling your own desire.
There are some people in this world who believe that they have encountered aliens/UFO. If you encourage them to share, they feel good. So far it is what is required to relieve their inner fear, and is appropriate. But if you form a discussion group and ask them to share regularly, gradually they will come up with new stories, interpretations about various symbols, the mystery and coincidence about the time of their encounter with aliens, the meaning of the shape of the trees in their garden which reveal some secrets about the encounter,…etc. They feel obliged to come up with something. Their lives become nothing but a projection of their alien story. And they fear living under the shadow of alien which they create for themsselves.
I don’t think you’re like that, Alexander. But you see, the reward can appear in a social setting, not just in techniques. So the attitude is a more important factor. Forget about the chemicals if you don’t like. Just be sure you’re not hiding from your fear through meditation (I don’t think you do, though) I think it is the main source of the brain’s dangerous comfort feeling, not the little amount of dopamine or serotonin DURING meditation. (though for a small amount of people, meditation can be very dramatic and acts like drugs)
@alvin chan:
people here in austria, especially in the part where i am from, are rather focused on having money and a good job, building a house and having 2 children. nothing wrong with it, but the spiritual aspect is missing. god is just an ancient thing people used to believe in in order to forget their misery. most people think their mind is everything they need. they don’T care much about the feelings of others.
my friends are like this too, except one or two. but my parents are among the most loving people i know
@david_obsidian
i never thought about feel-good chemicals. i learned about chakras and thought that these feelings are a result of a purer heart chakra. this may be right but i completely forgot about the fact that each one of the main chakras is linked with a gland. these glands release this chemicals if your nervous system has reached a certain level of purity.
my brother was a heroin addict and the family suffered a lot during that time. the word addiction always reminds me of that period. think of endorphines - they are the opium of your body. if i am dependent on endorphines i am like a drug addict.
this is the association my mind made when i read your post.
namasté
Yes. For from my perspective as a scientist, there is no separation from your mood and your brain chemistry at all: if you are having fun out with your friends, you are getting feel-good chemicals from being out with your friends. I was careful to point out that even when we are healthy, we are dependent on neurochemicals. The existence of the neurochemicals does not taint the picture to any extent. It just explains the cause-effect chain nicely, and helps us see that we can have a somewhat addictive relationship to things which are good.
if i am dependent on endorphines i am like a drug addict.
Aha, I didn’t mean to say that and that’s the bit you have to get past: dependence on neurochemicals is not addiction. The brain is dependent on them just like it is dependent on glucose, oxygen etc.
Addiction is about an imbalanced bigger picture about what is supplying the neurochemicals.
i never thought about feel-good chemicals. i learned about chakras and thought that these feelings are a result of a purer heart chakra. this may be right but i completely forgot about the fact that each one of the main chakras is linked with a gland.
Yes, both pictures are right in their own way. Chakras and neuro-systems are different views of the same phenomena, at somewhat different levels.
Hi Alexander,
just to let you know: I am living in south east germany,
right on the border to austria. Feel free to get in touch with me.
Die Welt ist klein, mach’s guad
servus
Wolfgang
@ david_obsidian
thank you very much for your answer. it is a new perspective for me. chakras and neuro-systems, spirituality and science. it’s not one of them we have to chose. the “problem” is, that many scientists just don’T want to build the bridge between the two, but that’S another thing
@alvin chan
thanks for your detailed description of the problem. over the last few days i realized that i got angry if i didn’T find the time to meditate. now i know the problem and i can tackle it. today everything is much better and the pure desire and joy returned. now meditation is fun again, not a cold but effective tool.
@wolfgang
hey i’m from vorarlberg .
das kleine ländle direkt am bodensee. hast du icq? meine nummer ist 234129840.
namasté my dear friends
Hi Alexander,
I came to your thread after one of my own on ‘confessions’. So I deeply thank you, because you seem to have answered some of my questions. (This is a bowing smiley)
Though I think it takes courage and freshness (call it purity) to be able to bare your soul to others. Hats off to you Spirit Soldier! I hope to learn from you.
I gather some blockage at least, has moved by talking here? Tell us.
By the way, I just read in today’s newspaper front page that Austria is the third most happy country (the first two being Denmark and Switzerland). I see an inkling of a wish floating inside me to be able to visit your country some day.
Hi nice to meet you…sadness is part of the purification…
as for suicide don’t bother u won’t succeed…you are life
we need you
we love you…
I myself went through alot and so did others here also
I tried suicide on SEVERAL occasions with everything…
my ex husband used to use me as a boxing bag while I was pregnant with his child…and many more
You have alot to live for…you currently have more than alot of people right now …
u r in the right place and a counselor is a good idea too
some of the suggestions here from the others are great also
just take your time
crying is good and the very first step to purification
Namaste
believe me I am speaking from lots of experiences.
@sadhak
thank you for your loving words
the biggest effect of confession is, that you write down or say anything that bothers you at the moment. it’S like bringing a distance between you and your problems - as an effect you see everything much clearer. you are able to see the bigger picture and how everything is connected. so it’s possible to understand the lection your feelings teach you and you can see different patterns. as a result you can transcend everything.
i felt like god had abandoned me. alone. not fitting into the world that surrounds me and not worthy to enter divine realms. i felt extremely dirty. i had to meditate to clean myself and in order to prove that i am worthy . i had no fun but i thought it was my duty, otherwise life would not make sense. i wanted to see results - instant enlightenment 
meditation now is still important to me, but fun returned.
@nsantoo
crying helps. it takes the tension away and afterwards things are much clearer.
i won’t try suicide - when i think back, considering it was a means to “threaten” god, to force things forward. i’m past that phase now, i feel so free and light, that nothing will bring me down to that point again. i went through this phae, i learned my lessons and now i’m here again. different than before, feeling a stronger connection to the divine than before. feeling a stronger connection to everything on this planet.
i thank you for your post.
hearing about your past i want to hug you right now.
i love you all, namasté
Moderator note: Topic moved for better placement