Leo Gura

"Leo doesn't listen" would be your projection. Remember how I warned ya about that. Maybe Leo does listen? Maybe Leo is aware of all these traps you think he's unware of? Maybe Leo isn't the fool you think he is?

@NTOgen Of course following the "reptilian brain" or one's samskaras is not a good idea if one wants to thrive. Indian traditions have really good distinctions of the parts of the mind and which ones create problems vs which ones solutions. The West has a very crude vocabulary for mind-stuff.

That's right. You cannot understand it because you are like an ant trying to understand the Milky Way. It is not possible. But, by raising your consciousness, you're able to access deeper understanding. So you gotta start doing the work: meditation, contemplation, self-inquiry, psychedelics, etc. to raise your consciousness. Raising consciousness is not easy. Takes a lot of time investment.

No, create your own purpose. I am merely offering ideas and possibilities. You design your own life. Nothing I say is ever normative. If you want to become a serial killer, go for it.

@Kenhol You can tell them you've found God. And then watch with amusement as they give you a weird look like you're crazy. But in the meantime you know they are actually the ones deluded beyond their ability to imagine. And you just look at them with pity and compassion for their ignorance. I mean... this stuff is beyond belief. You cannot believe it. It's the most elaborate hoax ever conceived. Perfectly executed in it's deception. I'm frankly surprised we have the ability to break free of it at all. Most creatures don't.

Real vs unreal is something your mind created. There is no such distinction in the ABSOLUTE. You'll be very surprised to discover that what you call reality is no more real than last night's dream. Don't underestimate the power of your mind to deceive you. If you ever experience the ABSOLUTE, you'll know it has nothing to do with brain chemistry. The fundamental problem is, you've never in your life experienced a higher state of consciousness, the ABSOLUTE, or Truth. So all you've got to work with is experience and thoughts. Both of which are woefully insufficient. You're missing an ENTIRE CATEGORY of stuff from your worldview. It's sorta like you were born blind, and now you're trying to persuade non-blind people that color doesn't exist. "Leo! How can you be sure colors exists? What if it's untrue? What if you're wrong?" Enable your vision, and you'll see it's a non-issue. You cannot solve the problem of blindness intellectually.

@Kenhol Dude, you've been exposed to ESOTERIC knowledge. This is stuff you'd normally have to get initiated for with decades of training! You're not supposed to go around preaching it to fools on the street. You'd get killed for that just 100 years ago. If someone asks, you tell them you like to meditate.

@Stoica Doru Keep in mind that at your age, existential crises are normal. That is part of the emotional work of growing up. Remember to love yourself and care for yourself. Don't push yourself too hard. Sorry, I'm not an expert on treating dark night of the soul.

Maybe, if you're autistic / left-brained. For right-brained intuitive people emotions can be much more reliable that logic. Go hang out with some highly evolved intuitive right-brained people. Wow! The potential! I would never rely on logic to make important decisions. Intuition is far wiser. And pretty much all the spiritual traditions recognize this fact. None of them tell us: go be more logic. They tell us the opposite: your logic is killing you. BTW, mystical experience and religious experience takes place in the RIGHT hemisphere, not the left. Pretty obvious why. The left brain is linguistic. The right brain is holistic. The left brain is a manipulative computer. The right brain integrates everything together and uses wisdom. Of course having a healthy balance is best. With the left-brain serving the right-brain.

@Shin Here are some ideas: Improv class Toastmasters Pickup Go to mall on weekends, chat up all the department store clerks Meetup.com Online dating Sports Join a commune or ashram Music festivals, Burning Man, etc. I suggest Improv class. It's fun!

@Stoica Doru Sorry to hear of your plight. Sounds like you're doing the right things now. Two ideas that might help you: 1) Find a nondual teacher who is experienced with dark night of the soul. (Shinzen Young would be one). 2) If you're daring, perhaps try psychedelics. They do have the power to heal you. But if you're unstable, there are also risks. So you gotta use your own judgement there. I am merely speaking from my research. Mushrooms, LSD, 5-meo, DMT, and MDMA are all scientifically proven to heal if used properly. Sounds like what you're missing is love. You're not aware that reality is LOVE! And that you are LOVE! Psychedelics can show you that really fast. The reason I mention psychedelics even though you are young, and I normally don't recommend it for youngsters, is because if you are really in a deep hole, and perhaps even feel suicidal due to lack of alternatives, then definitely give psychedelics a try.

"God helps those who help themselves (to psychedelics)."

For all ye Zen Devils in the ranks, I've got a new video -- already in the hopper -- to cure that particular disease of the mind Or at the very least, to inoculate those pure minds that remain uninfected. Coming soon

@NTOgen I do take my own advice. I never claim to be infallible. Everything I say could be wrong. Everything position I hold is just a temporary position. I'm not attached to any of it. And my positions will of course change as I grow. That's what growth looks like. I'm here to share ideas, not to defend positions. That's all just a game. I don't care if I contradict myself, because I'm not ideological. Tomorrow, everything I say could change 180 degrees. It doesn't matter to me. People have a really hard time dealing with this, because they want to pin me down to some position to play their ideological game. And I refuse to play that game. What I care about is sharing ideas with people and helping them learn, understand, and grow. If I discover tomorrow that devil-worship can help you grow, I'll be here proclaiming the amazing power of devil worship and encouraging you to go try it for yourself with an open mind.

@Jhonny Honestly communicating what you feel in that situation is usually an excellent strategy. Note: honestly communicating what you feel is VERY different from an emotional outburst. And if they continue being aggressive, you can just leave.

Because I've seen things and studied things that you don't know. There's a method to the madness. If you don't like my style, feel free to follow whatever other style you like. Anyone you follow, even the most enlightened, can mislead you. That is the nature of leadership. I have a bigger mission in this life than my personal enlightenment. If my only goal was personal enlightenment, that would be easy.

Those are some of the core problems of epistemology. You cannot avoid risk either way. Traps abound. I would caution you though, because the ones who get caught in some of the worst theories are the "skeptics" and "scientists". The entire foundation of science is predicated upon huge gaps in understanding, which we don't have room to get into here.

One of the greatest obstacles to enlightenment, is constantly talking about obstacles to enlightenment. If you're paranoid that people can't be trusted to walk and chew gum at the same time, well, that's your thing.

@jse Why must a thread be decidedly about enlightenment or non-enlightenment? Am I now obligated to preface every thread I start with: "This is about enlightenment."? Are we in kindergarten?

@NTOgen Enjoy basking in your Zen Devilry.

@NTOgen It is about enlightenment -- and other things -- but my point is that you guys have already failed the openmindedness test. Whether it is about enlightenment. Or other areas of spirituality. It shouldn't matter. If you're not curious about life, then don't bother reading it.

Well, if you actually read the book, you'd see it was about enlightenment. But that would again require openmindedness, tolerance, and curiosity, all of which seem lacking in this thread. You're committing the classic epistemic error of thinking you know before you've done the research. If research worked that way, we wouldn't need to research, because we'd already know everything. Research is done out of humility: an assumption is required that it might lead to something you haven't imagined.

And that is my personal choice as to how to guide people on this path. Every teacher is forced to make a choice. There is no way to teach nonduality without making a stylistic choice. If you stay openminded, you may discover my choice has hidden merits beyond what you presently can envision.

I don't want this thread to devolve into a debate about how best to achieve enlightenment. You can discuss that separately elsewhere. I will just again point out to you guys a very common-sense point: THE WORLD DOES NOT REVOLVE AROUND YOUR DESIRE TO BECOME ENLIGHTENED. It's quite silly to interrupt every topic of discussion unrelated to enlightenment with the objection: "But why talk about this if it isn't about enlightenment?" Guess, what? We're allowed to discuss stuff outside of enlightenment. I can't believe I even have to argue this point.

That is false. In fact, it's dangerous. Just because you choose to do that way, doesn't mean everyone else does. Those are your values at work. By your logic, the only way to become enlightened is to lock yourself in a cave and do nothing but contemplate. And that's just factually false. You can become enlightened while being artist, or running a business, or writing a book, or making music, or training to become an astrophysicist.