Leo Gura

@username Might be dangerous to expect the same highs as from sheer hedonism. That suggests misguided motivation. If you're constantly comparing your spiritual pleasures to your old hedonistic pleasures... well, that's not a recipe for success. I would suggest you shift your values from pleasure and happiness to Truth-at-any-cost and radiating unconditional love towards others. This journey is not about what you GET, it's about what you GIVE. Learn to love to give, and you will get everything you want in return. But if you approach as a manipulation to GET, GET, GET, you'll be disappointed, because that's ego, not spirit. If I was truly honest, playing a video game -- for those 20 hours that I'm playing it -- is a lot more fun and interesting than meditation or whatever. But there are other considerations. Spiritual pleasure is a different kind of pleasure. Hence I sold my shiny 4k TV and PS4. Right now, some chimp-human is playing it, having fun, while I sit here straining to meditate and answering people's questions. And as far as experiencing God goes, there is no pleasure that compares. It's greater than all the video games and orgasms you've ever had put together. But again, don't turn that into an objective you lust after. It will come to you on this path if you're serious. Yes, you will be tempted by lust over and over again on this path. Sometimes you will fall astray, seduced by the devil Expect it to happen hundreds of times. After all, you're a very weak creature -- just a simple chimp -- hardly a match for the devil's clever ways

@username Yes. If you pay close attention, you should already feel better than you have before. But we just easily forget how much we suffered in the past. Hedonic adaptation at work. But also, make sure you take responsibility for how you feel. Feelings are not something that happen to you. YOU CREATE THEM! One of the most important spiritual purification practices is forcing yourself to enjoy your suffering. Really enjoy the shit out of it. Why not, right? When you really feel awful, that's the best time to stop and remember: "Oh, yeah, I'm creating this. So now let me enjoy it!" Easier said than done, but you gotta start doing it sometime, or you'll never arrive. And it does take the edge off.

There are many depths of enlightenment insight. The shallower ones don't explain it all. I don't remember what you experienced, but whatever it was, it's pretty safe to assume there's a lot more where that came from. Keep returning to drink from the fountain. One day you might discover that it's an infinite ocean. Paradox is mind-stuff. Without mind and ego, what paradox is left? Point to a paradox out in nature. There's only being out there. Mind cannot grasp being because it IS being. How can a hand grab hold of itself?

Good share. In Van Gogh's case, maybe it was both. There are plenty of examples from neuroscience case-studies that link various brain dysfunctions and abnormalities with heightened spiritual insights. The Prophet Mohammad is speculated to have had epilepsy or some kind of similar brain disorder, which gave him extraordinary channeling abilities and powerful visions. This isn't to reduce the significance of such insights, as some might object.

If you wanna make good work connections, go to industry expos and conventions and network the old-fashioned way. Far superior in my opinion. Just one convention -- well-worked -- could change your life. And there are expos for virtually any field.

@Key Elements Discover infinity for yourself, and then you tell me. And get a move on it! Life is ticking away

I'm just a dude on the internet, but thanks!

Excellent! Love to see people doing retreats I've been meaning to shoot a video to get more of ya'll going to them. Just wait till you discover what you are! Love

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@Mr Here and Now Few spiritual masters will directly tell you, "You have no free will." Cause it scares the shit out of people and makes them defensive. They'd rather you discover this for yourself, because by then, it's too late to run. Sorry, spoiler alert. And yes, of course you can make choices.

Those of ya'll that think that enlightenment means: No values No principles No passions No pursuit of mastery No goals No career No learning No training No education No hard work No planning No strategy No caring Have a very silly notion of enlightenment. If you do even a cursory review of all the greatest teachers and masters who've ever lived, from ancient to modern, you see they had: strong values, strong principles, strong purpose, fierce pursuit of mastery, clear and ambitious goals, careers, deeply learned, exceptionally well-trained, educated, and incredibly hard working. This isn't a projection. This is factually what their lives had. Can you even imagine being a monk in a Zen temple and then they ring the gong for you to wake up at 4am for meditation and you say, "Nah... bro... I'm good. You know... I'm so enlightened now that waking up on time... I realize now that's just an illusion. It doesn't matter. Bro, just chill out. Let's sleep in today. Why you being so egotical? Forcing me to wake up at 4am? Don't you see? That's all ego." You would get your ass beaten for such drivel. They would kick you out of bed and laugh you out of the temple. Or can you imagine, you're in a Zen temple and you throw a soda can in the rock garden? And then say, "Oh, it's all just an illusion. Who cares? Only egos care about being so anally orderly and clean. Stop being egotistical." You would get punched in the face. Shinzen Young told me how he got punched in the nose in the temple just from making sniffling noises during meditation when he had a cold. Sounds like you haven't actually interacted with a single highly enlightened human being face-to-face, otherwise this position you take would look ridiculous. You would be too ashamed to even mouth it in their presence. It would be like meeting Jesus and pissing on his shoes. When you're in the presence of a master, you instantly know it. He can stare through you like a tiger stares through a rabbit. I know a monk who worked with Sasaki Roshi. Sasaki was a 100 year-old Zen master. He became a monk when he was a teen. Meditated every day for 90 years! When he was 104, he was still teaching. He had the flu, the doctors said he should be dead, and what was he doing? Holding week-long Dai-seshins to the max, sitting there with all his students, pushing them to the max to reach enlightenment, holding over 30 one-on-one instruction sessions per day! The students thought he was going to die in the middle of the retreat. He lived for years to come and died at 107, still touring and teaching with fiery purpose and passion. Passion, values, principles, purpose, hard work, orderliness, cleanliness, hygiene, waking up on time, caring, compassion, morals -- they all fucking matter to a master. To a slob, maybe not. It's your life, you can live it however you want. If you want to be an enlightened slob who works at 7/11, up to you, but you ain't ever gonna be even close to the highest degrees of consciousness available, or a good human being. You're gonna be a half-enlightened Zen-devil who thinks he knows it all living in his mom's basement, jerking off in the dark. The only thing sadder than no enlightenment is a half-assed enlightenment masquerading as mastery.

@Mr Here and Now Two things to keep in mind: 1) Sometimes the exact opposite language can be used to convey the same thing. For example, I can say that there is no self. And that is true. I can also say, there is only the Self and nothing else. And that is true. Both point to exactly the same thing. But to a newbie, they may seem like two opposite positions. I can say there is no God. And that would be true. I can say there is ONLY God and nothing else. And that would be true. Both mean exactly the same thing. 2) Not all teachings are speaking at the same levels. Some teachings are more practical. Some teachings are more existential. Some teachings are aimed at newbies. Some teachings are aimed at those who've attained direct insight of the Absolute. If I was speaking to a regular person about how to improve his life, I would say, "Take full responsibility and make good choices. That's very important." If I was speaking to a more advanced self-help junkie who had a solid conceptual grasp on enlightenment and was doing the work to pursue it, I would say, "You have no control. Notice that all your choices are not being made by you. You can't even open your mouth of your own will." Both would be correct in their proper contexts. Since the ultimate Truth is not contained in language, any language can be used to describe it, even opposite language. And this can get people confused. Some teachers like to use opposite language to purposefully confused the student's mind and keep him from fixating on one position. This helps to break up the web of beliefs which is the chief obstacle to higher consciousness. And then of course, some teachers simply don't know about the highest truths, so they speak only about lower truths.

@Orange That's because you're still operating under the assumption of a "YOU". You think you exist inside that body. But actually you ARE the body, the cat, the tree, the table, the sky, etc. Notice that the cat is NOT occurring inside you! The cat is literally one "brick" in what you are. The fact that you're seeing the cat is equivalent to you "feeling" the cat. You're creating this imaginary scene where "you" are able to feel inside the cat's body. But that's A THOUGHT! Whatever exists of the cat is 100% already part of you. The problem is that it just doesn't match your expectations. You expect to feel inside the cat, but actually reality says, "Nope, you see the cat". That's how reality works. Now your job is to accept it. What you're doing now is telling reality, "Hey reality! You should work the way I want you to work. The way you're working right now doesn't appeal to me. Please change so MY model of reality makes sense." It helps to sit down and carefully investigate your visual field. Keep asking yourself, "Where is the cat located? Is the cat happening inside my body? If not, then WTF is this cat? Where is it occurring????" Here's an excellent exercise for you: sit down and carefully take your index figure and try to draw an imaginary straight line from the cat to you. Notice that it's not possible. Because the cat IS you! And there isn't even a cat. There is only a hollow surface of a cat which is in ever-flux. You are like a 360 degree projector, projecting an image onto the inside of a hollow sphere. This projection includes the cat, the tree, the car, and "your" body. And yet, all of that is still not essentially what you are. Because you're none of it. You are the void in which that phenomena takes place.

Definitely don't feel forced to take psychedelics. I merely said it was a much more effective method of teaching than speech (which is obvious to anyone who's tried psychedelics). If you wanna do enlightenment through self-inquiry or meditation, by all means have at it. It will be A LOT of work, but have at it. Still totally worth it.

@Neo What you don't realize yet, is that it's not a drug thing, it's a consciousness thing. Low consciousness ALWAYS REFUSES high consciousness! It's got nothing to do with drugs. "Drugs" is just the convenient excuse in this case. If I achieved what I achieved without drugs. It would be equally rejected, just with a different set of excuses. Until you experience AWAKENING FROM LIFE, you cannot understand it. You're not even 1% close to understanding it. Everything that you think and say and do and know is all part of the dream you're stuck in. Can you even begin to imagine the magnitude of that, were it true?

Exactly, which is why I'm such a fan of 5-meo. No bullshit talk. Just take it and all is revealed in 15 minutes. It's just so easy.

Not sure why it's necessary to restart it. Just finish it from beginning to end. And if you leave off half-way, pick it up where you left it. Sure, you could re-visit again next year, just to refresh your memory. But I would rather you focus that energy on reading the books, for example. They will keep taking you deeper, and should remind you of many of the things I said in the course. Actually, right now I'm finding my growth is so fast, I cannot predict where it will go. Maybe I'll go live in a cave next month. Maybe I'll create a new course. Maybe I'll decide to kill myself. I'm open to all of it. Cause the illusion of control is becoming pretty obvious now. I'm not in control of Leo. I'm becoming less plan-oriented as I grow. I listed the books in rough order of importance. If you haven't read Mastery cover to cover at least twice, you definitely should. Thanks, hug back at ya We'll see. I don't know where this path will take me. How can I quantify my happiness for you? No, you cannot be happy without Truth. If you ever awaken, you will instantly understand why. The mechanism is much deeper than merely "my model of happiness" vs "your model of happiness". True happiness is outside all models. Yes, there is such a thing as True happiness. It's the annihilation of YOU. My life purpose has evolved into embodying Truth. My grail is literally HOLY! It's not really a "thing" that one can quit. It's interwoven in my consciousness and understanding of reality. I'm definitely past the point of no return as far as enlightenment goes. There's no way I will give up on mastery of enlightenment. No, I took no coaching. I have done a bit of improv. It's great. Although its not like it will teach you have to shoot great Youtube videos. Those are separate skills. You basically just gotta spend 100s of hours speaking in front of a camera. I take a lot less than I used to. These days I take specific supplements that I've identified I'm lacking, or that I need for detox purposes. The most useful ones are the ones your body needs. Get comprehensive bloodwork done, and then you'll know. And you need to experiment with your own body. My body ain't your body. Very rarely. It's hard to do that when you run a business of any kind. You don't need any prep to do a retreat. Just go with an open mind. I've found that $2000 for a retreat -- any quality retreat -- is worth it. But that's me. I probably have more money to spend than you. No, seems silly to me. About 2 hours. Not yet It's really not an important goal for me. It will happen on its own. Yeah, I've been thinking along those lines. I will be releasing a resource list which will scratch that itch. As far as shooting more videos, that's a tricky commitment to make. If they're being manipulative spammers or self-promoting, I will ban them. But that's quite rare. Very tricky issue. It's probably possible, but we're nowhere close to that I would guess. And it's not that they would acquire consciousness. Reality IS consciousness. Consciousness is not something one acquires. It's what reality is. The question you're asking is whether robots can acquire sentience or ego. Yes, it's hard. Then again, sustaining a relationship without doing this work is even harder! Think about scaling back how much time you waste in your relationships. Perhaps try to keep your interactions shorter and less often, but higher quality. For example, don't be sleeping every day together. Maybe once or twice per week tops. That's good. That means Leo is changing. In a few years, you will not recognize me at all. And many of you will of course justify that as "Finally, Leo has lost it." That's how it must be. High consciousness doesn't look like high consciousness from the low consciousness perspective, it looks like lower consciousness! OF COURSE! That's the only way low consciousness can persist! So I will be demonized more and more as I develop. That's part of my lot. You'll be demonized too if you make any drastic enough leap in consciousness. The old Leo couldn't even fathom what God is. Neither do you. You can come to a complete understanding. But the cost is a total annihilation of yourself. If you are squeamish about doing psychedelics, you're not nearly openminded enough to achieve this annihilation on your own. The degree of openmindedness required is ABSOLUTE! If you ever awaken from life, you will understand why there is no hesitation. Everything you think of as "life" and everything you value as highest "knowledge" is but a dream.

@Deep You are definitely on the right track. But the deepest samadhi is into Nothingness. That's what Maharshi and all the greatest mystics experienced. The Heart is The Void. It's both hollow and infinitely full.

A couple of important points are warranted here to clear up this confusion. 1) TRUTH = HAPPINESS = LOVE = PEACE. There is no possibility for happiness without TRUTH!! None! You cannot be happy living in an illusion. You're not grasping the magnitude of enlightenment yet. YOUR ENTIRE LIFE and ALL YOUR SUFFERING is an manipulation against TRUTH. When you realize this, you will start to laugh and cry at the same time, because it's so silly and sad. You have no option of finding happiness, love, and peace but ignoring truth. If you attempt that, all you'll find is what you have right now, which is a continuous cycle of suffering, punctuated by short bursts of highly conditional happiness. You haven't even experienced REAL happiness yet! Not even once in your entire life! REAL happiness will amaze you. 2) OF COURSE you're resistant to it! OF COURSE!!! How could it be otherwise? Your entire current identity's existence is contingent upon resisting TRUTH. You gotta be wise enough to see this ahead of time. 3) A leap of faith is required. Many religious traditions speak of making a blind leap of faith. Now you can appreciate the necessity of this teaching. You can also appreciate why truth must be pursued for truth's sake, and no other reason. Because all other motives have been corrupted and co-opted by ego. 4) Your heart will break open in tears of joy when you finally awaken from life, and realize that all these concerns were utter nonsense. For having the courage to annihilate yourself, you will be rewarded with INFINITY! INFINITE LOVE! More than you could have ever wished for, more than if you had a magic genie that gave you million wishes. You will have absolutely everything... except yourself Now the question is, are you wise enough to make that trade-off? You'd really have to be a fool not to do it. Unfortunately, most people these days are fools. I wish I could show you what INFINITE LOVE feels like. You would melt in ecstasy.

@Theprofessional To anyone who says something like, "so I should be emotionally detached?" my gut response is: "No, just since you asked that question, for you, the objective should be to become extremely empathetic and compassionate." Because someone who asks that question usually misunderstands the nuance in "detachment". True detachment -- as spoken of and demonstrated by spiritual masters -- comes on the other end of deep empathy and compassion. It's not a form of Terminator-like stoicism and non-feeling. Just the opposite. Right now, you're not capable of detachment, even if you wanted to. What you're doing is suppressing emotions and calling that detachment. Which is not really detachment, but the every same thing you've been doing most of your life. It's an unconscious rejection of feeling. As your consciousness rises, you should be experiencing more feelings, richer feelings, more compassion towards all beings. If you're not, then you're doing it wrong. There is one important wrinkle, though, which is this: for most of your life you've been using emotions (both positive and negative) to manipulate yourself without knowing it. As your consciousness rises, these manipulations will fall away. As they do, it might appear to you like you're becoming cold and insensitive, but actually you've just dropped many emotional manipulations which are no longer necessary. P.S. Isn't it interesting that your chosen career demands that you emotionally manipulate your audience -- often with the most negative, low-consciousness emotions -- otherwise your movie fails? At some point you may be forced to reconcile where your loyalties lie: with success, or with Truth?

Firstly, this is a moderated community, as most forums of any decent quality must be, and are. Secondly, I'm seeing a rising trend of people across the internet using salacious marketing tactics to drive business and subscribers. You see this with conspiracy theorists, the fake new phenomena, baiting others into debates by saying purposefully provocative things, or nitpicking and criticizing just to get attention. If I see this sort of herd behavior manipulation here, I'm definitely not going to sit by and watch it unfold. It's like a mudslinging contest that sucks more and more people in and everyone ends up dirty. It's fundamentally manipulative, dishonest, unconscious, and can even lead to violence. But mostly it's just a way to get attention and views. I try to use a very light hand with moderation. I'm all for free speech. But one thing I don't stomach is marketing ploys to grab subscribers, or people saying outrageous things just to get attention or business. Many fans or subscribers don't realize the business-side of these kinds of ploys, which exploit people's ideologies and sectarian loyalty to stir up business. It's this sort of Ann Coulter phenomena: saying ignorant outrageous things and hoping something sticks. Youtube comments have not been disabled at all. They're open. The only thing I moderate on Youtube are blatant racist comments, commercial spam, and conspiracy theory spreading like PizzaGate. The bigger lesson to draw from all this stuff is to seek to be INTEGRATIVE in your study of reality. It's very easy to nitpick and criticize and say outrageous negative things against other races, cultures, genders, religions, nondual traditions, teachers, etc. That's SO easy, it's almost automatic. What's really valuable and rare is being INTEGRATIVE, seeking to understand all perspectives in a calm, generous, compassionate manner. That requires lots of consciousness and mastery. In the future, you will see me embodying this integrative attitude a lot more, because I want to be very careful not to flame ideological battles, and set a good example. Ideological battles are just a distraction from the work of raising consciousness. Notice that as you spend time reading a salacious thread, that's time taken away from turning inward. This one simple mechanism has been the most effective and favorite tool of the ego to keep the world mired in duality for over 5000 years. And I don't want to perpetuate it within my circle of influence.

@Lamp It's important to understand that people generally do not know about all the best things in life. The expectation that mainstream society knows what's good, is very limiting and downright dangerous to your life. The best stuff is often hidden in plain sight. Which is why its worth your while doing research. It works for both ADD and ADHD. No, it's not hard to apply.

@Jhonny Love yourself more when you fail.

What I've found is way more effective than meditation. And it doesn't take years or months. Never lose hope. The field of self-development is virtually bottomless. There is much to discover. I've found stuff that can cure you out of a coma!

@Shane Roberts No, I've never had ADD.