Leo Gura

@PretentiousHuman Just? Your body and your car are also illusions. Reality is also an illusion. So calling something "just an illusion" is tricky. For you, these illusions are very real. In the same way that a nightmare feels very real when you're in it. Negative emotions are exactly what they are. What's required is becoming fully conscious of what they really are vs what you think they are. These are two totally different things. And learning why negative emotions arise, and how they arise, takes a lot of inner work and contemplation. That's what's necessary to become free of them. It's not about fending them off. It's about understanding the root of what they are and why the arise in the first place. A good place to start is to sit down and ask yourself: What is anger? What is fear? What is sadness? Why do they arise? What functional role do they serve in me? What would it take to not feel them? What would it take to be free of them?

@username It's not going to be a one-shot deal. You're gonna have tons of various kinds of experiences and mystical states along the way, most likely. Concentration practice is very important. It's not the only important thing. But it's important. There are many different paths. Many of them contradict on the surface, or in their practical application. I've seen results from both inquiry and from meditation. I think they work great together. Most modern minds are very addicted, which is why I stress meditation so much. Most minds are in no position to do inquiry. Most minds need a few years of meditation practice just to calm down enough to do 20 minutes of inquiry. You have to understand that people like Jed are extremely rare and hardcore. Are you willing to do what he did? There are gradual paths, there are extreme paths. Obviously the extreme paths can take you deeper, faster. But most people cannot handle them. You always have to consider who the teaching is aimed at, and how well you fit the bill. A teaching is worthless to you if you cannot handle it. Meditation is not about experience. It's about training up your mind so you can more easily break through experience. And "Truth" is far from the only consideration.

What if they don't want it?

You seem to like dragging Leo into this. Leo's got nothing to do with it. Watch your projecting. You speak of things which are utterly beyond your present experience.

I said nothing about respawning. "The only sensible thing to do..." << that is just monkey mind coming up with justifications again. You can do whatever you want. "I always knew it made no sense to be good" << again, be careful of ego misappropriating these teachings. What was said was simply: "good" is a construction of your mind. This doesn't say anything about how you should behave.

@Maxx Don't worry about me. Worry about yourself. I know what I'm doing.

You just sit down every day and keep looking at the situation from scratch. What are you? Start from zero every time. See where it goes. The questioning will take you to many different places.

@Torkys Inquiry is the technique. You're doing it. Don't stop just because you get a little stuck. You must be prepared to do it for 10,000 hours if necessary.

Good start at inquiry. But there is no way you can go from nonenlightenment to enlightenment. No way at all. It's a discontinuous jump. Not a path. You have to "teleport" to it, so to speak. And you have no idea where to teleport to or how to teleport. And the worst part is, you will never know no matter how much you think about it. Now, just do it anyway. Notice that "the ability to experience" is just another experience for you. Every thought is an experience. What you need to teleport to is not-experience. How? There isn't one. Keep chipping away at it. Don't stop inquiry.

@hinawashi Good job!

@Key Elements Don't idealize guru's too much. They are NOT perfectly enlightened. It's very hard not to identify with anything in Maya on a practical, everyday level. @Afonso Yes, although the bot has to realize not just that it's the whole system, but that it is NOT any of the system.

Last time I went to a Strip club I met girls there who are into meditation, yoga, Sanskrit, and DMT.

Dan Diggler

@Beyond Words Here is your answer in one man: http://isha.sadhguru.org/mystic/

You can judge in one hand, and crap in the other, and see which one has more substance. Now you got a good sense of how much your judgment is worth.

@Ramu When they tell people to stop seeking. That shit ain't gonna work unless you've already spent a decade seeking. And even then, I doubt it. And when they tell people that enlightenment/spirituality is simple. If it's so damn simple, how come all spiritual traditions and books are so complex? Common sense says it can't work that way. Simple truths are agreed upon by all. Nobody needs to write a 1000 page document about the existence of the sun. Many of those Neo's ain't gone all the way down the rabbit hole, methinks.

@blacksapp Your vision for your life.

@blacksapp What is your vision?

@Danielle Classic ego backlash. Should be expected. Go easy on yourself. Give yourself space. But also at least maintain some kind of basic mindfulness practice every day. You need to teach yourself that just by sitting, you can enter a peaceful, safe space. This is your centering point. So work on creating a really solid centering point. And be more expecting of the backlash in the future. Try to anticipate them, so they don't catch you by surprise. Whatever fears are there, notice that you can just sit with them. You don't need to "solve" them. Just sit and enjoy being. Notice that being is enjoyable.

Stay in school. College is optional, but if you can't finish high school, you're really kidding yourself.

@Samuel Garcia Dude, you just got started. You haven't put in anywhere near enough work into this process to make any kind of conclusions like you're making. I've been doing this for years and I can only connect to being like 1% of the time at best. Being able to connect to being and shutting off your mind is the hardest thing in the world. You're not putting anywhere near enough effort into this. If you have a serious case of ADHD, you might want to research and troubleshoot a bunch of physical solutions: proper diet, proper exercise, proper breathing, proper lifestyle, quitting all addictive media, bodywork, energy work, brain training, getting blood work done, checking your vitamin levels, fixing hormonal imbalance, detoxing heavy metals, experimenting with dozens of supplements, yoga, pranayama, Reichian therapy, psychedelics, etc. There is so MUCH to do! You haven't even done 2% of this stuff. Unless your mother was an orangutan, it's impossible not to be able to self-actualize.

It's that time of the year again! The book list has been updated. Lots of amazing, mind-blowing, life-transforming books in this update. Really, one of my favorite updates. Many of these books were simultaneously profound and a pleasure to read. At least half are available on Audible for easy listening. New books on: Consciousness/Enlightenment Absolute Infinity Metaphysics Paranormal Psychedelics/Shamanism Politics Systems Thinking Zen Poetry The Brain and brain training How to access: Just log into your existing Actualized account, go to My Account >> Book List. All the newest additions are clearly listed on page 1. The update is free for everyone who purchased the list in the past, and all new purchases. This update brings the list up to over 200 books! This is the theoretical foundation for all self-actualization work.

@Afonso It's a great start. It's very high-level. Now you want to brainstorm ways of concretizing it. What kind of systems/frameworks juice you up most? Why? What can you do with them? What impact do you want to have in this field? What's the point of developing frameworks? Do you care more about developing them, or studying them, or using them?

Your understanding of Buddhism, and Trump, is lacking

The plain reality of psychedelics is that you NEVER know what you'll get next. Every trip is different. You gotta go into it with some bravery and optimism. If you can't muster that, then hold off until you can. If you're feeling depressed, wait till it passes.